We New Yorkers have a serious love-hate relationship with our former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. There’s of course 9-11. And on the flip-side, there’s 9-11 and his insistence on reminding us all about 9-11 and what he had done on 9-11 and after 9-11 and to 9-11.

But this is damned unforgivable.

Even though many New Yorkers are still mourning the Yankees’ defeat by the Cleveland Indians two weeks ago during the playoffs, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani today declared his allegiance to Boston Red Sox, and said he’d root for them in the World Series against the Colorado Rockies.

“I’m rooting for the Red Sox,” the Republican presidential contender said in response to a question, sparking applause at the Boston restaurant where he was picking up a local endorsement.

We understand the importance of pandering to an audience on the campaign trail. In Indiana, you should say how much you love Larry Bird and John Mellencamp. While in California, you’re a huge Magic Johnson fan and always admired Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg. In Iowa, all you have to do is kiss babies with a gun in your hand. We’re OK with that, I think.

But rooting for the Red Sox when you claim to be the biggest Yankee fan? Just because you want to please some people in Boston? Somehow, I sincerely doubt Giuliani was jumping up and down in his seat during the 2004 World Series.

You sir, have simply crossed the line.

We here at umpbump shy away of political controversy; the closest we got was when Senator Kerry got involved in the MLB Extra Innings deal and some of us expressed our, uhm, displeasure with the way he sucked in the ‘04 elections.

Well, guess what, election season is around the corner and, whadayaknow, baseball is suddenly part of it.

As some of you may know, Rudy Guliani made some controversial statements a few days ago, insinuating he had been a pivotal player in the search and rescue operations taking place in the World Trade Center ruins, and saying he had been there so long that, in a way, he could be considered one of the rescuers.

“This is not a mayor or a governor or a president who’s sitting in an ivory tower,” he said. “I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. I was there working with them. I was there guiding things. I was there bringing people there. But I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I’m one of them.”

Here’s the vid:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/wR8SPSA7ygA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Well the New York Times decided to examine how many hours the former NYC Mayor (and drag queen) did in fact, spend at the WTC site. Turns out, between Sept. 17 and Dec. 16, he only spent 29 hours there.

So Salon.com decidedo take it up a notch, and compare those figures and that time period with Rudy’s attendance record at Yankee stadium. Startling results:

By our count, Giuliani spent about 58 hours at Yankees games or flying to them in the 40 days between Sept. 25 and Nov. 4, roughly twice as long as he spent at ground zero in the 90 days between Sept. 17 and Dec. 16. By his own standard, Giuliani was one of the Yankees more than he was one of the rescue workers.

During three postseason playoff series that began Oct. 10, 2001, and ended Nov. 4, 2001, Giuliani attended every one of the team’s home games, with the possible exception of the third game of the American League Championship Series, for which Salon could not confirm his attendance. According to Salon’s arithmetic, Giuliani spent about 33 hours in stadiums — this includes two World Series games he watched in Phoenix — during the Yankees’ 2001 postseason run, four hours more than he spent at ground zero. (We do not know if he stayed for every pitch, but famed baseball writer Roger Angell described Giuliani in the the New Yorker as a “devout Yankee fan, a guy who stays on until the end of the game.”)

Giuliani also attended the first regular season game the Yankees played in New York after the attacks; that game lasted almost three hours.

There it is folks, the numbers don’t lie. Like I said, we’re not for political controversy here at Umpbump (or are we?) but it sure looks to me like Salon.com just Yankee-ied, if you will, Guiliani’s claim to fame with the search and rescue workers.

A NY Post story from yesterday’s paper says that former New York City mayor and presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani is part of a group that is trying to buy the Cubs. Giuliani was reportedly approached by “Mr. Cub” Erinie Banks about buying the team, which is valued at approximately $500 million:

A shocking new report revealed yesterday that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani may purchase the one-time favorite baseball team of potential presidential rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton – the Chicago Cubs.Hizzoner’s company, Giuliani Partners LLC, is in talks with the hexed team’s biggest ex-star, Ernie Banks, about making a joint purchase offer to the Cubs’ owners, the Tribune Co.

Banks has already approached Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons about the prospect of a bid that would include him, Giuliani and another firm, Los Angeles-based Comstock Capital Partners.

The 75-year-old Hall of Famer said the discussions didn’t touch on how much of a stake Banks would put up, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.

Tribune has been facing pressure to sell the team and its broadcast unit to cover debts. FitzSimons reportedly told Banks the team wasn’t for sale – but Tribune has begun selling some of its other assets, including an Atlanta TV station.

This report makes no sense, as Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey points out. Giuliani is positioning himself to run for President in 2008. He’ll need to save his money for a political campaign, not spend it on a baseball team. Also, Giuliani is a Yankees fan. Strike that — he is THE YANKEES FAN. He makes Billy Crystal look like a Johnny-come-lately bandwagon hopping geek. Rudy bleeds Yankee blue.

Oh, and one final thing: Hillary Clinton is a Cubs fan. Clinton beat Rudy in her 2000 bid for the U.S. Senate. Rudy hates Clinton. He could never, EVER, jump in bed with the Cubbies.