Tom Weddell doesn”™t wear his Yankee heart on his sleeve, but he probably has a few team shirts hanging in his closet.
Born and raised a shy eight minutes from where his firm”™s Newburgh headquarters is located, this die-hard fan of the Bronx Bombers grew up in a Yankee household, raised from childhood on tales and exploits of the Bambino, the Iron Horse, Joltin”™ Joe and the Mick, giants among the legions of legendary Pinstripers who  have walked out onto the field.
He”™s a frequent visitor to the House That Ruth Built, which won”™t be there next season ”“ opening day 2009 will be held in the Yankees”™ new $1.3 billion dollar stadium, which broke ground August 16, 2006, the 58th anniversary of The Babe”™s death.
The team”™s legendary angst with the Boston Red Sox is not lost on Weddell, who says he”™s used to taking a lot of ribbing in certain cities when his team strikes out, but he loves the competitive spirit it conjures up. As every diehard Yankee fan knows, the “curse” Babe Ruth put on the Red Sox is so ingrained in both teams”™ history that when a construction worker tried to bury a Red Sox jersey in the new stadium”™s  foundation, the call went out for jackhammers and workers were ordered to blast through the concrete and dig it out. (They didn”™t have to dig too deep, but the episode did get the Yankee-Red Sox blood feud boiling once more.)
When the new stadium goes up, it will look much the same as the old one, but with fewer seats, more perks like new restaurants and ticket prices that will double, says Weddell. While he does love to go to games, he wonders how it will affect people who traditionally buy a box for the season or just your average Yankee fan. “For people paying $48,000 a year for 81 home games now, I wonder how they”™ll feel at twice the price? Seats that are $25 now will be $50 next year.” Weddell will continue to go to Yankee Stadium, but buying a box is not on his list. Buying Yankee memorabilia is a better fit for his field of dreams.
Weddell”™s passion may have roots in the Bronx, but he is Newburgh native, born and raised on the farm bought by his grandparents when they arrived in America from Scotland. Weddell”™s grandparents, his parents, their children and their children”™s children all remain on the 14-acre property ”“ separate homes but all within shouting distance. Â Weddell built his house with his own hands, as did his grandfather and father, a master carpenter and electrician.
So why is this wizard of the accounts scrutinizing numbers instead of mulling over blueprints? “My grandparents wanted one of us to go to college,” says Weddell, the first in his family to earn a degree. “I started out in engineering up at SUNY Albany and lasted all of six months. One of my advisors said I was so good at math, I should give accounting a shot … and here I am.” Perhaps counting has come naturally to the Yankee fan, having earned his allowance by picking up nails and separating them into various sizes for his father.Â
Weddell, like the millions who love  the boys of summer, watched the All-Star game on TV, “but the picture was a lot bigger and better  than the one we used to watch on my grandfather”™s old black and white box when the Yankees played on WPIX, Channel 11. I would have loved to have been there, but just seeing all those greats out on the field was just an amazing, uplifting experience.”
Much to every Yankee fans”™ delight, not only did the American League win its 12th consecutive game, albeit the longest in its history (at nearly five hours) but the game was played at Yankee Stadium.
Favorite Yankees of today? “Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez,” says Weddell without hesitation. Â The Yankees exude competitiveness, a trait Weddell admires and encourages, not just in himself, but in colleagues, in Leadership Orange and with every board he sits on. “And I don”™t sit on a board unless I love what they are doing.” Â For fun, challenge him to a test of wits: Who had the most hits in their career? What year did Thurman Munson”™s plane crash? Who had the flatfoot stance while up at bat? What is a huckleberry? The smart money is on Weddell for the answers.
