Walk-Off HR Delights Yankee Fan, 106, On Birthday

DEWITT, N.Y. (AP) — New York Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher delivered the perfect present for devoted Yankees fan Esther Koplovitz on her 106th birthday.

Koplovitz was watching the television broadcast of Wednesday afternoon's Yankees-Baltimore Orioles game when Swisher hit a walk-off, two-run homer to give New York a 3-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.

Koplovitz tells YNN Syracuse she was born in Rostov, Russia in 1904, when the New York ballclub was still known as the Highlanders. She moved to the United States in 1914, a year after the team changed its name to the Yankees.

Yankees souvenirs and memorabilia fill her apartment at a retirement home in suburban Syracuse. She says she watches as many games as she can, and adds that her love of baseball may be the key to her longevity.

The game "keeps me fighting" she tells WSYR-TV.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.