Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe is the talk of New York

WHEN ISABELLE DE LEON and Michael Volpe drive to and from work in Manhattan each day, turning on sports talk radio is automatic: WFAN's Boomer Esiason in the morning, ESPN New York's Michael Kay on the way home.

When the couple met at SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn in 1990, they bonded over their New York Yankees fandom, trading trivia questions and going on dates in the bleachers. They were the couple who would sleep outside Yankee Stadium when playoff tickets went on sale. And when Isabelle went into labor on April 27, 2001, the couple watched the Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics on television at Mount Sinai Hospital before she gave birth to their son the next morning.

For years, Michael called into those local shows to give his take on the team, one of countless callers discussing who the Yankees should pursue in free agency or whether GM Brian Cashman was doing enough at the trade deadline. But recently, there's been a new topic to discuss.

«Now it's like, 'Oh my God, they're talking about my son,'» Isabelle says. «We just kind of look at each other like, 'Wow.'»

Their son — shortstop Anthony Volpe — is indeed the talk of the town. On Thursday, he will become the youngest Yankee to start on Opening Day since Derek Jeter, his childhood hero growing up in Manhattan and later Watchung, New Jersey. The Yankees entered spring training calling the shortstop job an open competition — and Volpe was so impressive, he earned the leap to the majors after just 22 games in Triple-A.

Imagine this back page story: A kid born in New York City who grew up rooting for the Yankees helps lead his favorite team to its first World Series title since 2009. After losing to the Houston Astros in the playoffs three of the past