Javier Vazquez
I wrote up some thoughts here on the Yankees’ Javier Vazquez trade today, not from an on-field standpoint — I think, baseball-wise, it’s a great deal for the Yankees, sliding the #4 pitcher in the N.L. last year into the #4 slot in their rotation — but from a fan perspective. The theme is that it’s getting less fun to be a Yankees fan.
I also react here to some news that freeze-dried Old Yankee Stadium grass and pieces of the old foul pole are the two hottest holiday sellers at Steiner Sports. I’m not a collector like that, but I’m a huge nostalgia buff, and I see the attraction to blades of grass, thimbles of dirt and scrap metal.
#1 by jonsel on December 24, 2009 - 3:30 PM
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I understand your feelings about the Yankees’ 2009 title. The chief differences between 09 and 96 are the time span between Series wins (and appearances) and the depths to which the team fell in those spans. As anyone who has followed the team for decades, we know well the dreadful lows of the late 80’s early 90s teams. As much as I enjoyed paying $20 for behind-the-plate seats back then, I knew what I was going to see. So when ‘96 rolled around, it was an exuberant release because we had been as low as we could go and worked our way back. It was also a team that wasn’t necessarily supposed to be title-worthy with a new manager deemed a poor retread.
Jump forward to 2009, and the win wasn’t so much that exuberance (although I was pretty damned happy!) of ‘96 but relief that we had finally lived up to expectations again. Every year since 2000 the team has been expected to win the Series. There was no drastic falls to last place (despite not making the playoffs last year). Winning is our status quo now. It doesn’t allow for the emotional release of a long-sought after dream.
And as for freeze-dried grass…don’t get it, never will!