BOSTON RED SOX 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONS
NEW YORK - The contagious joy of Red Sox Nation may have spreadto all corners of the country this week, but New York is apparentlyimmune.
At least that's what a reporter learned when he donned a Red Soxcap, a team warm-up jersey, and red sneakers to roam the land of theYankees yesterday, venturing from midtown Manhattan to the bombers'own Bronx, inspiring a chorus of jeers and boos. As Bostoncelebrated the World Series championship, New York offered acollective scowl - and worse.
'[Expletive] Boston,' a doorman uttered in front of the LehmanBrothers office building in Midtown Manhattan, after making eyecontact and offering a sly smile.
From the relentless glitz of Times Square to the lonely grit ofYankee Stadium, drivers leaned on their horns, pedestrians tossedthe occasional elbow, and a man passing out pamphlets in the GarmentDistrict for a men's clothing store sale withdrew the sheet of paperwhen he saw what the reporter was wearing. The venom cut acrossrace, gender, and socioeconomic lines.
Two burly men yesterday, in the middle of loading a truck withpolice barricades along Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, pointed fingersand began an impromptu chant with a familiar ring.
'Boston sucks! Boston sucks!'
'You got a long way to go before you can talk dynasty,' saidSalvatore Leo, a 49-year-old from Staten Island who wore all denimand spoke near Times Square with a toothpick hanging out the cornerof his mouth. 'You won two World Series in four years. We won fourin 10. Come on!'
Revealing a bit of Sox envy, however, he then offered to tradeYankees general manager Brian Cashman for his Red Sox counterpart,Theo Epstein.
'Nothing good ever came from Boston - Denis Leary, MichaelBloomberg,' said a grizzled lieutenant in the New York FireDepartment, who declined to give his name after grabbing lunch inChelsea. 'When I think of Boston, I think of Bill Buckner. I don'tlike Boston. At all.'
When reminded that the Sox just won the World Series, he said,'You guys are so pompous.'
It seems the tables have turned.
Yankees fans have long taken pride in how little attention theypaid to the Red Sox and the city they play in. Sox fans were theones who constantly chanted about how the Yankees, well, stink. Theyraged about Alex Rodriguez batting a ball out of Bronson Arroyo'shand in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series.Boston fans mocked Jason Giambi's alleged use of steroids.
But now, New York fans are in a position they are unaccustomed to- second-tier city, at least in terms of one of the greatest sportsrivalries of all time. And they don't seem quite sure how to handleit.
'The balance of power is shifting,' said Paul Mills, 20, who grewup in Brooklyn wearing Yankees pinstriped baby clothes and onlyremembered the good times as he hawked the New York Post outsideMadison Square Garden. 'The Red Sox win the World Series, Joe Torreleaves, A-Rod options out. Everything is crashing down. I don't knowwhat happened. It's really depressing.'
Talk radio here was loaded with Yankee fans lamenting the Red Soxwin, questioning how they would replace Alex Rodriguez at thirdbase, and asking whether new skipper Joe Girardi could steer themback. In a column headlined 'Baseball as we know it is over,' MikeVaccaro yesterday in the New York Post called the Sox 'cold-bloodedWorld Series assassins.'
Some identified with New York Jets fans - whose team hasn't won aSuper Bowl since 1969 - as proof that they can be loyal to losingteams.
And there were only a handful of people yesterday spotted in RedSox gear.
'I go through a lot of trouble here,' said Henry Rodriguez, 25,who proudly wore a flat-billed Red Sox cap. 'People honk their horn,yell, `[Expletive] the Sox!' It feels good.'
A cab driver declined to drive a Sox-clad reporter to YankeeStadium, saying it would not end well.
'Nah, brah, you don't want to go there,' he said. 'You're goingto get pushed, shoved, and punched in the face.'
But a ride on the Number 4 train to 161st street revealed adifferent scene.
While Yawkey Way was crowded yesterday with fans loading up onthe T-shirts and caps declaring themselves World Champions, thesouvenir stores lining Yankee Stadium were all shuttered.
At the Sports Bar & Grill the lights were out, barstools were onthe tables, and the black-and-white photos of Joe DiMaggio, BabeRuth, and Mickey Mantle looked over an empty room.
John Quirk, a 36-year-old bartender at the Yankee Tavern andformer minor league pitcher, said he had no ill will toward the RedSox. But in the next breath, he said, 'Dustin Pedroia, I hate thatlittle ...' The word he used wasn't a term of endearment.
He then uttered a mantra familiar to Sox faithful - or at leastit used to be.
'Wait till next year.'
