
Poor Bills keep waiting for their ‘Next Year’ to finally become reality
NY Post
This was near the end of a magnificent American life, and he’d been battling lung and prostate cancer for some time, but Pee Wee Reese was absolutely going to get in the car and make the drive from Louisville to Kansas City. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was honoring his dear friend Jackie Robinson, and Reese knew that meant seeing so many friends from the old days.
So of course the conversation eventually turned to Brooklyn, to the Dodgers, to the love affair between borough and baseball team that was still so close to so many hearts, even then, 41 years after the team shoved out west for LA.
“Wait Till Next Year,” Reese said, shaking his head, smiling thinly. “Sounds so quaint. Sounds so sporting. ‘Hey, we lost to the Yankees again? Well, just wait till next year! We’ll get ’em then!’ ”
The smile vanished now.

Suddenly, someone had hit a rewind button and everyone had been transported back seven months. It was early spring instead of late fall, it was broiling hot outside the arena walls and not freezing cold. Everyone was back at TD Garden. There were 19,156 frenzied fans on their feet begging for blood, poised for the kill.












