Another Note on Sports

I noticed that my Yankees kicked some ass yesterday, and although it was great to see Phil Hughes pitching lights out (three hits in eight shutout innings), I will say that I wasn't a fan of the promotional hats they wore last night. I believe all teams wore the red-caps with the American flag inside the team's logo to raise money for returning Iraqi veterans, a cause I believe worth supporting, but I don't like red caps on the Yankees.

Speaking of Yankees and caps, I'd been in the market for a Yankee cap for the last few years, knowing that after I cut my hair, I'd be able to sport the kind of fitted cap that had been previously off limits. After narrowing it down to three or four different Yankee hats (around here that is a big deal, since every day you can see one that you've never seen before) the current season started. The Yankees moved across the street, started abusing the regular fans, introduced both The Moat and the Trost Toasties (the Moat is the area that separates the close, nice $2000 seats from the "cheap" $400 seats; the Toasties are the security detail for the nice, expensive seats, named after pricing man (Yankee CFO) Lonn Trost), and I decided to not spend my hard-earned money on a Yankee cap. It seemed like the extant of my protest, as I don't blame the players, and I still root for them, I won't be boycotting an entire season like a close friend of mine did years ago, I just wouldn't by a hat. Pretty lame, I know,  but that's that.

But I still needed a hat, sort of, as my Irish-fro can be tough to manage and my fedora isn't always right for all occasions. I'd been looking for a baseball-cap, and found what I needed quite accidently, or, really, found it while not looking for it: a Brooklyn Dodger cap.

I don't love the Dodgers, but they may be one of my NL teams, with the Pirates, Cubbies, and Marlins (still have a soft spot for the Phillies), but really, I decided that 1) I like blue, and 2) I've been living in Brooklyn for three years, representing Brooklyn, voting in Brooklyn, doing jury duty in Brooklyn (County of Kings, baby), paying taxes in Brooklyn...I found a way that (for me) sticks it to the Yankees and shows off the Brooklyn pride.

The last time I forsook a team of mine in any way was in 2007 when a good friend of mine tried to convert me to being a Jets fan, trying to change my affiliation from the New York Giants to the Jets. I still root for and enjoy the Jets, but I'm not your typical Jets Fan...they live in a world like the Raiders Fan: living and dying by the green-and-white (or silver-and-black). That year turned out pretty good for Giants fans everywhere.

Also strange notes from yesterday in the baseball world: the Yankees, Dodgers, and Tigers as a team each drummed out exactly 19 hits yesterday, while the White Sox hammered out 24.