Friday, August 20, 2010

Baseball Season in New York

Here it is in the middle of August and the New York Yankees are in the midst of a division race with the Tampa Bay Rays. The New York Mets... are not. But still, you'd have a hard time figuring out that it's baseball season in New York City.

Amidst the hipsters and tourists, there is rarely a Yankees hat to be seen. But even the "average" native New Yorker won't acknowledge baseball season. Most often, apparel is sported by small (and most likely dumb) children. Occasionally, a disproportionately die-hard Yankees fan will be seen, dressed to the nines in Yankees apparel, full with an unauthentic jersey that says "Jeter" on its back (despite the fact that the real Yankee uniforms never have names). But both of these sightings are still the exception to the rule.


In fact, it is more common to see a Phillies hat or t-shirt on the streets. Maybe it's just trendy to like the back-to-back NL Champs. More often though, a "style-cap" will be worn by people who don't even know that baseball is a sport. For instance, a Royals hat. Really? Did you dress yourself this morning? Why not just wear your shirt with "LOSER" stitched across the front? No offense to Royals fans, as I'm sure they exist somewhere. But really, baseball has nothing to do with liking a team's charming colors.

So I wonder when baseball season really begins in New York. I'm sure there will come a day in the not-so-distant future that the whole "energy" of the city will shift to the Yankees. And since this season appears to be one that will culminate with the playoffs, I'll have a front row seat to every casual resident that becomes an overnight baseball guru and opine about topics they heard on WFAN. I'm sure things will change a little, at least by the time October rolls around.

You always hear people talk about St. Louis and Boston and even Chicago as being great baseball towns. But never New York. And it is surprising to a certain extent, but now I see why. When you step back and look at the teams in New York, you get a sense of history. But the last of the charm that New York offered to baseball died last year when the Yankees moved to their new stadium. It's no wonder that they have struggled with attendance, when the average Yankees fan cannot afford to go see their overpaid team.

When I moved to the New York City area, I was excited to feel the baseball atmosphere propelled by two clubs and a couple of the fiercest rivalries in the sport. But it is not a team or a player or a milestone that makes baseball so special; it's the fans. It's sad to say, but if you're a true fan of baseball, then you'll be a lot more excited about the sport in a town other than New York.

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