World has changed: A new Binghamton, a new stadium, a new Yankiverse

We're in the Dead Zone of Yankee news, like the hours before election day. Everything is about to happen, and yet nothing is happening.


We're supposed to watch the battle between Ramiro Pena and Angel Berroa? Debate the waiver wire?

No, we're supposed to pay homage -- we already paid taxes -- to a stadium we didn't need. We're supposed to beat the drum to sell tickets at prices no one could pay in a boom time, much less in a rapidly spiking, full-blown depression.


Today, we get another 4-hour infomercial for a team that had us at, "Play ball."


All that can happen is for someone to get hurt. If Jeter busts his pinkie, from now on, he plays with a busted pinkie.

But it's worse than that. I hate these two fake games against the Cubs.

Don't get me wrong. I hope every fan has a fantastic time, that no player gets hurt, and the sun shines on all of us. I just hate how the team gouges its fan base. I hate the difference between this year and last.

Last year, when we played at Virginia Tech, Yankee fans were never prouder. For my money, Alex Rodriguez' greatest Yankee moment came when he sat in the Hokies dugout. We loved him for that. Those are the images that go into the psychic folder next to the pictures of Ruth and Mantle. Those are the memories that sustain us through times of loss.


This year, we have a different image of Arod and the organization:

Excess.

Yesterday, we saw an unbelievable massacre in my former home: Binghamton -- a pure-hearted Yankee city. Whitey Ford pitched there. Joe Pepitone was beloved. Thurman Munson played there. Right now, I'm typing this below a framed front page of The Binghamton Sun-Bulletin on August 3, 1979. It has one story: "Munson is Killed."


Well, we all knew where the Yanks would go this year. We traded a historical treasure for a gold-plated luxury box. Today, we're supposed to celebrate the disco, the steakhouse, the TV screens and the new Hard Rock Cafe.

If you're going, enjoy it. Don't think about what's missing.

But the Yankiverse will never be the same.


And next year, around this time, how about a game in upstate New York.