WKRLEM TV: Back in the Day

Back in the day all of my friends were Mickey Mantle fans. We didn't know about how he drank and how he abused his body and hurt the team by not taking care of himself. It seemed that everybody loved Mickey. Except for me.

My Dad was a big time Mets fan. He hated the Yankees but he still took me to the game all the time because I loved the team. He never liked Mantle. But he was a big Roger Maris fan.

You see he told me Maris was a working mans hero. He went out and did the job. He was very successful even when his own fans hated him because he beat out the golden boy for the home run title. Because he beat the great Babe Ruth's record. He was what was an ordinary talented guy who reached greatness in one unforgettable season. He was sort of the underdog. So my Dad rooted for him. So did I. It was the beginning of my rooting for the scruffy Yankees and not the classy Yankees. The Bad Asses and the Assholes. Billy Martin. Johnny Elllis. Thurman. Sweet Lou. Ricky Henderson. Jim Leyritz. David Wells.

Still and all everybody loved the Mick.

Play Ball

Today was opening day at Yankee stadium. I once had a consecutive streak of going to 36 Yankee opening days back in the days of my youte.

My first opening day was in 1964 in the old Yankee Stadium. The great Yankees were making their last hurrah that year with Yogi as the manager. Mickey. Roger. Whitey. Tommy Tresh. Elston Howard. I took the subway and carried a sandwich in a paper bag. The only problem was that I had to sit behind a pole that blocked my view. That Tommy Kolwaski was one fat fuck.

Then it was the bad times. Horace Clarke was the symbol and the curse. Roy White and Bobby Murcer tried their best but they just couldn't do it. Every year they brought up young kids who were supposed to turn it around. Frank Tepedino from Staten Island. Johnny Ellis. Rusty Torres. They just never panned out. Still and all I was there for opening day.

Then we started to see some light. A tough talented barrel of a catcher called Thurman. A few decent pitchers starting with a fire balling Cajun. A slick fielding third baseman named Nettles. A few good trades. A crazy speed demon named Mickey Rivers. We made it back to the series only to be crushed by a Big Red Machine. Then craziness with Reggie and Billy and all the rest of the circus. Still and all I made opening day.

Back to treading water. A classy first baseman with the kid from Indiana. The greatest base stealer of all time with Ricky. Dave Winfield to give herpes to a seagull. Mel Hall. Free agents. Turmoil.Still I made opening day.

Finally the classic run. The core four. The Captain. Pettite. Posada. The great Mariano. The unprecedented run. The greatest team of all time! I had season tickets for the fifteen years and still and all I made every opening day.

Then I got married. The wife and I made four or five opening days. But life got in the way. It got more and more expensive in both time and money. We were saving up to start a business. So I gave up opening day. The smell of spring. The sound of the crack of the bat on a ball. Hot dogs. Beer. Summer of my youte. Gone now. Just a memory.

The Yankees won today. I listened to it on the radio. I am very happy. I still follow them religiously. I just can't get to church. I know they don't miss me since the pews are filled with rich fucks and loser cucks who pay the freight these days.

Still and all Opening Day is one of my favorite days in all the year!

It means summer is here.

MLB Opening Day Public Service Advisory

Today is the official start of summer - Major League Baseball's opening day.  The first game of the new season.  The day on which the Cubs are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.   The day on which the Red Sox fans get drunk and vomit and scream unintelligible things.  The day on which Yankees fans gloat about the trade for Babe Ruth, because the Yankees haven't made a decent trade since then.  The day on which Rockies fans light up spliffs at the stadium and wonder when the concert will start.

And millions of tailgating fans will cook bratwurst in stadium parking lots.  Most of them will do it the wrong way.  In the interest of public service........



Wear your baseball cap today, but not like this guy.

Here's one of the best and funniest MLB Hall of Fame induction ceremony speeches ever presented.



ADDED:

Sooner or later this had to happen.  Hu's on first.