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Q&A

Got an e-mail from Yankeeist author Larry Koestler today:

I was recently able to conduct an interview with Alex Langsam, who works in the front office of the Pittsburgh Pirates as a Baseball Operations Assistant. Alex was generous enough to spend a significant amount of time providing very well-thought-out answers to my questions. Alex touches on everything from whether we’ll ever see wOBA show up on stadium scoreboards to when we might see some of the Pirates’ young phenoms hit the Bigs to what year the Pirates will return to the playoffs.

One caveat — this interview was conducted prior to the recent news regarding the Pirates’ financial documents and the status of GM Neal Huntington, and so those topics are not covered. Regardless, I wouldn’t have pressed Mr. Langsam nor do I think he would’ve cared to comment on those matters as it is.

Most cool. Dig it:

Yankeeist: You grew up a Yankee fan. Can you tell us a little bit about whether you are able to reconcile your Yankee fandom while working for another Major League organization, or is it similar to what happens when a player who grows up rooting for Team X ends up being drafted by Team Y and naturally switches allegiances to the organization that employs them? Did you root for the Yankees in the playoffs last year given that the Pirates were not involved in postseason play?

AL: I kind of surprised myself in how easy it was to “turn off” being a Yankee fan and switch allegiances to the Pirates. Not that I wasn’t a big fan before, I just found that when you work as hard as you do towards one goal, you have to be in it 100%. There’s really no room to be “rooting” for another team, otherwise you’re not giving the effort that everyone around you in the office is. Odd as it was, the Yankees really just became another team very quickly. As far as rooting for other teams in the playoffs, I found myself rooting for the teams of friends and former co-workers in the industry rather than for the laundry.

Categories:  Bronx Banter  Yankees

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2 comments

1 Jon DeRosa   ~  Sep 9, 2010 3:57 pm

Enjoyable interview, thanks Alex.

It's funny to think that being a Yankee fan, which I imagine is to some extent a part of a lot of our identities, could vanish so easily when necessary.

I also imagine that once you retire, or move into a different profession after baseball, that you can't just go back and be a regular fan again.

2 The Hawk   ~  Sep 9, 2010 6:42 pm

Q&A is quite a movie. I didn't even read the interview yet - I just had to say that. Had to.

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