As I watched the New York Yankees celebrate their Game 6 ALCS victory and trip to the World Series, it finally hit me why they are the franchise I hate most in all of sports.
For years, there has been no team I despise more than the Yankees—more than the college rivals I’ve cheered against like Minnesota or Stanford, more than the Oakland Raiders and certainly more than any other baseball team.
Now I see why I hate the Yankees so much: They symbolize everything that is wrong with Major League Baseball, and embody all of the qualities that drew me away from the game in the first place. From terrible owners to inflated payrolls to gaudy stadiums, the Yankees have them all.
Let’s start with domineering owner George Steinbrenner. His style of management has already made him a caricature in the minds of many fans, and you would be hard-pressed to find any owner that fans and players hate more than him.
With the possible exception of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis or former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, can you think of an owner who made himself more of a story than the team as much as Steinbrenner has?
Steinbrenner’s method of signing players to absurd contracts, making it impossible for smaller teams to compete, is another one of baseball’s issues the Yankees employ.
You could say I’m just a bitter fan of a “Moneyball” team who is tired of seeing his team’s best players bought up by the Yankees. But they essentially bought their American League Championship this year, and if they win the World Series they will have their inflated payroll to thank for that as well.
The Yankees pluck the best players from clubs all around baseball, pulling them away from fans with massive salary offers no one can compete with. I’m not an advocate for a baseball salary cap, but you would be hard pressed to find a better argument in favor of it than the “Evil Empire.”
The new Yankee Stadium even takes those terrible qualities from the field to the stands.
I made my view of absurd new stadiums clear a couple of weeks ago, and there is no bigger offender than the Yankees’ new home. After tearing down a shrine to baseball history, they erected a new one bowing down to everything that is wrong about modern baseball stadiums.
Of course, there are the now-famous “Legends Suite” tickets, which cost $1,250 per game—after the Yankees halved the ticket cost when they realized people wouldn’t pay $2,500 for one baseball game, absurd ticket prices aren’t the only terrible thing about the new Yankee Stadium. The stadium is an awful attempt to create a sense of history in a gaudy new park, while the whole building is plastered with obtrusive advertisements.
This is by no means a complete list of the Yankees’ terrible attributes—let’s not forget that the Yankees have an admitted steroid user leading their offense, their broadcasters (specifically John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman) are some of the biggest homers in baseball, and their fans are some of the worst in all of sports.
People don’t hate the Yankees because they’re jealous of them. Sure, I would love for my team to win 26 World Series titles, or possibly 27 depending on the next couple of weeks, but the real reason people despise the Yankees is because of what they represent.
A Republican friend of mine jokes that he likes the Yankees because they represent everything that’s good about big business: they have the most money, so they get the best talent and win world championships at the expense of smaller teams.
He’s right: the Yankees are the sports equivalent of a massive corporation, dominating their competition and stuffing their own pockets with championships. Their owner’s style, player acquisitions and even stadium are all part of an homage to the absurd wealth that has so deeply impacted baseball.
Teams like the Yankees have caused me to drift further and further from baseball in the past five years, and they embody everything I can’t stand about what the sport has become.
Think it’s not the Yankees’ fault because you have to blame the game, not the player? Or are the Yankees just fun to hate? E-mail Nico at savidgewilki@wisc.edu.
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Obviously not EVERY year, but you understand the context of the point - the money grants them a huge advantage.
The unity should come from loving your hometown team. You find hatred in rivalries. There's plenty of unification there. Every stupid Yankees fan will say that other teams CAN compete, but that they just need to be more clever in finding out ways to do so. I would loooove to see what would happen to the Yankees if there were to be a salary cap put in place. Although their farm system is definitely improving, they would be up the creek without a paddle if they couldn't bring in their usual star studded rosters. So don't even bring that argument. I'd like to see the Yankees think outside of the box for once. How about actually developing your teams each year instead of just bringing in new players every single year. Sure is easy to talk about "thinking outside the box" when you sure don't have to.
The fact of the matter remains that teams simply can't compete knowing that even when they do develop great players in their farm systems, as soon as these players' contracts are up they're going to be going somewhere else that will pay them more. Sure you can get a number of good years out of all these players, but I'm willing to bet that the Twins would have been better had they been able to afford to keep Santana, Hunter, and a number of other players.
The players move to other teams "in hopes" of winning a championship, but they also do it because hey, who wouldn't want a few hundred thousand more? And yes, at this point, there is no salary cap in baseball, so naturally, every management team will do whatever they can, with whatever they have. However, that doesn't make it right and doesn't mean they're doing anything good for baseball. If each team were to have a more-or-less equal chance at making it that year (at least theoretically, like in the NFL), then maybe there would be more consistent sell outs. You wouldn't need these big name teams coming into town to do it. Make it a more even playing field and guaranteed, you will see changes in attendance in baseball. Also, players do not love George Steinbrenner. Read anything about his reign in New York and you will find several players who love him, sure. They're the ones who get to stay in New York (aka Jeter and a few select others). Plenty of players hate him and were terrified of him, but they loved Joe Torre so they stuck around. Steinbrenner is notorious for treating his players and staff like shit. What's not to love? And yes, at this point, there is no salary cap in baseball, so naturally, every management team will do whatever they can with whatever they have. However, doesn't make it right and doesn't mean they're doing anything good for baseball. New Yankee stadium is beautiful (aside from the cracks in the cement in the ramps of course... good work there New York). The sight-lines are great. Although I'm not sure how I feel about it, at least they're trying to maintain some of the old history of the place, which, especially with a team as historic as the Yankees, I can absolutely respect.
New ballparks are a part of baseball now, since it's been turned into a business instead of a game. But really, $2500 for a box seat? How about leaving baseball to be a sport for the masses instead of the uppity business types? In closing, the Yankees have become the most cliché team in baseball (tied of course, with the Red Sox). Anyone who thinks that they can say 2 things about baseball just looooves them. Everyone knows ARod is dating Kate Hudson, everyone knows everything that happens with the team. What's not to love about a team that can just buy their way into the playoffs and World Series (that being said, there sure haven't been many championships this decade even though their payroll is just outrageous). Of course they're expected to win every year, they have the highest payroll in baseball (by 76thousand). Can't imagine that they would have this expectation without the payroll.
Any true baseball fan loves baseball for more than the winning and the losing (yes, the winning part is nice... yes I have to say that we love winning and losing when MN does so much of the losing part). But really. Unless you have some real connection to New York, there is no reason to be a Yankees fan. So love the game for what it is-- a sport and NOT an industry. How can you have any real connection with your team when, overall, your roster is so fluid? Because the Yankees are making baseball such a business-- they are completely and absolutely, without a doubt, everything that is wrong with baseball.
And you can't argue against that fact at all: the Yankees buy their way into the World Series every year.Now some will argue that baseball, like every other major sport, is also a business. Yes, it has a business component (teams want to make money, so do players.... just as businesses, employees, execs, etc.) But sport is sport, based on sets of rules to ensure fair play. Sure, in boxing you could set up a 5'8" 150 lb against a Mike Tyson, but what the heck is the point? It's not a sport then.
I haven't been an MLB fan for over 10 years now... I got turned off a long time ago. But take my favorite sport, the NFL. You know what I love about it? It's the fact that every single season, you have absolutely no idea which team will win the SuperBowl. Sure, there are some teams more powerful than others, but the point is they don't BUY their championships. They earn it through hard work, training, coaching, etc.The main point is look at the 4 major sports, and the highest salaried team as a percentage of the lowest in 2008/9:
NFL = 182%
NHL = 185%
NBA = 223%
MLB = 547%Where on earth is the parity in the MLB??? That is exactly what is wrong with the Yankees - simply put, they are BUYING their championships. What a disgrace to a sport!!
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