Yankees Suck, er, Something Intelligent

Hi, my name is Kevin, and I hate the Yankees.

In the interest of full-disclosure, and in fairness to the readership of this website, I think it’s best we start there before we move forward, so everyone is on the same page.

I don’t like the Yankees. Never have. Possibly it’s because I grew up in Kansas City as a Royals fan and the hating of the big-guy on the block is an ingrained trait you have when born. Maybe it’s the constant bantering from the media about how great the Yankees are and how great their fans are that sours me on the taste of constant exposure to pinstrips.

Whatever the case may be, I can’t help but to have my rooting interest in the ALCS be based fully around the hating of the Yankees. I know that journalism isn’t supposed to be based on emotions and you’re not supposed to be a fan of any one team, but since no one in the traditional media thinks someone that writes words that appear on anything other than parchment is a “journalist”, it clearly doesn’t matter anyway.

The Yankees v. Rangers series has gone down so far they way all of us “haters” could have hoped. (Well almost, it could be over with the Rangers locked into the World Series, but beggars can’t be choosers.) The Rangers blew the first game because Ron Washington felt it was a good idea to leave his best reliever in the bullpen while a 4-run lead evaporated in deference to the almighty “save”. Cliff Lee did what he does in Game 3, leaving all those Yankee fans complaining that Seattle committed a crime against The Empire* by backing out of the trade that would have sent the left-hander to the Bronx in July.

*Why is it when something like that happens to the Yankees, it is somehow a crime of treason against the sanctity of baseball? Yes Jack Z backed out of a trade at the last minute. So? He drove up the price and got a better deal for his top commodity. Seattle acted like almost all good businesses would have done. Did it set a dangerous precedent for teams dealing with them in the future? Sure. But was it done out of spite to pull one over on the Yankees? Hardly. Get over yourselves Yankee faithful.

And in Game 4 the most brilliant scene in baseball’s recent past occurred. In a still-winnable game in the seventh inning, Yankee fans exited the building. All the losing of three games in a row was too much for them to stomach. It was not to be tolerated, and they’d had enough. For those of us that are constantly on the outside looking in with our postseason fandom, it was an incredibly gratifying sight.

No not because it was something we would have done mind you, but because for too long we’ve been told how great and faithful the Yankee fans are. Sure they’re tough on their players sometimes – Hey! They’re just holding players accountable! – and can be a little obnoxious, but when you win in New York boy, it’s like nothing else. Yeah, we’ve heard it all.

As I wrote on Twitter: you can't blame Yankee fans for being ridiculous. Somewhere there's an 11-month- old who has never enjoyed a World Series title. Can you even imagine?

But tonight is another chance for Texas’ to save all of us from being inundated with non-stop Yankee coverage on their quest for Number 28. Tonight is Texas’ chance to save us from being told how great a leader and what a winner Derek Jeter is; how amazing Mariano Rivera is; and how the Yankee past somehow has any relevance on their chances to win a series this year.

Tonight, I will be rooting for Josh Hamilton to continue to show the world what a talent he is. I’ll be rooting for Ron Washington to freaking use Neftali Feliz in the situation that matters most. Tonight I’ll be rooting for Rangers because I hate the Yankees.

Then again, you already knew that.

‘Til next time.

I'm Only Human...

A few days ago Top 10 Kansas City Royals prospect Danny Duffy decided he was going to leave professional baseball. After having an outside shot at being a part of this year’s pitching staff either to start the season or almost certainly during, an injury caused a delay to his big league dreams. Well, maybe they weren’t his dreams after all.

I’m sure in the next couple of weeks, and months, we’ll begin to hear about the circumstances that led to Duffy to leave pro baseball*. I’m sure in the next couple of days, and months, we’ll begin to hear, even though we’ve already started to hear some, about how he’s a quitter and how he’s throwing away a tremendous opportunity, or how he’s a myriad of derogatory adjectives. I’d like to caution all of us to not get caught up in the world of nonsense that is sports blogger rage.

*Since Duffy, there have been two other Royals minor leaguers have decided to leave the organization. They won’t be last. They won’t be the last in all of professional baseball this year.

All we know, all we need to know, is that a young man has decided that at this time in his life, baseball is not for him. For whatever reason. We can only begin to speculate why or what, but doing so would be irresponsible. We’ll find out soon enough. Someone will talk to someone, who will talk to someone, and we’ll have our “answers.” As if we needed some anyway. Unfortunately until then, Duffy is going to be chastised for somehow being less of a man.

I grew up in Kansas City and spent all of my adult life to this point living there and being saturated with all things Royals. I remember the day it came out that franchise savior Zack Greinke was taking his leave of absence from baseball and how everyone had their thoughts on the matter. There was the name calling, the questions of how tough he was – cause you know, the one thing Sport is good at is making a man less of one if for some reason his sport isn’t everything that matters to him – and the confusion over how someone could pass up this “opportunity.”

Sadly fans and journalists alike got lost in the fact that this wasn’t their life, it was Greinke’s. Well this isn’t our life either, it is Duffy’s. It’s all of these players’ lives.

The juvenile name calling, the questioning of his toughness, the calling him a “quitter” is irresponsible. The young man made a choice. Nothing more. He decided that at this point, baseball wasn’t for him, and that’s fine. Perfectly fine. That does not make him a quitter, that makes him just like everyone else who ever worked at a job they didn’t like and wanted to try something different. Just because it’s baseball, doesn’t mean it’s not a job.

Sometimes we lose touch with reality when it comes to professional athletes. We expect all of them to have this unshakable drive, this unrelenting desire, and this ultimate love for the game the way we do. Well, not all of them do.

Some pro athletes play because they can, and for no other reason. They don’t play because they love their sport, they play because they’re better at it than you or me, and well, they might as well. And that’s perfectly fine.

Bit when that fine line of admiration is crossed into the ugly world of jealous, it’s not fair. Just because Duffy - or any player choosing to leave the fame and do something different with their lives - has left doesn’t mean he quit. It just means it’s not want he wanted. It’s not his fault it may have been what others wanted.