Every Wednesday, we all assemble at a local bar before our weekly poker game. Usually the bar is busy, but tonight it was packed. How packed? Packed enough that our regular waitress was nowhere to be seen, and we had to settle for a random server and… ordinary service. The indignity of it all! It’s probably worth mentioning that on only slightly less hectic nights, our regular waitress has been known to greet new arrivals at our table by smiling and immediately setting down a beer from her tray. Someone else’s beer, that is. Now that’s service.

Now, the patrons of this bar are not the most rabid sports fans in the world. Just your typical 25-45ish Silicon Valley types in jeans and khakis and polo shirts. No ‘Sox paraphernalia in sight. And yet… everyone was going wild after every big Red Sox play. Three thousand miles from Boston. Heck, the South Bay is not exactly thick on the ground with people who even pay attention to the American League at all.

Is there anyone outside of New York and its environs who doesn’t despise the Yankees?