Dad's Study

Like imprinting on a duck, the sports team that an adult male roots for depends on what happens when he was about 10 years old. In 1972, for example, the Miami Dolphins went undefeated and won the Super Bowl. Thus, there are many men my age who root for the Miami Dolphins. Sometimes the local culture supports the home team strongly enough to overcome their lack of success (see: Boston Red Sox, circa 1972).

My dad is a lifelong Yankee fan. In the early 70’s, the Yankees weren’t very good. There was another team in New York, though, and they had had some recent success, winning the World Series in 1969 and getting to the Series in 1973. For my dad, the Mets were a diversion while the Yankees regrouped, although I didn’t realize this at the time. Nor did he realize that when he took me to a few Mets games a year, that he was determining my long-term loyalty.

I rooted for the Yankees too, especially in the late 70’s when the Mets were terrible. Still, my heart was with the Mets, and when the Dwight Gooden appeared in a Mets uniform, and the Yankees fired and rehired Billy Martin for the eleventh time, I embraced the Mets and rejected the Yanks. Interleague play cemented my allegiance, and now I solidly root against the Yankees.
When my father I and watch baseball together, we’ll split TV time between the Mets and the Yankees. He knows that I’m rooting against the Yankees, although I do my best to hide it. I’ve caught him rooting against the Mets, which surprised both of us. He sees my becoming a Mets fan as a failure of his parenting.

Also, he feels responsible for subjecting me to the pain of being a Mets fan in 2009. I think.