Damn Yankees

Oh, all right - I've been really busy with work the past couple of months and haven't made the time to write here even though there have been many opportunities to be torqued off at something or recognize phenomenal achievements or anything worth recognizing. But I just can't let the 27th World Series championship of the those damn Yankees go by without saying something.

Is it the end of the world now that the Darth Vader of baseball is on top again? You can just hear George Steinbrenner breathing in the background, can't you? He wasn't physically at the monument to sports greed (or is that the new Dallas Cowboys stadium) last night but the force was definitely with him and his progeny last night. What's a billion or so to build a stadium for baseball's most storied franchise? What's another billion or so to sign the top players in the game? Sorry, doesn't matter that they hadn't won it all since 2000. My San Francisco Giants haven't won it all since they were in New York back in '54. Many other small market teams don't have a chance against the big-city juggernauts of New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Boston. Until something is done about making it a true level playing field (pun intended), the small market teams like last year's anomaly that was the Tampa Bay Rays, will be just that, few and far between.

And let's be real - who really wants to watch the San Diego Padres versus the Texas Rangers in the World Series? Certainly not Major League Baseball. Just remember folks - follow the money. Sports achievement is no longer the dream of little kids with some ability. It is now reserved for those that can afford the best trainers as early as possible with the right connections and the right opportunities to show talent and to be lucky enough to not get seriously hurt right in front of that scout. And you better not give up that big home run or flub that ground ball or misjudge that fly ball when the game is on the line. Cuz there are hundreds right in line greedily salivating over the potential for the big payday.

And while I'm at this baseball specific rant, I have to take umbrage with Hideki Matsui being named MVP of the World Series. Not to take anything away from his performance last night at the plate, but a DH as MVP? You have got to be kidding. With the format of the Series, the DH only played in half the games of this 6-game series and then didn't play a position in the field. Sorry but Johnny Damon, for my money did a better job overall in impacting the entire Series. But the MVP should have gone to Chase Utley. Here's a guy who took the whole Phillies team on his shoulders, both at the plate and on the field. If Utley plays as poorly as Howard, the Yankees win in 4. But giving the losing team the MVP has become unheard of in modern times (not in almost 50 years), so the player that made the biggest impact, struck fear in the hearts of Philly fans wasn't Matsui, it was Marino Rivera. Philly knew that if they were behind at the end of the game, they were done for. And Rivera did not disappoint NY fans. Having that kind of stopper distracts the opponent and leaves hitters defeated before they even get to the batter's circle. But a DH or closer as MVP? Now we know that baseball will never go back to it's roots, it's traditions or to value the ability of the all-around player (Jeter may be the last for a while). Listen up kids - if you have one good skill, it's now the land of the specialist. And if you lose that skill and haven't backed yourself up with other non-sports skills, you better get used to bagging at the grocery store, laying pavement or playing security guard.

So, a begrudged congratulations to the Yankees. If I can just get past the millionaires jumping on each other after the last out, I can still see a glimmer of the little kids they once were. And that was what I stayed up last night to see in the moment. Even the most jaded can see the pure joy in the victor's faces even if it's only a brief crack in the facade that is now Major League Baseball.