Section 39 Bleacher Creatures Vent Over Season

Vincent wrote:

AS MUCH AS I ENJOY HANGING OUT WITH YOU GUYS AT "YANKEE" GAMES,
I must tell you that I'm so disappointed in their failure to advance past Cleveland,
that I "will not" be able to spend as much time going to the 2008 games as I did this, and past seasons.

I attend "Yankee" games expecting them to at least compete for a pennant. If I
continue supporting this level of failure, I'll eventually betray myself, and each of
the principles that are my foundation. I don't want to be a Cubs like fan, or a
Clipper like fan, or a Red Sox fan (pre 2004), sitting there beside Neil, behind
Larry, hoping, longing, for success.

I enjoy sitting in the bleachers with each of you, and the other characters that
inhabit Section 39, like Mr. Matsui, the guy who walks across to bow to him,
Wild Ass Jessie, the "Let's Go" guy, Whelan the Cop, The Two Tony's, the
cowbell guy, Security Chief Terrance, the "big guy" and his daughter, Nannette's
friends, Mike's friends, Colin's friends, Neil's friends, and so on and so on, which
makes typing this note so very hard. However, I look forward to the planned
events that I'm invited to, hosted by some of you, that take place at venues
other than "Yankee Stadium."

I APPRECIATE THE FELLOWSHIP!
I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND!

I WAS THE ONE WHO PUT ALL THAT STUFF IN
NANNETTE'S POCKETS, NOT LARRY OR COLIN


VINCENT "a really "pissed" off Yankee fan"


Colin wrote:

We're all depressed right now and deal with it in our own way. But
we're all true Yankees fans and even with as much as it hurts right
now we'll be out there next year cheering our brains out expecting to
win the World Series. Its what we do. We're Yankees fans. It's why I'll
probably get fired for missing most of the day tomorrow (I mean
today).

And as painful as it is we MUST cheer for the Indians with everything
we got to keep those devils in Boston from winning.

-COLIN


Neil wrote:

VINCENT!!! How dare you bail the day after a loss such as this. true, this is the end of an era as we bid farewell to Joe Torre etal. However, the future looks extremely bright for the Yankees. With Hughes, Joba, Kennedy and a healthy Humberto Sanchez the Yankee pitching staff could be conceivably dominant over the next 5-10 years. Yankee fans by and large are not front runners. We stick with our team through thick and thin. We are not the faux Bulls, Lakers, Steelers and Cowboys fans of the 80's and 90's. We are real fans. Although I am deeply dissapointed by this loss I am encouraged by the fact that the neccassary changes will be made and that the Yankees will return to glory in 2008 and beyond. So, Vincent, as much as I love you like a brother, I am going to differ you with you here. You are purely venting your frustrations and I understand totally. I know as well as you do that you will be back next year, in section 39 Row HH in Seat 4 ( Seat 3 is mine, son!!!) hoping and praying that we will find a way to beat the Red Sox. Now go pull yourself together and get ready for some NETS basketball, this could be the year!!! Remember I said that. Have a great winter everyone, it's been a blast eating chicken wings and gummy worms with you. Oh and as for the poor suckers who sit in front of me (row GG) remember Jo Jo will be 4 next year, bigger, stronger and with a much harder kick and I'll be bringing him to more games!!! LOL stay in touch!


Neil


Colin wrote:

I wrote an email along these lines last night at approximately 2:30
when I finally got back to my parents house, and the damn program
locked up and I was too depressed to start over.... So Neil, well
said!

Vincent, suck it up... we're all in pain right now...

Neil keep seating in seat 3 so Jo Jo won't be beating me up during
Sunday games and Vincent won't be squirting mustard on me...

See ya'll in 5 months and 22 days...

-COLIN


Michael wrote:

Well said, everyone. George Steinbrenner says any season the Yankees don't win the World Series is a failure. That is ridiculous -- no team has ever won the pennant every season and always competed for and won the World Series. If they did, the game would be boring. The dynasty of the mid 90s was exciting and special because that rarely happens. That's why it was a dynasty that will go down akin to the Yankees of the 20s and 50s as one of the great teams of all time.

My personal standard is that with the money the Yankees spend, it's reasonable for Steinbrenner to expect the Yankees to make the post-season. Then all I hope for is a well-played series. This too is pretty ridiculous. Going to the post-season 12 or so years in a row is a huge accomplishment, not something you can demand. A fan supports their team in good times and bad. That's not a betrayal of principles -- that's a demonstration of principles.

As Neil said, this was a rebuilding year and we STILL got to the post-season. We're seeing the changing of the guard with new and exciting young players like Melky (who Cashman idiotically had riding the bench when the season began) and Cano coming into their own, position players like Andy Phillps and Doug M. coming through when given a chance and of course so much promising young pitching from Hughes, Kennedy, Joba, Ohlendorf and the rest. And then of course veterans like Derek and Posada and Pettitte and Wang and Mo, as well as Matsui and Damon and the hired guns Abreu and A-Rod. We've got a great core to build on next year and a lot to be excited about -- especially since Steinbrenner's philosophy of torching the future to try and win today is dead and gone.

Besides, Vince, you're gonna make Nannette angry and you wouldn't like her when she's angry.

Michael

Larry wrote:

Hey Vin Man,

Man do you sound pissed off!! Don’t blame you. It was pretty disgracefull they way the yanks could not get passed the Indians after beating them 6 times in the regular season. I agree, this is not the October team we all grown to know and love. But a new era is coming so suck it up and get with it. You can’t tell me you won’t show next year because knowing you you won’t be able to stay away. We are die hard Yankee fans who are there rain or shine cheering the team on. What we need is some more younger hungrier guys and better pitching. So have a good winter and I will see in Section 39 seating behind me (unless of course I see you at a planned event that we are invited to during the off season) so don’t be a psudo fan and jump on the bandwagon only when the team is doing well.


Larry

Michael wrote:

Vincent, does it mean anything that the Yankees are the ONLY team to return to the post-season from last year? So if you were rooting for any other team in baseball, you wouldn't even have gone this far two years in a row?

Michael

Vincent wrote:

IT MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
YOU'RE NOW LOOKING FOR SMALL, NOMINAL ACHIEVEMENTS!

The Yankees should be playing this Friday against "The Red Sox!"
Win or Lose, That's the World Series!
Arizona, Colorado, and Cleveland are playing, and we're not going back to "YS"
until April, unless we do a drive by. "You've got to be kidding me!"

VINCENT.

Michael wrote:


You have to acknowledge that your expectations are not just unreasonable but historically absurd. The Yankees are the most successful franchise of any sport in the world. In history. And that success is not in the distant past. It's very current. What team can you root for if you demand that they ALWAYS get to the finals? What basketball or football or socceer or cricket or baseball or hockey or NASCAR or any other sport you want to name? Who has that record? No one. It's never happened. Ever. The Yankees offer more success year in and year out than any other team in any other sport. Besides, baseball isn't just about the World Series. It's all the characters in the stands you described in your first email. It's watching young players grow and develop like Leche and Cano. It's following superstars like Derek Jeter day in and day out and knowing he always gives 100% even when his body can't, even when his team fails. The Yankees went 18 years between World Series -- from 1978 to 1996. My God, what did you do then? No team, heck no musician, no writer, no film director, no stage actor -- no one in any field of any sort can ALWAYS deliver ultimate success every time out. If they did, it would be meaningless. Who do you admire in any field? There's no chance they ALWAYS achieve 100%. Don't be a Steinbrenner. (Ouch, that's too cruel.) Expect the best but don't abandon your team, especially when they succeed so much more than any other team in any other sport that fans who don't love the Yankees can only shake their heads in astonishment at our angst. They laugh when we talk about it being so long since our last World Series victory. And rightly so. It hasn't been long, not by a long shot. Not by any standard -- even our own. Go Yankees.

Michael

Vince writes:

YOUR REBUTTAL WAS QUITE FLUID, BUT LACKED SEVERAL POINTS!
POINT # 1. The "Yankees" beat Cleveland six (6) games this season. Three (3) times when they were really sucking, early in April! It's not too much to ask for three (3) more wins, even if they were needed in the "post season."

POINT # 2. If you were describing a scenario where the league's talent and competition was so intense, with teams at full strength, fighting it out til game 162, your argument would also be valid! Check it; LA? DEADED (SWEPT IN THE POST)! DETROIT? DEADED! SEATTLE? DEADED!
POINT # 3. From the end of May til the end of September, the "Yankees" overcame a 14.5 game deficit. That's what the "Yankee" aura, the "Yankee" mystic is all about!

THESE POINTS ARE WHY "I" / "YANKEE" FANS EXPECTED A LITTLE MORE!

NOTE: I don't sit out there for 60 / 70 plus games hoping for the future. Fans filled with that type of hope go to Staten Island, not the Bronx. I expect the team's "GM" and scouts, and hierarchy, and powers that be, Steinbrenner(s), Cashman, Tina the Bleacher Matriarch, Ken Sunshine, the Swindell guy, or whoever is taking care of that future stuff, to take care of that future stuff, to keep me / us there, coming back on the regular! That's what a great organization is all about. Being concerned about now and the future, all at the same time! Covering every base, all at the same time!
You want me to bring "rosary beads" and a "rabbit's foot" to the game, instead of "gummy worms"
and "imported lite beer!"
The "Yankee" aura is built upon success!
It's built on wins! 26 and 39!
LOSING SUCKS!
YANKEE FANS EXPECT! OTHER TEAM'S FANS HOPE!

I could even deal with losing to "The Sox" (NOT) for the pennant in six (6) or seven (7), than getting stamped by Cleveland in four (4). At least on paper, you should get a damn good show / great theatre! THINK BACK! AARON BOONE!

VINCENT


Michael writes:

Vincent makes a great point. This post-season WAS disappointing. I often say I expect to go to the post-season (which is a crazily high standard no other team in history can match) and once there I expect a great series. I can't complain about losing to a team (even a sweep) if they are exciting, well-played games. The Yankees did NOT deliver an exciting, well-played series against the Indians. Not even close. The starting pitching was terrible and the bats were dead. Even my beloved Derek Jeter had a terrible series. And so yes, this post-season was a bitter disappointment. I expect better. We all expect better. Not a constant stream of ALDS victories and a World Series every other year. But exciting, well-played games. We got ONE exciting well-played game on Sunday (and not just because we won). All the other games were badly played and frustrating. That's a great reason to be angry and expect better. And it might be a good reason for retiring Torre if you think the players are too complacent. But it is not a reason for swearing off the team for good and for staying away. Like I tell people about politics, if you don't vote you can't complain about the President. And if you don't go to the games and support the team, you can't bitch about how they perform. And don't the players who do always deliver their heart and soul -- like Jeter -- deserve your support? Didn't Don Mattingly deserve all the love in the world when he kept the lights on in the Eighties and Nineties during the horrible years when Steinbrenner was in complete control and trashing our beloved franchise, when we went 18 years between World Series victories and yet Mattingly played his heart out and reminded us of what the Yankees once were and could be again? Keep the faith.

Michael