Old-Timers day getting a little…young?
Call me a hater if you must, but when I saw that Mike Mussina was at Old-Timers day at Yankee Stadium, I was a little disappointed.
I know that OTD is supposed to be a celebration of Yankees from the past, and that’s the problem. Mike Mussina’s not from the “past”. He’s a guy who could probably pitch for the Yankees tomorrow if things went haywire. Rigt now, he’d probably be the third best starter on the team.
I’m not trying to be a fly in the ointment. I know that on some level, this is what happens, because the further we get from the glory years, the fewer options there are to bring back players who had an impact on the franchise. Many of them are gone.
I’m not blaming Mussina for this. If I were a player and I were asked back, I’d go. I just wish they hadn’t asked.
To have Mussina there seems odd. We’ve pointed out he was the last Yankee to win a World Series game. But do you realize that he was the last Yankee pitcher to beat the Red Sox? I can’t tell if that’s funny or depressing.
And now he’s an Old-Timer? I don’t like it.
This doesn’t have anything to do with talent. Not every player who comes back is a Hall of Famer. I’ve seen Kevin Maas at a recent game. But part of the fun off bringing a guy like Maas back is that when you see him, you think “Man, Kevin Maas. Those first 30 games in 1990 were something! What’s he been up to?” In a sense, his obscurity is the reason he’s back. He’s the answer to a trivia question, a quirky piece of nostalgia in an otherwise dark era. Think Shane Spencer, sans the rings. If you were a Yankees fan in the early 90’s, for a few weeks, you loved Maas, and having him back there is an excuse to think back to when he was the next big thing.
The problem is, we haven’t been given a chance to appreciate Mussina in that way. Nine months ago, we weren’t even sure he was retired. Now we’re supposed to look back with fondness? It’s like the saying goes “How can I miss you if you don’t go away?”
Last 5 posts by The Moose
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