El Profe: Mets or Yankees? It’s not what you think

January is the “Fest” and caravan time of year for major league teams, a time when clubs host multiday gatherings to showcase their new acquisitions and bring back old-timers, team ambassadors and current stars to rekindle the fans’ passion before the new season starts.

In Chicago, Cubs Convention and SoxFest provide an opportunity for fans to wear team gear in the middle of winter and spend time up close with hometown favorites. Some teams take the show on the road as a caravan, such as the St. Louis Cardinals, who this month will visit Champaign, Ill.

The sporting of baseball team colors in the middle of winter warms the heart and serves as a reminder that spring training is not far away.

It also reminds me of a lesson in baseball fandom that I received from my abuelita Mercedes — a lifelong baseball fan — when I asked her a seemingly simple question.

Who do you root for? The Yankees or the Mets?

The answer abuelita gave was simple and complex at the same time, revealing a different aspect of being a baseball fan than what I had known to that point. In fact, abuelita’s version of being a Latina fan became the one I ultimately embraced as my own.

Who’s Your Squad?

Most of us have a favorite team — the one in which we invest our hopes and aspirations. We are with them through good and bad. It’s our ride-or-die squad, as we proudly sport their jerseys, caps and jackets.

For me, that team is the Yankees. Born in the Bronx, period, the end. The first game I attended was, of course, at Yankee Stadium. When my parents moved the family from the New York City area, we landed in Fort Lauderdale, less than 2 miles away from where the Yankees held spring training back then.

My abuelita Mercedes, however, remained in the Bronx at a fifth-floor apartment across from Woodlawn Cemetery, near the end of the line for the 4 train and where pioneering Cuban-American owner, executive and scout Alejandro “Álex” Pompez is buried. We took the 4 train numerous times to Yankee Stadium, especially if it was a day game.

Trips to visit abuelita in the Bronx after we moved to Florida were special. I don’t know if papi did it on purpose, but it seemed every time that we drove around in the Bronx, his route took us past the ballpark — a majestic sight to behold, with the name “Yankee Stadium” illuminated at night.

And while abuelita loved watching her telenovelas, she was just as happy to have the game on the television in the living room as she prepared pollo guisado, arroz and habichuelas for the family.

Boricua Baseball Roots

Abuelita was part of the Puerto Rican mass migration to New York in the 1950s. She and so many others initially settled in Spanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio. The Yankees were the team of many boricuas who settled in Manhattan or the Bronx, just as the Dodgers were the team of those Puerto Ricans who settled near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, at least until the team departed for Los Angeles.

Born in 1923 in the mountain town of Comerío, abuelita grew up on an island that lives and breathes pelota. Kids played wherever they could find a patch of open space, whether they lived en los campos or in the larger cities. And as part of a baseball-mad society, everyone had their opinions on the game and its players, Puerto Rican or otherwise.

She was in her late teens when Hiram Bithorn — the first Puerto Rican to reach the major leagues — made his 1942 debut for the Cubs. But for abuelita, it was the second one, el jíbaro Luis Rodríguez Olmo, that had more meaning. This was not because Olmo played for the Brooklyn Dodgers starting in 1943; rather, it was due to his having played for the Caguas Criollos in the Puerto Rican winter league — her hometown team before she se embarcó (migrated) to New York City.

When I asked her about her favorite team, abuelita had already spent most of the previous 40 years living in New York City. It seemed a natural question about the intracity rivalry between Yankees and Mets fans.

“I root for the Yankees,” she began. “But I also root for the Mets because they are from my city.”

Root for the Latinos

Then came her Latino version of fandom through which she demonstrated her pride in the accomplishments of any player from Latin America or their descendants born in the U.S.

“Whenever a New York team is not playing, I root for the team with the most Latinos,” she said.

Profound. And it made sense to me. When doing research in Puerto Rican newspapers and Spanish-language newspapers from New York, I recall finding a section with the batting or pitching statistics of Latino players in the big leagues.

While still a Yankees fan, even if they often act as the “Evil Empire,” I have learned to also revel in the on-field accomplishments of all Latinos in baseball, much like my abuelita Mercedes did. She was the one who taught me about “Jungle Jim” Rivera, one of the first Nuyoricans to play in the major leagues.

Even more, I appreciate these players’ stories of migrating to the United States and navigating life as new Latino arrivals. In rooting for Latino baseball in this fashion, it feels like I am honoring both my abuelitas, Mercedes Rivera and Petra Maldonado, by recognizing what they gave up and what they overcame in migrating to the States in the 1950s.

Featured Image: Jessica Tennant