There’s such a thing as being too big of a fan. Just ask Joseph Neubauer.
The lifelong Yankees supporter was fired from his job at the Taxi and Limousine Commission after work conflicted with his streak of attending Yankees home games, according to a CBS News report. Neubauer claims not to have missed a game in The Bronx since the 1970s, but that was at risk after a Yankees rainout in September of last year.
The Yankees’ game against the Blue Jays was rained out on Sept. 18 and rescheduled for the next afternoon. Instead of skipping the first half of the day-night doubleheader, Neubauer took an unscheduled day off from work.
“I feel like I regretted it in a way. I just want to try to come back,” who lost his job in July after 27 and a half years of employment for the city and is appealing the decision.
But TLC sources told the TV station that Neubauer has missed time before to support the Yankees. In 2011, he took an extended vacation to attend the All-Star Game – the one Derek Jeter skipped. That earned Neubauer a 60-day suspension.
And in 2010, Neubauer allegedly called in sick 13 times to attend Yankees games, which got him banned for 25 days. The lesson was not learned, though: Neubauer continued his truant ways in 2012 and it ultimately cost him his position.
The Yankees won the makeup game, 4-2, behind a solid start from Andy Pettitte. Ironically, the lefty complained about the sparse attendance for the matinee game.
“The beginning of the game, it was almost like you could hear people talking — I’m just trying to focus,” Pettitte said, according to the AP. “I think for me it probably would’ve been better if we had a packed house.”