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February 25, 2004

 

Sports

e the other press ©

 

continued from page 20

Let me break this down for a sec-
ond and for all you burger flippers
or full-time students who would
give one of your limbs just to pay off
your credit card bill—you might
want to remove all sharp objects
from the room while reading this.

The left side of the Yankees infield

_ next season will make a combined

twenty-five thousand per inning. I
repeat twenty-five thousand per
inning. I don’t care how many hard
ground balls you have to get in front
of, I would jump in front of a
Cadillac Escalade for that type of
scratch. In fairness, “the Bronx
Bombers” did shed Roger Clemens
and Andy Pettitte’s hefty contracts
this off-season but, instead of saving
that extra money for a rainy day,
they went out and acquired CF
Kenny Lofton, RF Gary Sheffield,
and P Kevin Brown. The three com-
bined will pocket over 21 million
next season. But let’s be honest only
one thing matters to the Yankees
and it’s not money, it’s champi-
onships.

The fans in New York have high
expectations but the highest expec-
tations of all come from the Boss,
George Steinbrenner. For those non-
sports fans, you might know the
center of the Evil Empire as the one-
time boss of Seinfelds George

Costanza or from his recent cameo
on The Apprentice where he sprin-
kled knowledge upon Donald
Trump’s young prodigies. Pop cul-
ture references aside, Steinbrenner is
the most infamous businessman in
sports, who tolerates nothing less
then the best. Who else would con-

winning four of them. See, they are
kind of like the Maple Leafs but
they actually win once in a while. So
if they win that means somebody
else is losing and that is where the
player hating comes in.

Early in the off season it looked as
if the Boston Red Sox were destined

Anyway, the Red Sox, who lost to
the Yankees in seven games last year,
added Curt Shilling and Keith
Foulke to an already stellar pitching
staff. But the Arms race between the
two clubs really began to heat up
when word got out that the Red Sox
were about to acquire A-Rod from

 

The fans in New York have high
expectations but the highest
expectations of all come from the

Boss, George Steinbrenner

 

 

 

sider a season in which you win
more games then any other team,
defeat your arch rivals in a dramatic
seven-game series, and barely lose
the World Series as a disappoint-
ment? But I guess that is how it is
for a franchise that has appeared in
six of the last eight World Series,

to shake off the dreaded curse of the
Bambino. The curse has tormented
the team since 1919 when the Red
Sox owner sold Babe Ruth to the
Yankees in order to finance a
Broadway play. I know what all you
theatre majors are thinking, but take
my word, it was not a good deal.

the Texas Rangers. Yankee haters
everywhere could not hide their
delight—was it possible that the
Yankees were going to get a taste of
their own medicine? A team other
then the Yankees were signing talent
left and right, with the intention of
burying the competition.

When it looked like the Empire
was about to be beat at their own
game, the Sox got cold feet.
Apparently the price tag was getting
a little high, and their fans were left
with a bad case of blue Sox. The
people of Bean Town have got to be
pulling their hair out. They have not
won since 1918. They are so close
and GM Theo Epstein had it in his
hand. All he had to do was put it in
the bag, swipe the card, and wait for
the statement to come in the mail.
But see, that is what separates the
Yankees, Red Wings, Avalanche,
and Lakers of the world from all the
rest. Once they're on the doorstep
they don’t knock, they kick the door
down. That is a lesson a certain local
professional team could take note
of.

So next year, the Yankees will field
a starting lineup laced with all stars
and worth more than $70 million,
but that’s what makes them the
Yankees, the wealthiest franchise in
North America, the most successful,
and without a doubt, the most
hated. I don't think George
Steinbrenner sweats being called a
“Capitalist Mercenary” or the “Evil
Empire” because, as a wise man once
said, “nobody hates the Clippers.”

 

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