The Good Book

The latest edition of Steven Goldman's Pinstriped Bible is out this afternoon. Needless to say, it is required reading for any serious Yankee fan.

Do You Remember?

Jim Gerard, a frequent reader of Bronx Banter is writing a book about the Yankees. He's dedicating one chapter to Yankee lowlights--Dark Days for Yankee fans. If you've got any cherce memories, Jim would appreciate an e-mail. (The first thing that comes to mind was when Bobby Meacham hit a homer and then ran past the runner ahead of him on base and was called out...I can't recall the year, but at some pernt during the mid eighties.) In particular, Jim is looking for Yankee fans to write in and discuss what they feel were the worst, most painful losses in franchise history, and why. For me the most painful loss was the 1981 World Series simply because the Yankees played so well in Game One and Game Two, and so thoroughly lousy in Games Three, Four and Five out in Los Angeles. Also, if anybody has any remembrances of what it was like to be a Yankee fan during the dark CBS days of the mid-60s through the early 70s, they can pass those along, too. You can reach Jim at: jgerard@nyc.rr.com. Thanks.

The Book is The Thing

For those of you who are interested, Buster Olney and Alan Schwarz will be at the Yogi Berra Museum in the near future to talk about their new books. On Saturday, September 18th between 1-2 p.m., Buster will be there to discuss "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty." Alan Schwarz will be talking about "The Numbers Game" on Saturday, October 16th between 1-2 p.m.

Chivalry Ain't Dead

Last night I was riding the 7th avenue IRT uptown. A few stops before I was going to get off a woman came on the train and stood in front of me. Without thinking, I asked her if she would like to sit and gave up my seat for her. The woman sitting next to her looked at me incredulously. "Are you from New York?" she asked. "Born and raised," I said. "Wow." People always seem suprised to discover that there are nice people in the world. I'm not saying I'm a saint. I don't always give up my seat for a woman, or an older person, but I do it more often than not. According to an article in the Times today, I'm not alone.

Funny thing is when I got back to the Bronx later in the evening, I jumped on the bus to get home. As I approached the back, which was crowded, I saw a heavy-set bald dude sitting in a seat, with his gym bag in the seat next to him. This kind of casual arrogance annoys me to no end. I said excuse me to him and motioned that I wanted to sit. He made a comment under his breath, but I chose ignore it. He was sitting in a bulldog position, still trying to take up both seats, just looking for a fight. I wasn't interested, but when I walked off the bus, I looked back and him, smiled and shook my head. As I walked away I caught his eye again and smiled.

So early this morning I'm walking to the subway and I've got my earphones on when who should slide next to me but Boris, the killer bald dude. It took me a second to register who he was, and he waited for it to dawn on me. Satisfied that I did remember him, he goes, "What were you smiling at last night?" Now, I'm half-asleep, and not prepared for a confrontation. So I say, "I was smiling because I thought you made a remark." He goes, "I did. I said there were other seats you could have sat in." "Yo man, the bus was crowded, what do you want from me? It was a misunderstanding." And with that he let it drop. I think he was happy enough to sneak up on me and catch me off-guard. Dude was a total bully. Big, thick, tough guy.

And me being a nice guy, I spent the rest of the morning upset at myself for not being present enough to tell the guy off. Not to get in a fight, but to simply say, "It's a public bus." And just walk away. To stand up for myself instead of blurting out that it was a misunderstanding. I hope to be more prepared for the next time. Man, sometimes I'm just too damn sensitive. Even for a New Yorker. Ahh, what are you gunna do?