Joe Torre: Lost Opportunity to Celebrate on Hamptons Streets
It is not every day that a native New Yorker makes it into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
There are thousands of Yankees fans living in the Hamptons. And those fans have enjoyed countless hours watching the team play. And so when Brooklyn-born Joe Torre was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York on July 27, I was elated. And, quite frankly, I expected a Hamptons celebration of epic proportions (let’s not forget he won four World Series as the Yankees skipper and he now serves as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations). As soon as Torre’s name was announced to approach the podium and receive his award, I headed out to the street to celebrate with my fellow East End fans.
To my amazement, there was no demonstration of revelry. People were making their way to and from the beach. The local shops were conducting business as usual. There was no honking of horns, no roads were shut down with raucous crowds overflowing into the streets. There were no police cars, no sirens…nothing.
What does this say to other countries across the world? The fact that we on the East End do not know how to celebrate extraordinary occasions is disappointing to say the least. An opportunity like this might not come along again for a long while.
I am not suggesting that we should become uncivilized hooligans on occasions such as these. But why can’t we at least turn over a couple of cars (only those that are unoccupied and bearing Red Sox bumper stickers) and spray champagne in the air?
In an attempt to at least incite some type of raucous behavior, I went nextdoor and turned over my neighbor’s trashcan while screaming “Go Joe Torre!” Now, over a week has passed and I find myself sitting on my front porch, disappointed, and still hoping for the arrival of the Southampton Police to cite me for some type of violation of a Town ordinance against unlawful celebration. At least if that happened, Joe would know he and his accomplishments were well represented on the East End.