It is July 4. Independence Day. I am being bombarded with 2024 election hype. I don’t think the Founding Fathers had that in mind when they met in Philadelphia to organize this country we call the United States of America.
Then again, we are 248 years away from that date in July, 1776. The world they knew in comparison with the world we know is so dramatically different.
When Thomas Jefferson and his cohorts drafted the Declaration of Independence, one Timothy Matlock, a clerk in the Pennsylvania. State House, wrote it on a large piece of parchment. I am sitting here typing into an Apple I Pad which is capable of electronically printing out this blog in about 10 seconds onto a white piece of paper if I so choose.
We celebrate this nation’s freedom from the monarch’s rule from England as an important birthday should be commemorated. American-style.
Sure, we shoot off fireworks in choreographed displays that light up many a sky. The oohs and aahs which are heard from momentous blasts tell observers how well the pageantry resonated.
Yes, politically we have much discourse about the direction of the country. Yet I believe we can agree on one thing—that this day is special. All those years later.
Sports has its own imprint on the July 4th landscape. It can be organized, professional sport, or it can be a pie-eating contest or a burlap sack race on a freshly cut field.
For this is meant to be a day of joy and happiness; happiness for what our forefathers created and where we as a nation stand—so proud and vigilant. A day where, in most instances, laughter prevails, no matter where we are.
Baseball was the sport which captured Americana as it grew in popularity. Local pride was bursting when your team was at home for the Fourth of July.
Not so long ago, doubleheaders drew large crowds, with men sweltering in straw hats. Sadly, there is nary a one on this July 4th.
Still, the faithful come to the ballparks around the country in a nod to tradition intertwined with sport. They sure are dressed differently, merrily wearing the colors of their team while sitting in expensive seats and continuously lining the coffers of individual teams and MLB with their purchases. A hot dog and a beer, yesteryear’s food du jour, has been replaced by chicken fingers and fries or pizza. Don’t even try to guess what the cost of a beer is now; loans might have to be taken out to afford a day at the stadium.
I saw that the New York Mets and Washington Nationals began their holiday game before noon. It gave MLB Network time to show it nationally before heading elsewhere.
Speaking about other sites, it looked so strange that the Toronto Blue Jays were hosting the Houston Astros on America’s birthday. I guess because Canada Day was on July 1, the schedule makers put the Blue Jays at home. Probably because the Nationals, once known as the Montreal Expos, hosted the Jays earlier this year, the two teams with Canadian roots weren’t playing each other. I guess that MLB considers the Nats wholly American; I can’t blame them. But the powers-that-be could have gone Inter League with a nice three game set and given the Blue Jays the day off on the U.S. holiday.
While we associate the great hot dog eating contest at Nathan’s on the boardwalk on Coney Island with this date (and what a gross spectacle that is—even minus the war of words between the Nathan’s minions and all-time championship winner Joey Chestnut, whose absence took away a bit of the faux glamor of the event conjured up to draw people off the beach and to devour all the food the restaurant has to offer) and there is Wimbledon across the pond as well soccer and two WNBA contests, there is no place more affiliated with July 4th than the New York Yankees.
Holiday doubleheaders at mammoth Yankee Stadium? It used to be a regular event. MLB stopped regularly scheduling twin bills in 2011. Period.
Although the Yankees have played a multitude of teams on July 4, the most notable and consistent opponent was the Boston Red Sox. In the old eight team American and National Leagues, there were traditional opponents. The Philadelphia and Washington Senators met; the Chicago White Sox and Detroit were rivals more than not. When the Giants and Dodgers called New York home, the teams once played games at the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field on the same day.
I know I lament the loss of a fixture for July 4th. Travel changes, expansion, and big gates just for one game along with the Collective Bargaining Agreement setting out how many consecutive days a team can play not to wear out the players over a 183 day span were the death knell for the doubleheader.
Instead, I was stuck watching the moribund Yankees facing Cincinnati in an Inter League battle. Once the best team in baseball, New York has cooled off to the tune of 5-14 in their last 19 games. The Yankees haven’t won a series in the last 6 tries. Only the miserable Colorado Rockies have played as poorly as the Yankees over that time frame.
It isn’t going to get any easier for the Bombers. A suddenly hot Boston squad comes into Yankee Stadium this weekend, hoping to feed off of the carcass which once was a really good team.
Home and home series with Boston and Tampa Bay, two home games versus the Mets and a trip to NL East-leading Philadelphia completes the July schedule. The only saving grace is that after hosting the Red Sox, then traveling to Florida and Maryland, the All Star Game break takes place. That’s how bad it has been recently in New York.
While the Yankees have two starters on the American League All Star team—the red hot Aaron Judge and the still over .300 average with power of Juan Soto, this team is bad. They simply can’t field, throw, hit or run very well right now.
My daughter sparked my interest about how this team stacked up against World Series winners in 2000 and 2009. It just doesn’t. Judge could have played on those teams and maybe Soto too. Reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole might not have been the ace pitcher like he now is.
Who wouldn’t take Jorge Posada as the catcher; Tiny Martinez at first base; Chuck Knoblach playing second; Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter; Scott Brosius manning the hot corner; with Yankees great Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill in two outfield spots in 2000? Especially with Andy Pettitte, David Cone, Orlando Hernandez, Roger Clemens on the mound with Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton and the best closer ever, Mariano Rivera, in relief?
The 2009 team still had Jeter and Posada augmented by Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texiera, Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui. The starting pitching consisted of Pettitte, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Rivera was still as dominant as ever.
Do I think that Joe Torre was a better manager than Aaron Boone is? Yes.
But Boone simply has a bunch of faded old players and youngsters still learning how to play. Plus DH Giancarlo Stanton was playing well and he’s injured. That doesn’t help.
Forget about comparing the pitching. It is a no contest in favor of the 2000 and 2009 versions.
So it was sad to see the Reds sweep the once-dominant Yankees, who cannot hit or pitch very well. On the Fourth of July. Of all the days. Not that it mattered.
A day so special to the country and Yankees fans. The Lou Gehrig speech in 1939 is iconic. George Steinbrenner—“The Boss”—was born on July 4, 1930. And Dave Righetti no hit the Red Sox on a hot and humid day in 1983.
We all have our memories and reasons to think about on July 4th. Who’s being judgmental than those who want to be cynical every day?
I’ve got bigger problems. The Yankees blemished my July Fourth (and the two days before). I’m not watching...again!!
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