…Yankees Go Home

George Steinbrenner took a subtle jab at the Mets, who won the first game of their division series yesterday, 6-5 over the Dodgers. Asked if he were scared of the Mets, Steinbrenner said, “Not the way they played today, I am not.” (New York Times, October 5, 2006)

Short of a World Series championship, nothing brings a smile to the face of a Mets fan like the sight of the Yankees being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The smug, arrogant, privileged old guard franchise from across town, with the largest payroll in Major League Baseball, got brought down a peg when the Detroit Tigers took games 2, 3 and 4 of their best of five game series to win the AL Division Series, 3 games to 1. It’s like watching a guy in a tux step out of a limo and get splattered with mud by a passing Yugo.

From the minute the playoff matchups were announced, all we here in New York heard out of the Yankee camp was “Who will they play in the World Series?” There was no respect or consideration given to the opposing Detroit Tigers, or the other AL contenders, the Oakland A’s and Minnesota Twins. It was as if it would be a cakewalk. Just give the Yanks the trophy and everybody go home.

As a fan of “the other New York baseball team” we are used to such snubs. For 162 regular season games there is a constant competition for the back pages of the tabloids, with the Yankees usually winning regardless of what they do. The Mets could win both ends of a double header while the Yanks lose a meaningless game, and the headlines will still read, “Yanks Lose A Close One” with a small banner at the bottom of the page, “Mets Take Two.” (Case in point: the Mets swept the Dodgers to go on to the NLCS and all anyone in NYC can talk about is the Yankees loss.)

The overbearing, obnoxious, autocratic owner of the Bronx Bombers, George Steinbrenner, is largely to blame for my disdain for that franchise. The Yankees are to baseball what the United States is to foreign trade with Third World nations; the 800 pound gorilla that already owns everything while still throwing its weight around. The vacuum that sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

Now that they’re going home, they will have their typical over-reaction. Steinbrenner will threaten to fire manager Joe Torre. Alex Rodriguez’s head will be in a chopping block. They will act like a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum, instead of a team that has more assets, more resources and more to be grateful for than any other franchise in baseball.

Good riddance Yankees. Now, let’s go Mets!