Reason # 2,714 why I hate the Yankees
I'm number 1, I'm number 1
By now it is clear that A-Rod simply does not understand the game in which he earns his living. If you just awoke from your winter slumber well then you missed the always gracious and respectful A-Rod and his lack of baseball etiquette in Oakland recently.
The stage was set with A-Rod on first base, Dallas Braden on the mound for the A’s and Robinson Cano at bat. Cano hit a high fly ball that eventually drifted into foul territory. It stayed in the air long enough to give A-Rod time to round second and reach third base before it harmlessly fell somewhere in the seats bounced 30 times, fell two levels and still did not touch a fan at The Coliseum (McAfee). Permit me a slight digression.
Stadium names and attendance…That’s shaky ground for an Baltimore Sports fan. Here in Baltimore our beloved Ravens began playing at “PSI Net” Stadium. I’m not sure which is worse, virus protection that is questionably effective or an ISP that got some really bad advice on how to spend the marketing budget. According to the Baseball Almanac, the A’s averaged 17,000 fans in 2009. The O’s average 23,500…and we stink. In fact we have perfected stink over the last 13 years. Come on Oakland! You have a very nice vinyl upperdeck and a stadium that could possibly be the first ever venue to simultaneously host a soccer match and baseball game. That is one expansive outfield. “It’s soccer day at McAfee Coliseum this Saturday..your Oakland A’s take on the Seattle Mariners and in the outfield pitch (european soccer term), the Oakland Area high school soccer championship”.
Back on track. Here in Baltimore it is our right to hate unlike any hate you might feel when discussing the Yankees’. Baseball purists will know that those in the pinstripes came from our very loins see Baseball Almanac. Then, as if that was not enough we sent one of our own, The Babe, first to Boston and then New York. Since that time, we have more World Series appearances and titles than Boston so that whole “Boston Nation” thing is really a New England thing. But New York is pure.
So A-Rod begins his trot back to first base, across the infield and DIRECTLY over the pitchers mound. I did that once in American Legion and two things happened. First, my cleats caught on the raised mound and I nearly face planted on the field. Second, the pitcher walked over to first and in a code language that I understood let me know that I would be thrown at in my next at bat. Sure enough…I was on the deck in my next at bat.
Our hate is part jealousy but I look for ways to hate the Yankees and this most recent event is the cherry on top. It’s called dancing with girl you brought, biting the hand the feeds you or…an appreciation for America’s game. You see A-Rod is sure that baseball is his game. No understanding or appreciation of the history or vision for the future. He’s taking what it will give him now, and then done. We need fewer A-Rods and more players that realize baseball is in trouble. Perhaps that is because they don’t know the wonderful history of this game. A-Rod says he was unaware of the stay off the mound rule. I knew it…30 years ago.
The Yankee’s have bought ownership of the American League, maybe baseball. They are good, real good. Too bad they simply don’t understand the game.
