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Who loves the Yankees? Apparently most of North Carolina

Renfield said:
That is true and the aging Mick was exactly why I first became a Yankee fan. Sure was tough sledding for awhile after that, though. Joe Pepitone was supposed to pick up the mantle, so to speak, but that didn't really pan out.
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Disagree. I grew up in NJ and have been a life-long Yankees fan. I've never heard anyone (other than yourself) say that Pepitone was going to "pick up the mantle". Bobby Mercer was expected to be the next great Yankee CF by many.
 
I'm from Rocky Mount. My moms brother lived in Vegas when I was a kid and played golf with Mantle weekly and was a good friend. Obviously, I'm a Yankees fan.
 
BabyDeac75 said:
CBS owned the Yankees for the 1965-1972 seasons. While the Yankees never went to the WS during that period, they were televised into homes around the country every Saturday. While it may be hard for the younger folks among us to realize, often there was only one game televised nationally each week. ESPN, FoxSports, etc did not exist. Superstations and cable did not exist. The Internet was still just a figment of young Al Gore's imagination. You received CBS and NBC in most markets. There was this fledgling network called ABC, but it was not very good and some markets didnt carry it. In the 60s, Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese brought the Yankees to us every Saturday afternoon. In areas such as NC, there was no hometown team. The Senators in DC were terrible, and the Braves had just relocated from Milwaukee in 1966. For many young NC boys during those formative years, the Yankees became a surrogate "home" team because they were broadcast to us on a regular basis. There was no frontrunning back then either. The Yankees had a losing record from 1965-67 and in 1969. It wasnt all that easy being a Yankees fan during the Horace Clarke years.

It is easy to overlook how much things have changed with technology, 24-hour sports, MLB Network, etc. in a lifetime.

God, I suddenly feel old!
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75 is exactly correct (except for the "old" part). I can't speak for the rest of the state, but in western North Carolina almost every baseball fan was either a Yankee fan or a Cards fan, for the reasons 75 noted.

It never changed, either, until cable became common and Ted Turner created his Superstation, televising the Braves for almost every game. Lots of older folks in the mountains who are from North Carolina still are Yankee or Cards fans. I just got burned out on Steinbrenner's bs when I was at Wake. Go Braves.
 
The significant thing tying Mantle and Pepitone was that Pepitone agreed to switch positions and move to CF when the Mick's legs no longer allowed him to patrol center in the Stadium. Pepitone was a 1B converted to CF. He was nominally the next Yankee CF following Mantle, but I agree that Bobby Murcer was the first player touted as "the next Mickey Mantle." Of course, there hasnt been one yet. Mike Trout is the closest thing I have seen, and there are years of performance ahead of him before he would deserve that honor.
 
WFU71 said:
Disagree. I grew up in NJ and have been a life-long Yankees fan. I've never heard anyone (other than yourself) say that Pepitone was going to "pick up the mantle". Bobby Mercer was expected to be the next great Yankee CF by many.
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Perhaps stated poorly, You're right that Murcer was touted as the next in line after Mantle, Just meant that Joe P was supposed to be a key cog going forward. Besides, I was 8 years old or something so memory gets a bit hazy.
 
BabyDeac75 said:
CBS owned the Yankees for the 1965-1972 seasons. While the Yankees never went to the WS during that period, they were televised into homes around the country every Saturday. While it may be hard for the younger folks among us to realize, often there was only one game televised nationally each week. ESPN, FoxSports, etc did not exist. Superstations and cable did not exist. The Internet was still just a figment of young Al Gore's imagination. You received CBS and NBC in most markets. There was this fledgling network called ABC, but it was not very good and some markets didnt carry it. In the 60s, Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese brought the Yankees to us every Saturday afternoon. In areas such as NC, there was no hometown team. The Senators in DC were terrible, and the Braves had just relocated from Milwaukee in 1966. For many young NC boys during those formative years, the Yankees became a surrogate "home" team because they were broadcast to us on a regular basis. There was no frontrunning back then either. The Yankees had a losing record from 1965-67 and in 1969. It wasnt all that easy being a Yankees fan during the Horace Clarke years.

It is easy to overlook how much things have changed with technology, 24-hour sports, MLB Network, etc. in a lifetime.

God, I suddenly feel old!
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While the Yankees dominated the CBS broadcasts in 1965, the Yankees switched to NBC's broadcasts in 1966. Even in 1965 they certainly were not on every Saturday.
 
noogadeac said:
There might not be, but apparently there are more people in W-S who "like" the Yankees on Facebook than who "like" the Braves.
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It's a generational thing. My dad's generation all grew up watching the Yankees, before the Braves moved to Atlanta. Overall there are definitely more Braves fans in NC, but between the Boomers and the Carpetbaggers, the Yankees have a sizeable fan base.
 
Oh I do believe the myth that Mantle would be the GOAT if he wasn't such a alcoholic. He was the 5 tool player.
 
bobknightfan said:
You're kidding, right? ...because the answer is obvious. Willie Mays is the best baseball player that I've ever seen during the roughly 60 years I have been following baseball.

Mickey Mantle was a great player....but he wasn't as good as Willie Mays. Mays beats him in runs, hits, doubles, triples, homeruns, RBIs, stolen bases & batting average. And Mays was one of the best...if not the best....fielding centerfielders in baseball history.
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lol

I thought you meant Yankees. Reading comprehension is fundamental, I know.
 
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