Yank and Redsock fans today can enjoy one great and unifying cause: Screaming for the shrunken head of Mr. Ryan Dempster, the Boston Beaner. For two days now, the packs of roving Gammonites have generally sided with A-Rod, refusing to support any pitcher who was obviously throwing at a batter. Even Curt Schilling, the Baghdad Bob of ESPN's Redsock coverage - and who led a chorus of voices that turned the Sunday night game into a midway sideshow with A-Rod as the dunking clown - derided Dempster's craven and cowardly act. Today's Daily News speculates that Dempster could be the spark that turns around the Yankee season - with 39 games left. And the writers are still marveling about how "Fightin' Joe" Girardi backed his wayward troop. (Listen: If Joe hadn't raised bloody hell, it would have been a disgrace.)
Today, we at IT IS HIGH want to publicly forgive Mr. Dempster for his misguided act, which was obviously committed during the heat of battle. And I think it's worth noting Dempster's true crime, as the good and moral people of Boston see it:
He is guilty of blowing a three-run lead.
Yep. That's why the Redsock Nation wants a necklace of his teeth. He flubbed the game. If Dempster had shut down the Yankees into the eighth, today they'd be naming a bridge after him. The A-Rod beaning would be icing on the cake, a moment to cherish in their jewel box memories.
I know this sounds cynical - but whenever the nation's Champion of Truth, Bud Selig, starts railing about the integrity of the game, cynicism becomes my safe house. Also, I recognize that the A-Rod dispute has a million levels, and will be fought for at least the next five years.
But I view baseball with one core belief: If A-Rod had hit last October and led the Yankees to the World Series, everything would be different. The Yankees would still be treating him as royalty, and there is a possibility that this entire Biogenesis scandal might have never gone public. (I'm not saying that's good, just that it might have been swept under the rug.)
I think that's how A-Rod sees it. And I understand see why he feels that way. He believes his crime was striking out so many times on the world stage. And if so, he's got a point.
Today, it's hard to imagine the A-Rod quagmire leading to anything positive for the Yankees. We are not only Wild Card also-rans, but we are hauling this huge public relations anvil from town to town, while we wage war within our organization. Derek Jeter has already called the season a nightmare. The worst could be yet to come.
And yet, AND YET...
If A-Rod is right, and the instincts of cynicism are true... there IS one possible way out:
Lead the Yankees to a miracle championship.
If so, we in the Yankiverse should start scouring the landscape. Somewhere, we need to start the christening process for Ryan Dempster Bridge.
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