The greatest Yankee fan that ever lived?

Let's face it: The greatest Yankee fan of all time was the anonymous hero who set the tacks on Ed Whitson's driveway.

Second place: The two who caused a "disturbance" at Channel 3 in Syracuse one Saturday afternoon during the 1980s, after the station switched from a Yankee game to a golf tournament. Police were called. Those were great Yankee fans.

After that, you've got your garden variety of celebrities. Meatloaf wants his ashes scattered at Yankee Stadium. There is Paul Simon, Bruce, Lady Gaga, and of course, Nelson "I am a Yankee" Mandela. And Alphonso goes up there, of course.

But today, let's remember Ali Ramirez, "the original Bleacher Creature." Monday was his birthday.

Back at the real Yankee Stadium - not the fake duplicate - Ramirez famously rang a cowbell to launch rallies. He died in May 1996, and six days later was honored by the Yankees. That day, Dwight Gooden pitched a no-hitter. That's juju, folks.

Monday, his grandson rang Ramirez’s old cowbell after the seventh-inning stretch. In the bottom of the inning, we scored two tack-ons to put Texas to sleep.

Listen: Some people claim the reason the Yankees have 27 World Championships is that they spend more money than everybody else. Those people are fools.

The reason the Yankees have 27 World Championships is they have the largest worldwide army of practicing nutjobs, people like the late Ali Ramirez, who relentlessly pour juju into the team.

Someday, science will prove this. We just haven't yet advanced far enough to understand.

In the meantime, hold your driveway tacks. Someday, we will need them.