writing as a proud native of chicago, i'm neither a huge new york mets nor new york yankees fan. still its disconcerting to have both local baseball teams absent from this year's fall classic. the fate of the yankees was officially sealed last week, ironically after a win. yesterday the mets surrendered their opportunity for a wild card berth by losing the last game of the season to the florida marlins. the milwaukee brewers secured that spot by defeating the national league central champion chicago cubs on the strength of cc sabbathia's magnificent left arm. both teams will move into sparkling new stadiums to open the 2009 baseball season.
the yankees are undoubtedly the most storied franchise in modern sports history. legends like ruth, gehrig, dimaggio, berra & mantle are revered worldwide because of their championship teams yet for the first time in 13 years the yankees will watch their rival american leaguers vie for a coveted world series ring. they split a day-night doubleheader with the boston red sox yesterday. in the opener yankee veteran right-hander mike mussina became, at age 39, the oldest player to win 20 games for the first time. the savvy mussina finished the year at 20-9, with help from future hall-of-famer mariana rivera, winning 6-3.
the mets suffered their second consecutive year coming up a day late & dollar short. new manager jerry manuel will prolly shoulder the blame from their fickle fans & the arrogant media for playing an inconsistent september. a couple of weeks ago the mets were in first place yet lost their lead to the eastern champion philadelphia phillies, who were led by mvp candidate fist baseman ryan howard. newly acquired johan santana pitched a glorious three-hit, nine-strikeout, complete game shutout to tie the mets with milwaukee on saturday, thus setting the stage for the season's final showdown. unfortunately the mets potent offensive trio of david wright, carlos beltran & carlos delagdo were quiet as they lost 4-2.
both teams had emotionally charged farewell ceremonies during their respective final home stands, welcoming past players onto the field for the fans to celebrate their legacy one last time. shea stadium in queens was primarily known for the '69 amazin mets - who overcame an eight-game deficit in september from the struggling chicago cubs to make the nl playoffs & ultimately defeat the baltimore orioles in the world series with timely defense, clutch hitting & solid pitching. loyal new york baseball fans will have to make the necessary adjustments to the new stadiums - as do the players - yet we can all be grateful for the wonderful memories provided by two classy franchises.
many people predicted another subway series. not me. i'm hoping the chicago white sox can pull off a miracle by winning their last regular season game today against the detroit tigers. if the white sox are successful, they'll play the resurgent minnesota twins in a one-game playoff for the american league central crown. the white sox won the world series in 2005. the last cubs world series win? 100 years ago. omg. i want a chicago subway series! that's my story & i'm sticking to it. it would be both an historical & improbable achievement to see the cubs & white sox play for the title. as a life-long cubs fan (on the down-low) i'd welcome the thrill of victory & the agony of defeat...
yes we can.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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2 comments:
To be a Mets fan is to know mostly heartache.
As for the Yankees, who cares! I hate them.
Jerry Manual will not shoulder the blame, he did a good job with what he had and that's the problem. What he had wasn't much and that is Omar Minaya's fault. He fired Willie Randolph and claimed they had the talent to win. They didn't. They need a new bullpen and some more depth on the bench. Yet Minaya just got a four year contract extension. He must have dirt on Fred Wilpon.
Good luck to your Cubs. Maybe they'll actually win it all this year, although I doubt it. A Windy City Subway Series could be cute, but it won't happen. White Sox will need a miracle to get in.
Well, this is confusing. Don't you know gay men are supposed to know nothing about sports? You're not following the script! ;-)
Seriously, a nice piece. I must bring it to your aunt's attention so she can comment more knowledgeably (That's right fellow queers--my straight 72 year old mother knows everything about team sports; I am clueless. Always have been. Make of that what you will).
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