Fan Blamed for Yankees Loss

The Yankees are never short of excuses when it comes to losing. Perennial chokers such as Alex Rodriguez were quick to point to those bully umpires, the double-play rule, and baseball's instance that most of the guys that hit must also play the field. But the team reached an all-time low when it blamed local Yankees fan Anthony Vitaglia for the loss. Vitaglia had worn his lucky Yankees jersey (pictured right) all year, but mistakenly left it at home for the deciding game five. The Yankees were undefeated in games where Vitaglia wore his lucky jersey.

"I work hard all year to make it to this point and it is disappointing to have it end with something like this," Rodriguez said. "There is a responsibility to being a fan and this guy just blew it. How do you forget something like your lucky jersey? It just does not make sense."

"My body is like a chemistry set with all of the HGH, clears, and creams I have taken or applied," first baseman Jason Giambi said. "I put my body in a long-term risk and this guy goes out and blows our whole series. It is unbelievable."

Vitaglia was unavailable for comment but his friends�known only as Vinny, Vinny, and Tony�echoed the sentiments of Yankees players who could not believe that Vitaglia showed up to the Yankees game without his lucky jersey. All three said that it was inexcusable and doubted whether they could all be friends again.

They also said that he was kind of a loud-mouth douche bag, too, so he will not be missed.

"This loss stings the worst, even more so than 2002," manager Joe Torre said. "I felt that we had a pretty good ball club and had all of the pieces in place to make a run at this thing. But when I looked up in the stands and saw that Anthony did not have his lucky jersey, well I was just stunned. How do you expect my players to go on and play a game in a situation like that?"

Vitaglia is believed to now be in a fan-relocation project, similar to the one Steve Bartman went through years ago in Chicago.