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Benigno: “Yanks Will Never Win Under Steinbrenner”


By Mike Silva ~ July 14th, 2010. Filed under: Mike Silva, New York Yankees.

I realize that we are at a point of saturation with the stories, memories, and discussion of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. I figured to cap the coverage at NYBD I would share my personal story about “The Boss” since everyone else has been doing so the last 24 hours.

Back in July of 1995 I was listening to the WFAN overnight in my car. I remember this so vividly (not sure why) that I can tell you exactly where I was: in my car at a light on Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn. Joe Benigno was doing the overnight and discussing the Yankees who were under .500 at the time (Yanks didn’t start their run till after the deadline that summer). Joe would then go on to say that the Yankees “would never win a championship under George Steinbrenner and might not make the playoffs ever again.” He went on to say that he believed the Mets, who were in the midst of the promotion of Generation K, “would probably make the playoffs and win before the Yankees.”

Can I prove this statement by Benigno? If you work for WFAN maybe you remember it since tapes “get lost” over at the station. This isn’t a knock on Joe B, who I like, but rather pointing out how that statement came back to burn him in short order. Just a little over a calendar year later the Yankees were World Champions and have won four more times since. I actually told a Yankees fan friend of mine the next day that I agreed with Benigno and it might be time to find a new team.

We all know Joe roots for heartbreak teams – Knicks, Jets, Mets- but this very well may seal the deal that he is a mush. Did Joe Benigno jinx the Mets, and in turn, start the Yankee dynasty with his quote on the overnight? I will let you decide.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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5 Responses to Benigno: “Yanks Will Never Win Under Steinbrenner”

  1. Greg F.
    July 14th, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    “Did Joe Benigno jinx the Mets, and in turn, start the Yankee dynasty with his quote on the overnight? I will let you decide.”

    Is that a joke?

  2. ben
    July 14th, 2010 at 3:20 pm

    BRO come on BRO

  3. Mike Silva
    July 14th, 2010 at 3:23 pm

    I don’t know Greg, that is for me to know and you to find out

  4. Frank Russo
    July 15th, 2010 at 1:10 am

    Mike,

    Yes, you are right! I was listening to “Joey Bats” that night in the car also, on my way home form work at a radio station in Ocean City, NJ. If memory serves me right, Beningo was very confident that the Yankees would miss the playoffs entirely that season, and that the Mets would win a championship before them!

    One other note Mike. I can tell you for a fact that the hard drive that a lot of the WFAN “material” was kept on got wiped out a few years ago, although I am pretty sure that if “Joey Batts” did record an aircheck of that show, that it would have been on cassette tape.

  5. Stu B
    July 15th, 2010 at 6:07 am

    Nobody has that much cosmic influence…

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