Yankees 2000: The Curse Lives

[First, Young Sip revels in the Yankees' misery. Below, Cheddar Ben posts a lineup card of thoughts about the Mets' triumph. Enjoy.]

The Saturday after was a big relief. After all, I didn't want to be the guy who started a website documenting a Yankees curse only to see the Yankees break the curse.

Fortunately for all of us in Y2K land, the curse lives on.

In one of my favorite playoff losses in recent Yankee history, the Yanks went into Detroit and were absolutely served by Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman. I think these guys combined for 5 good starts in the second half of the season.


But this is not a time to reflect on those games. This is not a time to rub it in. Right?

Wrong!!! [Editor's note: Possibly the least surprising paragraph in the history of the site. Moving forward ... ]

The only thing I enjoy more in all of sports is a Mets win, but fortunately for me, one of the better men affiliated with this site, Cheddar Ben, will take care of our boys.

For the Sip, lets talk Yankee baseball.

When I started Y2K, I talked about how the Yankees were cursed for ruining the purity of baseball. Baseball was no longer a series of competitive teams. There were 29 teams and then the Yankees.


The Yankees spent more than the bottom 6 teams in baseball. They spent almost twice as much as baseball's #2 team, the Red Sox.

There was no greater evidence of the Yankees' financial disparity than with the Bobby Abreu situation. That move was VINTAGE Yankees.

The Yankees took on all of the remaing $23 million of Abreu's salary when no other team could afford to pay off. They were paying this for a guy who hit 8 home runs in half a season in Philadelphia, a place where Pat "The Bat" Burrell consistently hits 30.

The Yankees gave up nothing because the Phillies were that happy to get rid of Abreu's contract.


He was being paid way more than he was worth and to every team in baseball in Yankees, that wouldn't work.

But not the Yankees.

The Yankees of the late 90's are a far cry from the Yankees of 2006. The Yankees of 2006 simply had too much.

When you have as much talent as they have, players' mindsets change. They have 7 guys in their lineup who could carry a team on their shoulders in the postseason.

But in their lineup, no one feels obligated due to so. No one needs to step up, because someone else will.

And that is not baseball. That is not even competition.

They had the best player of our generation hitting 8th in their lineup on Saturday. Could you imagine the Monster hitting 8th on the Mets in 2000?

The Yankees were simply too talented. They were not a baseball team; they were an All-Star team. With so many egos and so many guys that are used to being the star, it is extremely difficult when the games really matter. In October, when every big-time player wants to differentiate themselves and be the best.


This leads to a complete void in chemistry.

Even the manager wanted to prove that he was smarter. Benching Sheffield and Giambi in games 2 and 4 respectively made ZERO sense. But if they worked, like so many of his decisions in the past, it is because Torre is a genius, a man who knows how to manage his stars.

So here we are now, Monday, gearing up for the Championship series without the Yankees.

I gotta say this is enjoyable. I don't read much or watch most news coverage but it is a true pleasure to read about the failing Yankees.

Call me a prick, but I really just enjoy this.

Hearing moron Yankee fans call for Torre and A-Rod's head.

Steinbrenner shockingly calling this season a "disappointment."

Little do these people know that this is all out of their hands. God is punishing the Yankees for depurifying the one thing in the world that should be pure: baseball.

The only green that should be effecting the game is the beautiful outfield grass. Money shouldn't be the difference between one team's success and every one else's.

But that is what the Yankees have become. They became a company and not a baseball team.

To the fans that support them, I have zero sympathy. I find it really sad, even if your dad was a fan or if Mattingly was your favorite player, to support this team.

If my father decided to go kill everyone he works with, I wouldn't find that O.K. just because he is my father.

The only Yankee fans that I respect are the ones that tell me that they are sad about the team that they root for. That they realize that there is something wrong there, but that they are stuck with the team that they have rooted for for so many years.

But to the rest of you? Shucks.

Here is something that might make you feel better.

There is a 100% chance that you will be in the playoffs next year. No other team in baseball is even a 50% lock to make it and you guys are a 100% lock.

If that is good or bad I don't know.

But at least your chance to win it again won't take long.

We as Mets fans have waited 6 years. Other teams wait much longer.

Vaya con dios,

Sip