Bleacher Creature Feature
#17: Mail Call
18 June 2002
I'm under the gun on two insane deadlines, so in the fine tradition of deadline-challenged columnists everywhere, I'm going to turn to the mailbag.
* * *
In response to my comment in BCF #16 about the lack of interest in many interleague matchups, reader Andy had this to say:
"Pete van Wieren took this 'argument' (no personal offense intended) to task on TBS the other night. Bad matchups are not a problem with interleague play. Bad matchups happen simply because there are bad baseball teams. The biggest cause of bad matchups, from a statistical standpoint, is the unbalanced schedule. Yankees/Red Sox 19 times is a good thing, obviously; but even Yankees fans shouldn't have to watch the Devil Rays 19 times a year. IMHO, Tigers/Phillies once every three years is far more interesting than yet another Tigers/Royals game. If a game is going to lack compelling drama, I'd much prefer that it at least have the virtue of novelty."
I don't know, watching the Devil Rays can be very entertaining -- sort of like going to see the Harlem Globetrotters, with the Rays serving the purpose of the other team.....
* * *
Another reply to BCF #16 came from my father, Robert DeCandido, so -- on the week after Father's Day -- it seems especially appropriate to run this here:
"Why Benito Santiago is on a major league team.
"Because he is the epitome of catcherliness. Watch him. He walks like a catcher--even when he's not wearing the paraphenalia--in fact he looks wrong without a shin guards, a face mask and chest protector. When he throws the ball back to the pitcher it's a rope and you can hear the ball hit the pitcher's glove from the upper deck. The wild pitch that scored the second, go ahead run for SF yesterday would never have gotten past Benito. Throwing out Giambi the other day is something that anyone but Mike Piazza could do but you might have noticed that Benito didn't bother to stand up to do it. He can still throw out runners from his 37 year old knees. Which, btw, show no signs of being bothered by spending most of his life in a crouch. He has the rugged, casual professionalism that you want in a major league catcher (and that I can see growing in Posada).
"Oh, and he's hitting about .300 much to everyone's surprise and Dusty Baker's delight."
(My father also sent me a nice little piece on Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956 that has since disappeared into the e-mail abyss. Yo, Dad, can you send that one again? asks the columnist as he slinks, embarrassed, into a corner.)
* * *
Finally, I got a lovely item in the mail yesterday. It was a small package containing a post card, ostensibly from George Steinbrenner, which read as follows:
"Dear Devoted Fan:
"Because we value your loyalty and support, we would like you to have this gift to say thank you. The enclosed one of kind [sic] pin signifies you as a member of the New York Yankees Bleacher Crew.
"Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to a great season with you."
The pin is the shape of home plate, has three Yankee fans (two male, one female) in the middle, holding up a "GO YANKS!" sign, the Yankee logo in the point of the plate, and emblazoned on the top: "YANKEE STADIUM BLEACHER CREATURES."
That, my friends, is class. These are the season ticket holders on whom the Yankees make the least money -- they're the cheapest tickets, and we sit in an area where beer -- the most expensive concession -- is forbidden.
And yet they went to the trouble of making up these pins for us, just for being such devoted fans. (And trust me, you won't find more devoted fans.)
In an age where one gets the feeling that baseball teams don't actually giving a rat's patootie about the "ground-level" fan, this gesture came as a welcome surprise.
NEXT: Halfway Home
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