February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
That there will be excitement and tension in the air that day is a given. Whether the clear pitch of tenor Ronan Tynan will be part of the big day is anything but.
Tynan is still waiting to hear from the Yankees on whether his gig at Yankee Stadium singing during the 7th inning stretch will be resurrected.
Former president George H. Bush recently wrote to the Yankee organization on behalf of his friend Tynan following a misunderstanding with a prospective buyer in Tynan’s Manhattan apartment building. T
he woman thought Tynan had made an anti-Semitic remark. The matter was cleared, but the damage was done. Tynan was not asked to sing during any of the Yankee road to victory victorious post-season games.
Tynan is yet to hear anything himself from the Yankees. But President Bush did receive a reply to his letter. In the letter, sent to “the Steinbrenner family,” Bush, who counts the Kilkenny-born Tynan as a friend, asked the Yankees to give Tynan a break.
“I am writing this on behalf of my long time friend Ronan Tynan. He is a good man, a fair man, certainly not an anti-Semite,” President Bush said in his emailed letter to the Yankee organization.
Bush acknowledged that Tynan’s words might have caused offense but stated that Tynan had immediately apologized and that his apology was accepted.
“It would be very good if your organization could in some way recognize that this incident, though unfortunate, could be forgotten. It is my understanding that some distinguished Jewish leaders have forgiven Ronan Tynan.
“Please give him another chance to bring his musical magic to the ball park,” wrote the 41st president, whose family has long been involved in baseball, primarily through its role in the Texas Rangers franchise.
The message of support was sent from the president’s office in Houston, Texas. It was signed “Respectfully submitted, George Bush #41.”
“We did hear back from the Yankees,” Bush aide Jim Appleby said.
Appleby would not say whether the words from the 41st president had persuaded the Yankees to reconsider their stance on Tynan, stating that it was “personal correspondence.”