Who's Your Grand-daddy?!
By ThrowsLikeAGirl
Linda and Andy have a very nice pair of seats reserved at Fenway Park for the start of the 2004 World Series on Saturday. They'll be even with first base - just above the Red Sox dugout - literally behind the team they've loyally been behind for decades. Linda says they've emptied the bank account (happily) just to be there and experience this moment in the history of the very deserving, long-suffering throngs of Red Sox Nation. They did have a little pull to get those choice seats, however. Linda is Linda Ruth Tosetti, - granddaughter of, that's right, the Babe himself. And although she could probably have aced herself a couple of nice seats Bronx house that bears the family name, Linda is - and always has been - a diehard Red Sox fan. And let me also say that she and husband Andy are warm, funny, enthusiastic and completely unassuming considering they carrying on a tradition of American royalty.
Linda generously gave me a few moments of her time on the phone from her Connecticut home - just before history was made Wednesday night in Game 7. I could have asked her a million questions - and I'm sure Linda would have indulged me deep into the night, but I wanted to let her settle in with Andy and savor the game on TV, so here are the highlights of our conversation. I'm sure we'll chat again. By the way, Linda is a fan of our site, because she understands that YankeesSuck.com is an irony - and that it's all in good fun.
Linda's mom was Dorothy Ruth (Pirone), Babe's biological daughter. He adopted another daughter, Julia (Stevens) at age 13.
Linda: "My mom was raised on the farm in Sudbury (Mass.) - and, by the way - there's no piano in the pond. That's part of the legend. I hear they're putting the place up for sale. My mom had 6 kids and I'm the baby, which is nice now, of course. I can remind my sisters how much older they are after all the teasing they gave me over the years! We all grew up in Wallingford (Connecticut)."
YS: Where you always a big baseball family?
Linda: "We followed baseball, but none of us really had an appreciation of Babe Ruth or the game, really, until we were older. My mom didn't want to call a lot of attention to who we were. It was the era of the Lindberg kidnapping and Mom worried she didn't have the money to pay a ransom. She was afraid for us - but we all learned more about baseball and our family much later."
"I learn more about my grandfather every day. Different people who knew him or had talked to him will tell me knew things he said all the time. I feel like I know him now. Babe was really ADHD - although they didn't call it that back then - and that definitely runs in the family. One of my brothers used to wake me up in the middle of the night to play with him. I was always exhausted as a kid!"
Linda comments on the "Curse:"
"We have our fun but let me make it clear that THERE IS NO CURSE! My grandfather loved Boston. You know he finished his career there with the Boston Braves. If anything, the bad feelings were brought on by Frazee, who sold him to the Yankees in the first place. But I understand the frustration of Red Sox fans -- all these years. They're feeling pressure but it's not of my grandfather's making. The "curse" is part of baseball lore - and that's fine. That makes the game exciting, and it's fun - but when people start really believing in it, then it's a self-fulfilling prophesy. Think it and it will happen. I didn't appreciate it when Pedro said he'd like to drill my grandfather in the ass. That doesn't show a lot of respect. That kind of disrespect doesn't do anything for the game."
YS: Do you think Babe would have fit in with this rag-tag bunch of self-proclaimed "idiots?"
Linda: "Yeah - well, Boston ball is NOT for the faint-hearted. You never know what this team is going to do. And they're a bunch of characters - all so different. Babe would have liked that. You know, he was a big supporter of the Negro League. There wasn't a prejudice bone in his body, but the owners of the Yankees at the time tried to shut him up, tried to control him."
YS: Do you have a favorite player on the Sox?
Linda: I just like them all. But I would have to say I like Tek - he's a little bit of a rebel, a Thurmon Munson type. I've always like Trot, too. And Damon just has something about him. You see certain pictures of him - his eyes - he's like a caged animal! And Schilling - my husband calls him the "X-factor."
YS: Who do you admire on the Yankees?
Linda: "Well, like everybody else, I guess I have to say that Jeter is something to watch. His hands are everywhere! But I don't like some of the attitudes of the players - I don't like disrespect."
"But there's some miracle baseball being played on both sides of the rivalry. The teams are both titans - there are two dynasties here. It's wonderful to watch - but there are also bad fans on both sides. I say let's just play together nicely. If people would just stop the b.s. ..."
YS: Do you know the words to "Tessie?"
Linda: No! Send them to me so I can sing along! But they had the group (the Dropkick Murphys) at one of the games - and they explained the history of the song and all. This is what I like about John Henry and Tom Werner and all the Red Sox management: they're great, good guys. Really, really nice. Whenever I see them they welcome me with big hugs - because John Henry really respects the history of the game. I knew him before he was owner here in Boston. When he got involved with the team, I knew it would be just a matter of time before it became competitive. And they want to stay at Fenway. They're adding seats, doing what they can - but they want to keep it at Fenway and I respect that."
Thanks Linda - we'll look for you and Andy at Fenway on Saturday. And save a seat for your mom, brothers and grandpa, too. I think they'll enjoy the game!
