Friday, March 23, 2018

In the 2018 Yankees, there is no "evil" and no "empire"

Lately, the conventional Gammonitic cracker-barrel drivel has troweled up a rather convenient chestnut for 2018: It's okay to hate the Yankees again, because the "Evil Empire" once again embodies the big money arrogance in sports.

This allows Redsock fans - (aka Yankee haters who follow Boston) - to cloak their regular vitriolic bile in a bleached white sheet of morality. The fact is, for some Yankee haters - not all, but definitely some - their negative passion stems from a deep-seeded hatred of New York City, aka urban America, with its unspoken undercurrents of racism and antisemitism. I'm not saying Yankee-haters are racist. But over the years, certain Yankees - Reggie, Sheffield, A-Rod - always served as the harshest lightning rods for anger. It wasn't a coincidence.

But it was the big Yankee money that folks claimed to hate most. The Yankees bought pennants. They stole free agents from small market teams, who couldn't afford them. They bullied the rest of baseball and operated with a different set of financial rules. This, of course, was bullshit. Some of the richest billionaires in the game owned teams in small markets like Minnesota and Kansas City. They could outbid any team for any player; they simply didn't care.

When the Yankees last ruled baseball - the great, late-90s teams under Joe Torre - who could rightfully hate the lineup? Bernie, O'Neill, Tino, and young versions of Mariano and Jeter... what to hate? After the Yankees added Giambi, Moose and A-Rod, anti-NY tempers came to a boil - it was the notion that an already great team was attracting stars who wanted to win rings. That's when the "Evil Empire" passions went crazy.

But really, folks... how do you assign such anger to this Yankee team? Where's the evil? 

Last year, the Yankees were embodied by Aaron Judge, a selfless rookie who went through a dramatic ascension of fame and then a hellish slump, and yet who never once ripped a sportswriter or flipped off a fan. He became the smiling face of baseball, and he's not even yet a millionaire. Or Didi Gregorius, who replaced a legend. Good luck in hating him, folks. Or Sanchez or Bird or Severino... tell me who is overpaid and arrogant? If there is a problem with the 2018 Yankees, it's that we fans fell in love with the concept of young and unblemished rookies rising through our system: we wanted Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres in the lineup. Not Neil Walker. But if that's he's high-priced free agent for 2018, seriously... is that your Evil Empire?

Of course, the reason for the venom these days is Giancarlo Stanton, and the fraudulent notion that the Yankees got him in a trade for next to nothing. (That, by the way, has been fed by the Yankees front office, wanting to look good.) The Yankees acquired Stanton because: 1) they were spurned by Shohei Ohtani, 2) the Marlins were obsessed with dumping his contract, 3) the Yankees gave up a solid starting second baseman in Starlin Castro and 4) they also gave up two top prospects, plucked from their farm system by the very guy who used to run it, Gary Denbo. If other fan bases are angry, it should be because their own franchises didn't jump in and offer the Marlins more. (Yes, he had a no-trade clause, but it had several cities on it.) Nobody did, because the Yankee offer was more substantial than most people want to believe.

So... how does anyone get off hating the Yankees? Muscle memory, I guess. Today, six teams have higher projected payrolls: Boston ($229 M), Washington ($201 M), San Francisco ($197 M), Cubs ($183 M), Houston ($182 M) and Dodgers ($179 M). You can look it up. Where's the evil? And where's the empire? They won the Wild Card last year, not the Division. And the Redsocks, who did win the AL East, just added the preeminent free agent slugger on the 2018 market, JD Martinez. Why is that different from the 2002 Yankees adding Giambi? Why isn't Boston being singled out for over-spending?

Well, we all know the answer. The real evil in pro sports is not uppity players being overpaid or failing to salute their flag-wrapped owners. It is franchises that willingly throw fan bases overboard, looking to tank for several seasons, so they can build powerhouse teams on the cheap. The system is designed for just such moves, and what everyone needs is one whipping mule team to hate, to blame for all misfortune, rather than focus on the greed and cynicism of the local franchise owner. That's why it's okay to hate the Evil Empire this year, and dammit, the sportswriters ought to address it.

13 comments:

KD said...

redsocks have always been more "evil" than us. all we really had was Mr. Rod and he was actually more goofy than evil. The Yanks being evil has always been more about hating the Big City.

Where was that salsa made? New York City!? PTOOEY!!!

KD said...

Oh, and the almost universal Underdog Fetish. That had something to do with it too.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

The team of Pumpsie Green has always had more than it's share of racist townie assholes, on the field, in the office and especially in the grandstands.

That makes them evil to the core. Granted, there are a few normal people sprinkled in their fan base. I pity them - seriously, it must suck to root for such a team.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Amen, Duque! Great piece.

You're right: the main objects of Sox fans' ire was always, somehow, a player of color. It was always Reggie or even Dar-ryl who they mocked with on-field chants. The one exception was Clemens, who they felt somehow had betrayed them, even after they threw him overboard.

You ask "How" will they find a way to hate this team? Oh, don't worry about it. These are the people who hated A-Rod, even though he tried his best to surrender $4 million a year to play in Boston.

They'll find a way. Sox fans are endlessly self-pitying and aggrieved. They control most of the fan base in six states (and probably now much of Canada), but insist that they are a small-market team. They endlessly exploit their park and make money hand over fist, but keep pretending they can't compete.

I say "Phooey!" on them. I do, sir. There, I've said it! There's no taking it back. I await challenges to duels.

Anonymous said...

BOY, THIS POST IS SO ACCURATE....

WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING MY MET FAN FRIEND SAID TO ME AFTER THE YANKS GOT STANTON?

"YOU'RE BACK TO BUYING CHAMPIONSHIPS AGAIN, HUH?"

I TOLD HIM, WE DIDN'T BUY HIM... WE TRADED FOR HIM.

STARLIN CASTRO, A GOOD EVERYDAY PLAYER, JORGE GUZMAN (22 YEARS OLD AND 102 MPH FASTBALL), AND ANOTHER PROSPECT, WAS NOT A GIVEAWAY.

THE RED SOX AND DODGERS SPEND AND SPEND AND SPEND, BUT NO ONE SAYS A PEEP.

THE MINUTE THE NEW YORK YANKEES MAKE A SPLASH, EVERYONE BITCHES AND MOANS.

HEY BABY....WE ARE UNDER THE LUXURY TAX.... I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT.

JM said...

I just hope we beat the tar out of everyone. Mercilessly, shamelessly, piling on the runs and the wins and making all the haters hate even more. Because they're stupid and a lot of them are ugly and most of them are fat blobs. Nyah nyah.

Oh, and if they like the Red Sox, they're also deluded. And probably racist.

KD said...

You tell 'em, John M!! I'll hold your coat if things get ugly.

Carl J. Weitz said...

You said what needed to be said, Duque. We know what the deal is.

It's often subtle and it's always ignorant but what is NYC if it isn't really just a metaphor used by bigots and haters for minorities and Jews? You know,full of those mutants who ride the # 7 subway train to the stadium that John Rocker once pointed out. Or "Hymietown",that city which is dominated and controlled by those people who use their money to exploit the system and feed off the carcasses of poor teams ,as Jesse Jackson claimed.

13bit said...

As the great FDR said: “Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred.”

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HoraceClarke66 said...

13bit, great historical point! I think, "We Welcome Their Hatred!" should become our slogan for this year.

But folks, Ms. Alison's missive above is giving me chills.

Obviously, this is the JuJu gods testing us, tempting us to sign on to deep and disturbing mystical powers to win the AL East. It's like that woman in red on Game of Thrones who's always going around burning people at the stake and urging them to kill their own children, then saying, 'Oops, I think I got the wrong messiah here. My bad!'

Resist, my brethren! (And sistren, auntren, and cousinren.) Resist! This is just some evil sorceress from somewhere to the north, I'm thinking. (Salem: not far from Boston. MORE than coincidence???). Resist the evil one!

Alphonso said...

Well either you ( Duque ), or the above framed alenna alison, are the best writers I know. You both do your homework, that is plain to see.

Is it possible your JU-JU god is the same as ODUMODU, or is she really referencing the former Defensive End for the Giants whom we nicknamed OSI?

In any case, your lamentation for a sportswriter to do the job you just did, is commendable. Sadly, few sports writers work hard anymore. They just re-phrase the obvious, tired, meaningless themes ( " Are the UCONN women bad for Basketball?; How many homers will Stanton and Judge combine for? Did the Vikings overpay for Cousins?" Did the Yankees just buy a World Series?)

No one takes on anything meaningful, that requires work and is likely to ruffle feathers.

I have sent your resume to the sports department of the News, the Times, and the Picayune.

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