Welcome Back, Duque!
El Duque is my main mang--by far my favorite player of the last ten years.
If you haven't already, check out this biography--The Duke of Havana. It is not only a great sports book, but an extremely accurate and engaging potrayal of real life in Cuba. I highly recommend it.
When you understand that before his raft ride through shark infested waters--a myth the book debunks), El Duque because of his brother Livan's defection was banned for over a year not only from playing professional baseball, but from even playing softabll in the park, the fact that he was able to physically rebound from a year of total and malnutrition inactivity and help lead the 1998 Yankees to a title is all the more incredible. (see nice Verducci Flashback from '98 on SI.com)
Duque's arrival is going to exarcerbate what many of my fellow Yankee-loving friends have already identified as a disturbing trend: I am getting soft on the Mets.
I am a life-long Yankee fan. A Yankee fan who suffered through the years of Mel Hall, Pascual Perez, Steve Trout, Ed Whitson, Bobby Meacham and Alvaro Espinoza. A Yankee fan who so jealous and spiteful of the '86 Mets that I actually rooted for the Red Sox to win the World Series.
It sounds ridiculous in these days of wine, roses, and perennial division titles, but I have suffered for the Yankees. Between the time I was 5 (1978) and I was 22 (1995) my team didn't make the playofs. My AL East dreams were crushed yearly by the likes of the Brewers, Orioles, Tigers, Red Sox and the merciless Blue Jays.
Cubs fans might argue that a 17 year drought is a drop in the bucket, but I believe my steadfastness through those years should remove me from accusations of winner-picking and bandwagoneering. My heart has always and will always belong to the Yankees.
But I have to confess that my head is beginning to lean towards the Mets. They are playing a baseball fan's baseball...
and now they have El Duque.
Photo: NYC Rail
1 Comments:
Frank sang it, didn't he? "It's up to you, New York, New York." I think even though Mr Blue Eyes might not have known it at the time, I will believe he was giving a shout out to both the boys from the Bronx and Queens. What I believe Sinatra was saying to New Yorkers everywhere, is simply, "don't hate." We got enough love to go around.. So CI, i get it. El Duque has paddled over to the Mets side and I say it's ok to love the orange and blue.
Here's my thing. I never got this deal where you can't like the Mets and Yanks. I grew up in Queens, just about 30 minutes from Shea Stadium. In the late 70s and most of the 80s I spent a good percentage of my Friday nights with some kids from Queens sitting behind home plate watching the like of the terrible like Pat Zachary, Pete Falcone, Neil Allen and Craig Swann, to the immortal like Dr K. I grew up on those Mets teams. I have moments from the 1986 World Series video memorized, including the scene where Mookie Wilson hurts his eye during the spring training drill.
GARY CARTER: Did it break the glass? OH MY GOD.. IT DID!
So i have love for the Mets, but here's the flip. My father grew up in the Bronx and by association I grew up with stories of Joe D and the Mick and Whitey Ford. So, how could i not love the pinstripes too? Now for some reason according to some radio hosts this is not allowed. You cannot root for both the Mets and Yankees that you have to choose a side. But it makes no sense to me. What are the sides in this fight? Until interleague play, these teams barely played each other, unless you are talking the Mayors Cup which was a joke and they never until 2000 met in the World Series. What was the competition? This wasn't Ali or Frazier and it wasn't even the Rangers and the Islanders. There is no need to pick a side here. Why can't i embrace the National League version of this city and the American League version? Who's got a beef with that?
I think if we want to divide the city and make barriers in the rooting, then let's split this up and regionalize the thing. Call them the Bronx Yankees and the Queens Mets (although neither has much of a ring to it) and let's put borough pride on the line. But if you are just going to call these teams New York, then I am going to stick with rooting for the city and yell just as loud for Jeter as I do for Wright.
Now, CI, i certainly agree with you. The Mets got a little more vibe on them this year. Delgado is mashing big time, Wright will be here forever and Pedro brings the electricity. The Yanks are like the tv show ER. Still top flight program, but with all the cast changes, it just doesn't feel the same and you can certainly miss a few episodes and not be lost.
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