World Series! I was maybe 10 when my father handed me a bible, a tome that encapsulated the fundamental tenets of our religion. It was called The Yankee Hater's Handbook. A masterpiece of framing, it armed me with any number of responses to claims of the greatness of the team, the excellence of Mssrs. DiMaggio and Maris, the basic mental capacity of Mr. Berra. At that time, though, in the mid-1980s, hating the Yankees was like someone today hating the Knicks. They're so terrible - why bother? (more...)