Aug 18 2008 07:31 AM
Astronauts Mike Massimino (r.) and Mike Good. Massimino holds up the home plate used at Shea Stadium for the 2007 season.
| ] Yankees sent dirt into space - now, Shea Stadium plate headed for orbit BY RICHARD SISK DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU Sunday, August 17th 2008, 9:30 PM WASHINGTON - The Yankees-Mets rivalry has really hit new heights. Months after a Bomber-loving astronaut carried some dirt from Yankee Stadium into orbit, a Mets fan has upped the ante and will take a home plate from Shea into space this October. The home plate from the 2007 season was given by the Mets to Mike Massimino to fuel his rivalry with fellow astronaut and Yankees fan Garrett Reisman of Morristown, N.J. Reisman carried dirt from the Yankee Stadium pitcher's mound on the shuttle Endeavour mission in March. "We can do better than that, pal," said Massimino, 46, of Franklin Square, L.I. "We're flying a home plate from Shea." Massimino's passion for the Mets competes with his life's work as an astronaut to the point where he ranks NASA's feat in landing men on the moon in 1969 equal to the Mets' first World Series victory later that same year. "I would say the moon landing was right up there with the Mets in the World Series," said Massimino, who took along a Mets jersey emblazoned with the name of relief pitcher John Franco on his previous space flight in 2002. So it came as no surprise to the Mets' front office that after Reisman went into orbit with Yankee dirt, Massimino came calling. The Mets arranged to give Massimino the home plate, he said, "but the deal is that I have to bring it back." Massimino will carry the plate aboard the shuttle Atlantis on a risky mission to repair the Hubble telescope, where he will be the primary spacewalker. When Reisman went aloft he carried a Yankees banner, a cap autographed by George Steinbrenner and the dirt. The items were given to the spaceman by Roger Clemens before a game at the Stadium in 2007. Broadcast on the Yankee Stadium JumboTron, Reisman made baseball history by throwing a ceremonial first pitch from outer space for a game in April against the Red Sox. |
