A Drumbeat of Personal Tie-ins

Lots of personal tie-in stuff to write about today:

Not sure how proud I should be of this item, but the lead lawyer who argued in the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday against upholding the University of Texas’ affirmative action guidelines for admission is a cousin on my father’s side of the family. Bert Rein is a second or third cousin (I can never figure out how you figure out cousin relationships beyond first cousins). Bert’s father, Moe, was my father’s first cousin. They grew up in the same small Polish town, Ottynia. 

Bert’s a founding partner of the well-connected Washington law firm of Wiley Rein LLP. Sad to say, he’s pretty conservative. He often advocates for business interests. Though he’s previously appeared before the Supreme justices, it’s no small matter to have our family represented before the nation’s highest court. 

The Real Thing: Speaking of my father, I’ve written before about his factory on lower Broadway. One of the pleasures of visiting him there was the chance to raid the Coca-Cola vending machine. It was fire-engine red. A favorite job was filling it up. I’d stick the key into the lock on the right side of the refrigerator-sized machine and pull back the heavy door to reveal vertical serpentine rows of grey tubes ready for replenishment. My reward usually was a cold one. Often, at the end of the day, my father would hand out sodas to his workers. The rest of the time, for 10¢, you’d push down on a brushed steel lever, open a door on the left front of the machine and pull out a cold 6.5 oz. glass bottle of Coke. 

Sadly, I read Wednesday the last manufacturer of 6.5 oz. returnable bottles has stopped production http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=0ZDf8lmB. Not sure what ever happened to that old Coke machine. My brother and I, maybe my sister as well, always regret we didn’t salvage it when our father closed down his factory in the 1980s.

The Survey Says: Among the many polls being cited in this nail-biting electoral season is one from America’s Research Group. For many years I worked with ARG and its founder, C. Britt Beemer. My magazine had been using several research firms to track consumer spending and lifestyle trends when Britt sent me an unsolicited offer I could hardly refuse. He said he’d provide free research. I didn’t chuck the other research firms, but I did incorporate ARG into a meaningful part of our coverage of the retail industry. 

Speaking of polls, one of the weirder ones is taking place daily at 7-Eleven stores throughout the country. As it has since the 2000 presidential election, the convenience store chain has given customers a choice of self-service coffee cups imprinted with the names of the two major party candidates. It also color codes the cups, blue for Democrat, red for Republican. Undecided voters can pour their java into plain cups. Don’t discount this poll—it’s picked the winner every time.

To date, Barack Obama is swamping Mitt Romney by a 60-40 margin. In Ohio, after undecideds are removed from the count, Obama leads 57-43.

There might be an explanation as to why the 7-Eleven coffee cup poll is not as close as almost all other national surveys. “There’s a bias on 7-Eleven because their entire poll has a margin of error of plus or minus Mormons can’t drink coffee,” according to Stephen Colbert. 

Magic and Mystique: There may be some truth to the claim Yankee Stadium is enveloped by some supernatural force, especially after Raul Ibanez, pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez no less, stroked a ninth inning home run to tie Wednesday night’s game and then capped that feat by blasting a game winning four-bagger in the 12th. Everyone who witnessed his extraordinary heroics was stunned, doubly stunned. Those weren’t cheap, short-porch Yankee Stadium shots. The first one was estimated to have traveled 403 feet; the game winner 390 feet. 

Was it magic? Am I the only one who sees the resemblance between Ibanez and Voldemort as portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in the Harry Potter movies? Could they have been brothers separated at birth? Is Ibanez really a wizard? Yankee fans and muggles the world over don’t really care. We just want Ibanez to continue his magical streak, and hope it is contagious to the rest of the team.

By the way, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you loyal readers that I semi-predicted Ibanez’s ride to the rescue. I wrote he would pinch-hit for Nick Swisher, but as it happened, Swisher was scheduled to be the fifth batter in the bottom of the ninth. Manager Joe Girardi realized he might not get a chance to use Ibanez if A-Rod and then Cano made out to end the game, so it was pull Rodriguez or let the opportunity pass by. 

Further by the way, over post-tennis pizza I actually suggested to a friend Ibanez might hit for A-Rod. He thought I was crazy but sent me a congratulatory e-mail this morning.

Second Looks at FDR, Trickle Down, Talk Radio and Yankee Playoffs

The calendar may read 2012 but take a look at this news clip from September 29, 1936 (courtesy of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart). You can speed through the first minute of the 2:30 minute video if you don’t want to hear Stewart’s cheeky analysis of Republican budget promises, but do view Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s biting sarcasm as he describes Republican interest in providing Social Security, work for the unemployed and saving people’s homes during the Depression: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-october-9-2012/democalypse-2012---vague-against-the-machine---the-numbers-guy. Oh how similar it sounds to today’s political discourse. 

Mitt Romney has been getting lots of mileage from his transformation of the anti-GOP phrase “trickle down economics” into an anti-liberal entitlement message of “trickle down government.” Are Barack Obama and Joe Biden going to be swift enough with retorts to point out all the trickle down government benefits one-percenters like Romney and Paul Ryan get from off-shoring their money while corporations get energy and farm subsidies and other tax benefits for locating businesses in specific communities? Obama blew his first opportunity during last week’s debate. There are three more head-to-head formats to challenge an ever-position-changing Romney.

It’s probably safe to say most leaders of big businesses favor Romney and his lower taxes, fewer regulations stances. But few corporate biggies, I would venture to say, are so openly blatant in their assessment of what would trickle down to their workers if Obama is re-elected. If he wins, David Siegel told his 7,000 employees, their jobs at Westgate Resorts would be at risk. "If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company," he wrote in a 1,400-word e-mail. "Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone."  http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/09/news/economy/siegel-email-employees/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Riding home from Massachusetts Monday afternoon, with Gilda reading from her iTouch, I listened to some sports radio. Eventually she wondered how I could listen to such drivel. She was right. It was quite banal. But I just couldn’t tolerate hearing more presidential politics from the talk shows. At least with baseball or football talk I could laugh off the stupidity and inanity of the callers and hosts. What’s the worse that could happen? The Yankees could lose the playoff series to the Baltimore Orioles. It’s not as if the nation would reverse gear and go back to the 1950s in its treatment of minorities and women. At least I hope it wouldn’t. Wait a minute ... in the 1950s the Yankees won eight American League pennants and six World Series; the NY Football Giants played in three championship games, winning one. Maybe the 1950s wasn’t such a backward decade, after all.

Seriously, all my fretting about the Yankees not making the playoffs this year is forgotten, though the reasoning behind my worries continues. Throughout the 162-game regular season the Bronx Bombers displayed an aversion to scoring unless it was by the long ball. But home runs are hard to come by in the post-season, and the first two games showed their vulnerability. With the exception of Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki, they all seem to be swinging for the fences instead of practicing situational hitting. 

Alex Rodriguez, as always, is the lightning rod for fan discontent. So many fans want him demoted, either taken out of the lineup for tonight’s game or moved lower in the batting order from his usual third spot. Manager Joe Girardi won’t grant their wishes. A-Rod is batting third, followed by Robinson Cano and then Nick Swisher. 

Swisher is one of my favorites, but he has been dreadful for many years in the playoffs when batting with runners in scoring position. He has one hit in some 33 at-bats. So don’t be surprised if Girardi has the left-handed hitting Raul Ibanez pinch-hit for the switch-hitting Swisher in a critical spot late in the game against a right-handed pitcher. Even if Baltimore countered with a left-handed pitcher, Yankee fans might feel there’s more of a chance for a hit with Ibanez swinging the lumber. He did, after all, bang two big home runs to tie ball games in the ninth inning and added a game-winning single in the last week of the season. If Swisher doesn’t want to be replaced when the game’s on the line, he has to produce earlier in the contest en route to a Yankee rout of the Orioles.

Sewer Commissions and Other Noteworthy Beats

Over the course of many years as a journalist I’ve been approached by numerous students and recent graduates enamored with the idea of becoming a reporter. In the late 1970s and into the 1980s, I attributed it to the Woodward and Bernstein effect. Everyone wanted to be a crusading investigative reporter, exposing their own Watergate scandal to topple an administration. In the most recent decade interest in journalism has been jump-started by the Internet. With a laptop, or even a smart phone, anyone who could master technology could become an on-the-spot reporter.

When asked about the profession, I would counsel that most practitioners struggle to make a living, that the life of most reporters is one of drudgery, of going to one sewer commission meeting after another. Not that sewer commission meetings aren’t important. They are extremely vital to homeowners who desire to rid themselves of septic tanks by hooking up to the municipal waste system. It’s just not a very glamorous beat. 

But leave it to Linda Greenhouse, the former Supreme Court reporter and current blogger for The NY Times, and now a senior fellow at Yale Law School, to plumb the depths of a sewer commission dispute from Indianapolis to cast some perspective on how the Court may rule in the most important case before it, the validity of health care reform commonly called Obamacare. She doesn’t project how the Court will rule, but her analysis is intriguing. Here it is: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/when-enough-is-enough/

Weariness has overtaken me. Though an admitted political junkie, I need a break from the never-ending cycle of presidential election news, especially when Romney refuses to provide specifics about his programs and the press lets him get away with it, the most recent case being their inability to pin him down on whether he would repeal Obama’s executive action not to deport under-30 illegal immigrants brought into the United States by their parents when they were young. Barring any action that may demand immediate commentary, I plan to step back from tossing more pabulum onto the pap pile until the nominating conventions. 

I’ll be more than mildly surprised if I adhere to this intention. Perhaps to make up for leaving you with less than a complete plate of political goodies, I’ll link you to commentaries I find interesting (in other words, ones I agree with). Here’s the first, from Timothy Egan: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/the-clown-and-the-cop/

If I’m not going to write about politics, will sports assume more importance? Nah, but I do have to admit I was guilty a few weeks ago of not remembering the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Back on May 22 I lamented how long a season it might be considering how poorly the NY Yankees were playing. 

Fast forward to today. The Yankees are in first place in the American League East. They’ve won eight in a row. Their pitching has been exceptional. As soon as they really start hitting (that means you A-Rod, Teixeira and Martin), they have a real shot at justifying their big salaries. Saturday they finally won a game without the benefit of a home run. The summer is looking better with each passing day. 

Signs of Aging

Stopped at a red light the other day, I glanced down at my right hand and did a double take. Could it be? Were those round shadings on the back of my hand the telltale signs of aging spots? I shuttered to think so. I’ve been checking my hand ever since. So far, nothing new to report. Whew!

Here are some real signals of creeping decrepitude, culled from time recently spent with family and friends. You know you’re getting old...

When your adult children are more interested in watching a reality show like The Bachelor or Jersey Shore than a great black and white film, even if it’s starring Humphrey Bogart;

When you wonder how your adult children can listen to TV with the sound so low and they tell you it’s because they’re all under 40;

When the eldest of your friend’s teenage children slides behind the wheel of his car;

When your 8-year-old grandnephew is excited about showing you a new video game and you have absolutely no idea what you’re viewing.

No doubt you have your own senior moments, if only you could remember them.


Adios, Tito: Because he was a really good manager, Terry “Tito” Francona’s departure from the Boston Red Sox brings some relief to any NY Yankees fan. But also because he was such a good manager it also elicits sadness that he became the fall guy for the epic failure of the Red Sox to make the baseball playoffs this year, and last year as well.

In comments agreeing to his removal as manager after eight years, and two World Series wins, Francona indicated the team no longer heard his voice in the clubhouse, that he wasn’t able to inspire them. But let’s be honest—few players remain from those glory years of 2004 and 2007. The exceptions are David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, Tim Wakefield, Josh Beckett, Jason Varitek, Jonathan Papelbon and Dustin Pedroia, all top quality players and ostensibly, clubhouse leaders. There were 18 new sets of ears in the clubhouse who should have been receptive to Francona’s message, the same message that led to two World Series titles.

Francona’s problems could be traced to the failure of general manager Theo Epstein to provide quality replacement parts for the rest of the team roster. Over the last few years he’s invested heavily in players who did not live up to expectations, including J.D. Drew, Mike Cameron, Carl Crawford and John Lackey.

On the other hand, Yankee GM Brian Cashman can celebrate his efficiency in signing pitchers Corey Wade, Luis Ayala, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon, along with position players Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones and Russell Martin.

What Cashman and Yankees fans cannot be too happy about, however, is the recurring failure of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to hit in the post-season. After two games they are a combined 1 for 15 (Teixeira hit a double) with two strikeouts apiece. It’s nice to see Jorge Posada leading the team in batting average in the playoffs, but the Yanks won’t beat the Detroit Tigers if A-Rod and Tex don’t hit, and if Brett Gardner, 1 for 6 with no walks, and Derek Jeter, 2 for 10, no walks, don’t get on base.

But at least they made it into the playoffs. The season is already a success because Boston didn’t.

As for the post-season, I’ve come to accept whatever happens in the early rounds. I haven’t altered my life schedule to view the games. Saturday night Gilda and I watched the first two episodes of Downtown Abbey while the Yankees bashed the Tigers. Sunday we ate dinner out before seeing a Tisch School of the Arts at New York University production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure with a friend’s son, Rafi, in a leading role. After coming home I viewed a DVR recording of the NY Giants squeek out a victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the same stadium as their 2008 Super Bowl triumph.

I want the Yankees to win, but I’m not going to get really excited until they play in the World Series. Perhaps that’s another sign of aging, or at least maturity.

Yankee Decision Time

Barring a physical setback, Alex Rodriguez probably will return to the NY Yankees’ active 25-man roster this week. Aside from giving the Bronx Bombers a hoped-for power surge, A-Rod’s return will give the team a major migraine as it tries to figure out a new batting order and, more sensitively, who will be demoted to make room for the slugger.

The decisions could mean the immediate end of 39-year-old Jorge Posada’s career as a Yankee, even after his career-day Saturday when he hit a grand slam and knocked in a total of six runs. Or the team could finagle the roster to reward Posada for his 16 years of service by keeping him active and sending down to the minors, or to the 15-day disabled list, a pitcher until baseball rosters can be expanded to 40 on September 1. Either way, based on his .237 batting average this year, which follows a .248 mark a year ago, it seems all but certain this is Jorge’s last year as a player in Yankee pinstripes.

Without Rodriguez in the lineup the Yanks have fared well. Their revamped batting order featuring Curtis Granderson in the three hole, followed by Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, has proven quite potent. With A-Rod expected to return to the cleanup spot, the question becomes, where to put Granderson who is having an MVP-type year. He is tied for the major league lead in home runs, is first in runs scored and is second in runs batted in. He has shown he can hit lefties this season, thus negating a reason to have the switch-hitting Teixeira bat third.

Earlier this year manager Joe Girardi had to contend with questions about Derek Jeter’s spot in the batting order. Lucky for him (and the team), Jeter emerged from his funk when he returned from the DL, so leading off or batting second behind Brett Gardner is not a question anymore for the team captain.

Girardi has to deal with sensitive egos. In my mind he has two options. First, assuming he can talk A-Rod into it, he should bat him sixth against right-handed pitchers until he has proven his swing is back. Once that happens, Rodriguez and Teixeira should flip-flop. In other words, the batting order at the outset against righties should be: Gardner, Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Russell Martin. (Against lefties it would always be Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Swisher, Martin, Eduardo Nunez or Andruw Jones, Gardner.)

That’s the easy part of the A-Rod is back equation. Who gets jettisoned is much harder. I have a soft spot for Posada. I know baseball is a what-have-you-done-lately-for-me business. For the season, Posada has been mostly missing in action. But I’m not ready to discard one-third of the remaining core three players from the last five Yankee championships. Girardi stuck with Jeter during the first half and he’s supporting Mariano Rivera during his recent hiccups. My heart wants the Yanks not to disrespect Posada by releasing him.

That leaves a pitching reduction as the more probable option. I’m already on record as wanting to get rid of A.J. Burnett, but that’s not happening, unless they can convince him to go on the DL. As much as I have no confidence in him, Burnett is insurance should one of the other starting pitchers suffer a physical setback, as Freddy Garcia just did by cutting a finger and being unable to pitch his next start. Most probably management will return Hector Noesi to the minors until the September call-up. That could mean Hughes pitches out of the bullpen, reprising the Joba Chamberlain he’s-a-reliever-no-he’s-a-starter-no-he’s-a-reliever scenario that benefited no one. It’s not optimal, but it’s only a short-term assignment.

Yogi Berra once said, "Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical." Now that the Yanks are more physically fit with A-Rod’s pending return, their season will depend on how well they handle the mental part of the game.

There is one other option in the Posada predicament. A proud man, he could decide there’s no better way to end his Yankee career than with Saturday’s mega-day. After reliving it in his mind for more than 36 hours, he could choose to retire in dignity rather than the ignominy that surely will be attached to the rest of this season should he continue to play, or more probably, sit most days on the bench. Why not go out on top of the world, just like Ted Williams did by smashing a home run in his last time up?

Sure, Posada’s bat probably has more hits left in it. But it has far too many outs as well. Let Yankee fans remember the Posada of Saturday when they gave him a standing ovation curtain call following his bases-clearing blast. Let him announce his retirement prior to tonight’s game. It will show him to be the ultimate team player. In return, the Yankees could show their class by immediately naming him a coach for the rest of the season.

A-Rod: Schlemiel or Schlimazel

Celebrities go to the Super Bowl to see and be seen, so it should come as no surprise cameras catch them in unscripted moments. Former NFL coach and TV commentator John Madden was shown texting during the game, just moments before the camera caught film star Cameron Diaz feeding popcorn to her current squeeze, baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez. Even play by play announcer Joe Buck, who also broadcasts Major League Baseball games, had to wryly acknowledge, “I’m sure Alex was thrilled we put the camera on him at that moment” (http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-headlines-in-cleveland/cameron-diaz-and-a-rod-s-pda-at-super-bowl-video).

Once again A-Rod became the butt of jokes on the airwaves and blogosphere for a PDA (public display of affection—unlike previous incidents, this PDA involved a woman and not self-preening in Central Park for a newspaper photo or in front of a mirror for a magazine layout). He did nothing more than any decent, sensitive man would do if his girlfriend offered him popcorn, especially if his girlfriend was a beautiful movie star. He showed interest in her, unlike many men who zone out when watching sporting events.

There’s no denying, however, A-Rod is a lightning rod for controversy, which begs the question, Is A-Rod a schlemiel or a schlimazel? For those not familiar with the Yiddish terms, a schlemiel is a person who, despite the best of intentions, always fouls up. A schlimazel is an unfortunate soul, a person to whom misadventure always falls. To gain a deeper understanding of the distinction between the two, think of a schlemiel as a bumbling waiter who spills hot soup on a patron; the person drenched by the soup is a schlimazel.

Active or passive, schlemiel or schlimazel, A-Rod can’t catch a break.


More Super Bowl Follow-Up: In case you missed it, as I did, here's a link to the NFL's tribute to President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday which coincided with Super Bowl Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xvwQAwPAo

Since I wasn't a Reagan fan, I'm happy the winner of the Super Bowl receives the Lombardi Trophy. I can just imagine the NFL renaming the trophy after football-happy Reagan if it were named for any lesser a personage than Vince Lombardi.


Even More Super Bowl Follow-Up: For a long while there I thought my 21-17 final score prediction would hold up. Of course, I said Pittsburgh would have the 21, but let’s not quibble over small details.

I also was right the trailing team would fall short on a last minute attempt to score the winning touchdown, though the Steelers got nowhere near the Packer 20 yard line as I forecast. In fact, they didn’t get beyond their own 20, so I guess I was right the game would end with the ball in the Packers’ possession near the Pittsburgh goal line.

I see a new career ahead of me in sports prognosticating....


Traffic Patterns: I’m commuting to and from Manhattan again. Not for a new job, not for pay.

With Ellie on crutches after her recent foot surgery, she’s staying with us so I can drive her to and from work each day (here’s where you’re supposed to say, “What a nice guy/dad Murray is”).

Some observations: The roads are really bad. Lots of potholes. Traffic is much worse than when I used to occasionally drive to my office. It’s taking at least an hour to get to the Metropolitan Museum at Fifth Avenue and E. 80th Street, the same time it took to travel a longer distance to Park Avenue and E. 55 St. Too many cars are single occupancy.


Still No Socks, But...: I haven’t abandoned retirement but I have taken a part-time position as director of industry relations for Green Retail Decisions, a Web-based enterprise that delivers information and analysis to the retail industry on energy-, waste- and supply-chain management, as well as green construction/maintenance practices (http://www.greenretaildecisions.com).

Sustainable business practices are not a fad; they are integral to a company’s profitable performance. GRD provides actionable news, trends and analysis through a robust Web site, weekly e-newsletter, Webinars, white papers and face-to-face forums.

GRD is the brainchild of another Lebhar-Friedman alumnus, John Failla. John is also the founder of Store Brands Decisions, dedicated to the private label industry.

Pinstripes Forever

Perhaps it was the graininess of the black and white photo in Friday’s NY Times (sorry, it wasn’t posted on the Web site so I can’t provide a link). Or maybe it was his straight-on-to-the-camera pose. Or the close-cropped hair that seemed to show a receding hairline more pronounced than Joe Torre’s. But in that newspaper photo with his former skipper at a benefit dinner Thursday night in support of Torre’s charitable work, Derek Jeter looked old. And very corporate.

He was wearing a pinstriped suit. Jeter may have been sending a subtle message to Yankeedom in his first experience as a free agent that pinstripes year-round are his most comfortable attire.

Torre wore pinstriped suits on and off the field, as well, but it’s now three years since he gave them up on the field. Of course, managers are more expendable than the faces of franchises. The Yankees have had four iconic managers—Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel and Torre. Huggins died in office in 1929. The other three, despite each winning multiple American League pennants and World Series, wore out their welcome in the Bronx, at least in the minds of team executives.

During the same time, the Yanks have had six players whose identities were forever linked to their franchise—Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter (you can argue about some others, such as Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, and Mariano Rivera, but none of them would be the cover boy for an era of Yankee baseball). All but the Babe came up through the Yankee system and played all their games for New York.

It seems everyone has an opinion on Jeter’s future value to the Yankees, in terms of how many years his next contract should cover, how much he should be paid and what position he should play.

I’m already on record as biased toward Jeter, so here’s my suggestion: He should get a three year contract. One year option clause. $18 million a year (he made $22.6 million in 2010) with annual incentives if he bats better than .300, scores more than 100 runs, knocks in at least 70 runs and makes fewer than a dozen errors. He should play shortstop. Pencil him in to play the field 130 games. He should not move to third base as Alex Rodriguez plays superbly there and A-Rod’s range is also diminishing, so putting him at shortstop would not solve any defensive gaps in the infield. Possibly in year two or three of the contract, Jeter might share designated hitter chores with Jorge Posada, but only if the Yanks have a competent shortstop who can hit at least .260.

This arrangement might not make anyone happy, but it’s in the best interests of all who want to see Derek Jeter in pinstripes for all his playing days.

Competitive Balance

Once the World Series ends, the battle for Cliff Lee begins anew.

For those not familiar with Mr. Lee, he is among the pre-eminent pitchers in baseball. He currently hones his craft with the Texas Rangers, the team that twice beat out the NY Yankees when it comes to Lee. Last July the Seattle Mariners, Lee’s team at the beginning of the season, decided to trade him. The Yankees and Rangers pitched the Mariners various players in return for Lee. Seattle chose the Texas barbecue, not the NY strip (strike one). Texas then walloped the Yanks in the American League pennant series that concluded last Friday night in so convincing a manner it left no doubt which was the better team (that last clause was hard for a Yankee fan to write, but my journalism training impressed upon me the professional ethics of delivering all the news objectively, even when it hurts). Lee pitched just one game, a shutout gem (strike two).

Before my team’s ignominious defeat, I was indifferent, even slightly opposed, to the idea of spending Steinbrenner millions to sign Lee to a multi-year contract after he becomes a free agent when the World Series with the San Francisco Giants concludes. I reasoned that while I like to see New York win, I prefer they do it in competitive contests, not one-sided acclimations. It would be much more gratifying to win if the other team had a pitcher like Cliff Lee on its staff, as the Philadelphia Phillies did last year when they lost to the Yankees. How sweet that victory was.

But now that the Bronx Bummers looked so futile, scoring just 19 runs to Texas’s 38 during their six game series, I’m all for opening the coffers to buy Lee’s services. I believe baseball demands such action in the name of competitive balance. Let’s face it—without Lee pitching for the Yankees it is hard to imagine them winning another trip to the World Series in the foreseeable future. Derek, A-Rod, Mo, Andy and Jorge are not getting any younger. They still have lots of fingers with no rings to wear (A-Rod, especially, has four more empty fingers than the others to adorn). The Yankees need Lee and his shut down pitching because they just ain’t winning by scoring 1 or 2 runs a game in the post-season as once they face any team except the Minneapolis Twins, Yankee hurlers are serving up meatballs other teams are devouring.

This is not just a Yankee fan’s rant. Baseball needs New York in the World Series, and by NY I don’t mean the Mets. The Yanks bring out the passion in their fans and in the Yankee haters around the league. Other teams and their fans find it much more enjoyable and rewarding if they beat the Yanks, than say, the Cleveland Indians, or the Tampa Bay Rays. No team’s loss provides the imprimatur of victory more so than the Yankees.

So for the sake of competitive balance, the Yanks must sign Lee or winter’s chill will come to the Bronx while the calendar still says October for the next few years.

Of course, Lee might decide to stay in Texas where he is idolized, has a younger, hungrier team surrounding him, is closer to his hometown of Benton, Ark., is recognized as the ace of the pitching staff and wouldn’t have to compete in New York with his friend C.C. Sabathia for that honorific. If he chooses to stay with the Rangers, that would be strike three. In shutting out the Yanks on two hits last week, Lee struck out 13. It don’t look good.