An alternate universe.

"Yet Teixeira is also a symbol of something else. Always ready to play, play hard, and with the old-world nobility that still appeals to the masses. And someone whom even the most ardent Yankees hater couldn’t quite get himself to hate."

I don't consider him particularly hard-nosed or noble.

But I like the fact that you're referring to him in the past tense.


"Maybe Teixeira came too late to be a minted member of the Core Four, but he surely played with their collective spirit."

Whatever that means, I think you're imagining it.


"When people parse the Yankees, and all the bad they allegedly represent, you never hear the name Teixeira as a symbol of all their sins. Simply, it’s just impossible to dislike someone who was as good, humble, and charitable as Teixeira."

I feel honored to have achieved the impossible.


"In spite of all the home runs, Gold Gloves, and All-Star games, Teixeira maintained the blue-collar ethic that defines the Big Apple."

Teixeira's exaggerated howls of pain when he dove out of the way of a low pitch do did not seem blue-collar to me.


"Despite all the money and marble of Madison Avenue, the swollen billboards and media dysfunction, New York City was built by blue collar people who still lug their lunches to work, don’t mind getting dirty, and don’t own a single pair of skinny jeans.

So despite his nine-figure contract, Teixeira kept his old-school sensibilities. Some players get to Gotham, sign for biblical money, and forget who they are and what got them here."

Sooooo ... you're saying he's white? 

Teixeira seemed to forget what got him here, by the way. What got him here was playing good baseball.


"Not Teixeira, whose handle, Tex, evokes the notion of a simple man with a simple plan. No matter the big numbers on the field and absurd numbers in his savings account, he never floated above the team, was never too big to dive for a baseball, or too important to get his pinstripes muddy."

I truly don't follow.

Other than Cano, every player dives for baseball.

Teixeira never struck me as a particularly humble guy, not that it really matters.

Or is all this just an indirect dig at ARod?


"Teixeira’s teams may have seen more success, but you’ll never get Teixeira to say he was better than Mattingly, or anyone. It’s not the way he played, the way he lived, or the way he won."

I mean ... 


"Teixeira was one of the rare players who came to New York needing little more than a tour of the locker room. He was never bothered by the lights, shaken by the media fishbowl, or intimidated by the fans."

So what happened?

Check out his clutch stats.

Maybe he wasn't intimidated by fans or media, just by the pitchers in Major League Baseball.


"Sabathia, A-Rod, and Teixeira are the last legends left from the last legendary team. So while Tex may not be the same player he was back then, he’s still the same man. So rather than notice what he means to this year’s team, perhaps we should remember what he meant to the Yankees, and what it meant to be a Yankee."

Worst free agent signing in Yankee history.

I will remember.

I wish I could forget, but I will remember.