Root for the Yankees? I Wish

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

            If only I was a Yankee fan.

            Rooting for the Bronx Bombers really is baseball nirvana, isn’t it? After all, New York is seemingly in the pennant chase until at least mid-September every single year.  And it would be so nice to cheer for a team that considered anything less than perennially winning the World Series a colossal failure.

            Honestly, I am pretty sure that Yankee owner George Steinbrenner would rather have his team contracted from baseball than try to endure a rebuilding season.  Say what you want about Steinbrenner, but he simply tries harder to win than any other owner, even if it means splurging on the most irresponsible spending spree since Paris Hilton discovered Louis Vuitton.

            Steinbrenner is not oblivious to our nation’s economy, either. He knows just as well as anyone that the U.S. is suffering through its worst recession since World War II.  While almost every single other baseball franchise slashed payroll in these tough times, Steinbrenner doled out cash so fast that his checkbook started smoking.

            New York signed three free agents this offseason—A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira—to contracts totaling over $420 million. And if that’s not enough, New York opened up the brand new Yankee Stadium this season, which cost only a mere $1.6 billion.

            When all other baseball teams zig, the Yankees zag.

            Fans everywhere covet the seemingly-bottomless money bin that Steinbrenner uses to snatch their home team’s superstars. In fact, every year the Yankees are always one or two players away from being involved in the “greatest team of all time” discussion.

            And this is why I wish I was a Yankee fan.

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