Bleeding Yankee Blue: BASEBALL: IT'S IN OUR DNA

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

BASEBALL: IT'S IN OUR DNA

Earlier this week, a colleague came by to visit with me in my office. We were having a typical conversation about how we work to support our students' success. The conversation switched from students to current events including the elections, the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez and the results of my colleague's recent DNA test. He shared with me that although he knew he had a certain amount of African American in his soul, he was surprised by the other ingredients that were part of his makeup including Irish-American. As we spoke, I began to drift a bit and think about my own DNA. Then, I glanced over to an 11x14 photo of Derek Jeter, which I have on one of my walls. I thought to myself, forget my origin from a theoretical standpoint- I'm from Cooperstown and baseball is in my DNA.

I have known baseball for as long as I can remember. As a baby, I celebrated with my grandmother as the 1969 Mets won their first World Series. My father quickly whisked me back to reality as the Yankees battled Boston, the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers each year. I learned the game by watching and listening to the game, every day. Sometimes, I would record the game using my boom box...yes, cassette record so I could listen to it later. I'd buy the long cassette tapes from Radio Shack so I could record and listen to the game later in the day. I would even record the post game sometimes. Announcers Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto and Bill White, shared the airwaves and moved from television to radio almost seamlessly. Yes, the same guys called the games and took turns between the two different media. That's when the Yankees were broadcasted on 11 Alive and 1010 wins. Yep, baseball is clearly in my DNA, because my recall is spot on.

When I learned early Sunday morning that we lost Jose Fernandez to a freak boating accident, I immediately thought about that terrible day when we lost the Captain, Thurman Munson, to a freak plane accident. Although Munson was a player toward the end of his career, the pain was thick and gruesome, much like we have been witnessing with the loss of this vibrant young man, Fernandez. #15 and #16 will forever be remembered by baseball fans for their contribution to a game that was clearly a part of their DNA.

Here at BYB, we write through the lens of our own passions. We feel what we write, whether we are defending a player or manager or ranting about them. You see, baseball is in our DNA. When we say we Bleeding Yankee Blue, we mean it. As we think about the choices we make and the way we have decided to spend our time and live our lives, we have to think about why we continue to write, day after day, loss after loss, win after win. It's baseball. It's our constant. It's in our DNA.