The Almighty

(Sip here filling in for the big fella and ready to open a can of Whoop Ass on "America's Team." It's nice to come home.)





I sat there in shock last Friday as A-Rod stepped up to the plate at Camden Yards. Why was this guy getting such an ovation? Wasn't this game being played IN BALTIMORE? Weren't we supposed to hate this guy for essentially fully ruining our faith in baseball?

Yet there it was. A standing ovation by the "holier than thou" Yankee fans.



And then he went dong. Lord oh mighty. It was like the Pope had just blessed Citi Field. The guy got an ovation unlike any I could have ever imagined and so of course, some venom began to flow thru my veins as I thought about the almighty Yankees and their perfect fans.

Aren't these the same Yankees that get people arrested for not being respectful during God Bless America?

The same Yankees that throw you out of their stadium for wearing a t-shirt denouncing a player on the other team?

And aren't these the same Yankees that tell you to take your feet off the seat in front of you or god forbid you have the best seat in the house, that you must take your soda cup off the dugout?


These are supposed to be the Yankees. They claim to be carriers of the good lord's word, blessed by the father, the son and even the holy ghost!

Yet here they were, travelling 300 miles to cheer a guy that not only cheeted their sacred game and made a mockery of their precious pinstripes, but then proceeded to lie about it.

You know the old expression, "you can't have your cake and eat it too."

Well then, welcome to the world of hypocrisy that is Yankees baseball.

Which got me thinking a little deeper. Over the last 6 months or so it seems like baseball fans have grown resigned to the notion that most players in baseball cheat or have cheated at some point in their career. That performance enhancing drugs are as much a part of the game as sunflower seeds or chewing tobacco. The A-Rod story loaded the bases and then the Manny story closed it in the 9th.



So everyone in baseball cheats, then right?

Maybe not today when testing has become so rampant but certainly in the past. The McGwire/Sosa era, baseballs saving grace has one big asterix next to its name as we are now all fully convinced that that entire era of ballplayers was doping. That era had a lot going on. Homeruns, Record Attendance and oh yeah, one last thing:

The Return of the Yankee Empire.

The Bombers won 4 world series between 1996-2000.

That run spurned the Yankees from the gutter to the "World's Team." They once again became the symbol of baseball globally and the toast of the town locally. Their fans multiplied expnonentially and immediately became the most knowledgable and sophisticated fans in the game. Their players were the best and brightest. Their owner did things the Yankee way.

But it's all a hoax.

One big giant hoax.

All that we have learned from the last 6 months is that the Yankees shot back to stardom in the heart of the steroid era.

They should be as front and center in this mess as anyone else.

Already names like Clemens, Pettite and Knoblach have been linked to steroids. But really, who knows what else was going down in the Bronx?

The fact is, the Yankees embodied basically everything that is wrong in the game and used their tainted successes to take them to where they are today.

But the walls are collapsing in Yankee Stadium.

When Derek Jeter and Mariano go, so too does the Yankee Dynasty.



See people root for Jeter and Rivera because we have all kind of convinced ourselves that despite everything that has gone wrong in the game, that these guys have been clean. We have nothing to back that up except pure hope in good. It is for similar reasons that we assume that David Wright has not so much as touched a beer can in his short stint on planet earth.

But when Rivera and Jeter go what will the Yankees have?

1. Players that came to the Yankees for money
2. A stadium built for corporations
3. An owner who is the bratty son of a prick

The Yankees and their fans will have nothing to hold over the rest of baseball and the balance will be restored. I yearn for the day when the Yankees can't make payments on their $1.5 billion dollar castle because people decide they have had enough.

Vaya Con Dios,
Sip



Side note:

Can you see the following interaction going down?

Mets Music Guy: So Carlos, ever thought about a new song? You've been bumping to that "Muevas Aqui" track for 5 years now. Ever thought of trying something new?

Carlos Beltran: No

Mets Music Guy: Muevas Aqui it is




(Pics courtesy of aarontorees-sports.com, baltimoresun.com, daylife.com)