I saw a sound bite on EPSN this morning that might be of some interest to the Oakland A’s. It was after last night’s game in Boston, when infielder Todd Walker told the TV cameras—as well as the Fenway Faithful: “We’re going to roll into Oakland and whip some ass and move on from there.”
Hmmm. He’s got the nerve to say it, let’s see how he backs it up.
Congrats to Red Sox Nation this morning, as their boys clinched the wild card last night at Fenway Park. There was a wild celebration after the game, which featured Manny Ramirez talking to the press! Funny what winning can do, huh? While part of me is happy for the Sox faithful, another part of me scoffs at such premature celebrations. Pardon me if I’m a spoiled snob, but the Sox haven’t won anything yet. You’d think that a good portion of the Nation would be leary of such antics as well.
Listen, I’m happy for the fans and the team—or as happy as a Yankee fan can ever be with such a thing. Theo Epstein assembled a fine squad, and they play with a lot of character and moxie: they are an entirely admirable group of players. If the 1996-2001 Yankees were hard to hate, so are these Red Sox. But calm down, now. Wait until you’ve won something meaningful before you go throwing a ticker tape parade.
Last night’s Love-In will seem hollow if they can’t make it out of the first round. Then again, it is just the begining if they can make it all the way to the Championship.
Oh, and a special congrats go out to Scott Adams, Ed Cossette, David Pinto, Ben Jacobs, and my man, Johnny fuggin’ Red Sox—all Red Sox fans of the first order.
My blogging pal, and fellow New Yorker, Steve Keane, sole owner and proprietor of The Eddie Kranepool Society, recently took exception with an article written by Daily News columnist Filip Bondy. The article in question was a puff piece about one of Bondy’s beloved “Bleacher Creatures.” It is a trivial little column, and I’m certain that this isn’t the first time the Yankee-friendly Bondy has chapped Keane’s—or any other self-respecting Met fan’s—behind:
I have never hide [sic] my hatred for Filip Bondy of the NY Daily News. I’ve always felt that Bondy has had a vendetta against the Mets. Back in the late 80’s he wrote a column calling Mets management racist for not having any African-American players on the team. This is the same guy who writes about his love for the NY Yankees. The same NY Yankees who would have been the last team in baseball to become interrogated [sic] if it were not for the Boston Red Sox.
While I can’t disagree with Keane’s assessment of Bondy, I do want to offer some clarification regarding the Yankees race record. They were one of the last teams to integrate, but when they finally promoted Ellie Howard to the majors in 1955, there were still three teams that remained all-white: the Phillies, Tigers and of course, the Red Sox.
The Yankees’ racist management, and the casual bigotry of Casey Stengel and some of the players is indeed a shameful mark on the teamís history. Interestingly, they initially had been one of the first clubs to sign black players. In 1949, GM George Weiss recruited Artie Wilson, Frank Austin, and Luis Angel Martinez; next, they bought the contracts of Bob Thurman and Taborn from the Kansas City Monarchs. But none of these players came close to making the big club, who by then, were in the process of reeling off five consecutive championships.
According to Jules Tygielís scholarly history of integration, “Baseballís Great Experiment:”
The Yankees had
