Buy, George: How to Learn to Love the Yanks

In recent years, much hot air has been expended over how loathful the New York Yankee organization is for Major League Baseball. World Series wins by the D-Backs, Marlins, and Red Sox have doused the flames somewhat.

The general reasons given, whether by fans or media, concern "buying a team," and "having the biggest payroll." Kind of a bias against big market baseball. This brand of hating is unfounded on so many counts. Honest fans and objective journalists should take a breath, and get a reality check on the Pinstriped Universe.

Before Curt Flood, baseball's reserve clause bound a player to his team until said team chose to waive him, or exchange his services. In those days, the Yankees were a juggernaut, winning pennants almost annually. This dominance endured from the Murderer's Row era of the 1920s, through Joe DiMaggio's 1940s, and on during the Mick Mantle/Whitey Ford years that terminated with the loss of the '64 Series.

Not long after the advent of free agency came George Steinbrenner. Call the novice Steinbrenner "George the First" — he of the multiple firings of Billy Martin and the Trump-Like Me Decade celebrity persona. The butt of weekly jokes on "Saturday Night Live." George I won pennants with free agents that A's owner Charlie Finley chose not to pay — mainly Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson. The managerial musical chairs were a farce.

But contemporary fans spew venom at George II. Why is that? Who cast the historic Red Sox, with their shameful past regarding integration, and their early souring on Pudge [Fisk], Freddie [Lynn], and the Rocket [Roger Clemens], as America's sympathetic favorites?

Recent Yankee success began with talent developed within the team's own farm system — Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettite, and Jorge Pasada. Through deft dealing and free agency, George II added stars such as Jimmy Key, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Mike Mussina, and Roger Clemens. The team operates under the rules of the post-Flood (Curt, not Noah) era. Almost all the acquired talent is a the "good citizen" variety — players like Wade Boggs, Robin Ventura, and John Olerud that paid their dues in other cities.

The evidence that The Boss has mellowed is his soft spot for second chances. Da Bronx is where old players live again. The solid late '90s Yanks didn't have to sign Cecil Fielder, Tim Raines, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Chuck Knoblauch, David Wells, and Ruben Sierra, but they did. Past their primes, when teams weren't exactly beating down those guys' doors. That speaks volumes. And despite the team's woes the past three Octobers, George II has stood by cancer-stricken skipper Joe Torre. George I would have given him the gate. Ditto on Mel Stottlemyre (and probably GM Brian Cashman).

Then there's the analogy to other businesses. Would observers begrudge a law firm if they pursued the most talented attorneys? A software company if they recruited the best designers? A hospital for seeking the finest physicians and nurses available? Of course not. The vintage Yankees developed or traded for talent, and kept it. The Bombers of the arbitration age find it where they can (Alfonso Soriano was in Japan, as was Hideki Matsui).

If other owners lack the savvy to operate under these circumstances, haters should direct their ire at them. After all, the Braves and Cubs have national cable broadcasts, not the Yankees. It's not how much money one has, it's how one spends it. And to be consistently successful (not one and out like the D-Backs) in today's game, one must, to quote Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck, "jar loose from respectable scratch."

If the Yankees, or any other successful entity, are not one's cup of tea for reasons of rivalry, regional preference, or opposite-league loyalty, all is well and good. But disliking an organization because they strive for excellence? The hot stove season can be long and cold — so save some energy and tip the cap.