Ben Shpigel of the Times reports that
Jim Leyritz faces manslaughter and drunken-driving charges in connection with a
car accident early Friday morning in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that killed Fredia Ann Veitch, a 30-year-old mother of two. PageSix reports that
Leyritz knew Veitch.
This is tragic in many ways. First and foremost, a young mother is dead allegedly as a result of one of the most repeated, stupid and selfish acts -- drunken driving. Once Jim Leyritz is charged, he will be called before a court and, if the reports are proven true, will be held accountable for his actions. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, that will not end this tragic event for him. Whether he serves time or not, he will be forced to live the remainder of his life with the burden on his conscience that he contributed to the death of another human being.
I would be remiss if I did not note that the deceased mother reportedly was not wearing her seatbelt and died at the scene after being thrown from her car. Without question, drunken driving is a stupid and reprehensible act, but, as I have learned from my fiancee's repeated reminders to put on my seatbelt, not wearing your seatbelt is also not bright. We'll never know if a seatbelt would have saved this woman's life, but I think its well established that it would have increased her chances.
If you prefer a more inflamatory version, take a look at the Daily News'
account. I'm not big into sensationalist reporting, particularly when the story involves one person's death and another person facing serious prison time. Acting as the ying to the Daily News' yang, Pete Caldera of the Record provides an account of
the accident.
John Harper wonders whether the Leyritz incident has Yankee fans wondering
what's next, and appears to believe this somehow tarnishes the Yankees of yesteryear. I don't believe this has any impact on the perception of the late-90's dynasty. Leyritz role on those teams was limited and he is no longer affiliated with the Yankees in any capacity. In reality, while several lives are changed forever, it looks like the Yankees dodged a bullet. Just weeks ago Leyritz was
lobbying for a job on Joe Girardi's staff. After this incident, you have to wonder if he was passed over because of concerns related to his character.
Harper's story follows an outline that has become prevalent these days in many stories about the Yankees. They all center on the theme of "those were the days of aura and mystique, before the Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino, and now bad things are happening to the Yankees." I'm not a big fan of these types of stories for a couple of reasons.
One, I don't believe in mystique and aura, curses or karma. Those Yankees teams were very talented, they played other very talented teams, for the most part they out-executed those teams and they won. Today's Yankees teams are also very talented, they are playing other talented teams, they are getting out-executed for the most part and they are losing. Now was there some luck involved? Of course, but luck doesn't get you in the playoffs, win a best of five game series and two best of seven game series. It's not complicated.
Occam's Razor -- "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best."
Two, I think these stories are unoriginal. You're a writer. Start writing and stop reporting what the last guy wrote last week, applying the same theme to different facts. That's not original. It's assembly line journalism.
Three, I'm getting tired of the attempt to tell a story of role reversal amongst Yankees and Red Sox fans. While the Red Sox are winning and the Yankees are *not*, the story pretty much ends there. With the game on the line, I'm not sitting at home, in a sports bar or at my seats at the Stadium with my friends wondering how the game will go bad. This was the life of a Red Sox fan. Believe me, I know, my old man is a Red Sox fan (that's a story for another day). Whether they are still prone to such behavior is another debate. But just because the Red Sox won four in a row in the 2004 ALCS and followed it up with a World Series and another World Series in 2007, doesn't mean the two teams and their fans have switched places in the sporting universe.
