Loverly rivalry

From: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - Rochester,NY,USA - Oct 21, 2004

A Bosox fan married to a Yankees fan leads to a lot of teasing, but it's all in good fun

Alan Morrell
Staff writer

(October 21, 2004) — HENRIETTA — The rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees literally hits home with the Haggertys.

Luane Davis Haggerty is a die-hard Yankees fan who was brought up in a Yankees family. Her father, Paul Davis, even had dirt from the pitcher's mound at the old Yankee Stadium buried with him when he died in 1971.

Luane's husband, Peter, grew up as a Red Sox fan in Boston and has been to Fenway Park countless times.

The couple, who live on Mayapple Lane, have a competitive but peaceful coexistence during the baseball playoffs. Of course, there are a few jabs that they take at each other.

For instance, Luane brought home a pumpkin pie and she wrote "Go Yankees" in blue frosting. Peter came home one night, crossed that out and wrote "Go Sox" in red frosting.

"It's great, until a situation like this," she said after the Red Sox took an early lead on their way to winning Game 7 of the American League Championship Series Wednesday.

"Then the snippy remarks come in, like 'Do you need your lucky toothpick?' It's a blue one. My dad always had a blue one."

Luane teaches creative and culture studies at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Peter teaches English at NTID. They married five years ago.

As a child, Luane's family lived in Newburgh, Orange County, about 45 minutes from Yankee Stadium. Her dad took her to games frequently, and treated them seriously.

"We had to watch every game," she said. "And there was no talking."

Peter grew up quite the same way in Boston.

"I'm sure I saw Ted Williams in a few games. I was 16 in 1960. I saw Jimmy Piersall. I saw Jackie Jensen in right field. For 50 cents or a buck, you could watch two games, and hear Curt Gowdy on the radio. What a great way to spend an afternoon."

Peter was more pleased with Wednesday night's game than Luane.

By the fourth inning, Luane said, "It's time to break out the lucky toothpick."

For Peter, the rivalry is more of an amorous thing. "I'm not a rabid, die-hard fan," he said. "I don't really have hard feelings toward the Yankees."

He saves his bitterness toward Boston's NBA rival.

"But the (Los Angeles) Lakers, that's another story. The Lakers should never win."

AMORRELL@DemocratandChronicle.com

Copyright 2004 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.