The global economy has crashed. Millions of people are out of work. A pair of big auto-makers has been forced into bankruptcy. Respected investment banks have closed their doors forever.
In the midst of this economic apocalypse, how nice would it have been to open this morning's paper to read any one of these heart-warming headlines?
1) Marlins Revel in the Joy of Six
Florida, working with the smallest payroll in baseball, looked like it could make its sexennial (or once every six years) run to the World Series. This to go along with their 97 and 03 titles. They won 11 of their first 12 games this year, but basically played little better than .500 baseball the rest of the way.
2) Lewis Sets to Work on Moneyball Sequel After A's Win
People in the industry say Oakland G.M. Billy Beane has still got his fastball as an executive. But his Moneyball is beginning to miss the strike zone with great regularity. The A's posted their third straight losing record and finished last in the AL West for the first time since 1998.
3) Tigers Roar!
If there's any city that deserved some good news these days, it's depressed Detroit. Instead, the Tigers collapsed in epic fashion, delivering yet another kick to Motown's groin to go along with sky-rocketing unemployment figures, political corruption and the Detroit Lions.
4) Twins Peak!
The Minnesota Twins made yet another trip to the playoffs -- their fifth of the decade. This prompted a pair of Toronto columnists, who I respect and admire greatly, to suggest the new Jays regime should strive to emulate the "Twins Way". Really? No, really? I've always regarded the Twins as little more than a good team that succeeds in an especially bad division. Their playoff record, when they face the great teams in the AL, certainly seems to bear that out. They have one playoff series win to show for their five playoff trips this decade and hold a 6-18 record over that span. They've gone 2-12 over their last four playoff appearances. That's the model of success Toronto's supposed to emulate?
5) Angels Win One for Adenhart / Phillies Win One for Kalas
The Angels and the Phillies were both rocked in April by the sad and tragic death of one of their own. Promising Anaheim pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a motor vehicle accident, while Harry Kalas, the legendary Phillies announcer, collapsed in the Washington press box as he was prepping for a Phillies-Nationals game. You could say both Anaheim and Philly had angels in their outfields this year, with touching memorials set up to honour both Adenhart and Kalas on the walls of their respective home ballparks.
Instead....this is what we woke up to:
1) Return to Glory!
2) Yankees on Top of the World
3) 27th Heaven!
4) Yankees Win 27th Title
5) Hinske and Burnett Fitted for Championship Rings
Alright -- I made the last one up! It's just a playful jab at those Jays fans that spent all night grinding their molars after seeing two of their "favourites", Eric and A.J., doused in champagne.
I don't want to go on another rant here about the Yankees and their mercenary ways. I really don't. OK, maybe I do -- just a small fact-based one. Did you know that....?
- All but three of the Yankees 11 postseason wins went to free agent pitchers -- Those pitchers would be C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. Yes, I am fully aware that Pettitte was scouted, drafted and developed by the Yankees. But I am equally aware that he left the Bombers for Houston, only to be coaxed back to the Bronx by Yankee bucks.
- Together, those three pitchers made $37.3 million this year, more than the entire Opening Day payroll of the Florida Marlins (at $36.8 million)
- Three of the Yankees top four postseason run producers were acquired through free agency -- Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th among Yankee players in postseason RBI. #1 on the list was Alex Rodriguez, who wasn't obtained through free agency. Rather, he came over in a trade, because the Yankees were one of the only teams left in baseball that could actually afford his salary. Together that quartet drove in 48 runs, scored 40 themselves and smacked 14 homers in this years playoffs.
- Together, those four players made $79.6 million this year. Gosh, if only their agents had been able to collectively cobble together another $900 thousand, they would have matched the Opening Day payroll of the Blue Jays.
Maybe that last bullet point helps properly explain why one of the more prominent and popular fan blogs covering the Yankees is called "It Is About the Money, Stupid", while we reply here in Toronto with the (delightfully funny but entirely profane) "Drunk Jays Fans".
I know at this point Yankees fans are pleading their case that Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera have all been Yankees for life. Fair enough. Point well made and well taken. The Three Kings, now with fistfuls of rings, are all great players and the Yankees should be commended for drafting and developing them. But, I would only ask you in return -- what other team in the game today would have the financial resources to continually prevent three such players from fleeing for "greener" pastures over all these years? Even the wealthiest of other clubs have difficulty holding on to their top free agents, let alone three different players all bound on career arcs towards one destination -- the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Anyways putting petty financial jealousy aside, it's clear that congratulations are in order to the 2009 World Series Champions. The New York Yankees were clearly the strongest team in baseball this year, as evidenced by their league-leading 103 regular season wins, 915 runs scored and 244 home runs. Their 11-4 bulldozing run through the postseason only confirmed what we already knew. Yes, go ahead and brand them as the "best team that money can buy", as long as you admit in the very next breath they are unequivocally and absolutely the best team in baseball...and that, this year, no one else was really close.
From my time working in the game, I can tell you there are a lot of good people that work for the Yankees, including a great team in Media Relations led by Jason Latimer, Isao Hirooka and Jason Zillo. While I openly admit to disliking what their team has come to stand for professionally, I'm especially happy for them on a personal level -- Latimer, in particular. His story bears telling. For many years, he distinguished himself with great work in Tampa with some truly horrendous Rays teams, before leaving to join the Yankees organization. His date of departure -- right before the 2008 season. You know, the one where his former club not only posted its first-ever winning record, but inexplicably made it all the way to the World Series. In an equally surprising turn of events, his new employer missed the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. Few people in baseball have led a more star-crossed existence than Jason Latimer...and fewer still are kinder and more gracious.
It's good to see his pain (and, as I've said before on Twitter, that of all those tortured New York City grade schoolers who had never witnessed a Yankees World Series win) finally eased.