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I can’t take any more upheaval.October used to mean pinstripes in Major League Baseball. Then again, might used to make right in global financial markets...

Just Saying, Is All... | Why We Miss the New York Yankees

by Ryan Alberti (Senior Writer)

7

1274 reads

Editorial

October 09, 2008

MLB, AL East, New York Yankees, Sports & Society, Satire, Editorial

I can’t take any more upheaval.

October used to mean pinstripes in Major League Baseball. Then again, might used to make right in global financial markets. In 2008, alas, the inevitable has become anything but, and there’s no bet more dangerous than the one laid on a sure thing.

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the playoffs, and nowhere are the Yankees to be found.

It’s not that change is always bad. Also-rans are people too, and I’m sure the folks in Tampa are toasting their title with pints of prune juice. But regularity shouldn’t just be for retirees. When the Old Order goes to pieces all around you, it’s only rational to root for a familiar face.

It’s the end of the world as we know it.

It’s the end of the world as we know it.

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It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel lost without Derek Jeter.

Fans moan about hegemonic dynasties, but they don’t really mean it. Baseball without the Yankees is like Wall Street without Merrill Lynch: rootless, reeling, scattered, scared. It’s one thing to rail against the Big Shots when they’re strong enough to take for granted. It’s quite another to face the consequences when all your ill-wishes actually come true.

The stars have fallen.

The mountains have moved.

I have seen the last Horseman of the Apocalypse, and he bears a striking resemblance to Joe Maddon.

Sports are supposed to be an escape from Real Life. Out there the banks are broke and the budget’s busted and the only certainty is doubt. In here, on the other hand, you always know what you’re going to get—or at least you used to, before Joe Torre traded in his ulcers for a suntan. Now up is down and left is right, and somewhere in North Jersey there’s a jobless stock-swapper who’d kill for the sort of autumn collapse he could blame on Alex Rodriguez.

I know Paul Simon had a thing for Joltin’ Joe, but desperate times call for desperate daydreams:

Where have you gone, Poppa Steinbrenner,
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. (Boo boo boo.)
What's that you say, Hank, you imbecile—
Georgie Boy has left and gone away?

Well, that's our loss, I suppose.

Because Evil Empires always die hard, and postseason buzz without the Boss sounds an awful lot like only just saying, is all...

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comments (7) write a comment »

  1. Hey Ryan,

    Great stuff again my friend. The image of Floridians hoisting their steins of prune juice is one that may never be erased from my memory bank.

    It's still possible to kick the Yanks without them being in the playoffs, isn't it?

    Lew

  2. Is it just me - or does it look like Hank paints his hair on with a roller? He is certainly not doing anything to make more people like the Yankees. Even tons of die-hard Yankees fans think that guy is a tool.

  3. I don't miss 'em—yet.

    Maybe that's because I'm a Red Sox fan, but with the Yanks' impending free agency situation it doesn't feel like they'll be gone for long. Right now feels like a nice respite from all the smuggery, as far as I'm concerned.

  4. Regularity shouldn't just be for retirees... That will go in the Alberti's greatest hits collection someday. Prune juice on me next time I see you.

    1. I'm actually more of a Metamucil man myself...but if you're paying, I'll make an exception.

  5. Aaaaaaahhhhhh! That's the sound of me leaning back and kicking my feet up. I have been waiting for the Yankees wave to finally hit the shore since they swept my beloved Braves in 1996 and 1999. I toast with my sweet tea with lemon!

    Earth to Yankees, Earth to Yankees...welcome back to Earth. They had a great dynasty; I will always be a Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada fan. I am also a Joe Torre fan; and what they did to him up in NY was ridiculous.

    The Casey Stengel of our time deserved better after what he did at Yankee Stadium for 12 years: 10 Division Titles, 6 Pennants and 4 (count 'em) World Championships! I find it no coincidence that his Dodgers are still in the postseason while the Yanks are watching baseball from the same place as my Braves- their living rooms!

    Tampa may now be toasting steins of prune juice; but for years, y'all up there in NYC have toasted steinBRENNERS of raw sewage.

    Dang, this sweet tea is good! Now, all I need is a slab of pecan pie before the game starts!

  6. Yeah, I for one will not be bemoaning the lack of Yanks in the post season.

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