Of Baseball and Politics

I'm a Yankees fan living in Chicago. Specifically, I live in Wrigleyville where the Cubs play. So I see Cub fans year in and year out cheer on a team who is the very definition of mediocrity. These poor slobs show up every year dreaming of something that will never happen. In my neighborhood, as one columnist said in the paper here, it is like having the carnival come to town 81 times a year -- everyone gets all worked up and celebrates 'good enough' ball players.

My point is, Cubs fans don't demand anything from their team. Now, as a Yankee fan we have a tradition of high demands and high expectations from the team. Sure, we're pretty good right now, but that isn't always so. I became a Yankee fan as a young kid in an era of Yankee losers. But we fans always demanded more from our boys in pinstripes. When they stink up the park we let the team know that they suck. We howl, we shout obscenities, and throw trash at the team. My point is, when the Yankees suck, Yankee fans are the first to let them know because we expect more out of the team. We bitch, we threaten, and, as a result, the team works harder. And in the work, the team finds excellence.

You can hear Yankees talk about the fans at Yankee stadium, and the NYC media for that matter. They know we're tough on them because its our job as Yankee fans to be tough on the Yanks. Being a Yankee fan requires interaction with the team, not just a bunch of hand wringing like all the other fans in Baseball. When your team stinks, you boo them. Baseball would be better if more fans would be critical of their team when their team sucks. Otherwise you wind up like Cubs fans -- forever dreaming of greatness but never asking for it.

What the hell does this have to do with Democrats? I'll tell you: There are a lot of Dem supporters who seem to have a Cub fan mentality. If we want our Democrats to quit stinking up the place (CAFTA, Roberts, IWR) then we have to boo them. And if they continue to suck then we have to tell them: shape up or ship out. We have to stop celebrating mediocrity in the party and start getting tough on our guys and gals. Once they know that we're watching them, and threatening to oust them, then they'll find the backbones and start working for good government. Otherwise we'll continue to lose elections and the GOP will become even more arrogant and ruthless because we keep giving junk Democrats a job at the polls.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all Democrats are junk, or that to be a Democrat is to be junk. No. There are a lot of good Democrats on the team, hell even the Cubs have a few good ball players. My senators Durbin and Obama are great guys. My representative, Emmanuel, is also a stellar politician. As are Boxer, Waxman, Kucinich, and a slew of others. We have great stars, now we have to get a good team behind them. Our party leader, the good doctor, agrees with me on this point too: good Democrats should stay, and shitty Democrats have to go. And its up to us to let the team know we're pissed off.

Though at the anti-war march two weeks ago there was a good sprinkling of Nats caps and - amazing but true - some Yankees caps as well. But liberal rallies are owned by the Cubs, Mets and Red Sox.

Some thought that the red sox wining the world seiries was a sign that Kerry would win the election. They said that that Kerry was an underdog like the Sox were and that the Yankee's wear pinstripes and think god wants them to win like Bush does. I don't follow sports at all so I didn't realy care who won the world seiries. It is the White hose curse we have to brake.

Cubs do not have as much of one, and I say that as a Yankees fan.

you should listen to this...

http://users.rcn.com/pkatcher/audio/LeeEliaTirade.mp3

nt

... hold the team to a higher standard.

the best outfield of all time in

Hack Wilson
Riggs Stephenson
Kiki Cuyler

I think they also once had Tinker to Evers to Chance though they were not nearly as good as the poem makes them out to be.

BTW, the Yanks had Ruth and Gehrig and Murderer's Row and for the years 1929-1931, they never won the pennant. Amazing Philly A's were just as good with Foxx, Simmons, Cochrane, Bishop and Lefty Grove.

What year did he say this?

That is a classic. I never heard the un-edited version before. I am in tears. Elia was a hoot. And on-point, BTW. (I can say that because I am a life-long White Sox fan).

which given their pitching staff is a mistake.

It's been a wonderous season so far. I like the fact that the Sox aren't getting a lot of attention. Hope they close out the BoSox, allthough If my Sox don't make it, I'll root for Boston to win again. I like their team.

I was giddy when the red sox won but I was fond of pointing out that it had been longer than 86 years since the White Sox or the Cubs had won the world series.

Now if more Democrats had that attitude when our elected officials sell us out, (ARE YOU FUCKING LISTENING TO ME MELISSA BEAN!!!) then we'd be OK.

Simply hilarious. Especially as a Cardinals fan.

I would compare the Yankees to the Republican Party and their theft of power. Boston would be a better choice. Their fans are never happy, but the owners aren't evil.

Bo. Sox fans love their team but for too long accepted a history of not quite making it. But at leas they've never been saddled with "lovable losers" -- That's a Cubs distinction.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that the Bo. Sox won last year, and I think its fitting that they had to go though the Yankees to do it.

Continuing the metaphor, that's what we Dems have to do. Battle through the Republicans so that we all may have a championship. Its just that half of the Democratic Party is a sleep or playing AAA ball. They need to be woken up buy us, the fans.

And the press in Boston is even more negative than in NYC. Until last year a winning game 10 of a 10 game red sox winning streak would be reported as "Sox collapse delayed by one more day"

NYC sporting press are fickle with the attention span of hamster - the way it works in New York is you are either the greatest team of all time - or a bunch of frauds that don't deserve to be paid a dime.

I should have qualified what I meant by 'acceptance' The fans didn't accept it, and they bitched about it to the team and the media. And rightly so. But, none-the-less, there was history of losing. A lot of Bo Sox fans I knew often had this 'I'm not expecting us to win or anything' attitude, while getting emotionally destroyed about it. I'm not sure if there is a word to describe that acceptance but non-acceptance thing.

Don't even kow how to catch an infield fly let alone hit a homer.

BTW, I wasn't counting the 2004 Red Sox.

:rofl:

Don't buy into this Yankees=GOP crapola. The biggest fundie ahole in the majors is Schilling, and last time I checked, he played for Beantown :)

Seriously, though, I think trying to compare sports to politics is folly. Everyone will read into it what they want.

Like some folks thought the Red Sox winning the World Series was an omen that Kerry would upset Bush.

I, however, saw the Red Sox winning the World Series as one of the signs of the apocalypse and thus, Dubya's reelection was secured.

I was right :)

... I'm talking about the relationship of fans and their teams. The Yankees have a special one, the cubs do as well. One relationship is positive, the other isn't. That's my point, Democratic supporters need a special relationship with the elected officials.

That being said, everyone around here reads whatever they want into every post on this board. So why not use sports?

"That being said, everyone around here reads whatever they want into every post on this board. So why not use sports?"

Can't argue with that. :toast:

That's just history. Look it up.

Yankees and theft of power? How do you figure? The Yankees have BEEN the power since anyone can remember. They are and always will be the gold standard (literally). They have given up that power for years at a time, but like democracy itself, you can't keep 'em down for long!

The Red Sox, on the other hand, are a bunch of whiney faux-Everyman millionaires who only won a WS because the Yankees fucked up bigtime last year. Screw them and their culture of dirt-encrusted, pine tar-helmeted, sweat line-capped, long-haired, hose-em-down-or-they-can't-come-in-the-house also-ran loserdom. The BoSox are to blue collar as bush is to real cowboys. It's all BS.

The ChiSox will probably hand them their playoff walking papers tomorrow night. Then, the BoSox and their fans can get back to their whining ways. I'll bet the local newstations already have the split screen footage of Buckner/Graffanino ready to go so they can cry in their beer about "not again! It was just like '86!"

I feel the worst for any BoSox fans who have had kids since the '04 WS. How do you tell those kids that they've got 85 years to go before the next BoSox WS win?

And what I'd expect from a true fan of the Devil's Minions.

rather than waiting for some reward in an afterlife that doesn't exist.

And honestly do you think George Stienbrener gives a damn what the fans think? He built the teams that wandered in the wilderness between 81 and 94. All he did was a) complain about attendance and the Bronx and b) try to get New York City to buy him a new stadium.
The Yankee team that have dominated the AL are the result of his being suspended from baseball operations.

I think the progressive wing should be like the Rex Sox in 2004 - stop trying to be like the No fun evil empire (and stop being afraid of it) and learn to have fun. but like I said sports and politics are never a good analogy

He represents the cancerous sell-out leadership we have in the DC. The politics as usual, 'I don't give a fuck about my country, I just want to sit on my fat ass and dine on oysters and champaign upon the Potomac' type of Democrat that we need to howl at.

The difference for us is, we have the option of chucking the Stienbreners of the Democratic party. Yankee fans can't do shit about him unless A) He's suspended, B) dies, or C) sells the team to some other dirt-bag.

Besides, I'm talking about that special love-hate relationship between the Yanks and their fans. There's nothing quite like it in baseball.

of late.

I'm sure Georgie is an R, but at least he's not a W. He goes out and gets talented players to fill positions. Does he overpay? Not by Yankee standards. Compare that to W who fills his roster with cronies rather than talent.

And another thing all the Yankee bashers never seem to consider in their, "if we had the money we'd be just as good" whinefest - you need a guy like Joe Torre who knows how to get a bunch of prima donnae to play like a team. Having a bunch of superstars on a team for more than 1 game a year can be worse than having a bunch of no-names on a team.

Steinbrenner is doing what neeeds to be done to win a WS in this day and age. We're lucky he's out of the everyday running (ruining?) of the Yankees.

the Philadelphia Phillies would be one of the most successful teams in baseball - Have you ever heard Philly fans? Ever? They make Yankee fans look like pussycats when it comes to complaining about their team.

NOBODY gripes more than us Phillies and Eagles fans! NOBODY!

about how Mike Schmitt (sp?) the Philly hall of fame third baseman "never hit in the clutch"
"Mike" I said "he hit over 500 homers, one or two of them must have come at an opportune time."
"nope never hit in the clutch"

I kind of gave up on talking sports with him after that. I didn't have the heart to mention to him Mike winning the MVP in the 1980 world series. That seemed somewhat clutch to me.

When new Yankees come to the team they talk about how special it is to put on that uniform. Nobody says that about the Philly uniform. Steinbrenner aside, Yankee players are aware of their fans in a way no other team is. We supporters of the Democratic party need that relationship with our elected officials.

even the cub players talk about how special it is to put on the uniform. it goes with the territory. Hell even the tigers have a link with the fans.

Yankee players are just ballplayers are are decent people some are jerks - you think Rodgers gave a damn about the fans no - you think shefield cares?

and let the A's stay.

Their baseball playing elephant was the oolest logo in baseball history.

Check out www.baseball-reference.com and see how bad the Phillies have been throughout their long history. Pirates were about as bad.

Because their fans are, like, gellin'. They're all about the beach balls; too SoCal cool to harsh anybody's mellow.

Couldn't be because DePodesta is a "Moneyball" schmuck or that the Dodgers' clubhouse was turned into a freaking triage ward this season. Or that the happily-departed Jim Tracy waited until a starting pitcher's arm had flown off and landed in section 23 before taking him out.

Yeah, dude. It's the fans. :eyes:

Wrigley fans second and Cub's fans third.

If the Cubs ever win it all, the mystique will disappear and you're right, Cub's fans will start complaining if they don't win.

If life were a ballgame, I'd rather spend it at Wrigley than at Yankee Stadium, win or lose.

It has a great cozy feel to it. Its like walking inside history. Yankee stadium doesn't have that anymore.

And I have another rant about attending baseball games at Wrigley and Comisky (well US-sellout Field that is)

Wrigley is a hell-hole. The actual field is cool, but the stadium is a mess. Bad rest-room facilities, hard to get around, seats suck and the foundatin is crumbling. Love the Ivy, though. Comiskey (I will never refer to it as "U.S. Cellular or worse :puke: "The Cell') is a much more comfortable place to watch an ballgame than Wrigley. With the recent revisions to the park, It is now a premier place to watch (winning) baseball. True, they could have done a much better job designing the place. The architects are the same for Comiskey as for Camden Yards. They also could have faced the plate so the sky-line was in the outfield (Like Detroit's new stadium and Seattle as well), and you can call Comiskey a "mall" if you like but it is a great place to watch a game. Your turn.

I've got a nice big 36' monitor with surround sound and a leather club chair with matching ottoman. My feet walk on a lush wool Indian rug. There's never a line at the bathroom and the beer is good and a lot cheaper.

My cat sits in my lap and purrs.

But if you can't see the charm of Wrigley Field, there's really no point in debating.

Wrigley is actually a treasure. I just am a life-long Sox fan who cannot avoid making trouble. I had an option of going to the Sox game last night, but I had to suck it up and stay home. Watched it in HD in my basement with my dog on my lap. Cheers.

At Comiskey park the attendee is constantly distracted from the game. There's zillions of people selling you crap all the time. the park's AV system wants to distract you from the game. You're constantly being barraged with racing pizzas, girls in skimpy clothes dancing around the dugouts and lobbing tee-shirts at people, and suffering some emotionally manipulative kid trying to hit a whiffle ball so he can win the worst pizza in Chicago.

At Wriggly you have just the game and the occasional brass band wandering around. That's it. You can focus on the game, and make bets on how many errors the cubs will generate.

with the exception of the girls in skimpy clothing thing. Wrigley has a plethora of girls in skimpy clothing. Much more than at Comiskey.

But the girls in skimpy clothing at Wrigley aren't on the Cubs payroll. They do that cuz they want to. At Comiskey it comes off as prostitution to me. (I'm there for the baseball, if I want nookie I'd be home with my wife)

for that reason.

Once they win, they're just another old franchise with a really lousy record. If they don't win they're something special.

Hate when that happens.

Objectively, it's my favorite stadium, at least from pictures. I like it's small size and the access to games from rooftops near the stadium.

Yeah buddy, YOU made the Yankees winners and us Cub fans are the reason we haven't won in so long. What a bunch of bullshit.

Most of us Cub fans are also Bulls fans. Give us a few guys as good at baseball as Jordan was at basketball and see what really wins championships. Hint: fans don't win championships. (or lose them)

However, I do agree about bitching at our dem leaders. The Cubs usually at least try to win while our current dems act like the Washington Generals. (as Lieberman bathes in a bucket of confetti)

If you notice, he complains about Cub fans booing, so I guess that crushes your theory about us not demanding a winner. (and that was over 20 years ago, probably about when you were becoming a Yankee fan)