After last night's 4-2 win, the L.A. Dodgers have a 3 game advantage over the New York Yankees in the baseball World Series. I don't know when or how I came to dislike the Yankees. It even predates my occasional interest in the (often) hapless Boston Red Sox.
In 1949, the season came down to the final game between the Red Sox and the Yankees. NY center fielder, Joe DiMaggio, told his younger brother, Dom, the Red Sox center fielder, that he was going to win the game for his team. Whereupon Dom replied, "I'll be in that game too". The Yankees won.
Now long-suffering Boston fans still relish memories of the 2004 playoff when the Red Sox overcame a 3 game deficit to win the next 4 games from NY. Then they defeated the Cardinals in 4 straight games.
Dad's influence made me a St. Louis Cardinal (and Stan Musial) fan. But the dominant team in the 1950's was the "D.Y's". I remember watching many black and white televised games where Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Vic Raschi, Allie Reynolds,Phil Rizzuto et.al. won with numbing repetitiveness. And in the mix was Don Larson's no-hitter in '56. It was during that decade that the book The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant was published . And the following year (1955) the Broadway musical Damn Yankees opened.
The team that moved from Brooklyn to L.A. has fielded MANY outstanding Players over the years.(See Roger Angell's The Boys of Summer). The Dodgers and Yankees have faced each other in more Series than any other two teams ---12 times since 1941 (including this year) with New York winning 8. The Dodgers finally won in 1955 and then with the pitching of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in 1965, they swept the Series 4-0.
A vignette that captures the antipathy that many hold for the Yankees occurred in 1960. Along with many colleagues at Boston University School of Theology, I crowded into the 5th floor tv lounge to watch the 7th game between the Pirates and Yankees. And the place erupted with cheers when Bill Mazeroski hit his walk off homerun. Five floors down, Professor Booth on hearing the cheering and clapping told the few students in the classroom, "The Pirates must have won the World Series. There are not that many Yankee fans around here to make that kind of noise. "
The Red Sox / Yankee rivalry is probably the most intense among major league teams. Yet, there have been many 'defectors' over the years. The first (and most famous) was Babe Ruth. Then came Red Ruffin in the 1930's and more recently Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Johnny Damon, Jacoby Ellsworth and others that I don't know.
While my mother admonished me against using 4-letter words, that musical still has a title that resonates.
Satchel
PS.... "Some of my Best Friends are Yankee fans !"