If you’re going to be reasonable about it then you’ll spoil the argument.
What us non-Yankee fans hate is that the Yankees and their fans refuse to admit that which is obvious to everyone else, namely, that having more money to spend than most everyone else is a huge, unearned, built-in advantage. The fact that other teams with similar advantages, like LA and Baltimore, have wasted their payroll advantage does not prove that the payroll advantage doesn’t exist. Think of the baseball season as a card game: the person with the biggest purse a decided advantage over the other players, no matter how skillful the others may be. The others may win a hand or two, but the guy who can always afford to buy the pot, assuming he knows what he’s doing, will win out most of the time.
Another thing we non-NYY fans hate is the idea that “18 years” without a World Series win qualifies someone as “long-suffering.” Give me a break.
*I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Six months, three weeks, one day, 15 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds.
8225 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,028.16.
Extra life with Drain Bead: 4 weeks, 13 hours, 25 minutes.
I DID weep a few bitter tears, at least at the beginning (Thurman Munson’s death in 1979) and the end (Don Mattingly retiring in 1995 without getting to the World Series) of that 18-year stretch.
I was trying to stay out of this, but I guess I’ll have to jump in here. I’ve posted a bunch of shit relating to all of this in other threads, so I’m not going to rehash everything. I don’t need to - my team won. (Yes, another one of those asshole Yankee fans.) :rolleyes:
PatrickM, you are contradicting yourself. What exactly does a “payroll advantage” imply? The argument in this thread, and in all the others, seems to be that the Yankees have enough money to “buy” their championships. So what’s preventing the other so-called money-laden teams from buying the same thing? The Yankees hold no monopoly over signing players. All of you who are bitter about the Yankees are overlooking the fact that the core of this team - Pettitte, Williams, Posada, Mendoza, Jeter, Rivera - all came up through the Yankee farm system. Good scouting is what put them there. Other key players - O’Neill, Knoblauch, Brosius, Clemens, Justice, and more - were obtained in trades. Trades for players that came up through the Yankee farm system. Aside from Denny Neagle, name me just one bad deal the Yankees have done in the last 5 years? It starts with the scouting. Yes, the Yankees have more scouts than other teams. So why don’t the Dodgers, or the Orioles, or the Rangers, or any other team with megabucks, pay for good scouts? How in hell do you think the Yankees wound up with all their great players, from Ruth, to Gehrig, Joe D, Mantle, and on and on? Scouting, or by trade. The very same prospects that every other team sees, but fails to notice. No amount of money is going to make a marginal player good. It takes a keen eye at the sandlots to spot one.
What’s the difference between this current team and the Yankees of 15 years ago? What? Money? No, they spent it back then, too, but they spent it stupidly. So please don’t say that by simply whipping out the check book, you can buy a championship. 15 years ago, the Yankees sucked ass, yet they had a steep payroll. How do you explain that away? Following everyone’s logic, they should have just won their 26th Championship in a row!
As far as their payroll being high today, what makes these Yankee players any different than others? Salaries are out the roof everywhere. The Yankees happen to be able to afford to keep these players. But you see, the big trick is that, by putting a winning, or at least competitive, product on the field, you put asses in the seats. Where do you think George gets all his money from? The Little Sisters of Mercy?
Cleveland and Baltimore sell out every friggin’ game! They have money because of it, and they spend it. But they don’t spend it wisely. That’s the difference right there.
When it comes down to it, what owner of any sports team doesn’t have the money to sign new, or keep existing, players? Can any of you afford a sports franchise? I know I can’t. Do you really think these owners scraped up all their pennies to buy a team? C’mon, already! Look at the LA Clippers. They suck! Guess who owns the Clippers? Donald Trump. What’s the problem there? Sure ain’t lack of capital. Lack of desire, maybe, or a tax break. If your team sucks, don’t hate the Yankees, hate your owner(s).
Of course, if you want to hate the Yankees on the field, go right ahead. It’s called being a fan - you root for your team, you hate the opposition. Cool. But at least hate the Yankees for the right reasons - not because of their payroll, but because they know how to put a winning team together.
Actually, the sweetest TV revenue in all of sports is where George gets his money. The stadium could be empty for every game and the team would still be profitable even with the large salaries and other high overhead unique to being in New York City.
*TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Six months, three weeks, two days, 3 hours, 15 minutes and 8 seconds.
8245 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,030.68.
Extra time with Drain Bead: 4 weeks, 15 hours, 5 minutes.
George sucks, the yankees suck, the mets suck, and all the greedy baseball players suck. Imagine Barry Bonds makes $80 and $100 per signature at a recent card show. In 2 hours he signed 600 autographs (only “B.B.S”,you have to purchase his companies “official products” for full autograph)That is approx. 50,000 in 2 hours. What has it all come to? I saw mothers with sons and daughters in line for his autograph.
Bonds must really feel good when he goes to bed at night, making so much from kids and fans, The way he played aginst the mets in the playoffs he should give it ALL back! Lets go to NASCAR!
Actually Donald STERLING, not Trump, owns the LA Clippers. Kindly get your facts straight.
And your statement about the Indians selling out every game proves my point. Even though they do so they cannot afford to keep Manny Ramirez. The Yankees can afford Ramirez and can afford him easily. That huge cash advantage isn’t due to the fine Yankee scouts who signed DiMaggio, Gehrig and Mantle way back when.
15 years ago (1985) the Yankees were one of the best teams in baseball; they missed the playoffs on the next-to-last day of the season, losing the division to Toronto by the slimmest of margins. Contrary to what has been implied here, for most of the period between 1979 and 1995 they were contenders, with the exception of a four-year run of losing seasons from 1989 to 1992.
A lot of this is just the luck of the draw. The ball didn’t bounce their way in 1985, so they lost. It did bounce their way in 2000, so they won. You’d have a hard time showing the 2000 Yankees were objectively a better team than the 1985 Yankees, but the 1985 Yankees played in a league with only two divisions and no wild card and they had the 99-62 team in their division, so they never got a chance to get hot in the playoffs.
I’d say Cleveland spends their money very wisely. In fact, I’d say Cleveland shoots down the whole “only big markets can win” case.
Cleveland missed the playoffs this years - by one game. They had a better regular season record than the Yankees. They had previously won their division five years in a row. Even if they lose Manny Ramirez, they will very probably still be contenders, because they still have a tremendous pool of top ballplayers. After all, they lose Albert Belle and everyone said they were dead meat, and it barely slowed them down.
And Cleveland is the second-smallest market in baseball.
