I Hate the Yankees, But Not the "Yankees"

This is coming from a Dodger Fan.

I hate the Yankees, don't get me wrong, but not the Yankees everyone else suspects. I hate the Yankees from 1996-present.

In 1920, Yankee baseball was born with Ruth being traded for with Boston, and until 1996 I had tremendous respect for them. Their legends are simply mesmerizing and are once in a lifetime time players.

Starting with Ruth, DiMaggio, Gehrig, Mantle, Maris, Berra, Stengel, Huggins, Gomez, Lazzeri, Ruzzito, Reggie, Munson, Billy Martin, Ford, and finally Mattingly. They epitomized what the Yankees were all about.

They were talented, intelligent, and simply had the desire to win more than any given team's collection of players in MLB history. Even though they would beat your favorite teams year in and year out, you knew they didn't have to buy everyone and treat the media like crap.

I simply cannot stand the 1996-present New York Yankees era.

Whether it's Jeter's famous "fist pump when they win" (very overrated) to Clemens being a *****, throwing a broken bat to Mike Piazza, then claiming to blackout during the incident.

Another one is A-Rod's bush league play in Game Six of the 2004 ALCS where he tried to swipe at the glove of then Boston pitcher Bronson Arroyo.

These Yankees aren't respected by their peers. Perhaps just a few core of players like Torre, Rivera, Jeter, and Posada, but the rest of the country doesn't give a care about everyone else.

The Yankee fans can rip on me all they want. I respect and am in awe of their history from 1919-1996 as much as anyone else who has ever watched the game of baseball. To be honest, this version of the Yankees is getting irritating to bare. Bring back the Yogi's and the Scooter's and the Ironhorse's.