There are few sports teams I dislike more than the New York Yankees. They represent everything that is wrong with professional sports.
Year after year they sign high-priced free agents to outrageous contracts, which has led them to become arguably the most successful sports franchise ever. They’ve proven that you can buy championships and I can’t stand it.
So seeing the Yankees fall flat on their face in the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers has made me giddier than a 12-year-old school girl at a Justin Bieber concert.
It’s been like watching a huge train wreck and I can’t help but sit back and laugh.
There are reports that superstar Alex Rodriguez was flirting with two female fans near the end of Game 1 of the ALCS after he was replaced by a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. A-Rod had a bat boy toss the women a ball with instructions to write their numbers on it.
It’s good to see the Yankees’ $30 million man, who has now been benched and is 3-for-23 with no RBIs in these playoffs, has his priorities in the right place.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for using the “hey I play for the Yankees” line to pickup women. Heck, I encourage it, but come on A-Rod. At least save it for the bars after the game. Your team is currently playing for a World Series.
It’d be one thing if the Yankees were simply struggling on the field, but it’s side shows like these that make it that much better to see the Evil Empire fall on their face.
While A-Rod has been awful in this postseason, he isn’t the only one. New York centerfielder Curtis Granderson is 3-for-29 with 15 strikeouts in the playoffs. He joined Rodriguez on the bench in Game 4. Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has been worse than them both going 3-for-36 this postseason.
Losing shortstop Derek Jeter to a broken ankle in Game 1 of the ALCS has only made things worse. Jeter has long been the emotional leader of the pinstripes and his lack of presence has made this circus possible.
I truly feel bad for Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi, who I believe is one of the best in baseball. You can only do so much when three of your best hitters are a combined 9-for-88 in the postseason. Girardi is also managing with a heavy heart, as his father passed away a couple of weeks ago.
But none of that changes how happy I am to see the Yankees and their $197 million payroll crash and burn. New York spends $20 million more than any team in baseball and $100 million more than all but eight other teams.
To put it in perspective, the Yankees have $55 million on the bench with Rodriguez and Granderson underperforming and Jeter out. That’s as much as the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres pay their entire roster.
This couldn’t happen to a better team. The Yankees have dominated baseball to the tune of 27 World Series Championships, 16 more than the second place Cardinals. Seeing them get stomped by the Detroit Tigers has been worth all the nauseating 24/7 Yankees talk on ESPN.
The good news is we won’t have to hear much more of the Evil Empire this season and I couldn’t be happier.
Alex Ross is a senior sports communication major from Fishers, Ind. He is the Scout sports editor.
Direct comments, questions and other responses to agross@mail.bradley.edu.