Going to the Yankees is like pledging allegiance to the Nazis, the Cylons and the Sinister Six. Once you go there, I can’t let you back in the good graces, no matter how many roast beef sandwiches or Leighton Meester photos you send me. So it is with great regret that I discovered Smilin’ Eric Hinske had gone pinstripes on us. I know it ain’t the guy’s fault, being traded and all. And I’m sure he’s got kids to feed and bills to pay and bar tabs that ain’t gonna take care of themselves. But I gotta pull him off the Hanukkah card list on principle alone.
Although he was more famous for that bad-ass faceplant catch than anything he did with his bat while he was with the Sox, I dug Hinske, simply because he looked like the ultimate teammate. Always laughing, always bullshitting, always ready to pigpile for a walk-off or work the top step to cheer on the batter. Although 2007 was a happy time for all of us, Hinske looked like he had a rager for every waking second of every game, with that ear-to-ear grin perpetually plastered on his mug–at least when he wasn’t sucking down post-clinching game brewskis and cigars. But now that he’s in the Bronx, even though it was through a trade, he might as well have been sucked into The Negative Zone for all I care. I’m sorry Eric, but that’s just how it’s got to be.
Closer to Earth, tonight John Smoltz will try once again for his first AL win. Won’t you help us root him on in our comments section game thread? Excellent.
