Scene from a bar, in Boston
Despite the very often disjointed array of topics that I write about here in geishaland, including sex, politics, women’s health, music, technology, or whatever else happens to strike me as interesting… my big thing lately has been being on this anti-sex blog kick, which basically means that I’m not going to ever limit myself to what I want to write about in my own space ever again. Not that I’m calling out anyone who wants to do something different than me, but that’s my deal. I’m a union-busting independent blogger with her own bag of tricks, so, as usual, that means you never quite know what you’re going to bump into here in the world of the lazy geisha, but I think that makes it a lot more fun. But one of my favorite things to write about is of course baseball. Especially my love for the Boston Red Sox, and my superior hatred of the New York Yankees.
I had a conversation with one of my baseball friends recently and the question came up, “Do you hate the Yankees more than you love the Red Sox?”
Since the opposite of love is indifference, that acceptance would preclude that hating the Yankees was indeed its own separate relationship, subject to an entirely different set of qualifiers than loving the Red Sox. But do I actually hate the Yankees more that I love the Red Sox?
Yes. I do.
Friday nights on Lansdowne Street in Boston are always like a carnival. People are lined up in front of the big clubs like Avalon waiting to get in, and sometimes there’s a concert going on which ends early and then they flip the room over for DJs and dancing, so there are even more people there, then add a playoff game at Fenway Park and your carnival has quickly turned into a three ring circus and an ocean of bodies. There are dozens of bars, sports bars, restaurants, and nightclubs of every variety on and around Lansdowne Street and Kenmore Square, but being the brave souls that we are, and since there was no way we were going to get tickets to Fenway, we took the train into the city to try and find a bar where we could watch the game.
We met a few of our couple friends at the train station in town; other married people we sometimes socialize with, and we settled on going to Jillian’s which is at the very end of Lansdowne as the place where we would watch the Red Sox beat the Angels.
After a few drinks and as the game progressed, people started getting a little rowdy, which is always a great atmosphere for baseball! Red Sox fans are second to none, anywhere. There’s a reason we’re known as Red Sox Nation – so as everyone was watching the game and having a good time, that all changed when out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of college aged women walk in, and one of them was wearing a New York Yankees cap.
An eerie still settled over the bar, almost a hushed silence of disbelief that this Yankee infidel would dare invade the sanctity of our Nation – but we’re not like Yankees fans, we don’t beat people up for liking a different team like these NY idiots did here. But, we were surprised – and I’m actually surprised they got served, but money is money I guess.
So the girls got their drinks and made their way over to a table right next to ours, and as fate twists and makes the universe turn, Miss Yankee cap sat down in a seat next to mine.
Not wanting to start a fracas in the middle of a bar in Boston, I smiled and gave her that polite nod people often exchange with strangers who come within proximity of our personal space – but the boys weren’t having any of it.
One of the husbands of one of the women in our group, who was sitting somewhat diagonally away from Miss Yankee cap, shouted out, “You’re brave wearing that in here!”
She kind of cocked her head the way a puppy does when you’re yelling at it after it just peed on the floor because it doesn’t quite get what the problem is, and said, “Huh? What?”
“That hat!” he said again, “You’re brave wearing that in here.”
I’m not sure if she just didn’t understand him or if she just didn’t want to understand him, but she finally said, “Oh! Right!” and then went back to talking to her friends.
“Leave her alone” I said to him, really not wanting this drunken clown to cause any more trouble than he was about to – and soon enough everyone went back to talking and watching the game.
About ten minutes after everything calmed down and the game had everyone’s attention, I felt a slight tapping on my shoulder. It was Miss Yankee cap.
“What did he mean?” she said.
“He was talking about your hat.” I replied.
“Oh. What’s wrong with my hat?” she asked curiously.
She can’t be this stupid, can she? I thought to myself.
“He was giving you a hard time for wearing a New York Yankees cap into a Boston sports bar which happens to be across the street from Fenway Park where the Boston Red Sox are currently playing a playoff game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.” I smartly shot back at her, hoping once and for all that she might actually get it this time.
“Oh! “ she exclaimed, “Really??” – sounding so surprised that I actually thought to check her for a flea collar.
“Um… Yeah!” I smiled at her. “It’s not exactly your normal fashion accessory around these parts. We’re, um, Red Sox fans here…”
“Oh…” she said looking a bit befuddled, as if her fashion faux pas were far more pressing than the subject at hand, but now I was curious and I decided to test one of my long running theories that the majority of people who claim to be New York Yankees fans really haven’t got the first fucking clue about the team, or baseball for that matter.
“Let me ask you something…” I said as I turned towards her, “Are you from around here?”
“No, I go to school here.” she answered.
“Ah. And you’re from New York?”
“No! Michigan!” she giggled back.
“Michigan?”, I asked as incredulously as I was sure that my head was now cocked looking like the confused puppy, “You’re from Michigan and yet you wear a Yankees cap?”
“Uh huh! Yep! I love the Yankees!!” she exclaimed with glee, almost with a childlike quality or with the same wonder of a child who proudly states that boys have a penis and girls have a vagina… as if the adults they’re talking to didn’t know that already.
“I see…” I answered, pausing, choosing my next words carefully, “So, um… so, you’re a Yankees fan?” I asked again just to be sure I heard her right the first time.
“Yep!”
“Can you name the players?”
“What?”
“Can you name the players?” I asked again as she paused, only now realizing the trap I had just sprung on her, “I’ll tell you what…” I said, toying with her in her ignorance, “Can you name five Yankees players?”
She looked around, down at the table, then back up, as if she were hoping that the Yankees roster might just be posted on a wall somewhere, and then she turned back towards me and started, “Well… Derek Jeter…”
“Okay, that’s one.”
And as if the thought just leaped into her mind she blurted out, “And A-Rod! Yeah! A-Rod is on the Yankees, right?”
“Hey, you tell me!” I laughed back.
Finally, after a few moments, she confessed that she didn’t know any of the players but those two, but she still insisted and maintained that she truly was a New York Yankees fan.
“Okay, now you!” she cackled, “You’re a Red Sox fan, right?” she queried, “Can you name all the players?” asking me as if she were convinced that I too would fail as miserably as she just had.
“You want them in their batting order?” I replied… as I coolly stared her down… “Sure, no problem….” I said as I began my smackdown, “Dustin Pedroia, he plays second base and is a candidate for rookie of the year, then Kevin Youkilis… Youk to the fans… who plays first base and hasn’t made an error there all season, hits second. Then you’ve got David Ortiz…Designated Hitter…also known as Big Papi and is perhaps the best clutch hitter in the game… then Manny Ramirez who plays left and hits a lot of home runs… which brings you to Golden Glove Mike Lowell who plays Third Base and is an RBI machine and who will likely be named Red Sox MVP… then we’ve got J.D. Drew who plays right field and has been a very expensive shitty hitter all season…which brings you to El Cap-eee-tahn… Catcher Jason Varitek….the other half of Boston’s brilliant pitching staff… then we go to Coco Crisp who is an amazing center fielder with lots of speed… and finally batting ninth is Short-Stop Julio Lugo who stole a shitload of bases this season…. Do you want me to name the other position players or the starting pitcher rotation and bullpen assignments next?”
She sat there just staring at me with her mouth half open, dumbfounded, looking more than just a little pissed off.
“Oh. So you know about baseball…” she replied with more than a hint of indignance.
“I’m a Red Sox fan…” I answered. “So… are you sure you’re a Yankees fan?” I smiled and asked her again.
She looked away and then leaned back towards me, sighed and finally confessed the truth, and forever proving my theory as true…, “Okay… I just like the hat.”
“Yes… Of course you do.”
A few minutes later Miss Yankee cap got up and left with her friends, presumably to try and find a friendlier bar, or maybe to buy herself a Red Sox cap instead.
1alliterative red
wrote on 9 October 2007 at 8:59
And THAT, girls, is why you don’t try to fake being a fan. The women who are fans will call you on it every time. Way to go, Nina!!
2nina aoki
wrote on 9 October 2007 at 15:47
alliterative red,
lmao! Absolutely! Thanks!
I can’t quite decide today just how happy I want to be about the New York Yankees being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year. I mean, there’s so many conflicting joys here to consider; 1) Alex Rodriguez, despite being the highest paid player in baseball failed yet again to do anything in October, 2) Derek Jeter, the most overrated shortstop to ever play the game hit for a grand total of .178 in the playoffs, 3) The Yankees season came to a screeching halt when the Yankee I hate the most, Jorge Posada, struck out in the bottom of the 9th to end it all. 4) The complete and total collapse of Yankee pitching, something I’ve been yelling about all season long.
I’m wondering how many more losses Yankee fans will have to suffer before they finally get over that complex which tells them that they’re entitled to win?
But this also signals an end of an era in New York. Joe Torre will likely be fired, a number of well known Yankees are now free agents and will likely go elsewhere, if anywhere at all, and New York has already cannibalized what little farm system they have just to get thru the regular season, so they don’t really have many younger players they can develop - so what you’ve got here is Steinbrenner’s Frankenstein Monster coming home to kill the doctor! The days of “Mystique and Aura” in New York are long fucking over! Wake up Yankees fans!
:w00t:
Tho I’m really excited about an ALCS series between Cleveland and Boston! The psychological weight and media circus surrounding a Red Sox - Yankees series is now gone, and now we can concentrate on watching some really good baseball!
I do love baseball! Especially October baseball!
Tho you might find this funny, I know I did. This deluded Yankee fan really made herself look like a complete fool, and if there’s one thing real baseball fans know, its that you don’t claim your championship banners before the teams you root for get past the first round of the playoffs!
The New York Yankees are not a team you love… hate, yes. Love? No.
Thanks hon!
xoxo,
nina
ps - Want to read something really funny? This piece in The Onion pretty much said it all!
3saratoga
wrote on 9 October 2007 at 18:18
Nina-
very nicely done!
xoxox
-saratoga
4nina aoki
wrote on 9 October 2007 at 18:23
Hi saratoga!
How are you sweetie! Thanks, I enjoyed it very much, and it’s been a story we’ve both told to all our friends who also happen to care about baseball!
I didn’t pay for another drink all night after I told our friends about my conversation with Miss Yankee cap!
:w00t:
So, hey, I’m slowly wading back into the waters. I’ll answer emails and wander over to your neck of the woods very soon hon!
Thanks sweetie!
xoxo,
nina
ps - Tho the nice thing for me is that I don’t have any great reserves of hatred for the Cleveland Indians (or their fans) the way I have for the New York Yankees (and especially their fans), so this series is going to be all about baseball and cheering for the Red Sox for me, which makes me a very, very happy girl! And if the Red Sox happen to lose the ALCS and don’t go to the World Series this year, I can live with the Indians making it. Now it’s just about good baseball for me. Tho I think Boston does have a slight edge in this series, especially with pitching, speed and hitting — but I predict it’s going to be a close, tough battle for the Red Sox just the same.
:silly:
5mark uitti
wrote on 9 October 2007 at 21:41
Go for it!! When I was in grad school in the 70’s, Boston finally made it to the series. My roomate went and had a wonderful time.
Go RED SOX
and
Go Geisha for sharing this part of yourself.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6nina aoki
wrote on 10 October 2007 at 0:05
Hi Mark!
Thanks! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my “fan perspective” major league baseball musings!
Yes, that would have been the 1975 World Series, the Red Sox vs. the Reds - (I was six years old!) - but I’ve heard a lot of stories from people who remember the pain of that loss well.
The Red Sox have truly become a different team, and I attribute that directly to the ownership and management which has brought the Sox into the 21st century as champions instead of chumps. In three years, they’ve erased the curses of 1918 & 1978, they won the World Series in 2004 (on the backs of the Yankees by coming back 0-3 to win 4 straight in the ALCS, something which had never been done before and hasn’t been replicated since), and they just play really smart, lean, fast, powerful baseball. It’s a thrill to be part of Red Sox Nation, and it’s so exciting to be able to share this with my family now too, as well as those who choose to wander into geishaland! :silly:
I’m actually considering Live Blogging the series!
Thanks much!
xoxo,
nina
7saratoga
wrote on 10 October 2007 at 9:28
Nina-
Welcome back!
Yes, I can understand that. I, too, hate the Yankees.
But my team, the Cardinals, had their year last year, especially beating the hated Mets in the playoffs.
So this year, I, too, can just watch the playoffs and series in an objective fashion. As I write this, I’m now aware the Yankees lost, but don’t really know who’s in the National playoffs.
I’ll get up to speed on that shortly.
xoxox
-saratoga
8Carol
wrote on 10 October 2007 at 10:53
Vry nice — it got a giggle out of me! :-)
9nina aoki
wrote on 10 October 2007 at 19:21
saratoga,
Thanks sweetie, I’m slowly trying to work my way back into a groove here. I’m still behind on about two weeks worth of emails, but I’ll catch up eventually… I hope!
See, I can respect the Cardinals. Good baseball team with history. Tho I have a tough time getting worked up and all hot and bothered over the National League. I’ve just never been a fan of the NL or many of the teams. Probably since I was raised on American League Baseball and the Red Sox, that kind of makes sense, but the Cards are a good team.
Tho I wouldn’t exactly call me objective here! lmao! I’m still rooting for the Red Sox, but at least I actually respect their opponents in the ALCS. The Cleveland Indians organization has done remarkable things in rebuilding that team, very similar to the Red Sox in a lot of ways - so what I really appreciate in the ALCS this year is that the Yankees are nowhere near it. That way I’m not dealing with those opposing polarities of loving Boston while also hating New York. It’s strange I know, but I think what really makes that rivalry what it is, is that the majority of Boston fans really do hate the Yankees more than they love the Red Sox, even if they can’t admit it.
But what’s kind of a bummer is the teams in the NLCS are both expansion clubs - so there’s no history or drama there. I mean, I’m sure they’re good teams, but how many people really care about the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Colorado Rockies? Now if it were the Cubs or Phillies, or even the Mets in the series, I think more people would care.
Thanks hon, I’ll be by soon!
xoxo,
nina
10nina aoki
wrote on 10 October 2007 at 19:22
Carol,
lmao! Thanks hon! I’m glad it brought a smile to your face!
xoxo,
nina
11Rob
wrote on 11 October 2007 at 21:49
Three baseball fans were on their way from a game when they noticed a foot sticking out of the bushes by the side of the road. They looked and discovered a nude woman, drunk and passed out.
Out of respect for the lady, the Cubs fan took off his cap and placed it over her right breast. The Red Sox fan took off his cap and placed it over her left breast. Following their lead, the Yankee fan took off his cap and placed it over her crotch.
The police were called and when the officer arrived, he conducted his inspection. First, he lifted up the Cubs cap, replaced it, and wrote down some notes. Next, he lifted the Sox cap, replaced it, and wrote down some more notes.
The officer then lifted the Yankees cap, replaced it, then lifted it again, replaced it, lifted it a third time, and replaced it one last time.
The Yankee fan was getting upset and finally asked, “What are you, a pervert or something? Why do you keep lifting and looking, lifting and looking?”
“Well,” said the officer, “I am simply surprised. Normally when I look under a Yankees hat, I find an asshole.”
12Joey P.
wrote on 12 October 2007 at 1:39
I read some of your posts at MLB blogs and followed you back here and I think you have what it takes to be a sports writer. There’s a new sports site you might be interested in writing for. Could I email you the details? Your analysis of the Yanks and baseball in general has a lot of people talking. Hope to hear from you.
13nina aoki
wrote on 12 October 2007 at 8:16
Rob,
That’s hysterical! Thank you! :silly:
I’ve heard variations on it before, but its always appreciated and worth hearing again! lmao!
xoxo,
nina
14nina aoki
wrote on 12 October 2007 at 8:18
Joey P.,
Wow, thanks! But aside from baseball I’m pretty clueless about sports. Football is okay, I have no interest in basketball or hockey, and aside from Formula One racing, baseball is pretty much it, and on top of it, I don’t like the national league, so that leaves me pretty limited. Plus, I kind of like doing my own thing here, but thanks for reading!
xoxo,
nina
15nina aoki
wrote on 12 October 2007 at 11:29
Joey P.,
One other thought about this — guys still get a little weird or intimidated about a woman who knows as much (or more) about baseball than they do! It’s still very much an old boys club out there.
Thanks!
xoxo,
nina
16gaslight
wrote on 14 October 2007 at 17:39
Nina,
Just a different perspective:
Not to excuse the young lady’s inanity entirely, but do you think that someone could be a fan of the city, or the city’s image, and choose to wear their ballcap?
Although an athlete, I’m not really a fan of professional sports. I went to Cougar games in college, but aside from that I do not really understand the passion of fans tied to a game that they are connected to by participation.
But I still wouldn’t wear a Yankee cap, especially not within 50 miles of Fenway. :-)
17nina aoki
wrote on 15 October 2007 at 7:15
gaslight,
Thanks for the different perspective, but that’s kind of the point here! The majority of people who claim to be NYY fans (at least by my experience) aren’t really baseball fans at all, and they wear the cap for precisely the reasons you’ve given - which is fine I suppose. Tho, being a fan of a city and what that city represents is okay if that’s what you’re into, and the NYY are certainly part of that - but at least admit it! We take baseball here in Boston pretty seriously!
But in most cases, the people you see wearing Yankees caps only do so because they saw P.Diddy wear one, or some other movie star or celebrity and now they think it’s cool. Fair enough.
Well, I played softball and soccer in both high school and college, and I’m a big fan of collegiate and intramural sports at that level - and I used to go to BU and BC games when I was in school — but cheering for a professional team allows you to lose yourself in something larger than your own life. It’s about pride in where you live and where you’re from, and for me, baseball is simply a beautifully elegant and wonderful game. I think baseball represents the best of who we are and what we can aspire to.
But it’s always a good plan not to wear Yankees gear anywhere near Fenway! :silly:
Thanks hon!
xoxo,
nina
ps - we’re getting spoiled in Boston with the NE Patriots and the Red Sox!
18Gije
wrote on 15 October 2007 at 18:12
I work at a major retail store in NJ. Primarily in the men’s department. We got this shipment of Yankees t-shirts, and sweatshirts,on friday (10/12) that say Yankees MLB Playoffs 2007
Uhhh, isn’t a bit late for these shirts? LOL
19nina aoki
wrote on 16 October 2007 at 17:36
Hi Gije!
Oh that’s too funny! :sideways:
Well, there’s a company in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (Where the Red Sox’s AAA team the Pawsox play) that does all of the T-Shirts for the Boston Red Sox - things like AL East Champions, or when Boston won the world series - and its so funny because all the employees are at work really late watching the games before they even begin to do a run of shirts.
We’ve dealt with defeat in Boston for a lot of years, so we don’t like to throw a jinx into the mix and print T-Shirts before the victory is clinched.
But that’s so funny that the Yankees did that! I would have snagged one just to annoy NYY fans! hahaha!
Thanks for the giggle!
xoxo,
nina
20malo
wrote on 14 October 2008 at 11:41
yep, just as good as I remembered it!!
21nina aoki
wrote on 15 October 2008 at 12:47
Well thank you Malo!