I grabbed a schedule to have something to sign.

Todd Zeile had a travel story.

When he got to the airport down in New York City on Friday night to fly here for his Saturday morning Syracuse Mets open house appearance, he checked his baggage, went to the gate and … heard that the flight was canceled. The airline booked him on a flight with three connections that would have got him in Syracuse a couple hours after the event ended.

So he rented a car and drove north through the night instead.

Now that’s a man with motivation.

A guy who played 15 years in the major leagues.

A player who went to the World Series with the New York Mets in 2000 along with his former Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Mike Piazza.

It was a pleasure talking with him for a moment or two. His voice is quite familiar. He’s a regular on Mets game network SNY’s pre- and post-game shows. Sometimes he sits in on game broadcasts if Keith Hernandez or Ron Darling can’t make it next to play-by-play man Gary Cohen.

He’s still a hard worker. Just like in his playing days.

Smart about baseball, too, as he showed in his dais talk later.

With my Big Apple Home Run hat for the snap.

Daughter Elisabeth was glad to be photographer for my turn with Todd.