I’m told that my generation (those born during WW II) is a very small one. So, the portion of that generation growing up on Long Island in the late 40s and early 50s was also smaller than the generations that followed (I wonder how many of us are still around).
We had three New York baseball teams back then and the Brooklyn Dodgers were the only Long Island team (the Yankees and the Giants were in Manhattan). There were Yankee fans on Long Island but they were either rich kids or they were confused.
The Dodgers always seemed to win the National League pennant and then lose to the Yankees in the World Series – until 1955 when “we won”! I can still name the starting lineup for that Dodger team. Thank you Roy Campanella (our catcher, who had won his third MVP that season), Johnny Podres (one of the great left hand pitchers of all time), Duke Snider and all the rest. Thank you!
And then the Dodgers left town, along with the Giants, for a better deal on the West Coast (the Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field on September 24, 1957 – later, Frank Sinatra recorded a beautiful song about it: “There Used to be a Ballpark Here”). There is a Los Angeles Dodger team but they are merely using the “Dodger” name. Their fans eat quiche, leave in the 7th inning (even if the game is close), and think Manny Ramirez (who didn’t run out grounders for the Red Sox so he could get himself traded) belongs in the same Hall of Fame with Hank Aaron. His numbers do but he doesn’t.
But, I digress.
When the Dodgers left town, I stopped rooting for baseball.
But, then something happened in the 60s. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle started the 1961 baseball season on a home run pace that was ahead of Babe Ruth’s sacred record of 60. Maris made it to 61 that year (Mantle had to drop out at 54). The Yankees won the World Series in ’61 and ’62 but they started to “slip” after that. They lost the World Series in ’63 and ’64 and did not get back for the rest of the decade. They became “average”. They became my Dodgers.
So, I started to root for them. I watched the awesome Mickey Mantle decline to the point where he had to retire at 36 (there was no “DH” at the time) because he could hardly walk. I find it humorous when younger sportscasters today want to debate who was the best centerfielder ever (it usually comes down to Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle). These people didn’t see them play except on film.
At their peak, Mickey Mantle was faster, and could switch hit with awesome power. Mantle could bunt for a base hit from either side of the plate. Any questions?
Again, I digress.
Two weeks ago was a “World Series” moment as the great Yankee/Red Sox rivalry renewed: the Yankees were 0-8 this season against the Red Sox. The Yankees “swept” all four games. It was some of the most exciting baseball I’ve ever seen.
And, in the middle of it all was “AROD” who is NOT my idea of a team player. He is a preening, narcissistic carpetbagger who has come up small in the key moments since he has worn the Yankee uniform.
And, what did he do during this heated rivalry weekend? He completely changed my opinion of his skills on the field. He came up big. He broke a 0-0 tie in the 15th inning of one game with a game winning home run and then came right back in the fourth game and broke a 0-0 tie in the seventh inning with a home run off of one of the best left handed pitchers in baseball.
And, as the great Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan observed, AROD is not 100%. When he runs hard from first to third, its “observable”. Unless I’m mistaken, he will be operated on (hip) for a second time when the season is over.
And so, what I saw was the big star “AROD” hitting “A-BOMBS” that made the difference in two huge games and I remembered the great Mickey Mantle who, at the end of his career, became, through his truly courageous effort to play at all, my favorite player EVER (next to my son). AROD has no chance at that status, but, with his less than 100% medical condition, he has raised himself and his team higher than I could have hoped.
Maybe, just maybe, Joe Torre will bring his Dodgers to play in the World Series against the Yankees this season. And maybe I’ll remember “my Dodgers” beating those dreaded Yankees in 1955. Except, this time I’ll be rooting for “my Yankees” even though it would be hard for me to root against Joe Torre. Is that a “win-win”?
