Yankees Brokeback Mountain Comment By ESPN’s Doug Glanville

While calling a Grapefruit League game between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals for ESPN on Monday, player turned commentator Doug Glanville offered an unusual analogy: “They have basically ‘Brokeback Mountain’ going over here. I mean, everybody’s on the disabled list, or hurt in some form or fashion.”

Glanville was obviously referring, not to the complex sexual relationship between two cowboys portrayed in the movie, but to the broken Yankees lineup. Perennial all star and future Hall of Famers Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are all on the mend from major injuries. And slugger Mark Teixeira will miss 8 – 10 weeks with an injured wrist.

No one is writing off the Yanks just yet though. The team has been able to succeed in the past due largely to its veteran leadership and the close knit clubhouse atmosphere they engender.

Coincidentally, the characters in Brokeback Mountain “form unorthodox yet life-long bonds–by turns ecstatic, bitter and conflicted,” which most students of the game would agree is a pretty good description of the typical baseball season. Perhaps Glanville was on to something after all, even if he had no idea what it was.