The Sun Came Up...The Yankees Won

As the the Yankees/RedSox series gets forced down our throats once again this weekend, it made me once again realize two things: (A) it's too easy to root for the Yankees and (B) it's too easy to hate the Yankees. Quite a unique dichotomy.

First off, if you aren't from New York, and you're a Yankee fan, you're a nothing more than a front runner. That being said, Yankee fans are rooting for a $200 million machine. Me, on the other hand, being a native of Milwaukee, is cheering for an $80 million, less impressive, machine. It's like going to a drag race, and one guy has a Ferrari and the other guy has a Dodge Charger. Sure at the beginning of the race, you feel a small glimmer of hope...the car looks like it has some muscle....but the reality is the Ferrari is going to leave it in the dust.

Welcome to the baseball standings. All the Ferrari's are in first place with their big payrolls: Yankees ($200 million) Tigers ($115 million) LA Angels ($113 million) Phillies ($113 million) Dodgers ($100 million) and finally in the NL Central, you have the gritty Dodge Charger named the St. Louis Cardinals clinging to a one game lead with their $77 million payroll. However, if they look in their rear view mirror, they will see that $134 million Ferrari called the Chicago Cubs.

I don't mean to single out the Yankees and pick on them (although as stated before, it's too easy), but should we really be impressed that the Yankees have the best record in the American League? Is that an accomplishment? When you go out to eat, doesn't the restaurant that has the bigger budget to buy fresher, quality ingredients, usually put out a better product? The Yankees went shopping at the grocery store last Winter and came home with some Teixeira, a side of Sabathia and a little Burnett for dessert. That's a hell of a meal!

Baseball is slowly going back to a league of the "haves" and "have nots." There are going to be a handfull of organizations that will out spend everyone else, and those are the fans that will still have hope past July 1st. At least in the NFL and NBA, small market teams like the Buffalo Bills and Sacramento Kings have the ability to be competitive. It's a level playing field, with everyone working off the same payroll budget.

Can you imagine if the NBA were like major league baseball with no salary cap? There is no question, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, would have all the toys on his team. You're starting lineup for the Dallas Mavericks would be Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant, LeBron and Dirk, with Dwight Howard in the middle. Think about how ridiculous that would look. Now go watch the Yankees....