Why I hate the Yankees, Part I of many

I got an e-mail from a guy in Spring Hill today who looked at my picture in the paper and saw what he described as a "half-beard'' and decided I was just a punk. He figures I wear baseball caps backwards and wear my jeans halfway down my rear and listen to that God-forsaken "Rap-and-Roll'' music. Mostly, though, from what I can tell, he is angry because I take shots at the Yankees every now and then. Honestly, other than taking a few cracks at A-Rod lately for hanging out with an ex-stripper whom he isn't married to (and he IS married) and maybe rolling my eyes over Roger Clemens coming out of retirement for the 87th time, I can't really remember writing anything that showed my disdain for the Yankees.

But I'll admit it. I don't like the Yankees. Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to be happy.

I like Joe Torre, but hate how he wears a watch and drinks bottled water on the bench. I respect Derek Jeter, but I hate how he's always on the top step of the dugout after someone hits a home run because I secretly believe he just wants to be seen as a "team'' guy. I hate how Jeter jumps out of the batter's box like he's brushed back even if the pitch is over the the black of plate. I hate how A-Rod yells at an infielder who is trying to catch a pop-up. I hate how the Yankees are on every single Game of the Week. I hate that they sign a big-name player and if doesn't work out, they just go sign another big-name player. I hate how Jason Giambi essentially admits to steroid use, but he's a "good guy,'' while Barry Bonds is a considered a cheater.

Is it because they win? Of course. No one hates the Arizona Cardinals or Kansas City Royals ... or the Devil Rays, for that matter, because they never win. They never break hearts -- well, except those of their own fans.

But, mostly, I hate the Yankees because of their fans. They're obnoxious when the Yankees win, full of excuses when they lose and, most of all, think you're an idiot or must have some secret agenda if you dare say you hate the Yankees. And, I should mention, I'm not a Red Sox fan. I'm starting to hate them, too.

Can't I just hate the Yankees because I feel like it? And if I want to, shouldn't I be allowed?

I have to go now and download more Rap-and-Roll songs into my iPod.

Comments

[Doctor Donut]

You can hate the Yankees if you wanna.

Here's a picture for you to print out and focus all your bitter hate on to:

http://www.theweeklydonut.org/index.php/category/the-rocket/

[Jim Dietrich]

Good for you. Yanks fans are the worst...hell, NY fans in general are disgusting, vile creatures best left for the sewers and subways of the Big Apple and the wastelands of North Jersey.

I make that distinction of "North" Jersey since I'm a native of South Jersey and have much disdain for the north, not because I think they're than us (not at all), but because I'm a Philly phan all the way around, and while they have bought more championships, we have (generally) won more games against them then vice versa. Plus, Philly gets a bad rep, only b/c "everyone loves NYC". If they only knew....

However, I digress. It's fun to go to Rays games when the Yanks are in town and watch all the "die-hard" Yanks fans talk trash on us in our house, then we destroy them on the field, only to watch them flee during the 7th Inning Stretch like roaches under a trash can when the light's turn on. Tampa may have the most fair-weather fans, but at least they're not bitter, holier-than-thou fans of the Bronx Bombed.

[Dan]

2 cents for tommy's opinions! Talk about price gouging.
By the way tommy, where is proof about A-Rod & the stripper? You're not dumb enough to believe it all because of 1 picture of A-Rod standing behind a blond, are you?
Supposedly he had dinner with a female & 2 other men. WOW! How terrible. Guess this guys camera just wasn't working then. Did this guy see them get off the elevater at the same floor and go into the same room? Gee, guess the camera was only working for 1 picture. Boy tommy, I hope no one ever takes your picture standing behind a pretty blond in a line somewhere. People might think she was screwing you. Then again, likely they wouldn't. Don't worry tommy, your jealousy towards the Yankees should go away when you grow up. Most people get past that type pettiness when they mature.

[Proud 2-b-a Yankee]

Stop sipping on that Hator-ade! The Yankees are the bomb and perhaps many of you dislike us because we always win.

[Doctor Donut]

Tom,

If you don't like Joe Torre, would you consider this person to be a better manager of the Yankees?

http://www.theweeklydonut.org/index.php/2007/06/12/tony-soprano-manager-new-york-yankees/

[Jim Dietrich]

LOL, I think these schmucks proved my point to a tee....

[Dallas]

Yankee fans don't have to worry about consistently having the sorriest team in baseball like Rays fans do. That would make me bitter too. As a matter of fact, it did, so I switched to routing for the Yankees this year instead of routing for the Rays. I have much better peace of mind now. You should try it Tom, ...the first step is admitting that you have a problem.

[TCV]

RIGHT ON!!! You nailed it!! Everything from A-rod to the fans. This year will also prove ONCE AGAIN, that money cannot buy the New York Yankees a World Series.

[John]

Way to go Tom. You have all of 8 people reading your blog.

[Mike Creyton]

Ummm. We live in Tampa Bay. We are supposed to hate the Yankees. They are a division rival of our home team. When I relocated here, I adopted all the local teass. As should everyone else. Otherwise you don't deserve to live here. I hate Philly, NY, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. all their teams. And I really can't stand people that leave those miserable places to live here and support those teams over the one's in their backyard. The ones that represent their community. Its a joke and a disgrace.

[DAN]

How surprising. A philly fan (learn how to spell, & this clown calls others schmucks) who opens his big mouth just to show his ignorance.
He claims he enjoys going to the Trop to see the Rays "destroy them on the field". Yep the Rays won the 2 games this year, while the Yanks were in the middle of a 7 game losing streak. That now makes the Yankees 47-30 at the Trop. Since you likely can't figure it out, the Yanks have won 61% of the games in St Pete. Granted that's not the 55-20 (73%) that is the Yanks record against the Rays in the Bronx.
But the Rays only winning 39% of the games against the Yankees at the Trop is surely not destroying them.

[Jake]

This is Devil Rays country. Who cares about the Yankees? Anyone who doesn't live in NY and calls themself a Yankees fan is a complete loser with low self esteem. They think alligning themselves with a rich franchise somehow makes their pathetic life better and more successful. Whenever you are around town and see someone wearing Yankees gear, laugh at them and pity them. They are obviously a loser. Go Rays!

[Mark]

Hey Dan. Move to NY. You are obviously a Yankee fan and do not deserve to live in Paradise. FL, CA, AZ, etc. fans need to start fightning back. These people are an embarassment to our communities. They live in the past. Keep FL beautiful by eliminating all Yankee and Red Sox fans.

[Lucia]

Hate, hate, hate the Yankees! It's not the franchise because I admired Mantle, Ruth, Gehrig and the other truly great players. It's the Steinbrenner Yankees I hate. They're arrogant, spoiled babies who resort to the owner's endless pockets to try to buy pennants. Rodriguez, Torre, Clemens and all the rest don't deserve to wear pinstripes. I cheer for them to lose every year and I'm usually happy come October. Go, Tom!

[Dan]

Personally I would love to be a Devil Rays fan. In fact I was one of the first to buy tickets after the franchise was awarded. But with the management, past & present, WHY? Playing for the future gets old. The Rays don't have to win today, the management just has to show they want to. Free parking & phony brick on the walls is nice, but it doesn't build fan support. Rays management says give us more time (in effect throwing in the towel before the season even began), yet Arizona has given their fans hope for how many years now. The Yankees know that spending all that money won't win the Series every year, but at least they try. A few weeks ago when the Yankees & Rays were both about 13 games behind Boston, the Yankee fans had hope that they still might at least get to the playoffs. The only Rays fans who thought that were buying too much of the overpriced beer at the concessions. I don't think the Yankees will catch Boston because of their better pitching, but the Yankees may make the playoffs & then likely lose because of their pitching. At least the opportunity is there if they get into the playoffs, look at St Louis last year. So for you people that think just because we live in Tampa Bay that we should love & support the Rays, go ahead spending major league prices on a team that would be more price worthy to see in Clearwater, Dunedin, or Tampa.

[Randy]

Tom, let me tell you what's wrong with your Yankee blog.

Nada!
Nothing!
Zip!
Zilch!

[Tom Jones]

Tom Jones here. First, you absolutely gotta love the photos provided by Doctor Donut. Thanks, Doc! And, I have to admit, the best line so far has been by Dan. "Two cents for Tommy's opinion! Talk about price gouging.'' I actually laughed out loud at that one. Seriously, that was funny even if I was the butt of that joke. Good stuff.

[Dan]

Tom,
Glad to see you have a sense of humor even though we obviously disagree.
Dan

[Mike Creyton]

Dan, if you can't watch this Rays team, the current one on the field, and not get excited about the future....then you are not a baseball fan. They Rays have one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball. And they are young. These guys will be here for years to come and only get better. Throw in the fact that they have the #1 rated farm system, which is loaded with pitching....look out. Baseball America and Sports Illustrated both wrote articles this year saying the Rays will win a World Series by 2010. Look at the Tigers just recently. All those young pitchers took them to the World Series last year after being one of the worst teams ever just 2 years prior. This ownership is completely different than the previous regime. This thing is going to take off big time. I hope you are on board when it does. Of course, that would make you a bandwagon Devil Rays fan.

[Dan]

Hey Tom, a question since you obviously have more opportunity for insider stuff than the average chump like me, - Is there any proof about A-Rod and this stripper? So far all I've seen is a picture of him standing behind a lovely woman and someone telling a story that could be true or not.

[Ian Beckles]

www.620wdae.com has pictures of Arod with the same woman at Tampa's Whiskey Park Soho. Go to the Ron and Ian page.

[Tom Jones]

Hey Dan. Tom Jones here. Here's an excerpt from a New York Post story .. for what it's worth:

June 1, 2007 -- The busty blond gal pal of married Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez is a longtime stripper and Playboy Bunny wannabe who has danced at one of A-Rod's favorite jiggle joints, The Post has learned.
Joslyn Noel Morse, 30, who most recently was an exotic dancer at Scores Las Vegas, has been repeatedly spied with the Yankees' $252 million man in Tampa, Miami, Dallas - and in Toronto, where on Sunday, they had a cozy dinner at a steakhouse.

On Wednesday, The Post exclusively detailed how A-Rod and his lady friend dined Sunday at the Toronto steakhouse. Then they visited the all-nude Brass Rail strip club before calling it a night and getting onto an elevator alone together at the Four Seasons hotel, where the Bronx Bomber was staying.

[Dan]

Tom & Ian,

First off, Ian- it took me awhile to find the pictures, just so much else to look at.

If you knew me you would know that I strongly feel that anyone who commits adultery is a piece of garbage, but sorry guys, I'm still not ready to condemn him. We all know that there is always someone out there looking for the million dollar shot of celebrities.
For instance, with the elevator shot, I'm sure it isn't unusual for 3 or more people to get on the same elevator so why not take a ride to at least see if they got off (no pun intended) on the same floor? With the bar shots, hey A-Rod has a few more bucks than me, is taller, younger, etc (I could go on & on but I'm sure you get the point) but even since I've been married I've found myself sitting at a bar & conversing with a pretty young thing. Damn, nobody took my picture!!!!! All I'm saying is - is that it? With so many looking for that one big shot, that's it? Granted if these pictures are from different cities and it's the same woman, it would make anyone wonder. But with this guy so under the microscope, there has to be more.

[Rob]

Interesting comment by Mike Creyon. If you don't adopt all the Tampa teams, you don't deserve to live here? I think that's taking sports a little too seriously. It's just a game. And, if everyone in the Tampa Bay area was forced to adopt a Tampa team or leave, we wouldn't have that many people left.

[Dan]

Mike,
I been a fan of baseball for many years, and when I watch the Rays they are at best a bad major league team. Do they have some good young players?, definitely. Will they be here for years to come?, not if the Rays management doesn't start understanding that they need to pay for established talent. If not, watch our young talent go the free agency route. What the Rays have on their side is the law of averages - with some breaks and some players having career years even this group could contend for 1 year sometime.
As far as one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball - HUH?

Batting average - 8th in AL, 14th in baseball (even behind 6 NL teams with pitchers batting)
OBP - 9th in AL
Total Bases - 8th in AL
Runs - 8th in AL
RBI - 8th in AL
Bases on Balls - 7th in AL
They are 2nd in SB, but in % of SB to attempts they are 12th
Strikeouts - 1st AL, 3rd in all of major leages.
They are 4th in AL in HR, but being 9th in OBP makes that worth less.

Of course, even if for some reason you consider this potent, the offense alone doesn't win games.

Fielding % - LAST in MAJOR LEAGUES
ERA - LAST in MAJOR LEAGUES
CG- tied for 10th in AL
Shutouts - tied for 13th in AL @ ZERO

As for their minor league players saving them - maybe some will become stars, but again, with what team?

[Joseph]

Gosh people, get a life!

This is just marketing and capitalism warping your brains.

MLB is not your friend. They don't care about you. They only want your money and your eyes and ears for their sponsors.

Don’t be fooled by their public relation campaigns; that is just another effort to make you feel better about giving them your money or your attention for advertisers.

Come on, when was the last time someone from the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Rays or any other MLB organization came over to your house for a bar-b-que or helped you move or whatever?

Never!

Why? Because they are not your friend; rather, they are like used car salesmen when you return with the car you bought the day before because it developed a problem.

The caring that was promised before the sale is long gone; because you've already spent your money, and they don't need you anymore!

How is MLB any different? They’re not!

Here's a fun exercise, go to the Rays tomorrow, and tell them that you have been a lifelong fan and would like a tour. Better yet, invite them over for dinner?

Good luck.

Your best friend would say yes, but the Rays won’t.

All professional sports care about is your money. When it’s gone, you’re gone!

Then why do you care about them?

When has MLB given you something just because they like you as a person?

Never!

Here are my suggestions: (1) Save your money, (2) spend more time with your family talking to each other rather than being entertained by corporate America, (3) read a book, (4) learn a new hobby, (5) go to a museum, and (6) go outside and ride a bike or jog or take a long walk at the beach…whatever.

But most importantly, stop letting corporate America brainwash you into giving them your money.

At the end of your life, how many hours have we wasted on this crap?

Too friggin many!!!

Now, please, go give hugs to your spouse and children.

[Dana]

It amazes me that so many Yankmee and Dead Sux fans love their teams, but hate their cities/states so bad to move down here.

Why not move back? And while you're at it, take all the Philly fans back with you and drop them off on your way back "home".

[Ron]

I am first and foremost a Devil Ray fan, but I like the Yankees because of George Steinbrenner. This is a man who wants to win and is willing to spend to try. While he is not always successful, he does put his money up. He could have a $100 million payroll, pay no luxury taxes and pocket an extra $150 million. He is also an extremely charitable guy who does a lot for the Tampa area.

[Mike Cretyon]

Ron, Steinbrenner doesn't want to win any more or less than any other owner. He just happens to own a team in the largest media market in the world. Thus has resources that are far greater than an owner in Milwaukee or Cleveland for example. The Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, White Sox, etc spend more than the rest of the teams not because they are more dedicated, but because they have it. That is the biggest problem in MLB right now. The desparity in resources. The NFL gets it. Hopefully MLB will too. Even still teams like Minnesota, Oakland, Cleveland, Milwaukee, etc continue to beat the odds because they are run so well and get the most out of their resources. The Yankees have not won anything since they started their free spending ways. It never works. They were awful in the 80's and early 90's using this model. They built a dynasty in the late 90's with home grown kids like Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Williams, Pettit, etc. They supplemented with good veterans teammates and role players, not superstars. It never works.

[Dan]

Mike,
So some people actually believe the BS the Rays management pumps out! According to Nielson Media, Tampa Bay is the 12th largest media market in the US. Yet some of the teams with a higher payroll than the Rays include:
(ALL THE FOLLOWING USE 2006 PAYROLLS)

St Louis 21st market, + 45mil PR
Baltimore 24th, + 35mil
San Diego 27th, + 30 mil
Cincinnati 33rd, + 25 mil
Milwaukee 34th, + 20mil
Kansas City 31st, + 10mil

Tampa Bay is in similar markets to the following markets with approximately how much higher their payroll is:
Houston +55mil
Atlanta +55mil
Seattle +50mil
Detroit +45mil
Minnesota +25mil

As for Steinbrenner - yes he is in the #1 market, but he also spends almost 2X as much as the Mets. Boston is in the 7th market (only 5 higher than TB), yet is 2nd in Payroll.

So if you really think the Rays management wants to win as much as every other owner, then it must be just that they are incompetent as owners.

Are there inequities due to the markets? Of course. Yet St Louis in the 21st market (9 below TB) has a PR $50mil higher than the Rays. Obviously spending the money to win worked for St Louis last year. No one is saying the Rays can spend what the NY, LA, or Chicago teams spend. But it's obvious they have to spend more then they do now and have smart front office people to be competitive. And in the 12th largest market, the market excuse only works on those not paying attention.

[Bandwagon Bay Survivor]

Gotta love all the anti-Yankee vitriol. Do I care if anyone hates the Yankees? Nope, sure don't. Just because I love them doesn't mean others have to.

No, what I especially enjoy are the Tampa "fans" (I use that term loosely because after all, this is Bandwagon Bay and all) who come up with the BEST excuses whatsoever. Some of my favorites have already been touched upon.

You love how the Yankees fans come to the Trop and slink away? I love how those hardworking kids draw absolutely no one to their other games and yet as soon as the Bombers and the Red Sox come in, EVERYONE is a die hard Rays fan!!! Absolutely pathetic. If you only come to those games to profess how you have been a fan since "day one", clanging your tacky cowbells and screaming how a team that has 26 titles sucks when you can't even make the playoffs, shame on you. CC and the boys deserve better than that.

I love how people just nonchalantly say that you should adopt all of the home teams immediately after you move somewhere. Only the bandwagoners and "disloyalists" of Tampa would offer such suggestions. Don't get me wrong, if I were to move to San Diego tomorrow, id be working hard to get Chargers tickets for the upcoming season. Does that mean I would abandon the Buccaneers? Of course not. LOYALTY matters, regardless of zip code. Ask any fairweather fan here about that and their heads explode. I've lived here all my life and was a Yankees fan for years before the Rays were even a concept. Sure I love the players but am I going to just drop the Yankees and profess my love for the Rays just because I live in Tampa? NO. I could care less if the Rays were pennant winners and the Yanks were cellar dwellers. There's a concept of loyalty that Bandwagon Bay clearly does not grasp, and the whole "if you live here" crap is just a pathetic copout. Get used to it, people, the Yankees are one of the biggest brand names in the WORLD. You're gonna see people in all corners with the pinstripes, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Most of them aren't true fans and I admit it stinks but what can you do? (besides whine about it)

The Yankees have had some major, expensive busts. Yeah, so have the Rays. Live with it.

The Yankees can afford any player in baseball. Yeah, seems no one cares much when the Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs do it.

Hate the Yankees all you want. Real fans could care less. I just wish there were real, valid excuses other than just whining from ignorant, jealous blowhards suffering from inferiority complexes. Oh, and we get it, Stubby...A-Rod was with a woman who ISN'T his wife. You don't have to be a sanctimonious prat and keep reminding us at every turn. If you think he's the only baseball player running around on his wife, well, then you should just stick to your amazing sports lists (great Father's Day edition, haven't ever seen one of those before, ever) and give up the moral tirades.

Love your Rays and for God's sake, start going to the games, even if the place does resemble a carnival. Ignore the Yankees and their fans, because we'll keep doing the same to you, even though you'll always be outnumbered like a minority in the Senate.