Devoted Yankees fan elated by World Series

Former Annapolis police Lt. Bob Emory was happy to see his beloved New York Yankees in the World Series after a six-year drought, but now, with his team only one win away from the championship, he's about to bust.

"I knew they'd do it. And I was hoping they'd win it back in New York," he said. If the Yankees beat the Phillies tonight - New York leads the Series 3-2 - he'll get his wish.

Emory has been a fan since he was 11 years old, when he used to hang out in the fancy box seats, right next to the visitor's dugout, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., home of the old Washington Senators.

"It got so the players would recognize me, I was there so much," he said as he showed off his mini-museum in his home outside Annapolis. "All kids picked their favorite player and mine was Mickey Mantle."

How much of a fan is he? He named his son Mickey. Most of the shirts he wears have the Yankee logo over the breast pocket. His pickup has tags that read "YANKEE 7" and a Mantle signature on the tailgate.

On one hand he wears a diamond ring with the number seven on it, on the other hand is a 1976 Yankee World Series ring Mantle acquired for him. That series victory came after Mantle retired in 1968. The slugger died in 1995.

Emory, 69, is now retired, though he does work part time at the city police station. He has turned a room in his basement and the hall leading to it into a mini-museum honoring "The Mick" and those Yankees, too.

There are autographed photos, baseballs, plates, statues, banners and framed news clippings. It's a Mickey knickknack nirvana.

The hallway is lined with photos of Emory favorites and Yankee standouts, mostly old school: Elston Howard, Thurman Munson, Craig Nettles, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson and Lou Pinella.

He even has a photograph of Don Larsen, the only pitcher to ever hurl a perfect game in the World Series. That was in 1956. Mantle caught a crucial fly ball to preserve the perfect game.

"I was there," Emory said, pointing to the ticket stub in the corner of the photo frame, signed by Larsen. "The ticket was $2.10. You believe that?"

Though he began collecting memorabilia as a kid, Emory has come by a lot of Yankee and Mantle doodads via eBay since he retired as a detective in 1994.

"I retired in May 1994. By September, the chief called and said, 'I have a job for you,' " he said. He's been back at least part time ever since and has recently been running car and scooter anti-theft programs.

The memorabilia collecting might be winding down, though, as the trophy room is about filled to the ceiling.

"I owe my wife for letting me do this, but this is all the room I think she is going to give me," he said.

Wife Donna, who was wearing a "Damn Yankee Fan" T-shirt, puts up with it. "I don't like the Yankees, but I'll root for them in the World Series," she said.

It is a long season. Emory has the Major League Baseball cable station to watch all the games. "If not, I have satellite radio," he said. He said he has missed only "eight or 10" games since 1951.

"Most of those were because of something my wife had planned," he said.

Prized among the Mantle memorabilia is an autographed photo of the Yankee slugger that reads: "To Bob Emory. Best Wishes To The Best Damn Yankee Fan of them all. Your Friend, Mickey Mantle. Happy Birthday 1966."

The "Best Damn" moniker was a running gag and greeting between Mantle and Emory. It started in 1956, when Emory got hold of a small baseball trophy and fixed it up to read, "Mickey Mantle, The Best Damned Yankee Of Them All." He gave it to Mantle one day at the ballpark.

"That was the beginning. We just became friends. I don't know why, it just happened," Emory said.

It was a different era for sure. Players and fans got close to each other. Fans, especially kids, hung around the stadiums.

"I went down in the seat right next to the dugout and stayed until people who had those seats showed up," he said. "It was different then. Today you can't get near them."

Emory and Mantle never became dinner mates, nor did Emory head out to have a beer with his hero when the Yankees were in town.

"I was just a fan," he said. "He was my hero and became my friend. I was lucky to get to know him."