Oh please… You mean Peter Angelos? :rolleyes:
The Steinbrenner-Bashing-Express left the station several yars ago. The losing of the '80s and him showing his humanity much more (and, not coincidentally to his recent winning ways, stepping back much more) have made him far less of a target these days.
And thanks to whoever mentioned that the Orioles had the among the largest payrolls in the history of the game the last several years and see what that got them? Mediocrity and assholes like Albert Belle.
The Yankees won in the early days because they always had the best talent. The Red Sox got rid of Babe Ruth, and with Babe the fortunes of the league changed. He was a magnet, and it made it really easy for the Yankees to be the team that anyone else wanted to play for. So it was not hard signing people. This lustre continued on in the days before amateur drafts and other relatively modern ways of evening the playing field in getting talent.
So, that covers the bulk of the Yankees championships through the early '60s.
Then, we went 18 years between playoff appearances. The owners were CBS, and they were clueless.
Enter Steinbrenner. He (for better or for worse) took advantage of free agency and made it a point to get a player he wanted no matter what it took. This resulted in the championship teams I grew up with in the late '70s.
Soon enough, every other owner in baseball took his lead and you could not simply have more money to win. This is why through the '80s the Yankees sucked ass - musical managers, crappy farm team.
Finally, when it dawned on Georgie that the secret was to develop from within, he spent his money to have the best farm team around. This resulted in amazing home-grown talent. Combining this with shrewd trades and free agent pick-ups (as well as a manager who deserves to be in the hall of fame for the amazing job he has done throughout much adversity), we have won three champions in the last four years.
Any questions?
Yer pal,
Satan - Commissioner, The Teeming Minions
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