Congratulations to the Yankees.
A paragraph from ESPN's Jayson Stark in a somewhat contradictory article says everything about Major League Baseball that concerns everyone not from New York, Boston, or Los Angeles about the game.
We understand this is no tale of some plucky underdog battling to this place against all odds. This was a $208-million baseball team we're talking about. This was a team that paid its four infielders alone more money ($81.225 million) than 16 of the other 29 franchises paid their WHOLE TEAM. This was a team that had spent nearly $1.8 billion hard-earned Steinbrenner-family dollars in between trips to the Canyon of Heroes.
That they can spend that kind of money on players AND still make a huge profit gives them an unfair advantage. That isn't a startling revelation, I know. That baseball can do nothing about it is eventually going to kill the goose that lays the Yankees Golden Eggs.
Later in the article, Stark says this:
But contrary to popular belief, it's never dollars alone that make that happen. You need talent. You need brains. And you need people -- people who understand what winning is all about, what leadership is all about, what being a teammate is all about.
What a silly thing to say. It's the dollars that gets the talent, that gets the brains, that gets the people, that gets the leaders, that builds the stadium, that buys the championship for the franchise that George built. It starts and ends with the money. In a true free market, competitors go out of business when they no longer can compete. In professional sports, they move to another city. Cities don't have the money to welcome those franchises like they once did and I think most of them are a little tired of being used that way. Baseball has issues that aren't going away any time soon but I suppose it's good to be a Yankee fan.
Quote of the Day
We play the game the right way.
Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Fox's Little Voice: I will never again call for a forward pass."
"What a silly thing to say."
Rob, you got that right. Maybe MLB can survive with 3/4 of the teams essentially being farm teams for the big market clubs, but I'm pretty sure they won't be able to count on me for much revenue. Maybe my cynicism will dissipate over the winter, but I wouldn't bet on it.
I'm not begrudging the Yankees their championship. They want to win and are willing to do what it takes to win, which includes bringing all of their overwhelming advantages to bear. Life isn't fair but baseball should be.
MLB ended for me with the '95 strike (is that when it was?). I think I might have seen one or two innings of this year's World Series. Didn't watch last night. Don't miss it at all.
That was 1994, Hyde, and I was very, very slow to take them back. May have been sped up if New Orleans had a team. I think I'll just stick to that baseball team in Baton Rouge for my baseball fix and only glance at MLB now and again. A game or two at The Box next season? I'd like to see an SEC game. Arkansas or Alabama maybe.