WHY I BELIEVE IN THE CURSE

On August 15^th, Sports Illustrated posted a front page cover story about Dustin Pedoria titled “Heart of the Red Sox.” Immediately I joked in my head that this has got to be the curse all over again. You know, that strange "curse" talk about whomever is on the Sports Illustrated cover is cursed afterward? Anyway, I quickly forgot about it and to be honest, I don’t need to read about Dustin Pedoria and the dreaded Red Sox, it’s aggravating to me.

Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment and I saw the cover again in the magazine rack in the waiting room and I realized something. With the Yankees thriving and the Red Sox imploding, maybe the curse DOES still live, just in another form. Man, I hope so.

I loved “The Curse of the Bambino” and since childhood, I bought into it. It was amazing to me to see that Sox team play some really good baseball, but then, in a flash, it was all gone. Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone, Bill Buckner, Babe Ruth and so on, all great memories for any Yankees fan. It was incredible the way it played out for years. I remember travelling through Boston for games at Fenway and seeing the Reverse Curve sign and seeing it defaced by a desperate fan who took a risk to change the Sox fate... Reverse the Curse it then read. Wow..."It must have sucked to be a Sox fan", I used to think.

I know some Red Sox fans and before the Red Sox won in 2004, they were beaten down, angry and annoyed with the Yankees. They would tell me that the Yankees bought their championships, yet, in 2004, it seems as though the Red Sox did too, weird right? After they won, they'd tell me the Yankees were finished and they’d tell me every year that the Red Sox were here to stay. Yeah, the Yankees made the playoffs every year except for 2008, but we never won again until 2009.

But I realized something important about Yankees fans... one thing Yankees fans don’t do is give up on their team. Do you remember 1987? How about 1988? Those years as a Yankees fan were brutal. We sucked and we had a stretch of sucking, but one thing was certain, Yankees fans never gave up. Yes, the stands were empty, but the fan base was always there. I remember feeling terrible, but I knew we’d win next year, and a year became a decade and suddenly, with Buck Showalter, we had a shot, but fell short against the Mariners in 1995. I remember where I was and I remember the heartbreak.

When Don Mattingly retired, I couldn’t believe it. “What is he doing? We almost made it!” I remember thinking. Well, no one could have predicted 1996 and beyond, but for a die hard Yankees fan like me and so many like me, the Yankees were back and never giving up on our team paid off for 5 more championships. It was beautiful.

Right now the evil Red Sox are imploding and if I can latch onto a little luck and just stare at that Sports Illustrated cover for another 2 weeks, I feel the vibe of the curse all over again. The curse is alive and well Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s just in a different form and while the Yankees are a great ball club, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little help on the side. A little luck, a little curse against the Red Sox. I’ll take what I can get.

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FOR THE LOVE OF MY NEW YORK YANKEES

If there’s one thing I know about Fenway, besides being one of the best historic ballparks in the world, it has some of the most obscene fans ever. Well, Phillies fans are pretty bad, but I don’t think they trained their kids to chant “ARod Sucks... Jeter Swallows.” That may be the most offensive thing you can chant at a ballpark, a park with children present to see a good game between 2 division rivals and history in the making.



I was at Fenway in 2004 and witnessed this exact little spectacle and I will tell you, while the kid had no idea what he was saying, the fans thought it was hilarious and the dad felt like a rock star for 3 minutes, high-fiving fellow Sox fans while his parrot kid was screaming obscenities to the players on the field. You wonder why I call them the evil Red Sox, it’s because that red just makes their fans see red. Next thing you know it’s an all-out assault and it’s sad.In 2007, I was at Yankee Stadium with a friend for yet another Yankees-Red Sox match up. We were in the nosebleeds in right field. Now, if you read WHAT IS A YANKEE GROUPIE? PART 2, I probably fall into “The Possum” category. I'm the guy who’d love to be obnoxious, but the reality is, I have kids, I’m 40 and I just want to see a good game. As I was trying to get through the aisle, I spilled a little beer on a Red Sox fan who tried to back up and let me in get by, but he just slid his legs over and I needed to shuffle past him. Needless to say, beer spilled. He thought purposly, although it wasn’t, but I was glad he thought so. “What the hell are you doing?” he said. “Trying to get by you, thanks for moving,” I snapped back. “You spilled beer on me.” And he stood up and we were face to face. I looked him dead in the eye and said softly “You don’t want to do this here. This is our house, not yours.” Quickly, he shut up and sat back down.



Throughout the game, the Yankees played good ball. At that point the people who sat next to this sad Red Sox fan left and I need to push more buttons…so I sat right next to him. The dude rolled his eyes. The balls on this guy, right? We Yankee fans come into Yankee stadium and we’re threatened? No Way. God forbid I tell him he’s in the wrong house. I slowly became “The Frat Boy” mentality and made sure the world knew there was a Red Sox fan in my section. Luckily, it worked. A few chants and middle fingers later that Sox fan got a taste of his own medicine, he left. The Yankees Red Sox Series to me is always great and always will be. Starting with Babe Ruth, it may be some of the most fun you can have at a ballpark. Through the years, the curse was so great for any Yankees fan and when it “ended” in 2004, I still want to believe. Why? Because for the years leading up to the Sox winning, the curse was a fun little element of the game. These days, the games are still competitive, but I don’t feel like it’s the same. The evil Red Sox are winning more for some reason and I don’t like it one bit.



So, what can we do as the New York Yankees? Win. The Yankees are the greatest team in franchise history; we have the wins, the rings and the greatest fans in the world. The Red Sox have some wins and some fans that were so old they croaked after they finally won in 2004 and then they have the latch-ons; These are Red Sox fans that weren’t Red Sox fans before they won, but they hate the Yankees so they bought a Sox hat. Passion wins every time though, that’s the difference. True fans have passion, Yankee fans have passion. Latch-on Red Sox fans can't name the lineup. What I mean is this; you can wear your stupid red cap all you want, the truth of the matter is, the Yankees are tradition, we have determination and we belong on top… that’s not just a stupid rant ladies and gentlemen, that’s the truth…

• Grady Little leaving Pedro Martinez in too long, was supposed to happen.



• Aaron Boone’s home run was supposed to happen
  
  



• Babe Ruth becoming a huge hitting sensation with the Yankees was supposed to happen
  
  



• Bill Buckner letting that ground ball go under his legs was supposed to happen.



• Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs never winning with the Sox and then winning with the Yankees… was supposed to happen.
  
  

It’s destiny, nothing less. Let’s Go Yankees!

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WHY MANTLE & MARIS ARE STILL INTRIGUING TODAY

When I was a kid, my dad told me a story about the 1961 home run race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. When he told the story, it was the greatest event of his lifetime, and you could tell. His eyes would get big describing the tension and how Yankee fans took sides. many loved Mickey Mantle and wanted him to win it all because he was a fan favorite before Roger Maris ever put on pinstripes. Others, and there were far less, were rooting for the underdog, Roger Maris to win the crown. Ultimately though, there were many that just didn’t want the Babe to be knocked from the top. After all, 60 home runs in a single season was a huge accomplishment, but to have anyone else do it would almost be unheard of. After all, it was the Babe’s record and it wasn’t meant to be broken.

My dad was an usher at Yankee Stadium starting at 15 years old. He’d hop on a subway alone to get to work in the Bronx everyday for a few years. It was the way it was back then and for my dad, a Yankee fan, it was a dream come true.

The 60’s were an interesting time in the Bronx. The Yankees were still very good, but things went downhill after the 1964 season. He was there for a lot of it and learned from the best at the stadium, his peers, the other ushers. They were men much older than 15 and they’d been ushering since before he was born and probably saw the Babe Ruth play. They taught my dad the tricks of the trade. “Once you get the people to their seat. Stand there for a minute and shake your pocket so the change rattles around in there,” they’d tell him. “The people will HAVE to tip you then.” And they did. Before that tip, he wasn’t making any tips, after that, he was rich, a $10 week was huge.

Not to get off track, but to make my point, it was a simpler time back then, less to watch, less to do, which is why the Mantle and Maris home run race was so exciting in 1961. It was bigger than anything coming out of New York and it spread fast.

Once Mantle started to fall short and Maris started picking up steam, the whole Yankee Universe started to back their new hero collectively. Sure, there were many traditionalists that didn’t think Roger Maris had any business snagging the home run record from the greatest Yankee player of all time, Babe Ruth, but everything happens for a reason, and in that 1961 season, it was time for change.

The home run was deep to right field and Maris’s swing looked like slow motion, but it sailed into the stands and at that moment in 1961, so many emotions ran through people’s minds. Many were sad, but the majority of Yankee fans rejoiced. After all, once it was clear Roger Maris was the guy, you had to respect the feat. Besides, it was another Yankee breaking the record, not a Red Sock...not a Cub… it was Roger Maris, another New York Yankee, not only did the record stay in the family, but it put Roger Maris on the map. Once a quiet kid out of the Indians organization, this kid had a new home, the Bronx, with new fans, all of Yankeeland.

My dad talks about that moment fondly, because the whole summer made sense after that especially after winning the 1961 World Series as well. It’s the Yankee way. After that, there were so many other great moments that just made sense too after that, Bucky Dent’s home run, Aaron Boone, the Derek Jeter flip play,even Jim Abbott’s perfect game and Reggie Jackson cranking out 3 home runs in 1 game in 1977… all Yankee moments through baseball history, all that were supposed to happen to no other team but the a New York Yankees. That's why Derek Jeter finally recorded 3000 hits and that's why Mariano Rivera is now charging closer and closer to the all time Saves record of 601 currently held by Trevor Hoffman. Not because he's Mariano Rivera, but because he is the Great Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees. All of these moments are truly beautiful. It’s tradition that runs so deep, it’s tremendous. And not only that… it’s our Yankees destiny.

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WHY I'LL NEVER FORGET OCTOBER 16, 2003

So many memories from that crazy game! I am so glad Aaron Boone ended it in the 11^th for two reasons:

• First, I was hanging with some friends at Rosie O'Grady's Bar in midtown Manhattan and I'm pretty sure I was pushing the individual record for, how many "this-Buds-for-you" I could drink. Catch my drift?

• Second, and most important, we put a dagger in the hearts of the evil Red Sox and Sox Nation as well, that in my lifetime, I may never see that happen so suddenly again.
  

There may be some other great, dramatic wins against the Red Sox in the future, but never duplicated in the drama or pure joy like that night in the Bronx! Sure, the Red Sox humbled us a bit the very next year, but, for some reason, I think a lot of us Yankee fans started seeing the writing on the wall in Game 4 in 2004 knowing that the Sox may be clawing their way back into this thing. Sure enough, as we all know, History was made in 7 games. Honestly, as upset as I was after Game 7 in 2004, I swear, I was still feeling all warm and tingly remember Boone's
blast. I guess it made the pain hurt less.

Obviously, the Boone walk off homer in the 11^th to win it will be the #1 highlight whenever that game is examined, and rightfully so. But there were so many other moments in that game that makes it the greatest Yankee game I've ever watched! Yep, the greatest! To me, it is The Yankee Classic of all Classics.

Remember...this was Clemens vs. Martinez rematch from Game 3. That little old Game 3 where Pedro should have been charged with senior abuse after tossing Don Zimmer to the ground! I just remember anticipating another pitchers duel, but when the Yankees fell behind 4 runs, I have to admit, I was getting a bit nervous.

Remember... Moose came in and threw 3 shutout innings of relief. NOBODY remembers that, but it was huge that night. It was the first time in Mussina's career that he pitched in relief and in this game, coming through the way he did, it's really amazing it isn't talked about more when his career is brought up in discussion. In fact, I bet you if you asked him about highlights in his career, those three innings might be in his top 10.

Remember... Jason Giambi hit two solo homeruns. Those two runs turned out to be huge!

Remember... the eight inning! The moment Grady Little became the new Bill Buckner in Boston, allowing Pedro Martinez to talk him into keeping him in the game. I remember hearing a few of the Boston fans in the bar when Little left Pedro in the game. It was like the grounder under Buckner's legs all over again! Meanwhile, I said, "YES!, Keep him in!" Oh, and, go figure, the Captain is the one who hits the double to get the comeback underway!

Remember... Mariano going 3 innings, and holding Boston. That was just sick! The heart Mo showed to me that night is what legends are made of. Again, after it is all said and done, when we one day look back on the great Mariano Rivera, those three innings will be in the top of my list of his great accomplishments -- and like Mike Mussina, I bet you that it will be on his list as well! And who can forget that image of Mo collapsing on the mound at the end of the game, crying! Can anyone say goose bumps!

Remember... the nail in the Red Sox Nation coffin! In the words of longtime Yankee broadcaster, Charlie Steiner (that was a joke!), "AAARROONN BOOONNEE!"

By the way, I know there are a gazillion videos on You Tube of Boone's homerun. I found this one the other day that just mesmerized me. It's raw, the camera is jumpy, and there are a few times the tape jams up, but where this person was sitting and the raw emotion of what was happening that night in Yankee Stadium is captured perfectly from a fans perspective. Anyway, if you want to watch it here is the link:

P.S. Feel free to let me know where you rank this game in your all time list in the comment box below or hit me on twitter @MikeyBlue2323

--Mikey Blue BYB Senior Writer

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