As you guys know, I bought the Melissa Lima dress, and with that, I got an autographed photograph of The Photo, with an inscription, which I've scanned for your viewing pleasure:
Ms. Lima also generously agreed to do a short Q&A with me, which is after the jump...
AJM: What did you think of the reaction that your appearance in the famous photograph caused?
Melissa Lima: Well, first of all I didn't even plan to go down on the field with him. I was planning on video taping it from the stands until a friend of ours suggested I go down there with him. Then, immediately after his performance when I went back up in the stands, fans started swarming me and asking for a picture with me or my autograph (which I always thought was weird anyways)...then the next day I think harold reynolds had called me to tell me that I was all anyone could talk about...that I was the biggest sports story of the day! I had no idea what the big deal was. One day I was in the grocery store and someone kept staring at me and then finally came up to me and asked me if I was melissa lima. Once he knew it was me he told me that his boss at work had me on his computer as his screen saver!! It's so bizarre to me because it's not even THAT good of picture of me! But seriously, I'm very flattered to have so many admirers.
AJM: So, do you still have people coming up and recognizing you from seeing you on the internet in that photo?
Melissa Lima: Yes I do...especially at sporting events. I was sitting courtside at a rockets game last year and someone was about to sing the national anthem and this guy a couple rows back shouted "Maybe you should get out there with her"! I think it's hilarious! You know, I've been on tv so much with Jose, doing broadcasting with different teams, and was even down on the field with Tom Arnold hosting the Dodgers celebrity softball game as well as TONS of other public events and I still get noticed the most for that ONE picture!!!
AJM: What made you decide to auction off the dress?
Melissa Lima: I decided to auction off the dress because one day I was going thru my closet, like I do a few times a year, to get rid of anything I haven't wore in a while. I give away anything I don't use to my sisters and friends and then donate the rest to charity. when I came accross "the dress", I decided that since it got so much exposure...that I would try and sell it and I would put the money in my son's savings account. And since I know someone who sells ebay, that's how it came about. I had really hoped it would make alot more (although I AM happy you got it, Adam), especially since it got over 75,000 views. Oh well, it was worth the try and it showed me that people are still interested in me!!
AJM: I understand you have a photo shoot with FHM coming up...how did that come about, and when can we expect to see that hit the newsstands?
Melissa Lima: Well, the FHM thing happened because I'm friends with Drew from fark.com and I guess someone from FHM contacted him because I had been on fark a few times. Drew wrote me and said that they wanted to talk to me about a photo shoot. They said that they get tons of letters and emails regarding me and people have said that they want to see me...in a bikini! Haha!! You know, I used to model for a hot tub company and I also was a ring girl for budweiser, so I'm pretty comfortable in a thong! Just joking around, anyways, I was supposed to go to new york and meet with them last year but at the time, I was 2 months pregnant. I was kind of sad because I was in better shape than when I was in L.A. Anyways since they wanted me to do it at the start of the baseball season, more than likely it will be around the same time this coming year. I'll be sure and keep you posted!!! I hope that everyone will get that issue. Ya know, i've been quiet up until now trying not to draw to much attention to myself (unlike another wife I know...) but it seems people are still interested in me even tho a couple years have gone by since that day on the field. But you know what, I might as well give people what they want...so I have the feeling this could be the year for Melissa Lima. Look out!!