"Who do you think benefited the most from that shellacking?" cried Cheney, purple smoke spewing from his ears. "That's right – the Boston Red Sox, who've now closed within 3 ½ games of the Yankees in the AL East. Where are the Red Sox from? That's right, Massachusetts. And where is John Kerry from? Well – you do the math!"

To wild cheers from the Bronx delegation and the large corps of New York City police officers patrolling the Garden, Cheney went on to say, "The Yankee pinstripes are the very fabric of this great country of ours. When you defile the Yankees, you defile America. When the Japanese attacked our troops in the Pacific Island foxholes, what do you think they yelled? 'To hell with Babe Ruth!' - the greatest Yankee of all time! And who got rid of the Babe early in his career for a few measly bucks? The Red Sox! Verrry interesting."

Democratic spokesman Tristram Speaker called Cheney's accusation "an obvious attempt to pander to a partisan home crowd." He speculated that the outburst was likely to backfire, as it managed to slander not only a key U.S. ally but also star Yankee outfielder Hideki Matsui as well as a baseball team from a critical swing state, Ohio.

Speaker's comments were quickly dismissed by George Bush's chief strategist, Karl Rove, who clarified Cheney's comments by saying, "To paraphrase another great Yankee, Yogi Berra, the Vice President didn't say everything he said."