Yanks-Rangers off-season heating up

The Yankees and the Rangers are likely to go head to head in the off-season for the services of post-season pitcher extraordinaire Cliff Lee, who was trying to keep Texas alive in the World Series Monday night.

Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg got the hot-stove season off to a sizzling start with remarks about Yankees fans on a Dallas radio station.

“I thought Yankee fans, frankly, were awful,” Greenberg said. “They were either violent or apathetic, neither of which is good. So I thought Yankee fans were by far the worst of any I’ve seen in the post-season. I thought they were an embarrassment.”

Greenberg’s comments followed those of Lee’s wife, Kristen, who was upset about beer thrown in the direction of Rangers family members at Yankee Stadium during the American League Championship Series games there. She also claimed fans in the upper deck spit down at them.

A big difference, however, is that Greenberg didn’t stick to his guns. He issued an apology later, saying “Earlier [Monday], in the course of praising the extraordinary support and enthusiasm of Texas Rangers fans, I unfairly and inaccurately disparaged fans of the New York Yankees. Those remarks were inappropriate. Yankees fans are among the most passionate and supportive in all of baseball.

“I have spoken directly to Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine to apologize for my intemperate comments. I would like to express again how proud we are of our fans and how remarkably they have supported the Rangers throughout lean times and now during this magical season.”

It remains to see if this is a truce or a call to arms.