When Derek Jeter made his last trip to Fenway Park before retiring, Red Sox fans gave him an ovation. A few if I remember correctly. It wasn’t anything extreme, but there was a tip of the cap, as it were.
Kevin Kernan of the New York Post spoke to the Red Sox legend who is retiring after this season -- David Ortiz -- and he says he would like the same sort of treatment that The Captain received:
I guess I can understand that. And one sort of hopes that, rivalry baloney aside, all fans can appreciate that Ortiz was a huge figure in the game over the past decade and a half or so, particularly when it comes to Yankees-Red Sox stuff. I’d clap for him if I were a Yankees fan. This is baseball, not war.
But man, we are gonna be inundated with stories come September about this. Columns in which people earnestly argue one way or the other about whether Yankees fans should do this or that. It’ll be like those “were ___ fans right to boo ___” pieces but worse. And arguably even more inconsequential.
Bring it on. I love dumb stuff like that. I hope it paralyzes the sporting discourse for a month.
