Where Did They Go?
It is so easy to get confused. Marleen is a Yankees fan who was going to listen to her first game in long time. She had just returned to the United States after helping defend the freedoms for which some hate the American people and she was so anxious to hear the game, she wasn't even aware of whom the Yankees were playing
Marleen had joined the military just before the 2001 World Series and the combination of the Yankees loss and being in the military resulted in Marleen forgetting about baseball. She rarely read the sports pages and lost track of what was happening. But before she could sit down to hear the Yankees, Marleen was distracted by a few telephone calls and started listening after the game started.
David Wells, who had been her favorite pitcher until the Yankees traded him to the Blue Jays for Roger Clemens, was facing Tino Martinez. Marleen was a Yankee, which meant that she was for Tino, not Wells.
Wells got ready to pitch. He went into the windup, came around with the left arm, and delivered. Tino swung at the inside fast ball that was slightly above the knees and hit a deep drive to right field for a home run. Marleen's was joyful but it was short lived. She became confused. The announcer told her that Tino's home run put the Yankees behind by a run. Marleen does what most fans do---they root for a team, not for a player. After the 2001 season, Tino Martinez became a free agent and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals while David Wells became a free agent and returned to the Yankees. Teams have little loyalty to players and players have little loyalty to teams. But that is not true for fans, who root for a uniform.
Passionate fans are like passionate militarists. There is no room for individualism. It is my team, regardless of the players. Sounds a lot like "my country, right or wrong." Jason Giambi was my foe yesterday but today he may be my savior. Today's enemies are tomorrow's allies.
It has always been this way in baseball but until free agency there was an illusion of loyalty. Players have always realized that they were part of a business and that there was one employer---Major League Baseball. Baseball is a monopoly, it violates anti-trust laws, but for economic and political reasons, it operates as a monopoly.
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