I’m not much of a religious man, but I thank the Lord in Heaven that baseball season is finally over. Now I will dedicate this column to explaining this statement.
No, I’m not one of those pinko, stick-in-the-mud, “the game’s too slow” baseball haters. On the contrary, I am a foaming rabid, fervently fanatic, bleeding navy blue Yankees fan; and I just could not take anymore stress.
When I say I’m a Yankee fan by no means am I claiming to be one of those “Rain Man,” “ask me anything,” Yankee trivia experts either. So don’t try to play “Stump the Columnist” and quiz me about Dave Righetti’s cup size or Mickey Mantle’s batting average on Sundays in August during a leap-year while at home facing left-handed pitchers whose names end with a vowel. I’ll tell you right now, I don’t know these things. But I DO know that I am extraordinarily passionate about Yankee baseball–always have been, always will be.
It all started when I was a wee boy. There is photographic documentation of me wearing a Yankee cap at age 3 (photo not available due to potential columnist ridicule – I was a lot cuter then). I was too young to remember “Mr. October” in ’78 but I do recall the pain of losing to the Dodgers in ’81. Since then, I maintained the vigil throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school – disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. But back then, I was no where near as zealous I am now.
It wasn’t until I went to college in New England that I realized what it truly meant to be a Yankee fan. There, I was a pilgrim in an unholy land. Everyone I knew was from “outside Boston” (pronounced BAH-sten) and supported the “red-menace” that are the Boston Red Sox. Four years of “the friggin’ Soawcks ah wicked good this yeah” can really grate on you. But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
As Murphy’s Law would have it, the Yanks didn’t win a series until AFTER I was out of college (which is probably just as well, since I would have gotten my ass kicked from gloating were I still in school). Since ’96, the Yanks have won 4 out of 5, but this year is arguably the most special, thanks primarily to their opponents in this year’s fall classic, the New York Mets.
I have absolutely no animosity towards the Mets or Met fans. That blind hatred is reserved solely for the Red Sux. In fact, I have to thank the Mets for their efforts in ’86 which kept the curse alive and left Boston still without a championship since the days of the Kaiser in Germany. Had the Mets been playing any other team, they’d have had my support.
This past season was a tough one, since Yankee fans are nothing short of spoiled by 114 win seasons and back-to-back World Series sweeps. I’ll admit, I was a bit tense throughout the post-season. In the 2000 season nothing came easily, but it did come–and for that, I am exceedingly grateful to all the Yankees. Now it’s off to Cheap Maggie’s(314 Washington St., Hoboken) to blow my $50 on “Subway Series Champs” t-shirts!!!
If you know how I can effectively waste $50 in the metro area, please write to:
“Hal Wastes His Wages”
c/o The Hudson Current
1400 Washington Street
Hoboken, New Jersey 07030
Or via e-mail:
Current@hudsonreporter.com