Dr. Anthony Fauci Talks Growing Up a Yankees Fan in Brooklyn

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Dr. Anthony Fauci recently gave his recommendation on how MLB can still have a season in 2020, but the nation’s top doc is a big baseball fan himself.

In fact, the Bensonhurst, Brooklyn native said he grew up a big New York Yankees fan and recalled the days of Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle in a recent interview with YES Network’s Jack Curry.

“I think people who don’t come from the New York area – at least are not old like I am and come from the New York area – don’t realize back then that half the people in Brooklyn were Yankee fans. There was a wonderful competitiveness and rivalry between the friends who were Dodgers fans and Yankees fans,” Fauci said. “We had a whole culture. It was Duke Snider vs. Mickey Mantle. Yogi Berra vs. Roy Campanella. Pee-Wee Reese vs. Phil Rizzuto.

“We used to follow their batting averages that I could tell you, on any given day in elementary school, exactly what the point up or down in Yogi Berra’s average was, or Mickey Mantle or anybody.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci grew up a Yankees fan in Brooklyn.For more from Dr. Fauci, including the the various possibilities for baseball’s return, watch #YESWereHere in its entirety here: https://t.co/Z3IAJEH7hp pic.twitter.com/gdvWR2YFnW

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 20, 2020

Fauci, 79, is currently part of the White House coronavirus task force and has worked closely with the presidents of the last six administrations as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

Since Fauci lives closer to the D.C. area, he said he typically attends 10-12 Washington Nationals games a year.

“There’s something about the ballpark … I think every baseball park has a tradition and beauty to it,” he said. “But there’s something about walking into the stadium, with the neatly manicured grass, and everything perfect out there and just sitting down and getting a hot dog and a beer and just getting into the rhythm of the game. I mean, there’s something about baseball, if you love it.”