What's The Difference Between . . .

Q: What’s the difference between Yankee Franks and Fenway Franks?
A: You can buy Yankee Franks in October.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, and it’s not very likely that I will be in the future, a follower of any kind of sports. Neither a follower nor fan am I. When a bunch of us from the radio show went to a Triple A game up here, one of the crew had to explain to me what was going on.

And this for a person who was an enthusiastic sports announcer for the evening news and I was often the guy giving the results and summarizing the plays. Did not give a rat’s *** and, when I left the studio to attend night school around the corner, people were amazed at how gung-ho I was. I just read what the AP sent and faked it.

But I’ve always had a special, if hidden, place for the Yankees. I don’t know why; they shared much of the same real estate as the Dodgers, the Giants and, much later, the Mets. But those three teams never made it with me. The Yankees, most certainly. They had, in my mind, the sparkle that was major league baseball.

Maybe it’s because I heard Babe Ruth’s memorial program on the radio. Or some such thing about him. I think he retired before I started showing up on the planet, but there was some other event and I remember writing his name up in the attic circa 1947. He was the Yankees, and the Yankees were baseball.