Yankees, eventually, do the right thing

Maybe the Yankees aren't so heartless after all.

My home town of Seattle was buzzing with disdain for the Big Apple last weekend after it was reported that Paul Robinson, a tourist from Kirkland (an eastside suburb of the Emerald City) broke his neck during a Yankee game when a man fell on top of him after tumbling from his seat in the upper deck of Yankee stadium. Geoff Baker, a great sportswriter for the Seattle Times linked to a story about the incident in his blog, writing, "Here's another reason to hate the Yankees. As if you needed another. Injured guy is from Kirkland and didn't even get an apology. Pathetic behavior." (FYI, all Seattle Mariner fans worth their salt are ingrained with a deep hatred for the Bronx Bombers)

The Daily News reported that the "lout" who fell on Robinson was probably drunk and was whisked away by friends without apologizing or even asking if the man he had landed on was injured. However, other Yankee fans helped Robinson and called for emergency medics. He was taken to Montefiore Medical Center, where he underwent two and a half hours of surgery to place a screw in his neck. Doctors said the junior high school teacher was lucky to be alive, not to mention having the full use of his limbs. They said he should recover fully.

It wasn't until Friday, July 13, five days after the incident, that the Yankees decided to help the Robinsons (Paul was with his wife and 13-year-old son when it happened) by chartering a private plan for the family back to Seattle. Robinson, however, said he held no grudges against Yankees fans or New York City. He told the News: "We've been around long enough to know there are a few bad apples in every town." Typical Seattle niceness.

While the Yankees have managed to climb back over .500, they remain nine games behind the Red Sox and are a long shot to make the playoffs. Is this latest horrific incident at Yankee Stadium yet more evidence of the Macombs Dam Curse?

By the way, the Seattle Mariners are 51-38, three games out of first place and six games ahead of the Yankees for the wild card. And they didn't destroy any beloved public parks on their way to building their new stadium, Safeco Field, nine years ago.