June 17, 2002
There Are Other Teams. Here in the New York area we're still dealing with the aftermath of Saturday's Great Rematch, when the Mets finally had their chance for retaliation against Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens for his repeated victimization of Mike Piazza during the 2000 season. (Just to give some idea of how long ago, in baseball time, this was, only 3 of the 13 Mets who took part in the July 8, 2000 game that started it all are still with the team.)
The lunchtime hour on WFAN was filled with Mets fans calling in to say that they were satisfied with the outcome, they weren't satisfied, it was over now, it wouldn't be over until they hit Clemens, etc. Calls from Yankees fans, or from Mets fans seemingly concerned with the outcome of the games (the Mets won The Great Rematch, and took two out of three over the weekend) were few and far between.
Back in May I covered the brouhaha over the rights of Mariners fans to wear "Yankees Suck" shirts to games at Safeco. Of course, by the time Safeco management gave in on the issue, the Yankees had already left town, not to return until August. Not that it mattered to fans, who proudly wore their "Yankees Suck" shirts to the Mariners/Blue Jays series. "Mariners Suck" shirts were seen at Yankee Stadium, but only while the Mariners were actually there.
When it comes to an overriding obsession with the Yankees, however, nobody comes close to the Red Sox. From the sale of Babe Ruth through Bucky Dent's playoff-winning homer, much of Sox history is the story of falling short to the Yanks. It's considered one of the greatest rivalries in sports, but except for some individual awards, the Sox have pretty much never beaten the Yanks. This fact is etched on every Sox fan's conscious, with the result being that the "Yankees Suck" chant can be heard at Fenway no matter who the opponent is. I've been to Yankee Stadium about 20 times, and the crowd usually manages to focus its energy on the actual opponent.
So what am I saying? As a Mariners fan who has spent far too much energy these past few years alternately hating and fearing the Yankees, the time has come to take off the blinders and remember that the object is to win games and ultimately a championship, not just do better than one particular team. It's getting to the point where it sometimes feels like a successful season would be one where we beat the Yankess in the playoffs, forget what happens after that. Well, Goddammit, that ain't gonna wash no more! I'm tired of acting as though I were a fan of one of the 29 branches of the Washington Generals trying to dethrone the one true Globetrotters. My name is Ken: former Yankee-hater.
The lunchtime hour on WFAN was filled with Mets fans calling in to say that they were satisfied with the outcome, they weren't satisfied, it was over now, it wouldn't be over until they hit Clemens, etc. Calls from Yankees fans, or from Mets fans seemingly concerned with the outcome of the games (the Mets won The Great Rematch, and took two out of three over the weekend) were few and far between.
Back in May I covered the brouhaha over the rights of Mariners fans to wear "Yankees Suck" shirts to games at Safeco. Of course, by the time Safeco management gave in on the issue, the Yankees had already left town, not to return until August. Not that it mattered to fans, who proudly wore their "Yankees Suck" shirts to the Mariners/Blue Jays series. "Mariners Suck" shirts were seen at Yankee Stadium, but only while the Mariners were actually there.
When it comes to an overriding obsession with the Yankees, however, nobody comes close to the Red Sox. From the sale of Babe Ruth through Bucky Dent's playoff-winning homer, much of Sox history is the story of falling short to the Yanks. It's considered one of the greatest rivalries in sports, but except for some individual awards, the Sox have pretty much never beaten the Yanks. This fact is etched on every Sox fan's conscious, with the result being that the "Yankees Suck" chant can be heard at Fenway no matter who the opponent is. I've been to Yankee Stadium about 20 times, and the crowd usually manages to focus its energy on the actual opponent.
So what am I saying? As a Mariners fan who has spent far too much energy these past few years alternately hating and fearing the Yankees, the time has come to take off the blinders and remember that the object is to win games and ultimately a championship, not just do better than one particular team. It's getting to the point where it sometimes feels like a successful season would be one where we beat the Yankess in the playoffs, forget what happens after that. Well, Goddammit, that ain't gonna wash no more! I'm tired of acting as though I were a fan of one of the 29 branches of the Washington Generals trying to dethrone the one true Globetrotters. My name is Ken: former Yankee-hater.
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