The following letter, from P.R. of New Suffolk, appeared in the Sports section of the September 14, 2003, Newsday:
"Somebody's got to say it. You obnoxious Yankees fans are never happy. The Yankees have a win/loss percentage of .622 and the season is not over yet. You guys won't stop moaning until they go 162-0 and win the next 1,000 World Series."
I couldn't have written it better myself, Mr. R. You hit the nail squarely on the head.
This comment, from G.G. of Kings Park, was the Daily Rant in the Two-Minute Drill of the October 23, 2003, Newsday:
"Rooting for the Yankees is like hoping Donald Trump wins the Lotto."
Actually, I'd even rather see Trump hit the lottery than see the Yankees win another World Series.
This comment, from N.C. of Islip Terrace, was the Daily Rant in the Two-Minute Drill of the October 28, 2003, Newsday:
"Sorry, George, the World Series wasn't for sale this year. Maybe you can buy another next year."
Don't think that he won't try it - and with an even larger payroll than that of 2003.
The following letter, from M.J.G. of Whitestone, appeared in the Viewpoints section of the October 29, 2003, Newsday:
"While the Boston Red Sox continue to be plagued by the 'Curse of the Bambino,' the New York Yankees seem to have a curse of their own to deal with.Ever since the Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series, they haven't been able to win another title. I believe the 'Curse of the Metropolitans' hangs heavily over the Yankees and prevents the team from taking another title. It comes from the power of subconscious prayer from millions of Mets fans. We, Mets fans, have a lot of sympathy for the Yankees and their fans.
But there's absolutely nothing we can do about the curse. The team will have to appeal to a higher power - yes, even higher than George Steinbrenner!"
Just one correction: I - a Mets fan - have not one iota of sympathy for either the Yankees or their fans.
The following letter, from V.T. of East Islip, appeared in the Sports section of the January 18, 2004, Newsday:
"We can only hope that the Yankees wash their hands of Roger Clemens. No plaques, no special days, nothing! Every player and fan who tipped their cap to respect the retiring pitcher should turn their backs when they see him next. In baseball, you can't just go back on your word like that. This isn't boxing."
Number one: Apparently you - or at least the Great Roger Clemens - can just go back on your word like that. It really doesn't surprise me that he "unretired." In fact, it would have surprised me if he had stayed retired. Number two: The Clemens mentality is that everything is boxing or something roughly akin to it.
The following letter, from B.E. of St. James, also appeared in the Sports section of the January 18, 2004, Newsday:
"Well Yankees fans, there it is. The same feeling all of us Mets fans had when he hit our star player square in the head with a 95 mph fastball in a game in which he had pinpoint control. The same feeling Red Sox fans had when he insisted he wanted to enter the Hall of Fame as a Yankee, not the team with which he had won 197 games. Even the same feeling Joe Torre had when the Yankees manager called him a headhunter when he was with the Blue Jays. Now, you too have been had by Roger Clemens."
Mr. E. provides a substantial body of incontrovertible evidence to support the fact that Clemens is a first-class phony who answers to only one person - himself.
This letter, from B.M. of Flushing, appeared in the Voice of the People section of the February 18, 2004, New York Daily News:
"To Voicer Matt Sullivan who wished Todd Zeile luck battling for a last-place team at Shea Stadium: I would rather enjoy myself playing for the Mets than win 10 World Series rings playing for George Steinbrenner."
As I recall, the Sullivan fellow wrote a letter knocking Todd Zeile for his candid remarks about his brief stint with the Yankees. That being the case, I concur not just with Zeile but with Voicer B.M. of Flushing.
This comment, from R.S. of Albany, was the Daily Rant in the Two-Minute Drill of the April 19, 2004, Newsday:
"You know you are in trouble when Yankees castoff Shane Spencer is hitting third the second week of the season. It looks like another long year for Mets fans."
Spoken like a true nasty Yankee fan. As soon as the Yankees drop a guy - actually, they let Spencer go after the 2002 season - his fans presume him to be worthless garbage. Well, I've got some news for you, R.S.: Shane Spencer - having 50 at-bats as of April 24 - has a batting average of .340 (17 for 50, with 3 doubles and a triple), an on-base percentage of .389, and is slugging .440. Let's see how that stacks up against some of the Bombers' regulars.
For the record, although A-Rod finally seems to be waking up - he went 1-for-17 in the four-game series against the Bosox last weekend (April 16-19), leaving Boston with a .160 (8 for 50) batting average - at the end of today's (April 25) game, Jeter is riding a 25-at-bat hitless streak. I would relish it if he went 0-for-the-rest-of-the-season.
Overall, with an 8-and-11 record, the Yanks are 4 1/2 games behind the division-leading Red Sox. Their record so far against the Bosox is 1-and-6 - taking only one game out of the four in the April 16-19 series in Boston, and being swept at home in the April 23-25 series. Keep up the bad work!
Follow-up: Jeter finally ended his hitless skid on April 29 at 32 at-bats - he belted a homer on the first pitch he saw. His average bottomed out at .161 (14 for 87) - it's now a lofty .181 (19 for 105)! (He's nearly batting his weight now - 195 pounds, according to Yahoo Sports. He could achieve that goal simply by going on the Jason Giambi Diet.) In the four games starting with the one on April 29, he went 1-for-4, 1-for-4, 3-for-6, and 0-for-4.
Supposedly, Jeter was visited prior to the game by stadium rat Yogi Berra, who offered him words of encouragement - more likely just some obfuscatory mumbo-jumbo, but Berra's mere legendary presence worked its magic anyway. (Regarding that "stadium rat" crack: Several years ago, The Great Peacemaker, sportscaster Suzyn Waldman brought to an end a long-running feud between Yogi and Steinbrenner. Now, it seems, you can't get Berra out of the park, as if he's making up for all the time he lost away from the Great Shrine of Baseball. Was he given the keys to Yankee Stadium or something? Has he moved his permanent living quarters into the team's clubhouse? I wonder if Waldman could broker a cease-fire in the stand-off between the Boss and Joe Torre's former sidekick, Don Zimmer? That might be a tough one, from what I gather.)
From R.B. of Rockville Centre, comes this comment, which was the Daily Rant in the Two-Minute Drill of the June 4, 2004, Newsday:
"The Curse of the Bambino must be over. If it wasn't, the Red Sox would have won the bidding war for Jose Contreras."
How sweet it is that at least in this one case the Red Sox would put one over on the Evil Empire. Let's only hope that there are more such victories to come for them.
In response to the Question of the Week (Will the Mets make the playoffs? Why?), here's a letter, from T.V. of Piscataway, N.J., which appeared in the Sports Forum section of the June 6, 2004, New York Daily News:
"As the eternal Met optimist I have to admit it - no way. Not with this patchwork pitching staff and pop-gun offense. Quality front-line starters are needed, as well as someone that can get this anemic offense going. I've never understood the Mets brass' way of thinking. They say they will make deals if the team is playing meaningful games a month from now? How about getting players that are needed immediately and assuring themselves of having the best possible team on the field now?
One last thing, as bad as everything looks for the Mets, I'm still proud to call myself a Mets fan and would rather suffer than jump on that Yankees bandwagon."
Me, too. I'd rather be in the minority than root for the Evil Empire.
This letter, from V.E. of Manhattan, appeared in the Voice of the People section of the July 12, 2004, New York Daily News:
"The thing that's most glaring about Yankee fans (sportswriters included) is their total lack of graciousness and sportsmanship. If the Yankees lose, they talk smack; if the Yankees win, they talk bigger smack. I'll always be a Mets fan regardless of whether they're good, bad or worse; the jokes and barbs don't bother me. Know this though, if the Mets again don't make it to the end, I'll be more than happy to sit and watch TV in October as the Yankees lose another one. No other fans are as deserving of crow being fed them as Yankee fans."
Well said, Ms. E.! Hopefully, however, the Yankees won't be playing ball this October. But if they are, I'll be lustily rooting against them.
There has been something of a feud between Mets and Yankees fans for the last week or so in the Voice of the People section of the New York Daily News, starting with this letter, from D.M. of Brooklyn on June 29, 2005:
"I know it's hard being a red-headed stepchild in the Big Apple, but it was a choice Mets fans made. A choice many of them made when hell froze over in 1986. Theirs is still a last-place team, a team that has not won their division in 17 years. How can they talk smack in Yankee Stadium and keep a straight face? Every time I go to the Stadium, I see countless numbers of 9- and 10-year-old Yankee fans. Every single one of them has seen more Yankees' World Series games than the average Mets fan will ever see. Think about that."
I'm assuming that a burr got under this guy's saddle after the Mets recently took two games out of three - it should have been all three - from the Stinkees at Thuh Stadium, but who asked this guy to stick in his two cents?
Two days later, on July 1, came this response from P.K. of East Meadow, L.I.:
"I am a Mets fan. It is because of the mean-spirited remarks like those of Voicer D.M. that my second-favorite team is always whatever team is playing the Yankees."
The next day there were these three replies, from V.E. of Manhattan, G.S. of Bronxville, N.Y., and D.L. of Tarrytown, N.Y.:
"To Voicer D.M.: Mets fans embody the definition of what a true fan is, and we're proud of it. You Yankee fans go ahead and exult in your team's 26 championship wins. We're all exulting in the Yankee failures since 2000, especially last fall's history-making choke during the Red Sox series."
"To Voicer D.M.: It seems to me the Mets went to the World Series in 2000 against the Yankees. So you're wrong about the Mets not taking the division in 17 years. The way the Yankees are playing this year, I would not talk about last-place teams if I were you."
"Voicer D.M. embodies everything that non-Yankee fans hate about the Yankees. Their fans are pompous, arrogant and obnoxious. Fans of other teams stay loyal even though their teams didn't buy their championships."
Triple-zing! However, I should point out that, although the Mets did make it to the 2000 World Series, they reached the post-season through the "back door," so to speak - as the wild-card team in the National League.
On July 6, 2005, came this letter, from T.J.M. of the Bronx, to the Voice of the People section of the New York Daily News:
"Do the Mets have to end international terrorism for you to put them on the back cover when they win? I'm tired of the Daily News glorifying the Yankees and their rude, unsavory fans. I can't even wear a Boston hat for fear of an idiot, drunken Yankee fan attacking me. They are the lowest form of life on the planet. It's time for The News to realize there are two baseball teams in New York."
I hate to generalize, but I tend to agree with that assessment of Yankee fans.
The next day, this reply from M.M. of Rockaway Park appeared:
"You're the man, T.J.M.! But radio and television stations don't cover the Mets as much as the Yankees, either. I guess George Steinbrenner's reach is longer than any of us imagined."