Off Topic: Yankees Arrogance Continues On

There isn’t a more arrogant group in the world of sports than the New York Yankees. I guess when you have more championships than any team (in any sport), you have a right to be. But arrogance often leads to asinine statements, based on opinion and views from the throne. Our team is the greatest, our players are the greatest, and we play for the greatest city in America. Each can be argued, and I’d probably find some legitimacy in them. But when it comes to the granddaughter of Babe Ruth requesting that her grandfather’s number be retired across the baseball board, I’m saying no, and I'll call out her arrogance.

Her claim is that Babe Ruth has done more for baseball than any other player in history. She claims he is the savior of the game. Her exact statement reads as follows, as she spoke about the retirement of Jackie Robinson’s number:

"I know it’s for sociological reasons, but why should that penalize my grandfather? I don’t understand that reasoning. Sociologically? Helping other people? Frankly, if Babe Ruth didn’t save baseball, there wouldn’t be a game for Jackie or anyone else to even play. Remember, after the [1919 Black Sox] scandal, everyone was disillusioned with baseball, and here comes my grandfather with his mighty bat, and he brought thousands of people back to the ballpark."

That's a great point, if you’re sitting on your high horse. But if she looked outside her Yankees box, she’d see others that saved the game. Baseball was up and down throughout its existence. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 may have brought fan skepticism and a plunge in interest, but the world at war nearly wiped out the game. The saviors then were the veterans of the armed forces returning. In 1945, with a slow trickle of stars returning from war and back to the diamond, major league attendance topped 10 million for the first time since 1930, and soared to over 18 million the following year.

Baseball took another hit with the strike of ’94, and even at strike’s end, the fan interest was low and fading. In 1998, 2 juiced sluggers pumped new life into the baseball audience, as fans watched Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in a race to break Roger Marist’s single season homerun record. Even in the midst of the steroids controversy, the fans had returned.

If we're retiring a jersey across the league, we need a sense of uniqueness about the individual. Is Babe Ruth the baseball savior? Does the bible only have one prophet? No. He doesn't stand alone, and certainly didn't play alone. A suffering game, regardless of sport, will bring many saviors. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird saved the NBA in the 80s. Hockey is slowly boosting its image, with an influx of young stars. It's speculation to say the Black Sox incident of 1919 would have eliminated fan interest in baseball forever, without the presence of Babe Ruth. In the 50s, a point shaving scandal was exposed in the NIT, crippling the credibility of the tournament. But here we are in 2008, with college basketball bigger than it was before then. The NFL's savior from "spygate" is named "The New York Giants". Imagine how ugly it would be if the Pats did achieve perfection.

Aside from his greatness on the baseball diamond, Robinson endured the degradation, racism, and death threats from fans not willing to accept change. Today, you look around the league at the number of African American players, Latin American stars, and the new wave of Asian migration, and his impact is loud and strong. Look back on the Black Sox of 1919, and it’s weakened and silenced. There isn't a Babe Ruth record that can't be broken several times, by several different players. Breaking a racial barrier can only be, and only needs to be, broken once.

Jackie Robinson’s Jersey (42) was retired by major league baseball in 1997. Ironically, the last active player to wear that number is current Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. Robinson opened that door of racial opportunity, so Rivera could wear those pinstripes, that number, and have “New York” sewn across his chest. I can see it, and I’m sure Mariano does, as well. But those living inside that Yankees box of arrogance are still in the dark, and finding Babe Ruth to have a greater contribution to the game.

Besides, good luck on getting the Boston Red Sox to retire anything related to Babe Ruth.

DOH-mer Of The Week- Nothing But Strikes

Remember a time when men were men and competed like warriors in sport? Remember “no layup” rules in basketball, no face masks on football helmets, and a pitcher regularly tossed nine innings? Rules change with the times, as health becomes a concern, and a player no longer appears as a competitor, but more as a business investment. But in my opinion, it’s a travesty to hear any high ranking “sports” executive whining about his “athlete” injuring himself while attempting to run “180 feet”.

My DOH-mer, Yankees Co-Chairman Hank Steinbrenner, actually had the nerve to criticize the National league for allowing men to be men. He made references to the league rule on pitchers batting as being outdated, and calling for the National league to step into the 21st century. He’s lobbying for a designated hitter for both leagues, so they can be uniformed b*tches.

As a child, baseball is a game that consists of throwing, running, fielding, and batting. Why does Steinbrenner feel adults are incapable of fulfilling two of the tasks that children perform on the diamond? Children bat and run for free, but adult members of the millionaires club can’t. Does that make any sense? If anything, get your money’s worth. So, you lost a starting pitcher for 6-8 weeks, because he didn’t know how to run bases properly. Whose fault is that? The National League? Get the f*ck out of here! Maybe as an “athlete” they should be trained as one in the spring. Maybe he can try that "Viagra" therapy or get one of the shots Roger misrembers getting, and possibly be back on the mound in half the time.

The Yanks have bad luck when it comes to pitching, and Hank’s firing in the wrong direction. Over the years, he couldn’t blame the National league for injuries suffered by Randy Johnson, Andy Pettitte, Kevin Brown, etc. Kevin Brown broke his hand, punching a wall in the Yankee dugout. Let’s blame that on the f*cking Dodgers! Roger Clemens was given a year’s salary for pitching one damn month. Let’s blame that on the Astros! Better yet, Hank, the next time your club is involved in a brawl, instruct your dainty men of the mound not to engage in combat. And not because they may be struck by someone, but because they may break a foot, while running the 180 feet from the dugout to join the melee.

The New York Yankees have more championships than any franchise in sports. To obtain those championships, at some point, their pitchers had to lift bats and run bases. And just think, if this Puss, Steinbrenner, was in charge during the early days of the game, a great pitcher by the name of Babe Ruth may have never swung the bat.

I played baseball at the little league and High school levels. I pitched, which meant I also hit and ran. I think to myself, If I was drafted and played in the American league, I wouldn’t have to hit or run. But I also think the same, if I played women’s softball. And of course, there’s one distinct similarity between the New York Yankees and Women's softball, and that would be the thongs beneath the uniform.

Go do your b*tching and complaining somewhere else. Leave the National League alone, because it’s baseball played in the purest form. Go stroke your Wang’s …ego, and tell him it’s not his fault. According to Hank Steinbrenner, American league pitchers should throw strikes with every toss, because they surely have no balls.

DOH-MER!

DOH-mer Of The Week- The Rocket Misremembers

As much as I'd love to have someone from Notre Dame displayed here each week, there are 52 weeks in a year, and the Fighting Irish are only good for 12 weeks of humor. But there are others outside of South Bend that are ripping off brain farts, so why not give them their due and acknowledge them appropriately?

In this inaugural DOH-Mer spotlight, no one was more suitable than Roger Clemens. He was miles ahead of the competition, that easily included Indiana basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, the Fans of UAB, and the Bills' Roscoe Parrish. Roger soared to new heights, taking it all the way to Capitol Hill. We thought Clemens only took our money at the ballparks, until we got a glimpse of this publicized hearing at the expense of the tax payers. Besides for the State, Federal, SSI, and other categories that eat my paycheck, they should have also added the RCBF as a direction for my earnings. That would be the "Roger Clemens Bull$h!t Fund".

This is a hearing that Clemens wanted. This was the week to clear his name and remove "cheater" from any conversations about him. This was cleaning dust off the path to the hall of fame and designing the bronze bust which would read "Greatest pitcher of all time". I sat there, waiting for the Rocket to say it aint so. But the more the Rocket fired off at the lips, the more I believed it was so. It wasn't a good job of convincing anyone that he was never injected in the a$$ with anything but B-12, especially when you go on to say your best friend and best character witness "misremembered" a conversation.

Andy Pettitte came clean. After saying Pettitte is a great guy, honest, and believable, your answer to the contradiction of your statements with Andy's deposition was that he "misremembered"? Your answer was that he misheard, and that you were talking about your wife getting a$$ injections? What a waste! The Rocket let me down, because obviously his attorney let him down. He could have been more convincing if he had O.J Simpson speak for him. Even better, he shouldn't have spoken at all.

Clemens was buried by his own ego. But shouldn't it be expected, since HGH can cause the cranium to grow larger? Barry Bonds is also carrying around a large dome full of ego, but he wasn't stupid enough to call for a gathering "to be heard and clear his name". Well, I heard you Roger, and I choose you as my DOH-mer of the week. 7 Cy Young awards and 1 DOH-mer makes for a pretty good career.