One of the TMZ talking video cameras recently encountered actor Jason Alexander in New York City as he signed autographs for fans, and thankfully the reporter asked him a baseball question. "Should the Yankees replace general manager Brian Cashman?" or words to that effect. After all, Alexander played George Costanza on "Seinfeld" and, for part of that time in the mid-1990s, his character worked in the New York Yankees front office as an assistant to the traveling secretary. It was the Buck Showalter-Danny Tartabull-Bernie Williams and beginning-of-Derek Jeter era.
"I fake-worked" for the Yankees, Alexander said. And boy, was he faking it.
"You have no idea; you could be talking Greek to me right now," Alexander said with a "You've got to be kidding" look.
"I know nothing about sports. I follow no team, no game. When I was fake-working for the Yankees, I didn't know who Steinbrenner was. It was... a travesty."
Or, it was just good ACT-ing! On the series, a variation of George Steinbrenner, the team's owner, was played by series co-creator Larry David, who voiced "The Boss" and waved his arms like he imagined Steinbrenner might in conversation.
Costanza frequently found himself in hot water for — wait for it — not knowing how to do his job. All-cotton uniforms, for example. Those were a Costanza project.
TMZ followed up with another good question: Did fake-working for the Yanks inspire Alexander to start liking the Yankees, or to start following baseball? Meh, not really, but Alexander did get to go a couple of games with Seinfeld and David.
"When you're at a game, you don't even have to follow sports," Alexander said. "You just pick a side and say, 'I'm going to cheer for them.'
"But really: I knew nothing and I know nothing."
"Seinfeld," of course, was a TV show all about nothing. So it all worked out.
