Yankees fans are everywhere…

Even the Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre admittedly that he was pulling for the Yankees during the World Series.  Okay, maybe he has good reason, but you can find us Yankee fans in the most unlikely places.  Don’t look now, but the person standing next to you could be a Yankees fan! 

Of course, in a championship year, that’s the problem.  Suddenly, everyone is a fan.  In the down years, not many people admitted they were Yankees fans.  I have stood by the team through thick and thin, but I recognize that the good times have outweighed the bad times.  As a lifelong fan of the Minnesota Vikings, I knew the heartbreak of championship losses (four Super Bowl losses in the Joe Kapp/Fran Tarkenton eras).  The Vikings have never won a championship and they haven’t been in the Super Bowl since that dreadful 32-14 loss to the Oakland Raiders on January 9, 1977.  I am still haunted by the visions of Brent McClanahan’s fumble, Willie Brown’s 75-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Chuck Foreman sitting on his helmet with a blank expression at the end of the game.

Anyway, I digress.  “Yankees fan” Joe Torre was in New York for his annual Safe at Home foundation benefit dinner, and he indicated he was pleased the Yankees won the World Series.  That was good to hear, particularly considering that he would have every reason to hold bitterness against the Steinbrenners and Yankee top brass for how the end of his managerial reign was handled.  Don’t worry Joe, we would have pulled for you had the situation been reversed.

It does sound like Joe wants to continue to manage beyond 2010.  He is still having fun, but I still think his wife will eventually help him realize that it’s time to step aside and turn over the team to Donnie Baseball.  So, I guess the question is how many World Series championships can Joe Girardi win before Joe Torre retires? 

John Munson/The Star Ledger 

I was sad to hear the situation in Texas with former Yankees closer John Wetteland.  The initial reports came out that he was hospitalized for depression and attempted suicide.  His employer, the Seattle Mariners (where he is bullpen coach), stated that the hospitalization was due an elevated heart rate.   Wettleland has since been released from the hospital but regardless of what happened, I hope that he gets the care and treatment that he needs. 

Watching Mariano Rivera set up Wettleland in 1996 was a thrill, and I remember being a bit unsure when the team made Rivera the closer following Wetteland’s free agent departure that winter.  Wetteland was a great Yankee, even if his stay was short.  He deserves much happiness and success, so I hope all goes well in his world.

Did you see that Derek Jeter has a cameo appearance on Will Ferrell’s next film, “The Other Guys” which also stars Mark Wahlberg?  I guess he’s starting to contemplate a career post-Yankees.  But of course, the Yankees have a few more championships to win before that happens!

–Scott