The player hater
So. Bruns. man writes book about a lifetime of abhorring the Yankees
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

New York Yankee hater Gene Hutmaker, of South Brunswick, wrote a book titled "Banned in the Bronx" in response to the numerous pro-Yankee books available, which he says dilute the truths behind the organization.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Gene Hutmaker calls it divine intervention. What else could have started a winning streak and abruptly taken it away?

The New York Yankees have compiled a World Series record of 26-13, yet they are only 10-9 since 1952 with six losses in the playoffs. Since 2000, they have had a championship dry spell, overcome by underdog teams such as the Florida Marlins and the much-hated Boston Red Sox. They have the most resources available to them since Babe Ruth, yet they are "underachievers" who win only by good fortune.

"More than anything, I hate the Yankees. Not to equate it to politics, but I hate the Yankees like I hate [Osama] bin Laden," he said.

South Brunswick resident Hutmaker is referencing his new anti-Yankee book, "Banned in the Bronx: The Yankee Hater Memoirs 1953-2005," in which he explains how the Greek god Zeus has played an integral role in the success and failure of the Yankees.

A retired post office supervisor who said he majored in mythology in the sixth grade, Hutmaker stated that although Zeus used to wear pinstripes, in the past few years he has been distracted by "mortals and goddesses." For example, in 2003 Zeus gave the responsibility of handling the World Series to his brother, Poseidon, who naturally chose the Marlins as victors.

And in 2005, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez was slated to do well instead of the Yankees' Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez because of miscommunication between Zeus and Atlas, who suffers hearing loss from holding the world on his shoulders for eternity.

"They haven't won a championship in the past five years because I have Zeus' pinstripes," he says of the Zeus-monogrammed jersey he proudly displays.

Hutmaker began watching baseball in the 1950s when the general public, and thus the television world, were consumed by the McCarthy hearings. Since the trials were "not a good thing for an 8-year-old to watch," he rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on Channel 9 and the New York Giants on Channel 11. He became a St. Louis Cardinals fan after his mother's favorite team, the Yankees, traded her neighbor, All-Star pitcher Hank Borowy, to the Chicago Cubs, leading her to root for the Cardinals because both she and Stan Musial were Polish. In addition, he said his father was a golf caddie for former Yankee general manager George Weiss, who was a cheap tipper, and to spite Weiss the elder Hutmaker decided to become a Giant fan in favor of Mel Ott.

As a result, Hutmaker grew up abhorring the Yankees, going so far as putting baseball cards on the spokes of his bicycle and making a dart board out of a picture of Mickey Mantle.

"Do you know how much money I wasted on that?" he laughed.

A self-proclaimed baseball historian, Hutmaker constantly read books about the Yankees but complained that no published books offered an anti-New York perspective, since "Yankee books always fluff over when they lost." His son jokingly told him to stop complaining and to write his own book. Hutmaker contemplated the idea and decided to actually pursue it, but only if his son would help him. Being a Yankee fan himself, his son reluctantly joined his father on his path to the printed word. The process took about one year, completed in 2003 and finally published this past April.

With chapters covering the Chicago White Sox "Wynn"ing the pennant in 1959, the "Met"amorphosis in 1969, the Yankees getting "Bench"ed in 1976 and the Yankee "Knight"mare in 1986, Hutmaker seeks to debunk the Yankee myth and prove that their enemies lie in various forms.

In addition to baseball statistics, Hutmaker also discusses how the diamond affected and influenced his career in the postal service, his service in the Vietnam War, his transition to Central Jersey, and his wedding, which was held during the Cardinals' run in the World Series in 1968. He said the book-writing process has kept him from "going postal."

"I had a real good time doing it," he said.

To order "Banned in the Bronx," visit www.bannedinthebronx.com or VirtualBookworm.com.