High and Tight.: I'm Getting Sick of Yankee Fans

I'm Getting Sick of Yankee Fans

Seriously. The further removed from the late 90's we get, the more these "fans" get nostalgic about those championship years, and the more any Yankee who won a ring have their abilities and accomplishments magnified in people's minds to the point where some people may think Charlie Hayes and Chad Curtis are borderline Hall of Famers.

I hate to say that in many ways I'm getting sick of fans of my own team (not all of them of course, because that would then also include myself and many people I respect) but it's getting to the point of ridiculousness.

Case in point: Joel Sherman wrote a blog post about how you can't "buy a championship," and that the difference between the 90's teams and today is the amount of pressure that they're under. I am not going to rip apart Sherman's article here, because that's not the point of this particular post, but here's a snippet:

The closest (Steinbrenner) came (to buying a championship), and maybe any team will come for a long time, was his 1996-2001 clubs. Interestingly, while those teams always had high payrolls, they did not lap the field on every other team. And I think that was one of the reasons those Yankee clubs won. They had pressure. But not the kind of pressure that intensified around the team because of a) the need to feed winning by winning some more, however, also b) the relentless, financial pursuit of a championship once the parades stopped.

Of course I disagree with Sherman here (I don't know how you can say the 1998 Yankees didn't "lap the field") but again, not the point. Check out the comments from that page, and see what these so-called fans think the problem is with the Yankees, and how to "fix" them (also ignore the terrible spelling and grammar).

This guy compares the Yankees to Costco, believing that signing a free agent is akin to passing up someone more deserving for a promotion, and thinks A-Rod is a "mercenary" even though he was traded and not signed as a free agent but makes no mention of "mercenaries" Sheffield, Giambi, Matsui....:

Costco is a simple company promoting within for advancement..Makes for a cohesive well tuned work team...How does a worker feel when a management position is filled by an outside candidate and mgmt bypasses loyal working Joe (ie. 20 yrs loyal service)?? Costco wouldn't do it!!

Bringing in mercenaries such as A-Rod will cause an atmosphere where dysfunction supercedes collective talent...Inevitably, golf will start earlier than the boss deems acceptable!!!

The curse of E-Rod will haunt the Boss until he rids the mercenary deamon!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Dennis on November 1, 2006 07:47 AM

This genius thinks it would be better to have an inferior player at third base:

what can i say , lets get rid of anal rod get as much as we can for mainkly pitching & sign a-ram
(aramis ramirez) to play third and we'll all be be happy never to see that stylish strike out swing again good riddance.

Posted by: jose garcia on November 2, 2006 11:37 AM

What was A-Rod's batting average (the most important stat) in day games on the road with less than three balls? I bet this guy knows:

does anyone out there know that arod had the worst batting avrg in the AL w/ rnnrs on 3rd base w/less than 2 outs? this is not oct 1 i speak of,but the whole season. yes get rid of him at any cost.please no more old pitchers! try for willis at any cost.i am willing to wager that houston would take arod for oswalt.they triedlike mad to get tejada before the trade deadline in aug only to bbe shot down the balt ownr.that deal involved oswalt please no more oldies!

Posted by: mitch from east meadow on November 2, 2006 02:39 PM

This is aone of my favorite theories: you need crappy players who then magically turn into unbelievable players for a short stretch of time, and that is how you win championships:

You're right -- you can't buy chemistry. You also can't win without overachievers, guys like Brosius, who went from lowest avrg to WS MVP, or Leyritz or even Boone...guys who thirst for a chance to grab the big stage and then come through big time.
And thank God they didn't dump Joe, who has the heart his players need to show more of.

Posted by: Aryeh C on November 2, 2006 04:27 PM

The Yankees will never win with Rodriguez because he is "a phony" so the plan here (which is hands down my favorite) to release him, and pay his salary and let another team pick him up off of waivers and pay him the major league minimum, because that will fix the Yankees:

Yankees will never win as long as Arod remains a Yankee. He is the biggest phony in baseball. In a tough situation he is the least likely player to come through. Give him his unconditinal release and
The Yankees can begin to rebuild.

Posted by: Poly on November 6, 2006 01:49 AM

All Alex cares about is his own stats, while Jeter cares nothing about stats because Jeter said he didn't care about the MVP but wanted to win the championship, even though that's exactly what Alex said last year but Alex is a big phony:

A-Rod tears the Yankees apart. He is the absolute opposite of every Yankee that played for the championship teams from '96-'00. He is the epitome of someone putting the I in TEAM. All he cares about is his individual stats and what his batting average is at any given moment. When Jeter was asked towards the end of the season about his run for American League MVP, he said that he didn't even care about MVP and that his focus was on winning the division. You think A-Rod would've said something like that. He will never live up to Derek Jeter's legacy in New York and can't stand being second fiddle on the team. He should be traded to a team where he can be the number one pretty boy as he was in Texas and Seattle where he probably wont win a championship, but at least he'll have the best stats on the team.

Posted by: Steve Gant on November 7, 2006 12:19 AM

A-Rod MUST be traded!!!!!111one1!uno:

Now we're stuck with having to accept mid level deals to get rid of Sheffield, and coddling E-Rod to hope he doesn't completely lose it. Its pretty much a must we trade Alex...but again how do you know we will gain a winning chemistry in return? Its down to luck as you say.

Posted by: Donald Stewart on November 7, 2006 12:42 PM

I agree in that he will never be like Derek Jeter, because Alex actually has to go ridiculously above and beyond to win an award:

I am in favor of dealing A-Rod to another team;possibly back to the West Coast. He will never be like Derek Jeter,who came up thru the Yankee farm system. ARod is nothing but a distraction. The yankees should definitely trade him,and I want to see him in the NATIONAL LEAGUE, on the West Coast.

Posted by: Helen Schultz on November 7, 2006 01:07 PM

And finally, this brainiac:

Whomever brought up the man on third less than two outs stat is right on. I am able to watch about 125 games a year, from my home in Boston no less (grew up in NJ), and I see the same thing everybody else sees; unproductive outs, unable to drive the ball for a sacrifice fly, overanxious, underaggressive, refuses to hit defensively for the team, etc. If he converted on half of those man on third less than two out situations with his natural ability he have David Ortiz like numbers and not just 90% of the league would give their right arm for numbers.

Posted by: John on November 7, 2006 01:43 PM

In fairness there are some guys in there like Chris and Andy who seem to actually get it, but these sadly are the exception and not the rule. And before Red Sox fans start gloating and feeling superior, you're no better:

As a Red Sox fan, I hope the Yankees are sincere in their desire to keep A-rod. Had this guy landed in Boston, I truly believe our championship drought is 89 years and counting. Say what you want about Manny Ramirez and his goofy behavior, but he has a ring on his hand and a World Series MVP trophy on his mantle.

I also hope the Yanks pick up their options on Gary Sheffield and Mike Mussina....keep all the small gamers and bad apples in the Big Apple!

Posted by: Dan on November 2, 2006 09:09 AM

Now usually I rip on sportswriters, and not fans. So why start on the fans now? Well, this isn't going to be a running theme on this blog, but there comes a point in time where you have to stand up and say "you idiots are making the rest of us look stupid. Shut your unknowledgable mouths and stop listening to jackasses like Lupica before you start spouting your asinine opinions."

This is simply a reflection of the idiots like Lupica and Celizic. This is the result of the mindless society who believes whatever they read. I meet more and more of these people in person and online every day.

They're giving the rest of us a bad name. Seriously, they're starting to sound like Red Sox fans.

What everyone seems to miss here is there's no "fix" needed to win the championship. Minor tweaks, sure. Better pitching would help. The hottest team is the one that wins in October. The Yankees just didn't get hot (again). Jeff Weaver and Kenny Rogers both stunk it up in the post season for the Yankees, and yet one of them won the only game in which his team was victorius in the World Series, and the other won the clinching game. Both got hot at exactly the right time. Does this mean the Yankees should go out and get Weaver and Rogers to "get them over the hump"? No, of course not. You build your team to make the post season. After that, it's like poker: even if you have pocket aces, there is no guarantee of victory, just a better chance.

posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 12:48 PM 4 comments

4 Comments:

At 11/07/2006 7:50 PM, Karen said...: All he cares about is his individual stats and what his batting average is at any given moment

No wonder Alex has to have two shrinks -- he's got people living inside his head now. It must be hard when everyone knows what you feel!

Seriously, I have to believe these people are 15-year-olds who don't know how to form an original opinion yet, or they just like plagurizing other people's ideas because it makes them look like they follow the team just as closely as these "reporters" do. I can only hope they all go running off the cliff like the lemmings they are.
At 11/07/2006 8:11 PM, Mr. Faded Glory said...: I can only hope they all go running off the cliff like the lemmings they are.

I wanna hug the bisch right now.
At 11/09/2006 3:59 PM, June said...: Will never again hear of lemmings without thinking of this.
At 11/10/2006 5:36 PM, lupe! said...: Will never again hear of lemmings without thinking of this.

HEE

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