Dodger plaque hung in Yankee Stadium: prank by kids? Or are they idiots?

Kids these days.  You never know what they might do, even in front of their mom.  Wait 'till you hear what the late Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's kids did today during Mariano Rivera day at Yankee Stadium.

Friday, September 20, 2013 Yankees need to clean house.

the Steinbrenner Kids, actually four people who are advanced adults: Hank, Hal, Jenifer, Jessica. The late George Steinbrenner left his Yankees to those four people ... I had hoped that the team would be bought by Mark Cuban or equivalent, a sort of George with brains...  The best that we can hope for is that the Kids will clean their rooms and act like grown ups.
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So much for that.  During the ceremony the Kids accompanied Rivera into monument park.  They brought along the widow of Jackie Robinson, the first modern black man to play major league baseball.  Then the Kids had Stadium workers unveil a plaque for Robinson.  Yes, a plaque for a Dodger, a BROOKLYN Dodger.  Maybe they'll try to sneak a plaque of Derek Jeter into Dodger Stadium.

Robinson as much as any Dodger of that era represents the enemy.  A noble adversary but the enemy none the less.  He was the enemy at least as much as Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges or Pee Wee Reese.  Those Dodgers played the Yankees in the old World Series in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956.  Yanks won all but 1955.  OK, Robinson's OPS (on base plus slugging average) was .679 (.883 regular season) in those World Series but people didn't keep track of stuff like that back then.  Robinson was a fierce competitor.  Putting a plaque in Yankee Stadium for him would be like having one for Fat Papi, David Ortiz, of the hated Boston Red Sox.  Get it?  It's ridiculous on its face, which must be why the Kids chose Robinson for their prank.

Now you may be wondering about the connection between Rivera and Robinson.  It's purely based on numerology.  Robinson played his entire ten year career (1947-1956) for the Dodgers wearing number 42.  Rivera has played his entire career (1995-2013) playing for the Yankees wearing number 42.  See the connection that the Kids latched on to?

It almost didn't happen.  In 1997 Major Baseball League (MBL) commissioner Allen Huber "Bud" Selig wanted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Robinson's first season.  You know, to make lots of people feel better about themselves.  One of the things Selig did was to have Robinson's number banished, I mean retired, on all teams.  However, Bud didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings so he allowed any player who was already wearing 42 to continue.  That Bud.  Always thinking of others.  Had Bud not been so considerate then Rivera would have had to switch to another number and his only connection to Robinson would have vanished and the Kids would not have been able to pull today's prank.

Rivera is such a good guy.  We saw that in Boston recently when the Red Sox, pretty good pranksters themselves, got Rivera out on the field to honor him, then suddenly announced their intent to roast rather than toast Rivera.  Well, what could he do?  Rivera stood there and took the humiliation with good grace.

Today Rivera must have been stunned but he went along if for no other reason than to prevent his bosses from looking like idiots, the only logical conclusion for an idiotic event ... unless, of course, it was a prank.

In keeping with that spirit, Yankee manager Joe Girardi made multiple idiotic decisions during the Yankees loss to the San Francisco, formerly New York, Giants.  Joe didn't want to look less idiotic than his bosses.

Part of what was so funny about today's ceremony was that the Yankees were retiring Rivera's number and placing a plaque for him on the wall near Robinson's.  See the joke?  This is the only case in sports history when an active player has his number retired.  The usual sequence is:
1. player retires
2. maybe a year or more later, the player's number is retired, if at all.

What's really funny is that the Yankees still have three more home games after today.  But, hey, those Steinbrenner kids know how to give the fans a good time.  The fans were probably as bewildered as Rivera and had no idea that the whole thing was a prank.  They applauded and made Rivera feel good.  I'm guessing that the feeling good stuff had worn off by the time the Yanks had all but eliminated themselves from even the second wild card spot in the tournament.  Maybe by then some fans started wondering what the heck that Dodger plaque was all about.

Robinson Cano did his part by failing to advance from second to third base during a late rally, which helped him get thrown out at the plate on a two out single.  Cano has been joking all season, not hustling even though it's his walk year and he's bucking for a huge ten year contract even though he'll be 31 years old next month. Cano is making the Kids feel good about their silliness.

Thursday, July 11, 2013 Cano isn't worth a huge contract.

So, I'm guessing that the Dodger plaque will be removed tomorrow and sent to DODGER Stadium where it belongs, of course.  If not, then ... those Kids really are idiots.