Outside The Press Box
We used to be in there, now we’re out here
Listen, I’m no Yankees fan – one of my fondest sports memories involves mercilessly taunting Sarah DeVita and James Quintong when the Mariners beat the Yankees on “The Double” back in 1995 – but I can’t say I was all that worked up about New York winning its 27th championship Wednesday night.
Baseball, or any other sport, needs to have an alpha dog, a Public Enemy No. 1 that fans can channel their emotions toward. After the Yanks won, there was a barrage of defensive posts on Facebook, anguished tweets on Twitter and impassioned columns across the blogosphere.
You don’t get that kind of sentiment when the Phillies or Marlins win the World Series, now do you? You can’t work up that good, hearty animus when you’re dealing with the rinky-dink Rays, right?
So the Yankees spend a lot of money – that doesn’t make World Series success a fait accompli given their relative drought before this season. And let’s not forget that the Phillies weren’t exactly standing on the corner, hat in hand, in order to pay their players, ranking seventh in the league in salary at $113 million.
No, the Yankees are successful because players know the Yankees are successful. It doesn’t hurt that they pay the most money, but plenty of teams throw cash around. Only one has the historical import and national presence of the Yankees.
And now, the 2010 season will be enhanced because everyone (well, except maybe the Royals and Pirates) will be doing their damndest to knock off the hated Bronx Bombers. Fans will be clamoring for someone to smack that purple-lipped smug smirk of A-Rod’s face, that C.C. Sabathia will eat himself into oblivion, or that Nick Swisher will go on the DL due to an unfortunate mohawk accident.
So, congratulations Yankees and Yankee fans. You got this one, and now we can all go back to hating you.
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- Tags: a-rod, hate, world series, yankees
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Two former sports reporters freed from the constraints of traditional print media write about the hot topics on both the Seattle and national sports scene. No deadlines, no word count, no press box decorum — we're Outside The Press Box.
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2 Responses to Why the bad guys need to win – sometimes
S. Oelek
November 5th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Agreed. It is more fun when there’s someone to loathe. Marlins victories just make you disgusted with the state of baseball in general; the team itself generates no emotion whatsoever.
Yankees victories are a bit different though. It’s kinda cute to watch all those people in that expensive building in New York pretend to be fans, but it’s also galling.
In reality, there’s no such thing as Yankees fans. There are only people for whom Uncle George either did or did not by a present this year. There’s very little emotional risk or investment — the key ingredient in sports fandom of all flavors — in rooting for the Yanks.
If they win like they’re supposed to then they win; if not, *shrug*.
I don’t really see the same level of gut-churning anxiety from the New York crowd as there is in say, Baltimore. Or even Kansas City. There’s just a bloated, spoiled sense of unearned self-importance.
There’s no other baseball franchise like it. (Though the Red Sox are getting closer and closer. Only the Lakers bring a similar level of emotional free-riding.)
Sarah DeVita
November 6th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Hi Haters.