NRO Weekend, October 21-22, 2000
A City That Won't Sleep
Family issues on the ballfield.

By Robert A. George of the NY Post

es, I can understand that the rest of the country's hatred for New York City must be at a fever pitch right now. Not only are the usual arrogant New York Yankees in the World Series, but that other New York team — the Amazin' Mets — are there too. The Big Apple, which sees itself as the center of the universe, now really is the center of the baseball universe.

Damn Yankees. Damn Mets. Damn New York.

Ah, yes, ain't life grand!

But many of us who consider ourselves fortunate to be in the middle of this madness are also conflicted. The divisions that the Subway Series has created run quite deep. "Civil War," said one headline of my paper, the New York Post, earlier this week. Rightly so. It's not merely friend against friend or sibling vs. sibling. In my case, for example, my Mom is a Mets fan, while I am a Yankee-lover.

Now, to be fair, I must say that unlike many fans, I do not "hate" the other team. I am, first and foremost, a New York fan (yep, just like Hillary!). This was the city that became my first home in America, lo, those nearly three decades gone. Thus, I tend to root for all New York-area teams. That said, I didn't really start focusing on sports closely until 1978 — the year of the Yankees' amazing comeback from being down 14 games to the Red Sox.

This was the Yankees of Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles, Ron Guidry, manager Billy Martin (until he was fired in midseason), the loud and boorish George "The Boss" Steinbrenner. It was the "Bronx Zoo," a great soap opera. But a lot of that just went over my head; this was just great baseball. Anyway, the next year, the Yanks had a chance to "three-peat" (well before the term was coined). Sadly, Thurman Munson, the captain, died in a plane crash and ace reliever Goose Gossage injured his pitching hand while engaging in clubhouse tomfoolery. The Yankees finished in the middle of the pack. Nobody would have guessed that they would not taste World Series victory for another 18 years (though they played and lost in the '81 Fall Classic).

However, 1979 was interesting because that was the year my mother decided to get interested in the game. Having grown up in the West Indies and then lived in the UK for most of her life, she wasn't that aware of American sports. But watching her son watch the games, she picked up what was going on. Unfortunately, she had this habit of blurting out statements at the worst possible time. The Yankees might be playing the California Angels, for example, and she might say, "I feel there's a home run coming up." Unfortunately, she would say this while the Angels were batting! Worse, she was often right.

I banned her from watching Yankee games. Anyway, she started watching Mets games and took to the guys from Flushing. Lee Mazzilli was her favorite as I recall. Amazingly (so to speak), she seemed to absorb it all.

Even after we left the New York area (I to college in Maryland; she and my sister to California), Mom remained a baseball fan in general (she listened to the Oakland A's), but the Mets in particular. The early and mid '80s were a great time for her. With the rise of Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, and the trades for Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, the Mets ruled. The Yankees, in those pre-wild-card days, had good seasons but could never quite win the division — the Boss's perpetual frustration. One of the most humiliating moments was at the end of the decade, when Steinbrenner tried pathetically to remind people that the Yankees won more games than any other American League team in the 1980s — though they had no division championships to show for it. So, who cares, George?

Of course, I cheered the Mets on in 1986 when they won it all over the Red Sox. Forget about loyalty to the "American League." There was no way a true New Yorker could ever root for the Bosox! Mom was, of course, ecstatic.

Finally, in the mid '90s, the Yankees turned it back around. Wild-card qualifier in '95 and a return to glory in '96. I was most fortunate to get my hands on a ticket for Game Six that year. Remarkably, it was my first time in Yankee Stadium — and for a clinching game, as it turned out! I was in seventh heaven. The city went wild. From a sociopolitical viewpoint, it also seemed like a good metaphor for what Yankee-lover Mayor Rudy Giuliani was doing as well. The city was back and so were the Yankees. Mom, being the fan she was, watched the series from her new digs in Florida.

Last year, when it first looked like a Subway Series might be a possibility (and I was back living in New York), we chatted regularly — especially after the Mets' marathon 15-inning win in Game Five of the National League Championship Series against Atlanta. I was driving back from a Virginia wedding and listened to the whole thing in the car. I parked the car, raced up to my apartment and watched the final inning. After Robin Ventura's "grand slam" single (he hit a ball over the fence with the bases loaded, but was mobbed by his teammates before he could round the bases), I immediately called Mom. Of course, she had been watching. Alas, the Mets fell short in the next game against the Braves. The Yankees went on to repeat as world champions.

I called Mom earlier this week as the Mets officially won the pennant. She, of course, was watching, though nursing a cold. I told her to enjoy the moment. As soon as the Yankees took care of business the next day (which they did), the Mets' days would be numbered. She was more than happy for the challenge.

And that's the effect the Subway Series has on one family.

Final prediction: Despite having a deeper pitching staff top to bottom, the Mets will be unable to offset the awful variable as identified by the Washington Post's Thomas Boswell — the curse of the ex-Baltimore Oriole. This says that the team with most former Orioles will lose a given series. Check it out: Who was the primary pitching goat for the Mariners in the American League Championship Series? That would be one Arthur Rhodes, acquired by the Mariners in the '99 offseason.

The Cardinals had four ex-Orioles (Eric Davis, Will Clark, Mike Timlin, and Jesse Orosco), while the Mets have three (Armando Benitez, Mike Bordick, and Todd Zeile). Unfortunately for the Mets, the Yankees have just one (Luis Polonia). The Curse lives on.

Yanks in seven.

Sorry, Mom.