The Loneliness of the New York Yanqi Fan

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.

The New York Sun

Last Thursday morning, a somber day in this city, was even harder for those of us who have to show up for work at the United Nations, where a New York Yankees fan is just about as popular as a supporter of Israel.


A day after the choke heard around the world, people were taunting me as I imagine they would at a Fenway Park bar. It is hard to find diplomats, U.N. employees, or even reporters covering this place who root for the home team of the town they reside in.


“Nobody likes an empire,” explained one South American diplomat who has lived in New York off and on for decades. At the U.N., the most popular pastime is resisting a single, dominating entity that overpowers all others. The perceived underdog – in this case the originally Las Vegas-favored Boston Red Sox – is always favored here.


Many at the U.N. consider the New York Times their daily bible. The Times Page 1 pieces about suffering of Sox fans, written by agonizing, Harvard-educated New Yorkers, have run annually in the fall, even in years that Boston was nowhere near postseason viability and much before the Times, this paragon of impartiality, went on to acquire a piece of the team.


For news-watching diplomats, those well-constructed but one-sided pieces are enough information, since many of them do not actually care about baseball or even understand its rules.


“Are you going to sit there in the cold for three hours without being bored?” A bewildered European diplomat asked when I showed off a precious pair of Yankee tickets recently. (As it turned out, that extra-inning game 2 against Minnesota lasted more than four hours and ended up being one of the brightest and most thrilling spots for Yankee fans this postseason.)


Envoys from nations like South Korea or Australia, which are represented in Major League Baseball, do not hate the Yankees as much as others. Who could forget the image of Prime Minister Koizumi, dressed in a true-blue Yankee jacket, standing next to super fan Rudy Giuliani in a VIP box at the stadium September 19, cheering his lungs out as Hideki Matsui hit a single against Boston’s Pedro Martinez on the way to a 10-1 (regular season, alas) victory?


Other knowledgeable diplomats are from Latin American countries where beisbol is at times more popular than futbol. Like my South American friend who was accusing Joe Torre’s boys of imperialistic impulses, however, many of those diplomats acquired their political savvy in the 1960s,when everybody looked like Johnny Damon. The popular slogan of Che’s beret and cigar set from those days, “Yanqis Go Home,” was too easily translated this week to “Go Sox.”


There are other teams in baseball, of course, and you might run into the occasional diplomat who once served in Washington, where he learned to love the Baltimore Orioles, the poor soul. The Mets are so desperate for fans from anywhere that, as was first noticed by Eric Shawn of Fox News, they even have an image of the U.N. building in their logo.


But the Yankees are singled out as a hated symbol even by reporters who cover the U.N. The most knowledgeable sports page readers among them – though not necessarily veteran writers of those pages – are quick to compare George Steinbrenner’s off-season moves to all of the evils America spreads around the world.


Richard Roth of CNN is one exception who wears his affections for the Yankees on his sleeve. Last Thursday he summed up the minority mood at a press conference with a former Fed chairman, Paul Volcker, who now heads an investigation into the oil-for-food scandal. “Will you investigate Yankees pitching?” Mr. Roth demanded as the press conference wrapped up.


It is dangerous to identify the sports team you root for with your political judgment. But at the U.N., where most cannot tell a bunt from a line drive but are savvy political news watchers, many became Red Sox fans for symbolic reasons (it’s Senator Kerry’s team) or as cheerleaders against the superpowers and for the perennial losers.


One diplomat who would be very disappointed if The Curse is finally lifted, however, is American Ambassador John Danforth, a former Senator from Missouri. An avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, he may even resent the fact that in this case he has no veto power over the results.



Mr.Avni covers the United Nations for The New York Sun.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use