I don't understand Yankee fans.

3 Things I Need to Ask about Yankee Fans after an August Trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards

1^st thing…Why are Oriole fans and the Oriole front office allowing Yankee Fans to invade Oriole Park at Camden Yards???

Nothing like hearing “Let’s Go Yankees!” at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, right?

Before Oriole fans gasp and round up a posse, hear me out.

As sarcastic as it may sound, “Let’s Go Yankees” reminds me a little bit of a cash register ringing. Instead of keeping their money at Yankee Stadium and the surrounding Bronx area, these Yankees fans come to Baltimore, buy Orioles tickets to the game, drink beer/eat food at the Camden Yards and support the local restaurants, hotels and other Baltimore area businesses close to the stadium.

So, on one hand, I’d also like to say “Thank you” for helping to sell out Camden Yards and put more money in the Orioles’ till to pay for a couple desperately-needed free agent signings during the upcoming off-season.

But on the other hand, as an O’s fan (and after reality set in and everyone has told the posse to “stand down”), I can’t stand hearing “Let’s Go Yankees!” at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Can’t blame the Yankee fans…it’s not their fault. It’s the fault of the Oriole fans who sold them their tickets. But, then, who can blame them? After over 10 years of sub-.500 teams, if some obsessed Yankee fan is going to pay me two times or even three times what I paid for the tickets, you better believe I would seriously consider selling.

It’s also the Orioles front office’s fault…in particular, the video people. Why would you show Mariano Rivera and follow him from the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound at Oriole Park at Camden Yards? Do you want to “pump-up” the visiting Yankee fans? Something like this should never happen at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Yet, at the Orioles/Yankees game on August 24, I was witness to this stupidity. Hell, I was even waiting for Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” to be played on the P.A. for crying-out-loud (Yankee Stadium plays this when Rivera comes into the game).

I just don’t get why you would do anything to help the visiting team.

2^nd thing...Why don’t Yankee Fans do something that is a Challenge???

Rooting for the Yankees is too easy…I mean, you might as well root for gravity when the Coyote runs past the edge of the cliff…you might as well root for the anvil when it comes crashing down on a stack of fragile china…and, rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the hurricane vs. a lit match. Again, rooting for the Yankees is no challenge and is way too easy.

3^rd Thing…Why do Yankee fans revel in the pleasure of showing their ignorance of the Yankees and Yankee tradition???

Take, for instance, those t-shirts with the number on and the name above the number. Pretty much standard clothing…for a fan of any other team!!!  The New York Yankees, a team steeped in tradition like no other team in major league baseball, have never…ever…had the names on the back of their jerseys…home or away. You would think, a true, blue, Yankees’ fan would be obsessed about being as proper and traditional as possible.

But still, you see some of these pinstriped, knuckleheads walking around with a 3 on their backs and “Ruth” above it.  And 5 with “Dimaggio,” 4 with “Gehrig,” 7 with “Mantle,”
8 with “Berra,” and so on with Mattingly, Ford and all the other Yankee greats. As an Oriole fan first and a baseball fan second, I know that if I see a Yankee jersey or shirt with 7 on it, I know it symbolizes Mantle. Even the current players…2 I know is “Jeter” and 42 is “Rivera.”  Why do they need the name???

           Side bar…what’s up with Jeter’s “G2” commercial…the one where he gets
           dropped off by a cab after a game and walks home??? Doesn’t he make enough
           money to be dropped off in front of his house???

(Back to the jerseys)

And the one that just kills me…“Joba” over the 62…what the hell is this? The XFL???  Nobody, in any legitimate sport, has their first name on the back of their jersey.

Just think…if Rod Smart played baseball for the New York Yankees, these pinstriped, knuckleheads would be walking around with t-shirts that say “He Pay Me.”

So many questions and not enough answers.