Many of us have had a chance in our lifetimes to meet celebrities, and that includes me.

Of course, we can’t plan any of these rendezvous just because we want to meet them; they just happen and we are left with memories that we like to share with others.

When I lived in Piscataway, New Jersey, I sat next to Wayne, a neighborhood friend during a pool party. As we were watching a Yankee baseball game on TV, he turned to me and said, “Hey, Rich, come back later tonight. Phil Rizzuto and Bill White are coming here for dinner.”

Of course, I laughed. The iconic voices of Yankee baseball, one soon to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the other soon to become president of the National League were coming to Wayne’s house after the game?

A few minutes later, I hear Phil Rizzuto say to Bill during the broadcast, “I hope this game doesn’t go into extra innings. We have to get to Wayne’s house.” What Wayne didn’t tell me was he grew up in Hillside, New Jersey, next door to Rizzuto.

Immediately, I thought that Wayne had paid for a mention of that comment. I was refusing to believe Rizzuto and White were coming to my neighborhood, and I went home after the TV game. A few hours later, I peeked up the road and there was a large luxury car that had “SCOOTER” on the license plate.

Of course, I ambled back over to Wayne’s house and walked into his family room, where Phil sat with his wife and Bill was with his son watching a videotape of Phil Rizzuto Day at Yankee Stadium.

“That damn cow walked right into me and knocked me over,” said Rizzuto, referring to the appearance of the “Holy Cow!” on the field to acknowledge his iconic broadcast expression when something exciting happened during a game.

That night I grilled steaks and ate dinner next to Rizzuto until he and Bill White left Wayne’s house sometime after midnight. I was so enamored with listening to their stories at the same table with these baseball icons that I asked for no autographs and, before the advent of cellphones, took no photographs.

Another baseball great I was to meet was in 2009. It was a gloomy, rainy day in late March. My friend called and said a Yankee Hall of Famer was coming to my hometown of Middlesex, New Jersey, for the grand opening of a pet store owned by a friend. I didn’t believe a word of it. My friend said you wait and see.

We drove up the street to find a tent set up over a small table with two chairs. A line was about 15 people long. A large luxury car pulled up to the store and two big men exited the front. Once the back door was opened, the two men helped Yogi Berra step out of the car.

I felt the chills run down my body. Yogi was already frail. The men helped him to his seat under the tent. We were told he would not sign autographs, but we were welcomed to sit with him one person at a time for photographs.

As the line shortened, I thought that I’d have to say something to a man whose baseball career and famous “Yogisms” had made him popular all across America. Finally, it was my turn. I sat next to him and he took my hand in a firm handshake.

As we looked toward my friend about to take a cellphone picture of us I said, “Hey Yogi, 1954 World Series, was Jackie Robinson safe or out at home?” The video showed Robinson sliding into Yogi’s tag on a steal of home. The umpire called him safe. Yogi jumped up and argued nose to nose with the umpire.

So, after I asked him the question, Yogi stared right into my friend’s phone and said, “Out!” My photograph shaking Yogi Berra’s hand is a very special keepsake for me.

On a night I was having dinner at the Kingfish American Bistro in Bethlehem, I looked over to a table and saw who I thought was the great heavyweight boxing champion, Larry Holmes, known as the Easton Assassin. Once our waitress confirmed his identity, I walked to his table and shook his hand. He did more than that with me. He stood up and dwarfed me by his size and showed me how to clench my fist and throw his famous left jab that had won him so many fights. On his hand was his huge heavyweight champion diamond and gold ring.

When I returned to my table, I felt bad because a long line of fans were now hovering over his table. He greeted them all with kind words and a big smile.

I got a special one-on-one interview with Mike Love, a lead singer of the Beach Boys, at the Muhammad Ali training camp near Orwigsburg a few years back. Love said that Ali was a big fan of his band and was there at their induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I thought I could stump Mike Love with one question: “What song did the Beach Boys sing that Paul McCartney said was the best rock ‘n’ roll song of all time?” He thought for a moment and said, “God Only Knows” which was the correct answer.

That year, I also got a chance to do a phone interview with Styx lead singer Tommy Shaw.

I’ve had my fair share of meetings with stars of the sports and music world. I’m still not certain why it was me to be so fortunate to have had these opportunities.

I guess God only knows.

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com