Yankees Are Starting To Scare Me: Observations Of a Red Sox Fan

My reputation proceeds me. I'm a certified Homer. Born and bred Red Sox Red. I am to the Red Sox what Heartbeat of the Bronx is to the Yankees. "My Sox" can do no wrong, and I'm quite certain that HB feels the same about "his Bombers".

It should come as no surprise, then, that after Czar Steinbrenner III backed up Daddy's ship full of Franklins this winter and effectively monopolized the free agent market, that I waxed poetic about the flawed way this is to build a championship.

Though the Red Sox are historically in the upper layers of the ozone on the spending chart, they have recently resorted to a mix of home grown talent and low risk, high reward salaries.

I know, the Sox are still saddled with J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo, but on the whole, they have changed from shopping at Tiffany's to shopping at Service Merchandise.

I wrote an article during the winter about Sabathia's weight and how he and Fernando Valenzuela had identical statistics over their first seven seasons, only to go 60-71 over his last eight.

Boy, did the Yankees overpay!

I spoke of A.J. Burnett and his knack of getting up for all the big games, as long as they occur in a contract season and how A.J. would not be able to hold up under NYC scrutiny. And I called Teixeira a spoiled prima donna after he had scorned the Sox in favor of the Pin Stripes.

How could he go to the Yankees for a mere $14 million more?

And then my wildest dreams started to unfold. A-Rod shared needles with his cousin, waltzed a bit with Selena Roberts, and then went down with a debilitating hip injury.

Wang went lame and Nady went down. And Bruney. And Posada. And Marte...and on and on.

Even Posada's and A-Rod's backups went down in Molina and Ransom. Of course, the Sox could make space between themselves and the Yankees third string.

Teixeira started out swimming below the Mendoza line and Matsui was only a stroke or two better. Sabathia stumbled a bit coming out of the blocks, and I knew it was from either one too many late nights at Taco Bell or one too many of the same at Pache'.

With each 22-4 loss, implosion of the bullpen, or jet stream shot to the right field porch, I was so sure that this was yet another case of good prevailing over evil. Another vote for my Syracuse University minor in business over Hal Steinbrenner's master's at the University of Florida. I knew how to build an organization. After all, I had that yard sale in 1995 that was the envy of the neighborhood.

Not sure whether it was Papi's shirt buried beneath the stadium, the Bizarro Curse of the Bambino, or Joe Torre's Maloik, the Yankees first five weeks of the season resembled Bernard Madoff's winter. It simply wasn't looking good.

Sitting in third, closer to fourth with a record of 13-15, the Red Sox and the surprising Toronto Blue Jays had the Yankees on the mat, with a boot to the esophagus.

Staggered, but not down. And they kicked out faster than Eddie Guerrero in Wrestlemania XX.

From the moment A-Rod came off of the disabled list, the Yankees went from stagger to swagger. The very first pitch that Rodriguez saw from Orioles ace Jeremy Guthrie was deposited into the NY jet stream, and the Yankees haven't stopped since.

Coming off being swept in consecutive two-game series at home by the Red Sox and Rays, the Yankees have gone 16-6, including 14 of their last 18. Though only hitting .260, A-Rod has contributed seven home runs and 21 RBI, and has solidified the Yankees feared batting order.

Since A-Rod's return, Teixeira has been red hot and brought his sub-.200 average to .281, with 16 homers and 44 RBI. His average since A-Rod's return is .375, including hits in 13 straight games and 18 of 19.

Sabathia followed up his sub-par April in which he finished 1-2 with a 4.73 ERA with a Sabathia-esque May, winning four of five with a 2.56 ERA. He has clearly shown that he is the top of the rotation ace that the Yankees shelled out big dollars for.

Even the bullpen, which wore a path of left field to the hill during April and early May, seems to have for the most part settled down. Though Bruney and Marte are still out with injuries, veteran Brett Tomko and youngsters Dave Roberson and Alfredo Aceves have all been solid.

Chien-Ming Wang, who taxed the Yankees bullpen earlier in the season with starts of 3.2, 1.0 and 1.1 innings, has returned from the DL and thrown eight solid innings of relief.

Additionally, the Yankees wounded are starting to get healthy. Posada returned from the DL this week and has gone 3-10 with a homer, while Bruney, Marte, Nady, and Molina are all entering their final phases of rehab.

So as the two perennial AL East leaders come out of the first turn, the Yankees are on top by a half game, and I'm not nearly as confident as I was three weeks ago.

My wish of seeing them implode has not occurred, and my suspicion is I'll still be biting my nails in September.

And though five weeks does not a season make, it was sure fun while it lasted.

Should Athletes Be Viewed As Role Models?

In the wake of the 50-game suspension handed down to Major League Baseball star Manny Ramirez, children are left scratching their collective head trying to decide which professional athletes to look up to.

Barry Bonds posters once pinned to cork board walls have been torn down and replaced by Alex Rodriguez's poster, only to be torn down and replaced with Ramirez's, only to be torn down and....

The historic cover of Sports Illustrated showing Michael Phelps adorned with Beijing gold has been pulled from protective plastic sleeves and now yellows in the racks of doctors' offices from coast to coast. Phelps was photographed taking bong hits at a party last fall.

Plaxico Burress's championship New York Giants jersey sits next to Michael Vick's on clearance racks all around the country. Burress shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan night club in November.

Vick is soon to be released to home confinement after serving the bulk of a 23-month sentence at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. That came after he pleaded guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in eastern Virginia.

Other sports stars with an L emblazoned on their Loser foreheads include:

• Former track star Marion Jones;
• Baseball players including Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Joba Chamberlain;
• Football players as Rae Carruth, Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Donte Stallworth, and nearly a dozen police-record-holding members of the Cincinnati Bengals.

It is disturbing to think what must be going through the heads of young fans as their idols and role models appear more frequently on police blotters than on the sports pages.

Nary a SportsCenter is aired without talk of arrests, drug use, womanizing, driving while intoxicated, domestic abuse, or other publicly unacceptable behavior.

Thrust into the public eye due to their immense talents, athletes often become the real American Idols while often lacking the moral character or the skill set that accompanies such a God-given gift.

I asked several people with backgrounds in sports where they feel the athlete's responsibility ends and the parent's responsibility as mentor, guide, and role model takes over.

Former MLB star Brian McRae feels that young athletes are bound to make mistakes.

"An 18-year-old kid is still 18 years old," explained McRae, whose dad, Hal, played and managed in the majors.

"They make a lot of mistakes. Our focus as parents should be to teach kids right from wrong and get them to understand that people are human and as such make mistakes no matter how much money they make.

"If parents are smart, they can teach their kids lessons after seeing what has gone on the past five or six years. I put more on the parents' shoulders. These are your kids."

Brian McRae, who works with young kids as general manager and director of player/coach development for the KC Sluggers baseball organization, had this to add.

"A role model should be the parent or family member that spends time with kids to help them understand what life is about. A teacher, a member of the church, someone who is around and in their life, not someone in a fantasy world."

David McCarty, who played 13 seasons for seven major league teams and was a member of the 2007 world champion Boston Red Sox, had this to say when asked if athletes realize what type of pressure is heaped upon their shoulders when entering the public eye.

"I remembered looking up to professional athletes when I was a kid, so I knew that kids would look up to me. I tried to be a role model, but I have always wondered why celebrities and athletes are placed on a pedestal.

"I think our society would be better served if kids looked up to doctors and teachers. In general, athletes and other celebrities aren’t good role models. Quite often athletes are not all that intelligent and why should we care what an actor thinks about some political issue?"

Ken Germano, a former member of the Italian national baseball team, a former Olympic athlete, and a former professional baseball player, knew what he had signed up for in terms of a becoming a child's role model.

"In Italy, because baseball was so special at the time, kids would knock on our door at 7:30 in the morning asking for an autograph, even if we got in at 4 a.m. from a road trip. They were so excited and cute. How could you refuse them and not want to help in any way you could?

"Everyone on the field is in position to be a role model, even the bullpen catcher," added Germano. "You put on the uniform, you should be ready for everything that comes with it and the consequences of your actions."

"This means that if you don’t understand something, you need to ask questions until you do," added Germano, who is principal at Wellness Fitness Consultants and is an expert on children's fitness.

Germano has empathy for parents but agrees that it is their responsibility to be the child's primary role model.

"I think it is much tougher being a parent (than an athlete) as your kids watch and see your every move, not just the big ones. In the end it comes down to the parents, not celebrity athletes."

Fellow Bleacher Report and Yankees writer Stephen Meyer feels that both athletes and parents are integral in the modeling of a child's behavior.

"The difference between being a celebrity and parent in terms of role-model attitude is that celebrities seem to have a more dominating presence over children," said Meyer, who writes under the name Heartbeat of the Bronx on the Bleacher Report as well as his own sports blog by the same name.

"While parents are ultimately working much harder to provide good examples and insight for their children, a celebrity can impact a child's actions immediately without any questions asked

"This puts a lot of pressure on celebrities to do the right thing, as the celebrities will not be there when kids ask "Why?" with their parents' lessons and advice."

Meyer added, "There is much less pressure on an 18-year-old to excel in the sport he has mastered than to survive combative warfare on foreign soil. If young men are deemed ready to risk their lives while wielding firearms, they are certainly ready to field a ground ball or catch a pass.

"The celebrity comes with the territory of the profession, and a player must take the bad with the good. Whether it is a free ride to a respected university or a seven-figure contract, athletic celebrities are given immense benefits for their skill."

Germano added, "It is unreasonable to put this type of expectation on a young athlete unless the proper mentoring and oversight is in place. Take LeBron James and his transition from teenager to superstar, for example. There's a kid who has an exemplary demeanor and attitude and can handle being a star and a role model."

A-Rod's Not My Hero...My Son Is My Hero

My son, Corey, is 22 now. I love this guy more than I love anything. (Well except for my two daughters, who are tied for first place).

He's a lot like me, yet, in a wonderful way, he's a lot different than me. This is what I love about him.

He has a mind of his own. He makes decisions. He's going to grow up (oh wait, he already did)...to be anything he wants to be.

He kept me strong when I was weak.

HE'S MY HERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The biggest thing that we do have in common is our love for baseball.

It's our common bond.

As a parent, sometimes it's tough to talk to your boy. I'm 47. He's 22.

What do I know?

But, whenever we need to find common turf, we talk baseball.

Not steroids, salaries, attendance records, agents, and that kind of stuff.

Not Bonds, Canseco, Sosa, McGwire, Manny, A-Rod, or even Joe Torre's book.

We talk baseball.

My greatest day as a Dad was taking Cor to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. We were never closer. We talked baseball. We hit in the batting cage. We talked records.

We never said the word asterisk one single time. We went for lunch outside and had burgers and dogs.

Our favorite movies are The Natural and Field of Dreams.

We plan to sit down this summer after he graduates from college and watch the entire series on baseball done by Ken Burns.

Last year, Corey and I went to watch real baseball. We spent a whopping $38 for the day and watched Minor League ball. That's real baseball. From the top of the roster to the bottom, it's filled with heroes—kids who play because it's their dream.

Oh sure, we know that their ultimate goal is to make money. Some of them probably even juice.

But in our world, they are pristine and pure. They hustle out every ground ball. They chew tobacco and ride buses to games.

They love the smell of the field and the feel of the glove.

They love the sound that the ball makes when it connects with the bat.

This isn't an infomercial but check out The Road to the Show by Larry Richards. It's awesome. Larry Richards is my friend. He too is passionate about baseball.

What Corey and every kid, from four to 84, need right now, is a hero—someone to come along and throw baseball on their back—not A-Rod, or Manny, or any of those other greedy bastards.

They need someone who loves the game like Corey does and plays it right because they are passionate about the game.

If Corey or I could hit a curve ball or throw from deep right to home plate, we'd sign contracts right now.

The contract would be for $0 dollars.

We'd play just for the heck of it—not because we want fame and fortune, but because we love the sport and we love kids.

Because...

We have respect for Joltin' Joe and the Babe.

We know Cy Young pitched all nine innings, Lou Gehrig never missed a game, and Willie Mays was the GREATEST right-handed hitter to ever walk the planet.

Hank Aaron would be our eternal Home Run King and Jackie Robinson would be the most influential human being in every history book.

Wee Willie Keeler would always hit 'em where they ain't, and Ted Williams would leave the sport he loved to fight for his country...

I'm babbling aimlessly.

This happens to me when you hurt my kid—the kid inside of me.

I pledge from this point on to never write another story that does anything but endorse baseball in all its perfection.

Ninety feet from home to first, run hard.

Real Baseball is:

Players who know the fundamentals of the sport.

Little League players who are really 12 and under.

Minor League ball.

Roy Hobbs, Ray Kinsella, Terrance Mann, Archibald Moonlight Graham, and Corey Civin.

My heroes of baseball...My heroes of life.