Yankeetorial: For Baseball To Heal, It Must Look To Football

OPEN LETTER TO BUD SELIG:

Dear Madam or Sir:

The NFL has a point.

When Boston had a pro football team, back in the days of the American Football League, the town wasn’t big enough to support it. And it was a damn shame, when you think about how much Gino Cappelletti gave to that city. He's still the greatest player in AFL history.

To get decent fan support, the Boston Patriots became the New England Patriots.

Thus, they built hotbeds of rooters in York, Maine and Burlington, Vermont, where locals could listen to the games on shortwave radio and shout, "Yea, Patriots! That's my region’s team!”

It’s the same with clam chowder, by the way. Nobody calls it Boston clam chowder.

These days, the Redsocks claim to be New England’s team.

And we at IT IS HIGH say, "Rightfully so!"

Only one other New England team last year could have given the Redsocks a tussle for the regional crown: the Pawtucket Pawsox, led by Jacoby Ellsbury, who clubbed 2 tape measure home runs and batted a crisp .298! When the Ell-train gets hot, anything can happen. But, still, the Redsocks would have been favored.

And next year, 'Coby will be patrolling center field for the Redsocks.

Why not let him slug his pair of dingers for THE NEW ENGLAND REDSOCKS?

No reason not to, if baseball has any guts.

If it wants to shed the steroid scandal.

If it wants to get with the damn program.

If it's big enough to handle a regional team with regional marketing and regional sales.

Don't duck this opportunity, sir.

While you mull it over, we'll be waiting in front of our New England Legal DVDs with a New England cream pie.