Friday, October 20, 2017

Baseball's New York City Genetics

A friend and I were discussing the baseball playoffs this morning.  I was lamenting the fact that I may have to root for the Yankees if they make the World Series.  The Dodgers have already claimed one dugout for the Series, and the Yankees lead Houston 3-2 in the AL Series. 

A Yankees-Dodgers WS has plenty of historical connection with their past days in New York City.  The Giants, Dodgers, and Yankees competed for fans, radio waves, and the back page of newspapers from the 1920s through the mid-1950s.  The Yankees were the dominant team, winning plenty of championships.  The Giants had their own small streaks, whereas the Dodgers struggled for winning records. The World Series was solely a New York City event in many an October The Dodgers and Yankees met seven times in the World Series as New Yorkers; the Yankees and the Giants played in six New York World Series.  The west-coast Dodgers beat the Yankees in 1981 in their only contest since. 

The Yankees still need one more win in Houston to advance to the other World Series dugout.  I do not relish the thought of actually rooting for the pinstripes, but my Giants genetic code will not allow me to cheer for the corporate Dodgers from down the California freeway. 

My friend says that he just won't invest much time in a Yankees-Dodger matchup. He shares my feelings about the Dodgers. If he cheered for the Yankees, he would have to revoke his Red Sox Nation membership card.  The NFL will beckon on those nights.  He compared it to the presidential election last year.  He hated Hillary, but couldn't vote for Trump.  So he just didn't vote. 

My brain double-clutched on that statement.  Half the country doesn't vote, and he joined the un-invested masses that left us with this mess. 

But that's a subject for another column. 

Go Astros.

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