A Yankee Strikeout
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

It’s disappointing, to say the least, to see the way in which some New Yorkers are greeting the disaster that befell the state of Florida, where Hurricane Frances slew nine, left 3 million people without power, and wreaked billions of dollars worth of damage to property. When the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were late for a doubleheader that had been scheduled for Monday in the Bronx, the Yankees management reportedly demanded that the Devil Rays forfeit the game.
Yankee partisans claim that the Devil Rays knew the hurricane was coming and could have left for New York before it hit. But many of the Tampa Bay players understandably wanted to be with their families, battening down the hatches of their homes. Some things are more important than winning in baseball.
The Yankees’ behavior is a contrast with that of the Chicago Cubs, who graciously agreed to postpone a three-game series with the Florida Marlins.
The Marlins were also affected by the hurricane. But the Cubs, unlike the Yankees, made no demands for a forfeit. September 11, 2001, was just a short three years ago. The Yankees, confronting a team entangled in a natural disaster, would have done well to reciprocate the generosity that the rest of America showed New York then.