Call me biased, but as someone who was recently deemed “The most reasonable Yankee fan I’ve ever met,” by a die-hard Red Sox supporter, I would like to offer another view from hated Yankee-land in response to Mr. Gagne’s opinion piece:

For starters, let’s not get into a tit-for-tat argument about transplanted college students who are bandwagoners. Otherwise we could talk for hours about the transplanted students from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc. who upon arriving on campus have taken to the Red Sox as if a course is taught on them. Ironically, it seems to me that these “lifelong fans” would fail ‘Red Sox 101.’ If every time Derek Lowe records an out during the ALCS and 20 “die-hards” shout “Yeah Pedro,” then something is terribly wrong with the Red Sox faithful.

As far as the Yankees “stealing Contreras,” let’s not fool ourselves into thinking the Red Sox were outbid. John Henry’s pockets are just as deep as George Steinbrenner’s and the Sox could have had Contreras if they wanted. Instead, they feared he was much older than reported and backed off signing him feeling that the Yankees were over-bidding (and the post-season proved that they might have). Not much proof of thievery here if you ask me.

Now the Pedro Martinez/Roger Clemens double standard Mr. Gagne has “established.” First of all, if Pedro intentionally beans a “triple-A call-up,” it makes it more palatable than hitting an all-star catcher such as Mike Piazza, like Roger Clemens did? Hardly. And as a Yankee fan, no one ever condoned what Clemens did, or stood by him for it. To this day no one knows whether Clemens threw at Piazza on purpose, but either way all the Yankee fans I know thought the incident was a travesty regardless.

As for the Yankees losing the World Series to ‘the Fish’ it was tough to watch, but never did I, or any of my fellow fans, exclaim, “The Marlins Suck,” out of frustration. So, if Mr. Gagne would like to know why Yankee fans, “Whine about… how negative Sox fans are,” here’s why– it is the greatest oxymoron to say that a team “sucks” because they beat you. If they did, in fact, “suck” then I wonder what we would say to describe the losing team? Maybe “We really really really suck” would fit. A Red Sox fan should think about that the next time “Yankees Suck” is chanted at “friendly Fenway.” And Mr. Gagne would like to revel in the fact that all the members of the Yankee organization are fearing for their jobs right now. To date, no one has been fired in the Bronx. However here in Boston, reaching the ALCS just doesn’t cut it anymore, so poor Grady Little was fired Monday, even though he was primarily responsible for the team’s success this season. If Sox management had any sense at all they should have fired “The Curse of the Bambino” a long time ago.

Although I took umbrage with these issues, I was appalled by one of the characteristics Mr. Gagne found detestable in Yankee fans– “We (Red Sox fans) hate this God Bless America, New York Police/Fire Department… garbage.” As a resident of New York, and on behalf of other New Yorkers, I would like to express my outrage at such a comment. September 11th, 2001, will always remain a source of pain for those who dealt with it first-hand. One way of coping with such an atrocity is to honor our heroes by donning NYPD and FDNY gear, as well as celebrating them at Yankee Stadium during home games. God knows that no New Yorker would ever wish something like September 11th on the people of Boston. However, if something of the like took place here, we would certainly pay our respects to your heroes. As a matter of fact, out of humanistic concern and patriotism we would consider them our own heroes as well. Furthermore, God Bless America is not only sung at Yankee Stadium, but also at every other ballpark in the country, including Fenway Park (it is mandated by Major League Baseball). For an individual to claim hatred towards Yankee fans on these grounds is insidious and a form of bigotry. At first I was concerned that Mr. Gagne was simply off-base in his baseball commentary, but I am now convinced that he is completely lost in another, more alarming respect.

Solomon Syed CAS ’04