“My wife and I went down to the lobby and all of a sudden a guy came in and he looked familiar,” Sean Sr. said of his first encounter with Steinbrenner. “I looked down at his hand and saw the (World Series) rings and knew it was him. I went over and introduced my son and daughter and he immediately was taken by them.” ...

The next morning, the day of the Yankees' opener against the Kansas City Royals, Steinbrenner was once again in the hotel lobby. When he saw the Lattimores get off the elevator, Steinbrenner signaled for Sydney and Sean Jr. to come over to him. That's when he offered up his own personal seats.

The Auburn family quickly accepted the exclusive tickets.