Pinstriped Perspective

Gina Carrano

5/22/07

Mini-project #4

All my life, I’ve been surrounded by sports fans of all ages, but I never considered whether there was a discernible difference between the attitudes or behaviors of younger and older fans. However, after talking with two New York Yankees fans from two different generations, I saw that they each brought their own unique perspective to the table. Although both are lifelong Yankee fans, there are differences in everything from their thoughts on the team to how they root for them.

For the older fan’s perspective, I talked to my mom, Madeline. She grew up in the Bronx and currently lives in North Jersey, and has been rooting for the team since she was a little girl in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. For the younger fan’s point of view I talked to my friend Brian, who is 26 and was born and raised in North Jersey. He, too, has been a fan his whole life.

When I asked my mom who her all-time favorite Yankee was, she replied without hesitation that it was Mickey Mantle. Brian was just as quick to name his favorite: Don Mattingly. I couldn’t help but notice that both of them chose a player they’d grown up watching. When I asked them to elaborate on why they loved their favorite player, they both talked about great experiences they’d had as kids going to the Stadium and cheering on Mantle and Mattingly, respectively. I have always believed that there is little as valuable to a sports fan as treasured childhood memories of watching their favorite players, and their responses proved that theory true.

Their difference in perspective was further highlighted when I asked each one which Yankee team, in all their years of being a fan, was their favorite. Considering the storied history of the Yankees, neither one had trouble coming up with a response, but again, their answers were very indicative of how many generations of Yankees baseball each had lived through. Each picked a powerhouse World Champion Yankee team that had enjoyed great success, but their chosen teams were nearly 40 years removed from one another.

My mom’s favorite team was the 1961 World Champion Yankees, which featured such legends as Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. Not only were the ’61 Yankees seemingly unstoppable, she said, but 1961 was the year in which Mantle and Maris competed to break Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record. The home run chase remains one of my mom’s favorite baseball memories. She can still remember like it was yesterday the excitement she felt whenever either player would come up to the plate and their at-bat culminated in a ball being slammed out of the park. Maris eventually broke the record with 61 homers, and although at the time many people felt he wasn’t a “True Yankee” and didn’t want him to break the record, my mom was thrilled when he did. “[Mantle and Maris] were bigger than life,” she said.

Jumping into another generation, Brian’s all-time favorite team was the 1998 Yankees. The ’98 team also enjoyed immense success, winning a record-breaking 114 regular-season games behind key players like Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, David Cone, Orlando Hernandez and Andy Pettitte. “It seemed like they couldn’t lose,” he said when asked why this team was his favorite, and he also liked the fact that there were no “stars,” instead the team worked as an equal unit to excel, with a different player stepping up each time a game was at stake. Throughout the entire 1998 season he felt like he was witnessing history, a Yankee team whose greatness was unparalleled, and when the season culminated in a World Series victory, it couldn’t possibly have been any sweeter.

Although my two interviewees differed on their all-time favorite teams and players, they had more in common when it came to the present-day 2007 Yankees. Both said their current favorite player was Derek Jeter, and they each cited his all-around great play and the leadership he brings to the team as reasons they feel that way. They’re also both pretty pleased with the general direction the team is heading in for the future; namely, the crop of promising young pitchers that are being developed within the organization, particularly Phil Hughes, who they both feel is a future ace. Each one expressed happiness that in the past offseason, the Yankees traded away what my mom called the “aging malcontents” Gary Sheffield and Randy Johnson.

Their reasons for feeling this way are different, though. My mom believes these players care more about personal accolades than team success and did not take the pride they should in wearing the classic Yankee pinstripes, whereas Brian simply feels that they are too old to stay healthy and effective. Each of them is also very happy about Andy Pettitte’s return and Roger Clemens’ impending return to the team this season. They both agree that the presence of these two seasoned veterans and big-game pitchers will be a terrific influence on the young arms in the rotation. “It’s the passing of the torch,” my mom said.

However, this is where their similarities end. When asked how they felt about the early-season struggles of this season’s team, each one responded very differently. While neither one believes this season is over for the Yankees and both think the team will turn things around, my mom was much more confident about their ability to come back and win their division. When asked the reason for her optimism, she said she remembered all too well the season when the Yankees came back from a 14-game deficit in July 1978, only becoming eligible for a playoff spot on the last day of the season, and then going on to win the World Series. They’ve done it before and she sees no reason why they can’t do it again. Although 1978 was before Brian’s time, he is well aware of the comeback the team staged that year, but is quick to point out that times are different now and while he still thinks the 2007 Yanks can come back to make the playoffs, it will be a huge uphill battle.

Another big difference between them is how critical they each are of the team’s flaws. Both my mom and Brian are proud to be true-blue fans in both good times and bad. But Brian is much quicker than my mom to find fault in the team, particularly the way it is being managed. He takes issue with many of the in-game moves made by manager Joe Torre, particularly his liberal use of several pitchers in the bullpen. He even goes so far as to say Torre should be fired if the team continues to struggle this season. My mom, on the other hand, may question some of the pitching decisions Torre makes, but overall she is very supportive of him and thinks that after over a decade of success in New York, he should stay on as manager until his contract ends. She also points out that the Yankees have largely struggled this year because of injuries, which are beyond Torre’s control.

Their reactions to my questions prove that two fans loving the same team doesn’t necessarily ensure total agreement on every topic relating to the team. In the cases of my interviewees, their views are colored by having grown up in different generations. In Brian’s life, he has basically only seen the Yankees play really badly, as they did in the 80s and first part of the 90s, or really well, as they did in the past decade. My mom, however, has seen various eras where the Yankees transitioned from struggles to success and back. Also, Brian grew up in a much more technological time than did my mom, and this affects the way they each root for their team. Since he was in his teens, Brian has been able to go online and have countless information about the team at his fingertips, from statistics to expert commentary, while my mom basically only knows what she hears from the broadcasters during the games and reads in the newspaper—and this is enough information on which to evaluate the team, she says. They are definitely fans from different generations, but that’s the great thing about baseball—the love fans have for the sport and their team can bring anyone together, no matter how different their perspectives are.