Call For Nominations - Yankee Celebrity Fan of the Decade

You guys and gals know a lot more about this category than I do, so let's get the nominations flowing for the YODA for the Yankee Celebrity Fan of the Decade.

I'll prime the pump, so to speak, by nominating Kate Hudson, Rudy Giuliani (though his status was reduced by his willingness to root for the Red Sox), Jay-Z, Billy Crystal, the dyspeptic Michael Bloomberg (comes with the job, Mike), and of course, renown central New York journalist, author, poet, quasi-film critic and humanitarian Hart Seely.

The vote on this prestigious award will take place after the Yankee Employee of the Month for November 2009 is chosen.

Derek Jeter named Sports Illustrated "Swordsman of the Year"

Wait.

Check that.

10 Reasons We Must NOT Trade Jesus Montero

1. Bad idea: Betraying Jesus near Christmas.

2. What a knock on the kid: He’s too big!

3. At one point last year, he had a five-game hitting streak. Wait, excuse me: A five-game home run hitting streak.

4. On Saturday, he turned 20. Yeah, twenty.

5. Last year, he tore up the Florida State League, then hit .317 at Trenton and made the Eastern League All-Star Team.

6. Cashman will hate being nicknamed "the Pontius pilot."

7. Jesus could be the new stadium's first great home-grown slugger. (Close your eyes and chant: Homegrown homerun, homegrown homerun...)

8. Jay Buhner. Fred McGriff. Doug Drabek. Jake Westbrook. Ted Lilly. Mike Lowell...

9. With Joba/Hughes, Jesus and Austin Jackson, Roy Halladay -- at 32 -- would also cost us a $100 million contract extension.

10. We can sign John Lackey, 31, for less -- and keep everybody.

11. If Jesus keeps hitting, he could be our secret weapon DH next September. (BTW: He would still be 20!)

12. We're champs. Why blow up our system for one player? Let Boston.

13. If we need a trade in July, Jesus will still be in demand.

14. Last team to betray Jesus suffered 2,000 years.

A new Yankees version of an old Christmas classic ...

We dug up an old favorite, and rewrote for 2009 ...

Hark, the Sox and Angels seek
Hall-a-day! We can't be meek!

Trade Joba, and Jesus too;
Kick in Phil, and if that won't do

Send Cano, it's no great loss;
We'll just go and sign Troy Glaus

Add Melky to seal the deal
And we'll have Halladay, what a steal!

Now that we're back on the right track,
let's go get Randy Johnson back!

Letters to the Editor: World at War... The cornfields of Indiana are burning!

The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)
November 22, 2009 Sunday

Dear Editor,

Now that George Steinbrenner has bought another world championship for the New York Yankees, is Major League Baseball going to institute salary caps?

MLB is so uncompetitive because the large-market teams have all the money and can buy the best players. Small-market teams like Cleveland and Cincinnati don't have a chance. Salary caps have worked well for the NBA and NFL. The Colts are a great example of how competitive a small-market team can be with salary caps. When will MLB wake up?

Bob Glazier
Greenfield

Letter to the Editor: World at War... Trading Volleys in Vero Beach

Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart, Florida)
November 23, 2009 Monday

Letters to the Editor

I must chime-in on the ongoing NY Yankees' payroll debate. Yes, the Yankees have the highest payroll, and yes, they're almost always in contention for the World Series. Is that fair? Of course not, but who said life was fair?

Jerry Nashel
Vero Beach

Letter to the Editor: World at War... Skirmish in Fort Pierce?

The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart, Florida)
November 26, 2009 Thursday
Martin County Edition

Letter to the Editor:

That Yankees' 27 World Series win thing is getting old -- I mean old.

Since the Dodgers skunked 'em 4-0 in '63, the Yankees have won seven of those titles -- that's in nearly 50 years. That includes that streak in the late '90s.

The point is, if there was a cap on their seemingly limitless spending, the Yankees would be an ordinary team -- not grabbing up a No. 1 and No. 2 starting pitcher whenever they have the need.

Bob Kirk
Fort Pierce

Letter to the Editor: World at War... Jersey is the battleground

Gloucester County Times (New Jersey)
November 22, 2009 Sunday

To the Editor:

Concerning Anthony Milanese's letter, "Best champs $$$ can buy," on Nov. 18:

Phillies fans, stop crying.

The Phillies had the same opportunity as the Yankees to purchase good players. They chose to be cheap.

Vent your anger and frustrations on "fortune teller" Jimmy Rollins (who had predicted a Phillies' World Series win), choker Ryan Howard, and pitching flops Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge.

I went to the mall and to different eateries and did not see one Phillies shirt. Really faithful fans, huh?

Congratulations to the greatest franchise in sports, the New York Yankees.

The new buzz word around here is, wait 'til next year ... and next year, and next year. Philadelphia is again a city of losers.

C. P. Crisante Jr.
Gibbstown

Letters to the Editor: World at War... Fighting Back in Buffalo!

Buffalo News (New York)
November 22, 2009 Sunday

I. Dear Editor,

Amidst the celebration surrounding the 2009 Yankees World Series win, the usual cries of buying the title persist.

Of the Yankees' $208 million payroll, $101.2 million goes to six players who each have more than five years service in a Yankee uniform. Thirteen players, or 52 percent, earned less than the ML average.

Nearly half of the Yankees payroll is taken up by longtime veteran players who have been re-signed beyond their initial contracts. The Yankees make sure to hold onto their leaders. The media concentrates only on the big free agent signings as if they only have a four- or five-man roster. They also lead everyone to believe that the Yankees are a team comprised of hired guns, when in reality, more than half of the roster has been homegrown talent, including shortstop Derek Jeter.

Past Yankee teams have had huge payrolls as well, but we all know how the big money thrown at Giambi, Pavano, Brown and Johnson, to name a few, bought them championships, right? Could anyone consider the possibility that the Yankees won this year because they finally got the formula right? Couldn't it be that the signing of guys with the right makeup, winning attitude and team mentality combined with the maturing of their own kids like Cabrera and Cano all came together to form a cohesive, winning unit? No, of course not. When other teams re-sign their big players, or add key contributors, they're geniuses. When the Yankees do it, they're cheaters. Get over it.

Robert B. Demming Jr.
Kenmore


II. Dear Editor,

Since the end of the 2009 World Series the Yankees have been accused of buying a championship ring. Just last week there was a letter in this section that stated the Yankees simply bought the best players at every position, spent a quarter of a billion dollars on three players and put to shame any prospects of a farm system. The reader also accused them of being the first team to successfully buy a championship. All of these statements are very popular to make, but they are not true.

Yes, the Yankees spent $423.5 million on three players last year, which is actually closer to a half a billion dollars than a quarter, but they also have acquired players through the draft and through trades. On the World Series roster they had 11 players that came up through their system as opposed to 10 for the Phillies. Also, if we are going to talk about buying a championship, let's not forget to mention the 1992-93 Blue Jays. They had a roster composed of future Hall of Famers and All-Stars, acquired from other teams through trades and free agency, that had the highest payroll in baseball. By not talking about them, people are admitting that payroll is only important when the Yankees win.

Daniel Russo
Amherst

Letters to the Editor: World at War... Albany is on fire!

The Times-Union (Albany, NY)
November 22, 2009 Sunday

I: Dear Editor,

To all the Yankee haters and fans who whine about the Yankees having the highest payroll in MLB and buying a championship: They do indeed have the highest payroll. However, the core four of Andy, Jorge, Derek and Mariano have been with the team since 1996. Add players like Cano, Cabrera, plus others, and much credit should also be given to team management for developing a very talented farm system.

Also, as the team payroll has risen, so too has the amount of luxury tax the team pays that goes to the other 29 teams. The Yankees are a class organization, as even losing manager Rod Gardenhire acknowledged.

All Yankee fans deserve to be very proud of the 2009 World Champions.

Frank Carlino
Latham


II. Dear Editor

As far as the baseball luxury tax goes, as of the 2009 season, only four teams have paid a luxury tax. Out of the 11 times a luxury tax has been invoked, the Yankees have been involved six times. As far as the "extra money" going into owners pockets, that's simply not the case. "Teams whose payrolls exceed set thresholds will be taxed on the portions above the thresholds, with the money to be used for player benefits, including player benefit plan, or the industry growth fund, and developing baseball players in countries lacking organized high school baseball." The money does not just go to the owners.

Baseball needs a salary cap. However, the MLB players' union and the Yankees ownership (who have threatened legal action) make that a moot point. This isn't Yankees "hating," this is simply pointing out what MLB needs to fix.

I do agree with readers concerns about owners pocketing money earmarked for payroll. That is why baseball needs a salary "floor" as well. Yes, the Yankees are operating within the rules, but with the TV network, a huge population to draw from and a lucrative merchandise business, they have a distinct advantage over a team like Cincinnati or Kansas City and the playing field needs to be leveled somewhat.

Steve Perry
Clifton Park

III. Dear Editor

OK, I've had it with all the obviously anti-Yankees fans whining and crying about the Yankees "buying" their championship and how the Yankees shouldn't be celebrated for winning because of past drug use by Andy Pettitte and A-Rod.

First of all, if money spent assured a World Series victory, then the Yankees should also have won the past eight World Series. No one complained when the Yankees spent millions on Giambi, Brown, Pavano and Johnson and didn't win the World Series.

Secondly, Andy and A-Rod did not use the drugs this year.

Lastly, there were 103 players on that list of those who tested positive for PEDs, Some also were on the Red Sox teams of 2004 and 2007, and no one complained when they won, even though they had the second-highest payroll.

Given that there are 30 MLB teams, I'm betting that every single one of them has some players who also were on that list. In light of that, what team could "legitimately" win the World Series that we could be excited about?

Face it, whiners and criers: The Yankees had the best team this season and totally deserved to win the World Series. Get over it already!

Patricia Clark
Clifton Park

It is time to take nominations for November YANKEE EMPLOYEE of the MONTH!

Here's the short list:

Shelley Duncan... So long, Scranton! 2nd EOM crown would cement claim to Yank immortality.

Chad Gaudin... Lights out in post-season! Not one run allowed! Hello, Bob Gibson!

Joe Girardi... Built the Mariano Bridge, linking Palookaville to White Plains!

Jay-Z... Great song! Great performer! Is he in the Hall?

Michael Bloomberg... Spent $100 million to stand on the mound with us. Now, that's a fan!

Suzyn Waldman... First female to call Series! Plus, she grooved to Jay-Z! She gets it!

Michael Kay... Centerstage with Emeril! What the hell does he put in that special sauce?

Am I missing anybody?

Jay's Demand to Yankees: To Win Halladay Cheer, Betray Jesus

Remember those trade packages we dreamed up, the ones featuring Bret Gardner, Phil Coke and Sergio Mitre?

Forget 'em.

Our worst holiday fears have come true.

Toronto wants Jesus Montero.

Bob Sheppard hangs up his pipes

Time to Vote for Ex-Yankee of the Decade

The nominees are:

Alfonso Soriano
1999-2003 with Yankees - 2010 AB, .284 BA, 98 HR
2000-2009 5403 AB, 289 HR, .836 OPS

Jason Giambi
4257 AB, 303 HR, .961 OPS in 2000s
2002-2008 with NYY, 2934 AB, 209 HR, .925 OPS

David Wells
98-58, 4.25 ERA in 2000s
1997-98, 2002-03 with NYY, 124 games, 68-28, 3.90 ERA

Randy Johnson
143-78, 3.34 ERA in 2000s
2005-06 with NYY, 34-19, 4.37 ERA

Mike Lowell
4-15 as a NYY in 1998;
5282 AB with .282 BA and 206 HR in 2000s.

Ted Lilly
8-12, 4.65 ERA with NYY in 2001-2;
103-83, 4.20 ERA in 2000s.

El Duque
61-40, 3.96 ERA in 1998-2004 with NYY;
61-52, 4.29 ERA in 2000s.

Roger Clemens
Fuckit.

Joe Torre
one WS title, three pennants, ten playoff appearances in 2000s.

Gary Sheffield
1308 AB, .291 BA, 76 HR in 2004-2006 with NYY;
4572 AB, .294 BA, 273 HR in 2000s.

Collapse of tofurkey Giants signaling Yankee repeat in 2010

It is universally accepted that the Yankees and football Giants cannot win championships simultaneously. For one to succeed, the other must collapse.

Why is this?

Hopefully, the Large Hadron Collider will explain. If the collider fails, we must continue to seek the essential truth through poetry and drugs.

Either way, the Jersey football Giants are doing their "Yin."


Last night, they barfed tofurkey on national TV, losing to the Denver Rockies.

A bad Giants team may just be the price Yankee fans must accept. We can rage against the Cosmos. It won't help. The Cosmos won't listen. Frankly, the Cosmos doesn't give a shit.

But the Cosmos can't take back our 2009 World Series.

Scientific Pie-Chart Analysis Depicting Reasons Why Redsock Fans Are Thankful This Thanksgiving

Thank You, Butch Wynegar

Scientific Pie-Chart Analysis of Reasons for Yankee Fans to Be Thankful This Thanksgiving

Johnny crushes Hideki

How soon they forget.

The Nominees Are...

For the first YODA, ex-Yankee of the Decade.


Players


Alfonso Soriano - Currently active with Cubs. Also played with Rangers. 7-time AS.

1999-2003 with Yankees - 2010 AB, .284 BA, 98 HR

2000-2009 5403 AB, 289 HR, .836 OPS

Good hit, no field wherever he plays.

Nick Johnson 2539 AB, 693 H, .849 OPS in eight seasons, all in 2000s. .402 career OBP. Still active with Marlins.

2001-2003 with NYY - 769 AB, .256 AB, .800 OPS as 1B/DH

Jason Giambi 4257 AB, 303 HR, .961 OPS in 2000s

2002-2008 with NYY, 2934 AB, 209 HR, .925 OPS

May retire after 2009 with Oakland and Colorado.

Admitted to steroid use in first tour with Oakland A's.

Pitchers

David Wells 98-58, 4.25 ERA in 2000s

1997-98, 2002-03 with NYY, 124 games, 68-28, 3.90 ERA

Now a baseball broadcaster with TBS.

Makes fat people feel better about themselves.

Jose Contreras 71-63, 4.61 ERA in 2000s

2003-04 with NYY, 15-7, 4.64 ERA

Pitched for Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies during 2009 season.

Started MLB career at age 32 after defecting from Cuba.

Randy Johnson 143-78, 3.34 ERA in 2000s

2005-06 with NYY, 34-19, 4.37 ERA

Pitched for Giants in 2009.

Freak of nature. Still pitching at age 46.

I did not consider players who retired as Yankees, even though they played with other teams (Tino Martinez and Mike Mussina are examples).

Other nominations?

Shelley Walks... And then...

... We sign his replacement?


Welcome to Scran-tone, Meester Weber.

Hey! Look Who's Tweeting!

Fake John Sterling on Twitter

Advice Yogi gave to Jimmie Johnson during tour

Monday, NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson toured the Yogi Berra Museum.

Excerpts of the conversation?

"The lap ain't over 'til you're already goin' around it again."

"If you come to a curve in the track, take it."

"You can drive fast, but you always end up back where you started."

"Who can drive and think at the same time?"

"In a race, it stays early really late."

"I can drive 500 laps, as long as I don't have to count 'em."

"It's like Chevy Volt all over again."

Scientific Pie-Chart Analysis Depicting Reasons Why the Yankees Should NOT Sign John Lackey

Source: Fans who say Yankees should not sign John Lackey.

Yankeetorial: Boston is chasing Halladay, and we have been here before

Robin, set the Batputer to Thanksgiving 2003....

(Static sound) Batman, this is Commissioner Gordon. We have reports from Gotham City that the criminal mastermind Two-Face is on the verge of teaming up with ARod! Help! We can't let it happen! Do something, Batman! Enlist your superfriend, Cashman! OMG! the walls are caving. If they get ARod, all is lost! (Static noise, end of transmission.)

Today, we are receiving a similar transmission, except Two-Face (pictured below) is now supposedly on the verge of teaming up with the evil Doctor Halladay.

This time, we must not intervene. In 2003, we overcompensated. After we signed Arod, Robin was heartbroken and turned into Robin Ventura. We lost the chemistry of our super duo. We lost six years.

This time, we must do the following:

1. Put in a decent, but low, bid for the evil Halladay, making the evil Theo squirm. Cashman, you are in charge.

2. Program the Batputer for explore trade options for Josh Johnson of Florida, who is younger and a future ex-Marlin.

3. Sign John Lackey.

If in doubt, forget Numbers 1 and 2. Just sign John Lackey.

.

Let Hideki Matusi go. Let Xavier Nady go. Let Jose Molina go.

.

That's $20 million a year, right there. Take half and sign John Lackey.

If you weaken, think of that pivotal moment in Game 5 of the 2009 playoffs when Mike Scioscia took out Lackey, who was screaming pissy mad, and brought in Oliver, who gave up a triple to Tex. Yeah, they won the game anyway. But Lackey was pitching a shutout. The guy is a gamer. Sign Lackey. He's younger than Halladay. He's still building his career. We keep Joba and Hughes. SIGN LACKEY, SIGN LACKEY, SIGN LACKEY. We stay in the hunt for Josh Johnson.

.

DO NOT PANIC! DO NOT GET SUCKED INTO A HUGE TRADE FOR HALLADAY THAT WILL LEAVE THE REDSOCKS ABLE TO SIGN LACKEY AND TRADE FOR KING FELIX OR JOSH JOHNSON. DO NOT LET THEM HOLD THE CARDS. IF THEY WANT HALLADAY, LET THEM TRADE A BUNDLE. THEY WANT US TO OVER-REACT. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE LEAKING THEIR PLANS. WE HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE. DON'T BITE.

.

JUST SIGN LACKEY. WE WILL WIN THE 2010 WORLD SERIES IF WE SIGN LACKEY.

And This Is Good News?

From MLB.com

Yankees ink recently suspended Dominican outfielder

According to various reports (Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus), the Yankees have reached a $570,000 agreement with Eladio Moronta, who was reinstated seven weeks ago following a one-year suspension by Major League Baseball for misrepresenting his age as 17. Scouts compare the 20-year-old to former player Raul Mondesi.

The Bronx Creates, Queens Imitates

Don't be fooled.

This Is Why We're A John Sterling Blog

According to New York Magazine's Sports Section, Michael NO IT'S TOO UGLY LET THEM TELL IT:

Steiner collectibles is selling THIS?

How can a hat be "game used" when the player wasn't "game used?"

Used when? While watching the game and snacking on Hot Pockets and Cheetos in lovely Salinas, California?

The stranger thing: They got SIX BIDS on this?

In MVP vote, gutless NY sportswriters whiff on Tex and Jeet

Not one hometown first-place vote. Not one.

Not saying Joe Mauer didn't deserve the MVP. But if Jeet or Tex had the same years on another team -- say, the KC Royals -- they'd have been assured at least one first-place vote from a home town writer.

And the scribe would be a hero today.

But not the NYC sportspack. Nope. They're always looking for that chance to patronize, to slip in a rabbit punch -- you know, to remind the stars that writers have some power, afterall.

Not one first-place vote for Tex.


Not one first-place vote for Jeet.

Did they discuss this beforehand? Did they make a pact?

OK, maybe it's just the "Rocky" Oscars scenario.

In 1976, the Best Film -- "Rocky" -- whiffed on four best acting nominees -- Bert Young, Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith and Talia Shire. They canceled each other out among voters. Stallone lost to Peter Finch, the then-deceased actor (think: Heath Ledger) who portrayed the future Glenn Beck in "Network." Talia lost to Faye Dunaway, basically because she had been screwed out of her rightful victory in "Bonnie & Clyde."

Meredith & Young lost for Best Supporting Actor because -- let's face it -- two players on the same team is death in the voting. Jason Robards won for "All the President's Men." Can anybody recall his character? Hell, no. But he won anyway. Meredith's "Mickey" goes down as one of the greatest movie characters of all time. No Oscar, though.

Jeet someday goes into the Hall, first-ballot. This year, even more than his rookie season, was his best shot at the MVP. Not one first-place vote. Not one.

Teixeira? See above. Not one first-place vote. Not one.

If just one NYC scribe voted for his/her home town, Joe Mauer would still have won the MVP. (By the way, Miguel Cabrera got a first-place vote; can you believe it?) And today that writer would eatin' lightning and crappin' thunder!

But the writer would have done a terrible thing: betray the local wolf pack.

Nobody dares do that.

Zell's grandfather

Condolences.

Letter to the Editor: Yankee celebration wrong

FLORIDA TODAY (Brevard County, Florida)
November 14, 2009

Dear Editor,

Congratulations to FLORIDA TODAY sports columnist Peter Kerasotis for having the guts to call out Major League Baseball on the glorification of alcohol in his recent column, "Time to put a cork in celebrations."

I, too, am disgusted by it and wrote the commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig, to asked him what more ridiculous image could Major League Baseball have projected than the newly crowned champion New York Yankees wearing swimming goggles to protect their eyes from the sting of the ritualistic champagne and beer shower.

Speaking as someone who emulated hard-drinking grownups early in life, images matter - a lot. Blending the imagery of baseball heroes with reckless drunks is exponentially more harmful to our youth than the sport's steroid junkies routinely hitting 450-foot home runs.

Few kids will ever be exposed to steroids. Yet most youngsters will be goaded by their peers into getting drunk and crazy. They don't need baseball's superstars tempting them, too.

Bud Selig should announce "last call" for baseball beer bashes and close the locker-room bars.

Mark Clancey
Cocoa Beach

Letter to the Editor: John E. Vidor... hero

The Times-Union (Albany, NY)
November 18, 2009

John E. Vidor of Rensselaer you are my hero!

I have been reading all the negative comments in Talking Points and letters to the editor about the Bombers' World Series win and really getting ticked off.

You hit the nail on the head with the facts of the whole luxury tax issue. Most other owners just pocket the spare cash rather than spend it on their team. In addition, the Yankees cleared more from their payroll this year by not renewing contracts than they spent on Tex, CC, and A.J.

The Yankees are a class act from top to bottom and 2009 was just a fun season for their fans.

Doug Gross
Halfmoon

Exclusive: Video of John Sterling and Barbra Streisand at Lincoln Center!

Top Ten Yankee End of Decade Awards

In the face of the pesky anti-Yankee-spending letter writing campaign going on across the country (or at least across western NY state), what better way to fight back than by displaying the arrogance for which Yankee fans are renown? And in a way that is sure to be unique! With a flurry, a flood, a blizzard, a veritable gusher of self-aggrandizement in the form of self-generated best-of-the-decade awards.

It is with great pride and pleasure that I propose the IIH Top Ten Yankee End of Decade Awards (I-YEDAs or I-YODAs - still to be determined). Each award would be made with appropriate fanfare, accompanied by a widely distributed news release. I'm thinking a Today Show appearance by the end of the I-YODA cycle.

10. Ex-Yankee of the Decade - to be awarded to the ex-Yankee player who had the best on-field performance during the period 2000-2009.

9. Yankee Celebrity Fan of the Decade - a shoe-in for the blond actress who's dating A-Rod? What about Billy Crystal? Rudy?

8. Yankee Blog of the Decade (all non-IIH websites) - self-explanatory

7. It Is High Yankee Blogger of the Decade - for meritorious service to IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS...caught.

6. Yankee Executive of the Decade - Cashman vs. The Boss or someone else (the treasurer?). Could be fun.

5. Yankee Manager of the Decade - Settle once and for all the question - is one ring plus a Good Samaritan act greater than one ring plus several AL pennants? (Note that this award is for service during the years 2000-2009 only)

4. Yankee Team of the Decade - 2000 or 2009, you choose. Non-World Series winning teams need not apply.

3. Yankee All-Decade Team (by position) - at least a couple positions aren't slam dunks.

2. Yankee Employee of the Decade - Could be an amazing list of nominees here.

1. Yankee Player of the Decade - Future Hall-of-Famers only need apply.

And finally, an eleventh award - in keeping with the IIH charter, an award too prestigious to be contained in a mere Top Ten list.

0. Yankee Broadcaster of the Decade - surely there can only be one choice. But we'll let democracy speak.

I propose that the Yankiverse's most capable, fair and creative election commissioner be appointed to post the appropriate polls on the IIH site and to announce the results as only he can. I am of course referring to the one and only El Duque.

What say ye, Yankiverse? To award or not to award, that is the question. There can only be one answer. I say that answer is YES!

Bar chart analysis comparing costs of obtaining Roy Halladay vs. John Lackey

So simple even Anonymous can understand it.

Letter to the Editor: History has been made

Buffalo News (New York)
November 15, 2009

Dear Editor,

Yankees buy, Yankees win!

History has been made. Incredibly, the Yankees have won their 27th major league championship. In this open free enterprise system, the Yankees' ignored the luxury tax like it never existed to buy a World Series ring.

In the history of baseball, this has never been accomplished before. By spending money like a drunken sailor the last 10 years, this organization finally pulled it off. The last three players alone cost them a quarter of one billion dollars, more than the GNP of most Third World countries. This is all perfectly legal and putting to shame any prospects of a farm system; they just simply bought the best players available at every position until they reached their goal.

This is what made this country great. It's called elitism. This means you can belong to any club whether you join freely or are bought by an organization bidding for your services.

Tony Hammill
South Buffalo

Letter to the Editor: A Texan and a Yankee fan

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)
November 16, 2009

Dear Editor,

Jennifer Floyd Engel wrote about her dislike of the Yankees. (See: "Yankees title bad, in November worse," Nov. 3) It’s obvious that she bases her thinking on the assumption that the Yankees are good only because they have a big payroll and that that is an unfair advantage over the other teams. A team doesn’t go to the World Series 40 out of 105 years simply because of payroll. The Yankee organization is doing some things right. Does she also feel that her beloved Cowboys have an unfair advantage?

Creating an advantage is part of all sports competition. Some teams play in air-conditioned domes. Some teams have a lot of speed. Boston has great fans. The Angels have more money than the Rangers.

I’m a Texan and a loyal Yankee fan. I have been since I was 6 years old. No, you don’t buy championships. If you could, Jerry Jones would buy one every year.

Jim Hargrove,
Fort Worth

Yankee Fans Eject Seely From Yankee Fandom

Dadlak may have had a point, but Alphonso's view won out. According to our poll, "gotcha" journalist and self-styled Yankee fan Hart Seely is no fan at all. Seely, you'll remember, shocked the Yankiverse by publishing a hate-filled screed in support of the Red Sox, involving sick children and puppets, on the very eve of the 2009 World Series.

Pete Rose, Roger Clemens and Ugueth Urbina could not be reached for comment.

The Bizarre Eight Year Gap in the Yankee Fossill Record

The great Chad Jennings has a post on LoHud that I can't get out of my head.

He lists the longest tenured Yankees, in terms of organization.

1. Mariano Rivera (non-drafted free agent, February 1990)
2. Jorge Posada (24th round, 1990)
3. Derek Jeter (first round, 1992)
4. Chien-Ming Wang (non-drafted free agent, May 2000)
5. Jose Valdez (non-drafted free agent, October 2000)
6. Robinson Cano (non-drafted free agent, January 2001)
7. Shelley Duncan (second round, 2001)
8. Melky Cabrera (non-drafted free agent, November 2001)
9. Wilkin De La Rosa (non-drafted free agent, November 2001)
10. Phil Coke (26th round, 2002)

Note the eight-year gap in the chain between Nos. 3 and 4...

Between 1992 and 2000, not one new Yankee -- not one, nada -- stayed.

WTF? This was the ascent of Yankind. We became champs. Theoretically, we should have latched onto these gamers and refused to let them go. Whah hoppin?

I dunno. Not a clue. I won't get heavy here, because maybe an analysis of all teams would show something like this. We did keep three players. (Andy would be on this list but -- ahhh -- we let him walk.) A bunch -- Bernie, Tino, Paul, Mendoza -- retired. A bunch -- Reuben Rivera, Irabu, Kenny Rogers, Ed Yarnell -- turned out dogs.

But there is one guy who SHOULD have been a Yankee all the way. We blew it. We frickin' blew it. And any question about Yankee continuity should center about the shameful way we let this guy go.

His name?

el duque, of course

Letter to the Editor: We fight back

New Haven Register
November 15, 2009

Dear Editor,

I want to remind the letter writer who said the Yankees bought themselves another championship that the team hadn't won a World Series since 2000. During the intervening years, people like the writer had said the Yankees can't even buy a championship. I wish they would make up their minds.

Also, the Red Sox went after C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and, especially, Mark Teixiera, but couldn't close the deal.

I wonder what would have been said if Boston got those players.

The money excuse is getting old and nobody really cares. The bottom line is that the Yankees played great baseball and deserved to win the Series.

Dominic Piscopo
New Britain

Letter to the Editor: Unlevel Playing Field

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (New York)
November 15, 2009

Dear Editor,

"The best team money can buy" sure does fit this year's champs, the New York Yankees. When most teams could barely afford one player, and others none, the Yankees put down cash to buy all three top free agents. It's not their fault that they can afford to do this, however the reason they can is because baseball has no salary cap, thus the Yankees spend, spend and spend some more. The playing field needs to be level for all teams to have a chance. It's not good for the game when one team gets all the good players and others find it hard to stay remotely competitive and survive.

The Yankees are an important part of baseball, but they are no more important than any other team.

Robert M. Scantlin
Gates

In Reply to Alphonso

In case anyone's interested (which I doubt anyone is), I've been merely biding my time while the Yankees won it all, drinking a ridiculous amount of UC (case for 15 bucks in Webster!), and slowly morphing from "Michael Kei" to almost our other Michael buddy to the right (Alphonso, think of it as a little getaway trip to Italy).

BUT: we're on our way to our 28th World Championship brought to by Jeep®, and even though I contribute to IIH as much as Mons Meg (and even Suzyn this past year), I still check in almost every day (though it's not very verbal... kind of like a stalker driving by a house).

Just when I thought I was out, theyyyyy pull me back in!

Letter to the Editor: Yankee greed

The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart, Florida)
November 19, 2009

Dear Editor,

Acknowledging Mr. Tonello's letter of (Nov. 14), when he wrote that the Yankees would never agree to a salary cap. He hit the nail on the head! Level the playing field with leveling the salaries. Give other teams a chance.

Mr. Hammer's letter of (Nov. 15) personifies Yankee greed. No team in baseball history has been greedier. Add up the salaries of just their infielders and it comes close to $100 million per year.

It's no coincidence that the team with the most money has the most titles. This comes not from a Yankee fan vs. a Red Sox fan, but from a "baseball fan."

Larry Feehley
Port St. Lucie

Sportswriters, Hark!

This outstanding piece of sports journalism from The Quincy [Illinois] Herald is reprinted in Vol. V, pp 20-21 of Little Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor, ed. T. L. Masson (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1904):

The glass-armed toy soldiers of this town were fed to the pigs yesterday by the cadaverous Indian grave-robbers from Omaha.

The flabby, one-lunged Reubens who represent the Gem City in the reckless rush for the baseball pennant had their shins toasted by the basilisk-eyed cattle-drivers from the West. They stood around with gaping eyeballs like a hen on a hot nail, and suffered the grizzly yaps of Omaha to run the bases until their necks were long with thirst.

Hickey had more errors than Coin’s Financial School, and led the rheumatic procession to the morgue.

The Quincys were full of straw and scrap-iron. They couldn’t hit a brick-wagon with a pickax, and ran bases like pall-bearers at a funeral. If three-base hits were growing on the back of every man’s neck they couldn’t reach ‘em with a feather duster.

It looked as if the Amalgamated Union of South America Hoodoos was in session for work in the thirty-third degree.

The geezers stood about and whistled for help, and were so weak they couldn’t lift a glass of beer if it had been all foam. Everything was yellow, rocky and whangbasted, like a stigtossel full of doggle-gammon.


The game was whiskered and frost-bitten.

The Omahogs were bad enough, but the Quincy Brown Sox had their fins sewed up until they couldn’t hold a crazy quilt unless it was tied around their necks.

(You'll love it even more when The British Printer gets up on its high horse about the unashamed use of the American language.)

[Thanks to Mickey and Ramona.]

I See Where Michael Kei Re-Surfaced

Imagine the shock as I'm sipping some Jack, eating my fourth pickled egg and scanning the comments sections of this blog....most specifically, the flap over Mr. Seely's strange interview with a person ( ok a doctoress ) wearing a Red Sox garbage collector's hat, and I read a comment from Michael Kei.

Most of you may not remember that, for a while, Mr. Kei was a prolific contributor to Yankee lore on this very site.

Then, when the Yankees start doing well, he fades and disappears. We all want to know the story and we are putting reporter Seely on the case.

My theory: it is hard to blog from the can.

Michael?

Yankeetorial: The case for signing Pedro

1. He'll come cheaper than Lackey.

2. One-year deal. No long term mortgage.

3. We don't trade a mound of prospects, as with Halladay.

4. We saw in the series what he can do, even with an 85-mph fastball. (Check out that last number on the right; that's against us in game 2.)

5. Face it: He's always wanted to be a Yankee. He won't let himself be embarrassed.

6. Hating the guy is getting old. C'mon! He's one of the game's great characters!

7. Imagine this moment: His first Youk-beaning.

8. Hey, we're talking 5th starter here.

9. If he can't go five, Pedro Bridge to Mariano!

10. Piss off Redsocks fans.

11. Imagine the learning opportunities for young pitchers when he and Mariano talk shop.

12. If he flops... nails in the driveway!

What do I know? This is what I know.

Shelley Outrighted to Scranton

Is it all over?