This post is from the future archives of this blog
May 2018
It seems so long ago that we were witnessing true greatness in pinstripes. Now we are the laughingstock of baseball, mired in a deja vu like trance of 1980s proportions. The Mets have won a World Series and turned this baseball town awash in blue and orange.
Our captain did not go down without a fight, but after being shifted to right field in the final year of his contract, pride took over and he announced his retirement. Alex Rodriguez is unmercifully still here thanks to Hank Steinbrenner extending his contract, his reasoning being since the Yanks can’t produce a winning product the only way to market games is for fans to have the chance to boo A Rod and throw used hot dog wrappers at him. The outfield prospects of Heathcott and Austin never panned out, and our stud catching prospect forgot that you use the bat to hit the ball. Robinson Cano got his 300 million dollar contract and then decided that he wouldn’t leave the batters box unless it was a homer.
The Yankees are in shambles off the field as well. Hal walked away from his responsibilities when the Yanks became perennial cellar dwellers, citing that he was never the “Baseball guy” and he wanted to pursue other adventures, leaving the team in Hank Steinbrenner’s hands. Hank has become the Kim Jong Un of baseball, running the organization with a veil of secrecy and constant threats of leaving MLB. After Brian Cashman tragically died skiing Mount Everest for charity, Hank fired all of the front office staff and relies on his inner circle of trusted advisors, most of whom have never been seen.
As fans clamor for new ownership, Hank sits atop his perch in the ballpark (literally—its his box he built in place of the Mohegan Sun Bar in centerfield) without a care in the world. Ticket prices have driven all of the diehard fans out and the ballpark looks like the coliseum in Rome, oversized and empty. Hank, driven by a madness that even his father would consider insane, remains convinced that his course is the right one.
This Yankee team is long removed from the glory days of the Core Four. Now we are a joke, just like the Iron Man movie franchise. (I think Iron Man 8 was enough)
Let’s hope for a better future. As the saying goes, wait till next year.




