|
From The Dugout
By Keith LeClair
©2004 Bonesville.net
Darn the Yankees
Being a Red Sox fan, I
hate to say this, but I have to get it off my chest. Love 'em or hate'
em, you have to respect them. I am talking about the New York Yankees.
Yes, I said the Yankees,
and I will even throw Mr. Steinbrenner's name in there as well.
OK, you're thinking I have
gotten an overdose of my medication and have gone off the deep end. Just
hear me out and I will explain, so any Boston fans reading this site
relax and don't egg my house.
I guess you can call me a
baseball purist right down to the bone. Here is what I respect and
admire about the Yankees, win or lose. I watched the Yankees sweep
Boston in a three-game series this week on my laptop computer, via the
MLB.TV website.
If you noticed, the Yanks
have strict team rules on how they will don their pinstripe uniforms.
These rules, of course, come straight down from the boss, Mr.
Steinbrenner. Here they are, neat haircuts, nothing below the collar, no
facial hair — except for a clean trimmed mustache — uniform tops
buttoned all the way up, no earrings on field and no names on the back
of the jersey.
I absolutely love it, and
in my opinion it brings unity into a team. From the superstars to the
role players, it says nobody will be different.
As I watched the series
against Boston, you could see two different characteristics of the
definition of team — one, in the Yankees playing by a uniform set of
rules and, two, Boston, which apparently has absolutely no guidelines,
whatsoever.
The BoSox have guys with
long hair down past the shoulders, full length gorilla beards, chains
hanging out the uniform big enough to pull a pick-up truck out of the
mud, uniform tops half unbuttoned and hair colored half orange, not to
mention putting the name on the back of each uniform.
I am a baseball purist and
enjoyed seeing my players play by the Yankee code. Mr. Steinbrenner said
it best when Lou Pinella confronted him at a team meeting. Lou at the
time had long hair and asked Steinbrenner, if Jesus wore long hair why
couldn't he?
Mr. Steinbrenner said
after looking around the spring training complex: "Lou, you see that
pool over there."
Lou replied, "Yes, sir."
Steinbrenner shot back,
"If you can walk across it you can wear your hair anyway you want, but
until then you will do it my way."
And by the way, Ortiz.
Your glove does not have a hole in it, but you played it off like a real
little leaguer.
If you
have a question or comment about the Pirates in particular or baseball
in general, get a learned response by firing your best pitch at Ol'
Condo. Submit your
message by clicking the following e-mail link:
E-mail Coach LeClair.
02.23.07 10:27 AM
|
