Sure, we would like these annual intramural skirmishes to mean as much to the players as they used to. We would like it if someone on the Mets or the Yankees could command the spirit of Sal Maglie, who was a one-man wrecking crew for both the Giants and the Dodgers in the ’50s (and later also played for the Yankees), when the idea of New York-on-New York baseball crime wasn’t just possible, it was essential.
There was a day when Maglie, known as “The Barber,” did what he did best, which was throw a fastball that nearly skimmed the whiskers of Carl Furillo, the Dodgers’ right fielder.