Summer Of '49: The Yankees And The Red Sox In Postwar America - Plot & Excerpts
Red Smith, who was the first to write about it, observed it, oddly enough, not in the behavior of the players but in the behavior of the umpires and the fans.“Today, conscious of the great unseen audience, they [the umpires] play every decision out like the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. On a strike they gesticulate, they brandish a fist aloft, they spin almost as shot through the heart, they bellow all four parts of the quartette from Rigoletto. On a pitch that misses the plate, they stiffen with loathing, ostentatiously avert the gaze, and render a bit from Götterdämmerung. In parlor and pub you see the umpire today. And hear him.” Then Smith added, prophetically, “The virus is infecting the fans, too. When a foul is hit in the stands, the camera usually is trained on the fan who recovers the ball. Used to be that a guy catching a foul would pocket his loot almost furtively and go on watching the game. Today he wheels towards the camera, holds his prize aloft, shouts, and makes faces.
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