Originally Posted by
Brian Harvick
Edwin, Edwin, Edwin,
You have touched my nerve. I will never endorse an American League team. They play with ten men. That ain't baseball. Still, you have hit my soft spot, so I will offer the following: My son, now 36 has a genuine Mickey Mantle autograph from roughly 1991. My son and he shared thesame barber in Atlanta. The Mick used to fly to Atlanta every month to get his hair cut, when he did not live there. No joke. My current neighbor (the guy down the road is considered a neighbor here in the Shenandoah Valley) played minor league ball with Mickey and he tells me stories from time to time. My neighbor has the same wife he had back then. He lives in a small house nearby and keeps it gorgeous. He is deep into his 80s now.
I learned to love Mantle, but I loved Maris more. He struggled with his fame, and yes, it is true that his hair fell out in huge quantities. But accept the Yankees? Never ! FWIW, although they have big bats, their pitching this year is dreadful. No championship for the Yanks this year. :>)
But you can take revenge from this: The NY Mets, NY Titans, and the NJ Americans formed shortly after I moved to NJ as a ten year old kid. Obviously, I was going to pick up all new teams. There was no such thing as a TV fan back then. The Mets played in the Polo Grounds and for 25 cents and a Wonder Bread wrapper you could sit in the bleachers. The Titans were part of the AFL and were totally underfunded. They went belly-up. A rich guy named Sonny Werblin bought them out and renamed them the NY Jets. Kids got into Jets games for 25 cents also but it became 50 cents plus a Wonder Bread Wrapper, also at the Polo Grounds. The NJ Americans played in Teaneck, NJ Armory, and kids got in free. That is no joke. The Armory.
I went to MANY of those games facing the wrath of my parents and a significant number of beatings. I watched Elio Chicone (sp?), Choo-Choo Coleman, and now my memory fades. I watched all three teams lose games beyond count, and endured laughter of all my friends. Then suddenly, The Mets got this guy named Tom Terrific. The Nets got a guy named Julius Erving. The Jets drafted a guy named Joe Namath. After all those beatings, and Wonder Bread wrappers things were looking up. And I was eighteen ! And a high school graduate !
In 1967 I was drafted into the Army . In 1968 and 1969 I served in Vietnam. In 1968 and 1969 Julius Erving became Dr. J and the Nets won the ABA championship, Red, White, & Blue ball notwithstanding and I think also was absorbed into the ABA. The NY Jets won the 2nd Super Bowl. And the NY Mets won the World Series. All while I was in a war.
I did not forgive them then. I do not forgive them now. Mets, Jets, and Nets are all dead to me ! I will never ever root for them again.
I was born in Wisconsin so I root for the Pack. I live in Virginia, so I root for the Skins. My son went to Clemson so I root for them even though I attended Georgia Tech. But I will never ever root for the Yankees. Ten men.
And if you don't enjoy that fan story, I have nothing to offer. But I LOVE woodworking !
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