The Old Byrnes Keg

NO. 1 FAN 'BAR' NONE
PUBSTER'S SOX-POX TIP
April 15, 2008 --
Were it not for the tale one loyal Yankee fan overheard while downing pints of Guinness at a Bay Ridge bar, that Red Sox jersey would still be embedded in the concrete under the new Stadium.
Billy DiCristina, 27, a carpenter from Bensonhurst, had just watched the Rangers playoff game at the Bean Post Pub early last Thursday morning, when a fellow patron with whom he was vaguely acquainted told the story of a Red Sox jersey that had been buried in an effort to curse the Stadium.
"I asked him about it, and at first I thought he was breaking my chops," DiCristina told The Post. "But when he said he was 'dead serious,' I went crazy. I was furious. I said, 'We have to get that Boston garbage out of our Stadium' "
"Give me The Post," DiCristina shouted to the bartender, and began dialing every number he could find on Page 2, including the circulation and customer service departments.
He ended up leaving a series of slurred, rambling, giggling messages on the voice mail of one reporter who had recently written about the stadium, calling it an "anonymous tip."
"I had had a few too many I guess, and I forgot to leave my phone number," he said yesterday.
The Post was able to find construction workers to confirm the tip, and by Sunday the insidious David Ortiz jersey had been unearthed and would no longer be poisoning the new ballpark.
When DiCristina saw the front page on Friday, then Monday's story about lifting the curse, he was thrilled - even if he didn't get any credit.
"I'm not really a superstitious kind of dude, but I'm just glad it is out of the ground, because it would have been eating me up every time I went to the new stadium," he said.
"I'm sure the people who dug it up felt the same way, and if they hadn't done it soon I might have headed over there and done it myself."