As a New York fan, now is not a fun time to watch baseball. Last night, I started watching the Yanks play the Rays, and after realizing they weren’t really trying to win, I switched the game to see the Marlins. I was less disappointed. Just mere months ago, Cashman begged fans to not give up. Well, I’ve given up. October is right around the corner, and I have enough things going on in my personal life, the last thing I want is to root for a last-place team. You can forget about the wild card shot. I’m a dreamer as much as anyone, but let’s be realistic.
Money isn’t the problem with this organization. It’s mismanaged funds. Personally, I think somebody watched a little too much of the movie Moneyball and forgot what it really meant to wear Pinstripes. Pinstripes used to mean something. As one fan cleverly said, “We were spoiled with Mariano Rivera.” If he was closing, you knew you’d win the game. He’d shut them out. Lights out, let the fans of the rival team start clearing the parking lot. Now, we have Gerrit Cole, who is good but when your team spends most of the time striking out or hitting a ball right to the infield it becomes very hard to actually win a game.
The Yankees have now made history. They have lost 9 games in a row for the first time in 40 YEARS. That’s wild to think about. They are no longer the Bronx bombers who score runs, they just bomb and give up.
Domingo German also made history, by pitching a PERFECT GAME and then was abruptly taken out for the remainder of the season for treatment of alcohol abuse.
These players get paid to play a game, and they get paid larger than life to do so. Sometimes, I wonder if we really treat players like humans. They are real people who are just doing (or not doing) their job and yet have real struggles.
The Bronx is home to the most ruthless, classless fan base that has ever been on this planet. It takes a tough man to put on the pinstripes. They will boo you as soon as you walk up to homeplate. I’m pretty sure they boo’d Hicks right to the Baltimore Orioles. Even after Hicks had 30 million and 3 years left on his contract, the yanks organization aggressively said thanks but no thanks by setting him free.
At the end of the day, no one gets to the major league baseball level without talent. No one even sitting on the bench is without talent. The question is, do you want to win? Do the Yankees even want to win? Or are they more concerned with their fancy stadium, and making money off the drinks? Look at the stats, and I firmly believe that’s where you will find your answer.
Photo by Chanan Greenblatt on Unsplash