2008 Woodie Awards
Start spreadin' the news: evil exists
Why the Yankees are bad for baseball and the country
Adrian Garro
Issue date: 9/6/06 Section: Opinion
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The New York Yankees personify evil. They spend more money than any other team, dumping gobs of money on flash-in-the-pan pitchers and overrated hitters in the hopes of winning yet another World Series. They have not won a Series in the last six years and that is something everyone should be happy about.
George Steinbrenner, the slimy, vile monster at the helm of the organization spends money ruthlessly every season. He signs free agent after free agent. He thinks that by assembling an All-Star team he can just roll through the league on the way to the World Series. The team has twenty-six Championships, but now George is growing restless, having wasted money for six years without any results.
The team payroll is ridiculously high at $198 million. The next-wealthiest team, the Boston Red Sox, likes to put on the front that it represents the 'common man' by being the Yankees' main hated rival. Boston's payroll is $120 million this season -- not that far from the Yankees. Boston supporters claim that the team has to spend so much just to be able to compete with New York, but the success around the league of mid-market teams would prove that to be false.
When Boston won the World Series in 2004 (their first since 1918), the Yankee Nation was crushed. Boston fans used their improbable victory (made possible only by a monumental Yankee chokejob) to become more obnoxious. As annoying as they are, they do not hold a candle to the idiocy of Yankee fans.
I was in New York in June for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium between my A's and the Yanks. The A's rolled into town and won all three games, which was amazing. Being there in my A's garb, I beheld the worst of Yankee fans. I can say with conviction that Yankee fans are the lowest, most clueless sports fans I have ever seen. They parade around in their Derek Jeter jerseys with their heads in the clouds because "our team has twenty-six World Championships." Recall the shock that something like this could happen here in America. They are only capable of yelling out schoolyard insults and cuss words.
George Steinbrenner, the slimy, vile monster at the helm of the organization spends money ruthlessly every season. He signs free agent after free agent. He thinks that by assembling an All-Star team he can just roll through the league on the way to the World Series. The team has twenty-six Championships, but now George is growing restless, having wasted money for six years without any results.
The team payroll is ridiculously high at $198 million. The next-wealthiest team, the Boston Red Sox, likes to put on the front that it represents the 'common man' by being the Yankees' main hated rival. Boston's payroll is $120 million this season -- not that far from the Yankees. Boston supporters claim that the team has to spend so much just to be able to compete with New York, but the success around the league of mid-market teams would prove that to be false.
When Boston won the World Series in 2004 (their first since 1918), the Yankee Nation was crushed. Boston fans used their improbable victory (made possible only by a monumental Yankee chokejob) to become more obnoxious. As annoying as they are, they do not hold a candle to the idiocy of Yankee fans.
I was in New York in June for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium between my A's and the Yanks. The A's rolled into town and won all three games, which was amazing. Being there in my A's garb, I beheld the worst of Yankee fans. I can say with conviction that Yankee fans are the lowest, most clueless sports fans I have ever seen. They parade around in their Derek Jeter jerseys with their heads in the clouds because "our team has twenty-six World Championships." Recall the shock that something like this could happen here in America. They are only capable of yelling out schoolyard insults and cuss words.