November 4: I’m a Yankee Hater. But I Just Can’t Hate These Guys

I have no trouble admitting it. I’ve always been a Yankee hater. Grew up with it. Was raised to be a Yankee hater. Married a girl from Cleveland who loves baseball, but can’t even watch the World Series this year because the Yankees are in it. I do a radio show every morning with a guy who’s a Red Sox fan and almost can’t say the word Yankees.

Granted, I work all day with Goldeyes general manager Andrew Collier, who happens to be a Yankees fan. And while that’s had some influence on me, I have to admit, I can’t hate these Yankees. That’s right, I’m an alleged Yankee hater, who just can’t hate this team.

Try as I might, I just can’t find a way to hate Derek Jeter or Andy Pettitte or Jorge Posada or Melky Cabrera or Joba Chamberlain or Robinson Cano. They were all scouted and signed by the Yankees organization and they have been Yankees for their entire careers (Pettitte excluded).

In the meantime, I’m a huge fan of Alex Rodriguez, and I became an even bigger fan after his brush with the media’s anti-steroid witch-hunt. In fact, as soon as Selena Roberts’ salacious and apparently fictional book of Rodriguez’s life was published, I bought an A-Rod jersey. Rodriguez is just a great player, period, and quite frankly deserves to wear a World Series championship ring.

So what if the Steinbrenner family bought Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Hideki Matsui? Big deal. Nobody broke any rules. That’s baseball’s fault, not the Yankees.

When I was young, eight or nine, growing up in Sarnia, Ontario, about 50 minutes from the main ticket window at Tiger Stadium, I was brain-washed. Both my mom and dad adored baseball and my dad took me to Detroit often. We’d buy cheap seats, sit down the third base line or in the upper deck behind the plate and my dad would regale me with stories about Mickey Cochrane, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer and Hal Newhouser, Tiger greats all.

My mom’s favourite player was a right-handed pitcher named Frank Lary, a guy Tiger fans called “The Yankee Killer” for his penchant for pitching his best against the Bronx Bombers. Lary, who led the American League in wins in 1956 and won three Gold Gloves in his career, was 28-13 lifetime (7-0 in 1958) against the Yanks.

My parents absolutely despised the Yankees and that was long before George Steinbrenner showed up. However, we almost never missed going to at least one game of a Tigers-Yankees series. In fact, at least once a year, my folks would take me to Detroit, we’d stay at the downtown Statler-Hilton Hotel for the weekend, and I’d ride the elevators with the likes of Bill Skowron, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. Still have all the autographs in a leather-bound book that I’ve saved since 1960.

My personal experiences with the Yankees have never been short of terrific. Childhood memories aside, one of the best interviews I’ve ever had was with Hideki Matsui and his translator. All Matsui ever wanted as a kid growing up in Japan was to wear the pinstripes. The interview was conducted down in Dunedin, Florida before Matsui’s rookie season began and he nearly broke down, he was so proud to wear the uniform.

At the 1997 all-star game in Cleveland, I got on an elevator with Derek Jeter. It was an amazing moment. My 13-year-old daughter was “in love” with Jeter and this was her big chance. This was her opportunity to say something to her hero – virtually alone in an elevator.

Naturally, as Jeter smiled at her, almost daring her to say something, she completely froze. She just stood there with her mouth open gazing up at the best shortstop in the game. When Jeter got off, he smiled and said “Have fun” and Betsy nearly died. It was a wonderful moment and Jeter was a great sport.

I always enjoyed Joe Torre when he managed the Yanks, Bernie Williams was nothing short of a gentleman – under any circumstance – and this summer in Minnesota, I had a terrific time around the batting cage with Nick Swisher, joking and carrying on.

So tonight, when the Yanks face the Phillies in Game 6 of the Series, do I want to see the Phillies win? Sure I do. Does that make me a Yankee hater. Nope, just a baseball fan who wants to see a Game 7.

I will make this confession, publicly, even to my downtrodden wife and her downtrodden Cleveland Indians and she will be very upset. No, I’m not a Yankee hater.

Now, the Boston Red Sox? That’s a whole ’nother discussion.