Flees.net

The 2005 Baseball Playoffs

Well, here it is, the much delayed debut of my blog. In this I hope to share my thoughts about various products, websites, and world happenings. I hope any who read this gain something from it. Well, without further ado, here I go.

The first item on today's docket has to be baseball. More specifically, it has to be the Major League Baseball playoffs. The California Los Angeles Sunshine State Angels of Anaheim and other nearby cities eliminated the New York Yankees Monday night in a gripping winner take all final game to advance to the League Championship Series against the Chicago White Sox. This is happy news to fans of my ilk, Yankee bashers.

I grew up loving baseball ever since the Tigers had their magical season of 1984, but never had a problem with the Yankees until their recent dynasty sprang up in the mid-90's. However, once the Yankees had won a couple World Series, it became obvious that George Steinbrenner would never be satisfied with anything less again. And so has began an annual cycle where the Yankees load up with high salary players in an attempt to win another championship at any cost.

Some people refer to this tactic as "buying" a championship - something other teams have been accused of in the past, most recently, the 1997 Florida Marlins. The Yankees payroll this year was over $200 million on opening day; the second highest payroll was the Boston Red Sox, at somewhere around $120 million. As you can see, the Yankees spend almost double what the next highest team does. The Yankees can only do this because of the large market of New York and the vast amount of revenue the Yankees pull in through television deals and the like. The Yankees can spend this kind of money and still remain profitable.

This situation allows New York to potentially dominate the entire game of baseball. I believe it is only because of bonehead personnel decisions that they have not won the World Series since 2000. Every year it was in their reach, but their flawed team broke down somewhere along the line. A $200 million team should not lose to a $80 million team over the course of a 7 game series. I am honestly glad whenever this happens, though.

I take delight in the Yankees losing. The franchise as a whole seems so haughty and arrogant, and it rubs off on their fans. Plus, too many people are Yankees bandwagoners. If you didn't grow up in New York or a nearby state without a baseball team of its own, then you have no right to be a Yankees fan. Have you ever noticed the phenomena of when a team a wins a championship and fans wearing that team's gear seem to just ooze out of the woodwork? That is bandwagonism or fair weather fans and I simply cannot tolerate it. The Tigers have stunk for 12 years or so and I am still a fan and I still wear their gear proudly.

Inevitably, if my team is not in the mix, I will root for the team that has gone the longest without a World Series championship. Last year, that was the Red Sox, and low and behold, they won the whole thing. This year, I am rooting for the Astros (never won one) and the White Sox (not since 1917 I think). Apparently, they are both underdogs at this time. I do think, however, that they both have a very good chance to make it. I will go on the record predicting the Astros will defeat the Cardinals 4 games to 3 and the White Sox will defeat the Angels 4 games to 2.

Tags | baseball |