Sports

BILL O’Boyle

It was Oct. 8, 1964. My dad and I were sitting down the left field line in thee Yankee Stadium. Al Downing was on the mound for the Yanks against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the top of the sixth and the Yanks were coasting with a 3-0 lead. The Cards loaded the bases and Ken Boyer pulled a Downing pitch down the left field line – right past me and my dad – and into the stands for a grand slam.

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The Cardinals won the game, 4-3 and eventually won the Series.

That game and Bill Mazeroski’s World Series winning homer for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Yankees in 1960 are two of the worst memories of my childhood.

The Yankees that I came to know and love are gone. What we have here in 2009 is a bunch of overpaid, underachieving players called Yankees.

Where have you gone Hector Lopez? Or Johnny Blanchard. Or Horace Clark for that matter. I miss the blood and guts of Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer and the fierce competitiveness of Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Elston Howard.

The 2009 Yankees are being paid a team total of around $211 million – by far the highest in the game. By that standard alone, the Yankees should be in the World Series. Heck, they shouldn’t lose a game, right?

Someone once wrote that the definition of perfection is 90 feet between the lines. Despite the gross commercialization of America’s Pastime, baseball still provides more drama and excitement than any other sport. At least to those who know the game and can appreciate the need for a breaking ball away on a 2-1 count and runners in scoring position.

Yes the Yankees are in the World Series again. But not the Yankees I knew. They are playing in a place called Yankee Stadium, but not the real Yankee Stadium. The logo is the same, the pinstripes are there, but the tradition is long gone, like that fabled home run Babe Ruth is said to have hit at Kirby Park in 1926.

Do these Yankees really care if Joe Girardi fulfills the prophecy he wears on his back - #27? Of course not.

Rooting for the Yankees has become more difficult each year. I was somewhat embarrassed when they signed CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira to multi-year, multimillion dollar contracts this past off-season. It would be a good thing to see baseball towns like Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore and Pittsburgh rise up again and compete for pennants.

Will I be upset if the Yanks lost to a solid Philadelphia club? Perhaps a little. I won’t run to my room like I did in 1960 after Maz hit that homer. I won’t fall into my dad’s arms like I did when Ken Boyer slammed the Yanks in ’64.

Nor will I jump for joy like I did when Bobby Richardson caught Willie McCovey’s line drive in 1962. And I won’t scream like I did every time Mickey Mantle took a cut.

Back in the good old days, teams stayed together and you knew each lineup because they rarely changed. Now, with big bucks dangled in front of the game’s better players, uniforms change more often than babies’ diapers. Baseball has become akin to shopping on Rodeo Drive. Bring enough money and you can buy the best the stores have to offer.

And despite all the changes to the game, what we have left are two good teams and the prospects of a competitive series.

For Jeter and Posada and Rivera - Yankees in seven.

Bill O’Boyle, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.