The 27th Championship

Before I left the house to watch the game game, I set my VCR to record the post game celebration. I figured if we got to a point in the game with Mariano Rivera on the mound we were good to go. So there we are with a lead in the ninth….Mo on the mound and all of a sudden….a stolen base…a bad throw….a jam shot…broken bat…humped backed line drive falling out of Jeter’s reach and the dream series was over…..

Of course I’m referring to the ending of the 2001 World Series, which, had the Yankees held on to win, would have been the series to end all series from a Yankee perspective. In the shadow of the 911 attacks, the healing had begun and what better way to speed up that process than with a World Championship?? Of course, The Yankees had no business playing in a game 7 that year. They had been out matched by the Diamondbacks and their double headed snake named Shilling and Johnson. Yet they somehow managed to win a couple of games that they had no business winning and there they were on the edge of immortality with an immortal on the mound. Needless to say, I never watched one second of that post game celebration.

So last night, I tempted fate once again. Prior to leaving the house, I set my DVR to record the Yankee post game. We got the lead and we had Mariano on the hill and this time the outcome was as scripted. Mariano for the last 5 outs. The final out was a weak ground ball to second baseman Robinson Cano by Shane Victorino. Felt sorry for Shane as he had a badly bruised index finger and Mariano pounded him inside…again and again, pitch after pitch, pin point control drilling deep into his weakness. I’m certain he can still feel the “bees” in that hand today.

So, all is well in Yankeeville today, as the long wait is over. I know that “long wait” comment will draw scorn from fans of other franchises (Cubbies), as every other team in MLB would gladly take a World Title every eight years. Truth is, Yankee fans have been spoiled over the last 15 years.

What was once expected had eluded their grasp for 8 seasons. A couple of failed trips to the World Series and a slew of early playoff exits, one year of no post season play at all. Goliath was being slain by David on a regular basis.

I received one message offering up congratulations for last nights Yankee win…ONE!! I also got a few that screamed, “Championships should be won, not bought!!” Ah, come on, I really resent that. I’m no Johnny come lately Yankee fan.

My first real World Series memory was The Yankees losing game 7 in 1964 to the Cardinals and Bob Gibson (pitching on 2 days rest). Not to worry, next year we’ll get them. Turn the clock forward 12 years….longest drought for the Yankees since the modern World Series began, it took them 18 years to get to their first World Series in 1921. From 1965 to 1974 not a single Yankee batter drove in 100 runs, that dubious streak ended in 1975 when Thurman Munson managed 102 RBI’s. I had to endure the talents of Horace Clark, Jerry Kenny, Jim Mason and Celerino Sanchez, may he rest in peaceL Bobby Murcer and Roy White did all they could to keep things interesting. The pitching was not much better. Take away Mel Stottlemyre’s three 20 game seasons and you have to look to Fritz Peterson for the other single 20 win season before Catfish showed up in 1975. So let’s face facts, The Yankees had lost their finesse. They spent a decade as a second division team. They sunk so low that George Steinbrenner put together an ownership group that paid CBS 10 Million for the franchise.

In 1990 the Royals out spent the Yankees by 3 million. By 2002 you really start to see the difference between the Yankees payroll and the rest of Baseball. This just so happens to correspond with the creation of the YES network. Whoever figured out that this was the way to go should be given the keys to the Yankee vault. YES is printing cash and to the Yankees credit, they are reinvesting that cash in their product. Hate the game, don’t hate the player.

In 1996 the Yankees out spent the Orioles by 4 million (52-48m)

In 1998 the Orioles out spent the Yanks by 7 million (70-63m)

In 1999 the Yankees out spent the Texas Rangers by 7 million (88-81m)

In 2000 the Yankees out spent the Dodgers by 2 million (92-90m)

In 2001 the Yankees out spent the Redsox & the Dodgers by 3 million (112-109M)

In 2002 the Yankees out spent the Redsox by 17 million (125-108)

For all of the people who say that the Yankees buy their championships, I say phooey. They spent more than everyone by a wide margin from 2002 to 2008 and did not win a thing. .In 2009 the Yankees spent 88m more that the Phillies, but this fact alone does not guarantee them a world championship. Players get paid more to play for the Yankees. The pressure that they are under to win it all is immense.

I agree that MLB must do something to even out the playing field. The luxury tax is a joke, as there are no provisions documented that stipulate how the money is to be spent. That money should be put back into the team, not used to line the owners’ pocket. That being said, putting in a salary cap might limit the Yankees from signing most of the good players and that fact alone would help…but, with the Yankees revenue stream, they could commit 100m for scouting and player development, which would still give them an advantage. The only way to make things right is to put a cap on team expenditures over all. And THAT will never happen.

I also hate the DH. I think using a DH takes away most of the strategy involved in a baseball game. That being said, eliminating the DH would have deprived us of Matsusi’s performance in game six of the World Series.

Talk in Yankeeland is that both Damon and Matsui may not be back. The Yankees want to get younger and more athletic. Jeter is clutch, Damon and Matsui are right there with him. I’m sure that they need not be reminded that without both of those players, they might not be lifting that 27^th trophy over their heads.