Nice article on "Fuzzy"

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

The final scene of the final episode of "Sex and the City" offered viewers a glimpse of a New York institution.

But the backdrop to Sarah Jessica Parker's last stroll was not Central Park or the Empire State Building or the New York Public Library.

It was Fuzzy, clear as day, on his way to yet another sporting event.

"That was the night that the Rangers retired Mike Richter's number," said Fuzzy, whose real name is Donald Cohen. "I wanted to get to Madison Square Garden early that day, and I guess the camera caught me on my way to the game."

Fuzzy, given that nickname decades ago for his bushy beard, became famous long before his accidental cameo.

Since the 1950's, Fuzzy, who has never married and will only hint at his age — "a two-digit number with a 6 in front of it" — has been a fixture at local games. The Yankees and the Rangers are his favorite teams.

A messenger who lives in the Bronx, he figures he has been to about 2,000 Yankees games — Roger Clemens is his favorite player — and about 1,000 Rangers games in the last half-century.

"It used to cost me just a dollar and a half for a grandstand seat behind home plate to watch Mickey Mantle play baseball," he said. "Imagine that? A buck and a half to watch the Mick?"

Perhaps no other baseball fan can lay claim to this: Fuzzy says he attended all four of the perfect games thrown in New York, three at Yankee Stadium — by Don Larsen (1956), David Wells (1998) and David Cone (1999) — and one at Shea Stadium, by Jim Bunning of the Phillies (1964).

He was also at Yankee Stadium on June 8, 1969, to hear Mantle's farewell speech, and returned for farewell days honoring players like Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry and Don Mattingly.

Through the years, Fuzzy, dressed in a Rangers jersey signed by players from different eras — the count is up to 50, including Rod Gilbert and Adam Graves — stood and cheered at the Garden, Nassau Coliseum and the Meadowlands as the jerseys of Gilbert, Mark Messier, Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy and Scott Stevens were raised to the rafters.

It breaks Fuzzy's heart, and probably the hearts of eBay bidders, to know that he has lost or misplaced most of his ticket stubs, programs and scorecards, many autographed by athletes. He still treasures a piece of paper autographed by Berra and Mantle.

"I should have done a better job of taking care of that stuff," he said.

Kenny Albert, a Rangers radio broadcaster, remembered Fuzzy's boarding buses to Devils games in the mid-1980's, when Albert was a student at New York University.

"Fuzzy would always be holding court," Albert said. "Other fans would kind of gravitate around him."

Albert, whose first job in broadcasting was as a play-by-play man for the Baltimore Skipjacks, an American Hockey League team, often bumped into Fuzzy during home games. One Friday night in 1990, Albert spotted Fuzzy's beard in the Baltimore crowd. The next afternoon, the Skipjacks played again, and Fuzzy was back in the stands.

"Good to see you again," Albert said to him that day. "Where did you stay last night?"

Fuzzy replied: "I stayed home. I took the midnight bus to New York after last night's game, and the 9 a.m. bus back to Baltimore for today's game."

Fuzzy had made that round trip before, traveling to and from each game in Baltimore during the 1969 World Series between the Orioles and the Mets.

Two years ago, Albert was watching the last episode of "Sex and the City" when a scruffy yet familiar face graced the screen.

"It was Fuzzy, in his Rangers jersey," Albert said. "I couldn't believe it. The whole thing was Forrest Gumpish."

As was the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when Fuzzy was on his way to deliver a package to the 96th floor of a World Trade Center tower. He stopped for a few minutes in a nearby park to read a newspaper article about his favorite Yankee.

As Fuzzy read the paper, the first plane struck.

"I never thanked Roger Clemens," he said. "He saved my life that day."

[hattrick74 0]

i could be wrong, but there might be some copyright violation here in posting the entire article. i always see that when people try to post articles on sports forums. just a heads up....

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

It's an informative site, I'm giving credit to where it was.