Yankees' World Series Sweep Generates Cheers, Jeers

Two nights ago, the New York Yankees won Game 4 of the World Series with a score of 3-0, defeating the San Diego Padres in a 4-0 sweep.

Yankees fans rejoiced in the team's first World Series sweep since 1950, while the University resounded with the cheers of ecstatic New Yorkers, the jeers of deeply saddened Padres fans, and the ambivalence of Bostonians, who remained bitter that the Red Sox did not make it past the playoffs.

At the Crimson Sports Bar and Grill on JFK St., baseball fans gathered two nights ago to watch the game.

"There were definitely a lot of people here--a lot of Yankees fans and a lot of San Diego fans. It was about 50-50," said a bartender who declined to be named.

Baseball fans crowded around the bar's wide-screen television sets to root for their hometown teams, but only Yankees fans remained cheering at the end.

"I'm extremely happy they won," said New Yorker Aaron J. Teich '01. "I didn't initially think they would sweep the World Series, especially against the type of pitching the Padres have in Kevin Brown and others. It was impressive that they were able to deal with that so well."

Andrea L. Olshan '02 even traveled home to New York to watch Game 1 of the World Series.

"As a spectator, going into the seventh inning stretch with a three-run deficit was disheartening, considering the two transfers on the T and the shuttle ride back to New York," Olshan said. "But their rally in the bottom of the seventh made the experience definitely worthwhile."

Padres fans expressed disappointment at their team's poor showing despite its valiant effort.

"I didn't think it would be a sweep...It almost makes it seem like the Padres didn't provide much resistance, which they did," said Padres fan Diego Arambula '01. "They came close. They were up on the Yankees two out of the four games."

While Yankees fans responded enthusiastically to their team's victory and Padres fans exuded sadness, Red Sox fans were frustrated.

"I was really into the whole baseball playoffs until the Red Sox lost," said Fredrik M. Edenius `02, of Brookline, Massachusetts. "After the Yankees won Game 1 of the World Series, I figured the series was probably over, so I stopped paying attention."

"I knew the Yankees were going to win. I didn't even bother watching," said Ernie R. Duarte, a Science Center security guard and native Bostonian, who roots for the Red Sox.

Duarte said he was still happy for the Yankees.

"The Yankees and the Red Sox have a long-standing rivalry," he said. "But if the Red Sox are not going to be there to win a World Series--which I don't think they ever will--I'd rather see the Yankees win it."

But not everyone from Boston is a diehard Red Sox fan. In fact, some said they even preferred the Yankees.

"I love the Yankees. I watched them yesterday, [and] they're a very good team," said one Bostonian who works in Harvard's Loker Commons and who declined to be named. "The Red Sox have a lot of problems with race issues. I don't like them because of the way they treat their players."

"The Yankees are really diverse--a lot of Spanish and Latino players--and they're like a family," this Bostonian continued. "That's pretty much why they're the champions."

But if not all Bostonians love the Red Sox, then neither are all New Yorkers Yankees fans.

"I hate the Yankees," said Aram Marks '02. "I'm a Mets fan. The Mets are losers. But you can't be a Yankees fan if you're a Mets fan."

As the Yankees celebrate their victory today in the Parade of Champions in New York City, everyone from post-game reporters to Internet pollsters is asking the same question: "Are the Yankees the best team ever?" Some students at Harvard doubted the Yankees' superiority.

"Definitely not," said Nathan A. Quiroz '02. "The 1998 San Francisco Giants were the best ever."

Others said they felt that "the best team ever" was an overly-effusive moniker.

"It's hard to compare any team from any sport to a team from 70 years ago," Arambula said.

But New Yorkers, for the most part, maintained their unfailing enthusiasm for their hometown team.

"I don't know [if they're the best team ever], but they're a lot of fun to watch," Olshan said. "Sure, they're the best team ever."

Olshan explained that the Yankees are like the Knicks in that New Yorkers love to support an underdog team.

"We have so much heart," she said. "We have that fighting spirit in us. Not only are the Yankees a great team, [but] it's that fighting spirit that gives not only the Yankees but [all] sports teams in New York that interesting dynamic."

Some people extended their pride in the Yankees even further.

"I know it means that New York is the greatest of all cities, and we are superior in all ways--culturally and athletically," said proud New Yorker Spencer W. Woolf `02. "And we're also smarter and better. It just proves a well-known fact."