Lawmakers Push To Make Baseball Official Sport Of New York
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's known as America's favorite pastime.
A new bill has been introduced in the state Senate that would name baseball as the official sport of New York, CBS2's Steve Overmyer reported Wednesday.
Connecting baseball to the Big Apple is simple. The Yankees. The Mets. The Hall of Fame up in Cooperstown. But the official sport of the state?
"New York is too big to have one sport defining New York," Manhattan resident Fouad Onbargi said.
Only 14 states have an official sport. In California, it's surfing. In Texas, it's rodeo. In Maryland, it's jousting. But nobody has baseball, yet.
"I think it should be basketball even though the Knicks suck," New Yorker Brandon Tucker said.
"I'm not gonna say baseball is boring. We used to work in baseball. It's not the biggest sport here. More people come out for basketball," Yah Williams added.
"I don't have a problem with it. We have a lot of baseball fans here. We have the Yankees, though I'm a Mets fan," Peter Steensen said.
But here's the thing: baseball wasn't invented in Cooperstown. Baseball was invented across the river in New Jersey.
CBS2's Overmyer saw where home plate was located for the very first baseball game ever played in America, at what is now 11th and Washington in Hoboken.
"New York wants to take credit for everything. They already stole the Statue of Liberty," Hoboken resident Barry Camhi said.
"It's business as usual. New York has taken all the sports franchises," resident Pablo Godoy said.
Even though the Giants, Jets and Red Bulls play in New Jersey, they identify as New York. It kind of feels like New York is trying to make another theft.
A sign says the first baseball game was in Hoboken, New Jersey, so can we just say that was in New York? Of course not. It may be proof the first game was played in the Garden State, but it's not uncommon for the Empire State to juggle the truth.
"I guess baseball is the oldest traditional sport," Jeff Mitchell of Manhattan said, adding when asked what other sport deserves consideration, "Maybe juggling or circus arts in general."
New York isn't only home to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but also the halls for boxing and horse racing.
