Tomorrow, I will venture north to the Bronx and visit the imposter Yankee Stadium for the first time. I'm excited and will of course review my experience on this very blog.

While I anxiously anticipate my return to Bronx baseball, I go with some trepidation. I've often lamented the many ways the Yanks have put me into this love-hate tailspin since earlier this year.

And then there's this (from Bob Raismann's column in the Daily News):

The latest episode came during the weekend series with the Angels. Paul O'Neill, a revered former Yankee, now an analyst for the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, was asked by security to leave the indoor batting cages, where he was watching Yankees hit, prior to one of the games.

The Warriors Collide
A security guard told O'Neill, the man George Steinbrenner called "warrior," he could not loiter in the area. O'Neill had another reason to be perturbed. Security would not allow his wife, Nevalee, into the Stadium "wives room." She was told by security it was for "current" wives only.

Think about it. Here's O'Neill, a guy who bled for the franchise, trying to prepare for a broadcast. Not only is he told to take a hike, so is his wife. O'Neill was not the only broadcaster ejected from a part of the Stadium over the weekend. (link)

You raise my ticket prices and move us to the outfield...fine. You play like an bunch of dogs and get punked by the BoSox...I'll learn to deal. But you screw with my hero and his wife--I've had enough.

When I returned from the war, I gave Pauly my unit coin at a golf outing in Dayton. He said he'd use it as his ballmark. A few years later, my brother-in-law asked Pauly if he still had it and sure enough he remembered me. O'Neill said that people busted his chops about using such a large ballmark though. That's a hero for you.

So there you have it. Let's go Rays! (I'm still going to have to get over how pretentious Joe Maddon is, though)

Labels: Baseball, Yankees