Sports Views

For about the first half of my life, I was a a baseball fan (New York Yankees since the mid 1980s). For the second half, I’ve been a football fan (Washington Redskins since the 1991 season). Usually, when someone learns about my taste for football, I’m confronted with a confused gaze and pressed to explain how I can follow such barbarity with such interest. An article about football as the American national pastime encourages me finally to summarize me these points:

In 1946, the New York Yankees became the first baseball team to travel by plane.

Happy 75th, George. And the problem child, Jason Giambi, belted to longballls for you. If Boston loses to Texas tonight, the Yanks will be 4 games out of first place.

Sorry For the delay….My best friend bought tickets to the June 22nd New York Yankees game, and invite our buddy and I to go. What was I to do? Say no? Ha Yeah right, I wouldn’t pass up a game anytime, especially a day game, so I have an excuse to use a vacation day.

Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame Yankee catcher known as much today for his famous wit as for his on the field accomplishments once said that ‘It gets late early around here’. For the New York Yankees of 2005, this Yogiism is beginning to ring true. Owner George Steinbrenner is accustomed to routinely winning American League East division titles on the way to greater glory in October (i.e. World Series championships). Putting aside the fact that the team had an historic collapse last year against the Boston Red Sox after having taken a three games to none lead in the ALCS (perhaps Steinbrenner can attribute the Yankees collapse to fate as the Red Sox finally won the World Series again), this year’s team is not even on track to make the playoffs if their present standing does not improve.

Ed Montague, a 30-year veteran, acknowledged that first-base umpire Tony Randazzo incorrectly called the New York Yankees’ Gary Sheffield safe on what would have been a game-ending double play in the ninth inning. The Yankees went on to tie the score that inning, then win, 7-5, in the 10th on Jason Giambi’s home run.

The New York Yankees, my favorite baseball team since I was a kid, will be announcing plans for a new stadium across the street from the present stadium today. It would look like the original Yankee Stadium from when Babe Ruth played, including the facade around the inside of the building, but have the present field dimensions of the current stadium. Since they are staying in the Bronx, they can keep the name Yankee Stadium, which I hope they do, instead of having some company name attached to it.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about modern baseball, or more specifically, the New York Yankees. They got swept by the Kansas City Royals last night if you didn’t see. Yes, the Royals. The team that hasn’t swept a series in something like 76 series. I love it. This just proves that money can’t buy a championship. I’ll leave you with this:

Pope Benedict has requested a seat right behind the Yankees dugout because he said he wants to taunt the Yankees players during the game. “Oh, do I have some choice words for this Alex Rodriguez fellow,” the Pope reportedly said with a mischievous wink. "And if this George Steinbrenner scoundrel is around--he will hear from me."

With 10 home runs halfway through May, it's time to start wondering if Tino can set the May record. It's currently held by Barry Bonds, who hit 17 in May 2001. The AL Record is 16 held by Yankees great Mickey Mantle, who hit 16 in 1956. Mark McGwire also hit 16 in May 1998.

Tino Martinez continued his incredible pace of late, hitting two home runs to tie him with teammate, Alex Rodriguez, for the league lead at twelve. Since making two critical errors in the tenth inning of a game on May 6th, Tino has unstoppable at the plate, hitting eight home runs with 19 RBI”s over eight games. Nobody expected a revival of this magnitude when he retuned to the Yankees, but with Jason Giambi’s continued struggles, it is a welcome addition to the team.

The Yankees immediately responded with a resounding 19-8 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. “I’m thrilled to the bones that we beat Tampa,” said a decidedly unenthused Steinbrenner. “I’m glad to see Alex Rodriguez get five hits and two homeruns off the Devil Rays. But now I’d like to see him hit that way against someone a bit more formidable than kids three days out of high school.” Tuesday, when ace Randy Johnson was pounded by the lowly Rays, Steinbrenner's anger...

Waiting for them in the first round? The most evil putrid thing on the planet - the Yankees. Now my Yankee hatred at the time was not as fully developed as it is now. I mostly hated the Yankees then because I hated all things New York. I grew up in south Jersey, involved in Philadelphia sports, but moved to north Jersey for college and work, and grew to hate everything about the city - especially the sports teams. I rooted against the Giants in 1991, against the Rangers in 1994 (I might even still own a Vancouver Canucks...

Now, last night was the real start of the 2005 season when the (still scary to say this but) World Series Champion, Boston Red Sox took on the 26-time World Series Champion, New York Yankees. And, of course, as you know, the Yankees won the game 9-2!!

The Boston Red Sox promised more signs and more security on Friday to remind fans not to interfere with play, hoping to avoid another scuffle like the one between New York Yankees star Gary Sheffield and a fan in the right-field corner at Fenway Park.

Success is not cheap for the New York Yankees. As the 2005 season dawns, the Yankees’ already-astronomical payroll has become the first in the Bigs to break the $200-million mark.

Last night, Gary Sheffield of the New York Yankees was attempting to field a ball in right field when he was hit in the mouth by an unruly Boston fan. This is just another typical example of the rude and obnoxious behavior of Boston people. You do not reach out over the fence and a take a swipe at a player. That fan was ejected, but why wasn’t he arrested and charged with assault and battery. Fans like this need to be permanantly banned from any sports facility.

So when the Yankees come to town, boo and spit and curse as usual. Flip a few birds and chant "BAL-CO" when Giambi steps to the plate. But when you do it, know that it's because the New York Yankees are less our archenemies than our evil twin brothers. Because we hold one another up with all our venom even as we weigh each other down. Because together we form yin and yang and that's something beautiful, win or lose.