January 22, 2008

Mets' Lose Biggest Fan -My Father- May He Rest In Peace!


This afternoon, at approximately 4:45pm, my father, Al Rubin, passed away due to complications from infections after receiving a kidney transplant. My dad was a New York Public School teacher for more than 40 years and a veteran of the Korean War, but more than that, he was a great and generous man and a sports fanatic the likes of which I've never seen. It's very poetic that the Giants won this Sunday against Green Bay, as the first big game he remembered the Giants playing was in 1938 vs. those same Packers, and the Giants won then, too, by an almost identical score, 23-17. Dad was also a HUGE Mets' fan, having grown up a Giants' fan even though he came from Brooklyn, and he passed that down (and then some) to my brother and I. From the time he met Babe Ruth as a little kid to talking about whether the Mets' would finally land Johan Santana a few weeks ago, baseball remained his second greatest passion, behind his family. We can remember all phases of our lives around ball games we attended, players we loved and games we watched. 3 years ago, I flew out from California to take my dad to Cooperstown, for what would be, one last time, an opportunity to explore the roots of the game we both loved so much. I have posted a few pics from our time there, which I hope you will enjoy. John has decided that my dad will have a tribute up on the site this weekend, and we have already purchased a brick in his memory for the upcoming Citi Field. Now, more than ever, I hope we have a good season, for him, for us, and I know that he'll have a seat right over home plate, looking down on his team with great anticipation, and with first rights to sit next to Gil Hodges overlooking home at Citi Field. Rest in peace, dad...you've more than earned it!

7 comments:

Robert Milelli said...

that was really touching david, i'm sorry for your loss.

Tyler Florence (Ty Flo) said...

I'm really sorry for your loss. You'll get through this.

Anonymous said...

My condolences.

Luis venitucci

Marc said...

I'm really sorry to hear about this.

Excellent, Sweet Tribute-Post.

Ed Ryan said...

My condolences ......

Ed Ryan

Anonymous said...

your father sounds like a great man and great American. May god bless his soul and may the Giants win the Super Bowl in his honor.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to your family and friends. God Bless.

David Rubin said...

Thank you, so very much, to everyone who posted your warm wishes to me during this tough time. Even though I don't know many of you, I like to think that we are one Mets-loving community, and it's comments like yours that make it so worthwhile posting every day about our beloved Mets. My dad loved reading our blog, and I still forward it to his old email address, even though he's reading it daily from up above...

Best,
David