By Edwin Cooney
Who says Americans hate to be snookered? Every time a baseball fan turns on a radio, or television or signs on to a computer or phone, he or she is welcomed to the broadcast of “your" New York Yankees or Mets, or “your” Dodgers or Angels, Giants or Cubs. Hence, for at least the next three or four hours, "your" major league baseball team either thrills you with its inevitable winning destiny or, like the old Brooklyn Dodgers between 1941 and 1955, insists that you “wait till next year!”
Even more than a "game of inches" (as some call it), baseball's inevitably a game of personal identification. According to a recent Forbes magazine statistic, there are only 442 billionaires currently living in America. Hell! That won't even fill Yankee Stadium! There are, however (I’m guessing, of course), say 50,000,000 baseball fans at least and several million believe that they listen or watch their “own” Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, Giants or Cardinals on a daily basis.
I've “owned” the Yankees since my far from wealthy Uncle Joe gave them to me in the summer of 1954. I've only met two Yankee players: I met Elston Howard in February of 1964 when he spoke at a Robert Morris School sports dinner in Batavia, New York. Then, in 1981, I met Billy Martin when he was managing the Oakland Athletics to a remarkable season that ultimately took the A’s to the playoffs where they lost to — you guessed it! — the New York Yankees. Once, as a teenager when Roger Maris hit a homer, I jumped up and down yelling, "That's my Roger!” Well — he wasn't “my” Roger any more than the Yankees were “my” Yankees. Even today, in anticipation of the new season, I'm longing to hear that Aaron Judge, the 6 foot 7 inch, 282 pound slugger and defensive phenomenon, has signed a long-term Yankees contract that will keep him in pinstripes for another six, eight, or even ten years. It hasn't occurred as I write this and I'm anxious.
As I've written in these pages in recent years, the more I know about any player, the closer I feel to the game. I don't know as much about Aaron Judge as I'd like to and some of what I've heard lately has been a little disheartening. First, he says he wants to be a Yankee until he retires. The Yankees (unofficially, of course) say they want him to be a Yankee as long as he plays. Yet, they haven't agreed on a one-year extension of his contract and may even have to go to arbitration to settle it. So, one wonders, if they can't agree on a one-year extension, what would help them agree? Then there's the fact that Aaron Judge hasn't gotten the vaccine to prevent Covid. One has to wonder if this is a matter of religion versus science or, even worse, if my hero is a “Donald Trump” type? Finally, on the subject of Aaron Judge, I'm pleased to know that he got married to his longtime sweetheart, 28-year-old Samantha Bracksieck, last December 12th in Hawaii.
I'm far, far from alone as I anticipate the season's first pitch of 2022. There's so much to look forward to since the designated hitter has finally encompassed all of baseball making more jobs for older players who have the blessed gift of hitting but who don't run or field as well as the average player. After all, Ted Williams asserted throughout his career and life that hitting a baseball is the hardest single thing to do in sports! It's only right that an older player who has the ability to hit a baseball get to play until he is as old as football quarterback Tom Brady who may well be playing until he's 70! Other changes include wider bases. Also, more teams will be eligible to participate in the playoffs. Then, there's the introduction recently of PitchCom, a wearable communication device that enables players to send encrypted signs to each other during games which can't be “stolen” by the other team. A manager can signal a baserunner when to run and when not to, for example. (This is potentially game-changing technology.)
For some years now, women have been entering major league baseball through the broadcast booth and the public address systems in the big league ballparks with Yankees’ broadcaster Suzyn Waldman probably the most prominent among them. Finally and most dramatically, on Monday, January 11th, 2022, the Yankees announced that Rachel Balkovec will manage the Single-A Tampa Tarpons, the Yankee's affiliate in the Florida State League.
Like everything in life, baseball is both old and new, thrilling and disappointing, all at the same time. Since I began writing this two days ago, I've learned that Aaron Judge and the Yankees were unable to strike a deal and therefore my favorite Yankee may play with another team beginning in 2023! I'll just have to let myself enjoy to the max the time he remains with the team and pray that he decides before 2023 to continue being a superstar for the Yankees! As I asserted at the outset, baseball is very, very personal!
I have a friend who reads these columns from time to time. I'll call him “Massachusetts Ken.” He thinks his father gave him the Yankees around 1958, but he's since become a Red Sox rooter. So, they're all mine now, Ken!
Part of being a fan or “fanatic” is the submergence and then the return of reality. It can at times be as personal as a body blow, but that's up to you! That's what makes it so personal!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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