Is History Repeating Itself?
By Derek Bunker
In reviewing the debacle at Yankee Stadium a couple of weeks ago, I came across a quote from a Red Sox player that many of you might find interesting. Here it is:
"The Yankees are together. Nine guys giving their all. Us? We come to the ballpark and one guy’s dizzy, another guy’s hand hurts. That’s bulls**t. They’ve got one guy who comes out of the hospital to play. That’s how much this series meant to them."
Now who do you think said this? Nixon? Varitek? Schilling? Nope. None of the above.
Try Rick Burleson.
The Rooster made this statement in 1978 following what has come to be known as the Boston Massacre. The Yankees swept the Sox in a 4 game series at Fenway in June that year. They outscored them 42-9 and allowed only one Red Sox starter to get out of the first inning.
The recent series wasn’t quite that ugly. But there are eerie similarities to that clubhouse and this one. The teammates Burleson was referring to were Dwight Evans and Mike Torrez. Evans had been beaned three weeks prior to that series and was still complaining that he would get dizzy playing fly balls. Torrez claimed the middle finger on his pitching hand was sore, and blamed this for his lack of effectiveness. The guy who was in the hospital? That was Yankee Captain Thurman Munson, who took a Dick Drago fastball off his melon and was back catching the next night.
Does this all sound familiar? Between Nomar’s Achilles, Williamson’s arm, and Jeter going head first into the stands, I think this is real familiar. Why did Burleson have to step up and say this then and not Yaz? He was the team captain. Why did Schilling have to step up? He even admitted previously that he didn’t feel that was his role. But what choice did he have? There is no captain on this team.
Here we are, 26 years later, and it seems as though we are in the midst of another one of those years. Only time will tell how much history continues to repeat itself.
Source:
Pennant Races – Dave Anderson
