Out of the running for CELEBRITY YANKEE FAN OF THE DECADE, Elizabeth Tea Pantaleoni, aka Tea Leoni, licks her wounds

In one of the sadder manifestations of Yankiverse jealousy, the esteemed Hollywood actress and Yankee fan Tea Leoni has seen her good name dragged through the mud recently on this blog.

One poster, who shall remain nameless, has consistently impugned her status as a Yankee fan.

Friends, as Joe Biden once said... where do we start?

This is how we lose 2010... turning against each other, demanding Yank "purity" tests, and questioning our own brothers and sisters.

For the record, this is what we know about Elizabeth Tea Pantaleoni. You can decide if she is Yankee fan material.

1. She was born in New York City. (DOES THAT PASS YOUR BIRTHER LITMUS TEST, YANKEE GESTAPO CAPTAINS?)

2. Her first marriage was in Jersey to a guy from Rye, NY. (DOES THAT SATISFY YOUR PURGE INSTINCTS, SECRET YANKEE POLICEMAN?)

3. Her father is a lawyer in New York. (HEAR THAT? COULD THAT HAVE LED TO HER BEING A YANKEEFAN, COMMANDANT?)

4. She attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville. (HMMM. BRONXVILLE, NOTICE ANYTHING POTENTIALLY CONNECTIVE TO THE YANKEES, DETECTIVE SERPICO?)

5. She has described herself as "a New Yorker living in LA." (TO THE NEW YORK TIMES, NO LESS.)

We at IT IS HIGH sincerely apologize to Ms. Pantaleoni for any postings that questioned her status as a Yankee fan. And if during her daily routines in Los Angeles, she happens to meet John Lackey, we hope she will do her part to enlist his services, thus ensuring a victorious 2010.