LEADING WITH MY CHIN:

All is right in my world today. I just watched my beloved Red Sox beat the snot out of the Yankees on television during the past two nights and realized for the first time in about fifteen years, there is not one Yankee player that I have any sentimental feelings for. I am free to hate on them without any second thoughts.

Back in '95 the Yankees weren't doing so well. But they signed Tony Fernandez to play shortstop and I was a big Tony Fernandez fan. It was during that year that I became aware that there were a few Yankees that I actually liked. For some strange reason I liked Paul O'Neill; I liked Tino Martinez; I liked Bernie Williams. I began to wonder if I was getting soft in my advancing years.

I have spent my whole life hating the Yankees, and this was a good thing. I can't recall a person that has been in my life that I can truly say that I hated. But I hated the Yankees. Maybe those ill feelings towards the men in pinstripes has been the vent I needed to protect the people in my life from the venom that I'm sure exists in me. It has gone so far that I wanted to like teams like the Brewers and the Cubs and the Mets and the Twins but found it difficult because they wore pinstripes. I have gone as far as to be proud of the fact that I have never hired anyone who wore Yankee gear on his or her job interview.

I hated the way that Casey Stengel used to adjust his lineup and pitching rotation on a daily basis. I hated Bill Skowron, Hank Bauer, Tom Tresh, Tony Kubek, Hector Lopez, Mickey Rivers, Thurman Munson, Clete Boyer, Bob Turley and so many more. I especially hated Ryne Duren. The problem in the old days was the Yanks had guys like Mickey, Yogi, Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard. You couldn't hate those guys. They were too good.

That is why the feelings of the past fifteen years have been so disturbing to me. I actually liked some of these guys and it didn't feel right. I always liked Dave Justice and was disappointed when he went to the Bronx but I couldn't hate him. Even as late as '05 they had guys on the team I liked. They had Tom "Flash" Gordon, John Flaherty, Randy Johnson and Alan Embree, and I liked these guys.

I got so excited during the past two days when I came to the realization that there is not even one member of the 2009 New York Yankees that I have even the slightest sentimental feeling about. I am free to hate the Yankees again with no second thoughts. That is even more exciting to me than the fact that the Red Sox kicked the snot out of them. That's not really correct. The fact that they haven't done so well in Boston has kept Jerseyankee from posting his Yankee crap.