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October 1, 2012

Pebble Hunting

The Uplifting, Inspirational Yankees

by Sam Miller

There is, in the American League East this year, an inspirational story worth cheering for. It is a story of underdogs, of overachievers, of a group of players counted out, of a team of men who didn’t give up. When everything was against them, these men fought harder. I’m almost choking up over here.

Not the Orioles. Pfft. Bunch of big-shot millionaires. Nope, I’m talking about a truly inspirational roster: The New York Yankees. 

I’m serious! Well, I would say that if I were serious, and I would say that if I were being satirical, and I’m honestly not sure which direction this piece will go, so we’re safe either way. But here’s what I know: when you get past your idea that the Yankees are paid a lot and represent systemic imbalance and should win and can’t possibly be an underdog, you can find a lot of reasons to be pretty happy for the Yankees.

Start with Derek Jeter. Ugggggggh you're so sick of Derek Jeter, but Derek Jeter overcame a lot. Derek Jeter's parents were of different races, and Jeter had to deal with racism because of it. 

You’d go places and get stares; if you were just with one of your parents, people would give you a double-take because something just didn’t seem right,” Jeter said during the television interview. “You’d hear some things, whispers when you walk in, laughs. It also taught you that there are people that were uneducated in terms of different races.”

When asked if the “N-word” was used, Jeter said it was.