By giving up the game-winning hit to Luis Gonzalez in the 9th inning of Game 7, Mariano Rivera and the New York Yankees did not bring a championship back to New York for the first time since 1997. But even as a New Yorker, I can admit that many positives resulted from the Yankees loss.
Most importantly, the Yankees' World Series loss brought unimaginable joy to the Boston community. Not since 1918 have Bostonians been so happy. Actually, they probably weren't all that excited in 1918 because it appeared that the Sox World Series win would be just another in a long line of titles. Sometimes, reality can be so unfair.
The Yankees loss also brought me untold enjoyment in the form of away messages from bitter Red Sox fans celebrating the Yankee loss as if it were a Red Sox win. Here are two of my favorites: "THAAAA RED SOX WIN!!!!!! THAAAA RED SOX WIN!!!!!! oh wait... THAAAA YANKEES LOSE!!! THAAAA YANKEES LOSE!!!" and "Does it make me a bad man to jump up and down laughing (metaphorically speaking) over the fallen body of Mariano Rivera? Perhaps. But tonight I know happiness, curled up under the covers in my Yankees Suck/Jeter Swallows t-shirt, sleeping peacefully with the knowledge that somewhere in this great land of ours, a certain baby blue-eyed shortstop weeps tears of misery."
The Yankees losing will also surely benefit those gentlemen on Landsdowne Street, outside of Fenway Park, who, for reasons unbeknownst to me, sell Yankees Suck T-shirts. If they were able to sell those shirts when the Yanks were in the midst of winning three straight World Series Championships, they should do a booming business now that New York has lost Game Seven of the World Series. Next year, perhaps the T-shirts will be adjusted to say "Yanks Lose Game 7 - Now, they really, really, really suck."
The loss also provides Bud Selig and Major League Baseball with a unique opportunity to fix all that is wrong in Boston baseball. With a simple asterisk, Selig could undo nearly a century of wrongs that the Red Sox and their fans have experienced at the hands of the evil Yankees. The asterisk, next to the Yankees loss in the record books, will signify a decision by Selig and Major League Baseball to officially count the Yankees defeat as a World Series Championship for Boston.
Moreover, the Yankees loss also gives circuitous glory to an assortment of other teams outside of Boston that likewise haven't experienced much success. First, I would like to congratulate the Chicago Cubs for having had the services of Arizona first baseman Mark Grace for 13 years before he left for Arizona as a free agent last winter. While this might not seem like much, when you haven't won a World Series since 1906 you will look for positives anywhere.
Furthermore, I would like to commend the Cleveland Indians. Although they did make the playoffs this year, and have been consistently good since 1994, they have not won a championship since 1948. But with at least three former Indians - Matt Williams, Greg Swindell, and Jay Bell - on the Diamondbacks roster, the Cleveland organization played an instrumental role in this year's World Series, and thus should be proud.
The Diamondbacks victory was also positive because of the presence of 75-year old Mike Morgan on the active roster. Morgan's situation provides the possibility for a new senior citizen income alternative other than disability or Medicaid. The Diamondbacks will be holding a tryout camp for players 60 or older in January.
Arizona's win, and more specifically the performance of Randy Johnson, did a lot to help the cause of another disadvantaged group, namely 6'10" men with mullets. Johnson's dominance should help this group gain some national exposure and hopefully prevent further persecution.
On a more serious note, the Yankees also helped avert a potential casualty. After Byung-Hung Kim gave up his second consecutive game-tying homerun with two outs in the ninth, visions of Donnie Moore were running through my head. Moore, a former California Angles pitcher served up an ALCS ending homer to the Red Sox Dave Henderson in 1986 and it is thought that the homerun was a major factor in his eventual suicide. Had the Yankees not bailed him out, Kim would have gone down as the biggest World Series goat this side of Bill Buckner. Obviously, the Yankees are humanitarians and wanted to help prevent such a horrible plight.
With the Yankees taking Kim off the hook, that leaves former Diamondbacks and Yankees manager Buck Sholwalter as the saddest man alive. Sholwalter was fired as the Diamondbacks' manager after last season only to see Arizona win the World Series this year. Likewise, George Steinbrenner chose not to bring back Sholwalter following the 1995 season and then the Yankees went on to win the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
And finally, the Yankees' loss is positive because it makes me look like a prophet. In one of my earlier columns I said that this year was time for New York to let another team taste a World Series championship. While I wouldn't have picked the Diamondbacks to take over New York's throne, it just goes to show that even New Yorkers can't have everything. This loss gives New York the opportunity to be the lovable losers, for once, and will make next year's championship that much sweeter.
