The Lady wore red

We were in New York City a couple of weeks ago, visiting the new Sports Museum of America in advance of a story for this Sunday's Travel section comparing New York City and Los Angeles. The museum is a treasure trove of sports history, with memorabilia on loan from virtually every major sports hall of fame and governing body, but it also movingly tells of sports' impact on our culture and our heritage, with video clips such as Ted Williams at the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park, and Dick and Rick Hoyt at the Boston Marathon along the way. Ted Leshinski, the museum's public relations manager, was showing us around when we came upon a replica of the Statue of Liberty in the lobby. The thing was, Lady Liberty was in Red Sox robes. Leshinski explained that, in advance of the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, statues representing all major-league teams had been placed around New York City. How did the Red Sox statue end up here, we wondered. Leshinski said he didn't know, then paused. "Actually, maybe Philip had something to do with it," he said of museum founder Philip Schwalb. "He's a Mets fan; I wouldn't be surprised if he got it placed here to tweak all of us Yankee fans who work here." When we spoke to Schwalb later, he called the presence of the Sox statue "a coincidence." He went on to say, "My issue with the Yankees frankly has been a distaste for the ownership. The Steinbrenner regime is really unappealing. I can't bring myself to root for them. I actually enjoy the Red Sox, and I was excited for them when they won." Hmm.... coincidence, eh, Mr. Schwalb? And that, in a nutshell, is what the Sports Museum of America is all about.