This is why

[pecunium]

I am a baseball fan.

I am, in specific, a Dodgers fan.

My second favorite team is whoever's playing the Yankees. When the Yankees play the Giants I am torn (my dislike of the Giants was a vague thing; until the season the Giants were completely out of the running, and had damn near no one in Candlestick... until the last three games of the year. The only thing the Giants could do was keep the Dodgers out of the playoffs. I had no problem with them playing their hearts out. It was rather the fans, who were stomping on the Dodger dugout so firmly that coversation couldn't happen and [so the papers said] things were falling off shelves. Giants management said, "nothing you can do to stop the fans". In Dodger stadium they'd have been ejected, but I digress).

Now, the Yankees aren't really in a position to swagger. They've bombed for the entire century. When they brag of how many pennants they've won, and how many of those led to World Series victories, well looking at those wins, they've been no more than average since expansion.

Not that this has stopped them from spending beaucoup bucks to try and bring back the glory days of "Joltin' Joe"

Hell, it hasn't stopped them from thinking they are still in those glory days.

Which leads to shit like this:

Griffin Whitman, a 10-year-old Red Sox [team stats] fan from Swampscott, was excited to attend his first Yankees vs. Red Sox game Friday night. The young autograph -collector was even more thrilled to score Yankees outfielder Shelley Duncan’s signature before the game. That is, until Griffin read the message from the 27-year-old rookie: “Red Sox suck! Shelley Duncan.”

Fuck the Yankees.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

I realize signing autographs gets to be old, and that there are people who are crass enough to use kids to get autographs on things they intend to sell later on. But that's just wrong. I wish I could say it was just a Yankees thing, but alas, it's not.

And while we're on how we catch baseball fanhood and team fanhood from our elders, I caught the Cardinals from my mother, who's old enough to remember both the World Series where Grover Cleveland Alexander came in, hangover and all, to pitch in relief and win the thing, and the Gashouse Gang as well. It was good to see the Rebirds beat Detroit last year (no ill will to Detroit fans, who've had a long dry spell to live with) and help ease the pain from the '68 series.

I have to say, I think I'm a fan of the game first, and of any specific team second.