October 23, 2007
BOSTON --In an act of baseball blasphemy, Yankee die-hard Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he's pulling for the Boston Red Sox to win the World Series over the Colorado Rockies.
"I'm rooting for the Red Sox," the Republican presidential contender said in response to a question, sparking applause at the Boston restaurant where he was picking up a local endorsement.
"I'm an American League fan, and I go with the American League team, maybe with the exception of the Mets," he said. "Maybe that would be the one time I wouldn't because I'm loyal to New York."
Giuliani's Yankees lost in the first round of the playoffs, then lost their manager when Giuliani's friend, Joe Torre, refused to accept a pay cut and walked away. Giuliani said the Yankees had "a great season."
The former New York City mayor said his declaration of temporary Red Sox loyalty was "not just because I'm here in Massachusetts."
"In Colorado, in the next week or two, you will see, I will have the courage to tell the people of Colorado the same thing, that I am rooting for the Red Sox in the World Series," he said.
Indeed, if Giuliani was pandering, he miscalculated.
In the last presidential election, Colorado went with Republican President Bush, and recent history shows Massachusetts voters would sooner adopt Manhattan clam chowder as the state's official food than vote Republican in 2008.
Of course, just to the north is New Hampshire -- home to many Red Sox fans -- and the nation's first primary.
