As a child of New York City, Rudy knows better. He understands that becoming a Yankee or Met fan is part of the fabric of being raised in NYC. There is no dual-loyalty. Yankee fans—as Rudy used to profess to be—would rather stick hot needles in their eyes than root for the Sox. The argument that Rudy is supporting the American League doesn’t hold water. The hated Sox represent the AL. Any good Yankee fan would just tune out the Series.
Met fans, on the other hand, hold the Sox in high esteem because of the Boston team’s long rivalry with the Yanks. It’s a kinship based on pure anti-Yankeeism. We cheered as the Sox whipped the Yanks in `04 to get into the World Series and finally broke the “Curse of the Bambino.”
This blogger has dragged his daughters to many Met games. They have never stepped foot in Yankee Stadium.
The same holds true for Giuliani. There were many images of Mayor Giuliani with son Andrew at Yankee Stadium. [Those were the days when they were on speaking terms.] Rudy only made mandatory appearances at Shea, such as the `00 World Series when both teams battled each other.
Some PR people think I am going a bit overboard about criticizing Giuliani for rootin’ for the Sox. The switcheroo just goes against the grain of everything I know about growing up in NYC. It cuts to the heart of the kind of person that Giuliani has become now that he is running for President.
Giuliani, of course, is playing to a larger political audience. The Mayor, who was ready to be run out of Gotham prior to 9/11, may have already written off the NYC vote in a Presidential contest against Hillary Clinton.
One does not think however that Rudy’s willingness to “sell his soul” for votes is going to appeal to the “values voters.”