Billy Crystal to play exhibition game for Yankees

[Coach Owens]

Uh... he's not a pitcher. I mean, OK, he's not even a baseball player of any kind, but he won't be pitching for the Yankees. The picture on the linked article is probably of him throwing out a first pitch.

And that's fine; that's what he should be doing. Or, the next Yankee fantasy camp is in November, and that's a perfectly appropriate place for aging fans to get a chance to put on the uniform and play with the pros. But spring training or not, this is the real thing... and every at-bat or defensive inning that is thrown away to pander to a celebrity is one that is taken from a prospect or even a vet who could use the work in March.

I guess it's just more evidence that The Boss is no longer the boss. George wanted to win every game at any cost, no matter what time of year it was.

And anyway, what claim does Crystal have to being some kind of Yankee superfan? This is the guy who wore a Mets cap in City Slickers... which also had this publicity poster:
Attachment 14030
I conclude that he's as much a Yankee fan as Rudy "I'm pulling for the Red Sox" Guilliani and Hillary "I grew up a Cubs fan, I mean a Yankee fan, I mean a Cubs fan" Clinton. They claim to be Yankee fans because they think it's politically helpful; Crystal because it's box office helpful. And, of course, because it's fun to hang out in the clubhouse.

In other breaking sports news, Jack Nicholson has been signed by the Lakers.

I'd also make a joke about Spike Lee being needed at point guard for the Knicks, except that wouldn't really be a joke.

Jimmy Fallon is a huge Yankees fan in real life. He played a Red Sox fan in Fever Pitch.

[JayC]

Jimmy Fallon is a huge Yankees fan in real life. He played a Red Sox fan in Fever Pitch.

Completely different. The fact that the character was a Red Sox fan was essential to that story. In City Slickers the character's backstory was that he was a Mets fan from Queens, but that was superfluous to the storyline -- there was no reason why the character couldn't have been a Yankee fan, or anything else.

And in contrast to Fever Pitch being an adapted screenplay, City Slickers was an original script co-written (according to the Internet Movie Database) by Crystal, who also was an executive producer. In other words, the choice of alignment with the Mets was up to him.

No true Yankee fan would make that choice.