In what may be the last baseball blog for a few months, it is time to give the 2009 champions their due. Last night, the New York Yankees christened their new palace by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies to win the championship. All along, I tried to doubt, deny, destruct, destroy, decompose, de-whatever this notion. I picked them to barely get by the walking-dead-Twins. I picked them to lose to the Angels in six games. They humbled me greatly. The only prediction I came close on was that Joba would have an ERA over 6.00. Though he was, at best, 'jiggly,' that wasn't even correct.
So the blog is here to pay respect. After all, it hasn't been the typical decade for the Yankees and their fans. Being a Mets fan, the last time I saw my team reach the World Series was 2000. Pretty long time ago--yours truly wasn't even in high school yet. Well, that's the exact same time the Yankees were last on top of the baseball world. Since then, while the Mets have continually hit their fans in the groin with a barbed wire-wrapped golf club, it hasn't exactly been paradise for the pinstripes either.
In 2001, their highness Mariano Rivera blew game 7 of the World Series to Arizona. In 2003 the Marlins shocked them and the world behind a kid named Beckett. In 2004...well since this is a congratualtory post to the Yankees, I won't even type what happened in 2004. In 2007 it was the Red Sox again. Just to recap...eight years, 0 for 2 in the World Series, watching your sworn enemy win two titles, one of which will be remembered forever.
But make no mistake about it. This is not a Mets fan converting. My feelings about the Yankees and their fans are adequately described in the post leading up to this World Series. I would never, ever, ever forever root for them for even a single game unless the following occurred:
- They played team Al Queda
- Tom Brady buys a team, managed by Bill Belichick, with a payroll of $500 million, called the Baby Abandoners.
All I'm saying is...well, I get it. Though this is the unheard-of 27th time it's occurred, I have come to understand the legitimate joy that this brings the Yankee fan. I wasn't really old enough to remember, but I probably would have 'gotten it' in 1996 as well. Being a 22 year old, I would classify the "Age of Entitlement" for the Yankees and their fans to be from 1998-2004.
During the AoE, you wouldn't find the fans saying this:
"Yes! The Yankees are the best team, this is incredible! Championship!"
Instead, it was someting like this, give or take.
"F*** yeah, just add one more to the mantle, baby! Look how many we got. How many does your s*** team have?? It would take you 2,458 years to catch up to us at your pace! We're the best, and we BETTER win next year!"
No real legitimate happiness. Satisfaction, perhaps. But not happiness.
That was during the AoE. After 2004, the Red Sox served the Yankees some humility, and their fans didn't really know how to let go. They mocked, almost dismissed, the two titles won by Boston in four years. The Sox hadn't won in 86 years...what were they going to do? The fans kept on with their AoE aura, but instead of frustrated nods of acceptance, the baseball world just laughed them off. The Yanks spent the most money and had the highest expectations, but couldn't quite seal the deal year after year.
But now, it's vindication for the Yankees. I still can't help but let out a chuckle when ESPN personalities or people calling in to sports radio describe the "long wait" it has been. There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball. 29 of them would give an arm and a leg to wait nine years per title. But the Yankees are different. They love being different. We love hating how they are different.
So I say congratulations. It's been nine years, and the Yankees are back on top. I actually do like some of thier players (Rivera, Series hero Matsui.) And congrats to the fans. Sometimes, in blogs like this, it's easy to categorize everyone into a specific 'fan attitude.' It's very hard not to. There are many, many Yankees fans that root hard, are dedicated, and are darn good people. Co-workers at my jobs. People I spent four years with in college. Kids from my high school--heck, my high school prom date. There are many of you out there. This is your time to celebrate, the first in nine years. Enjoy it.
So are we on the dawn of the second Age of Entitlement? We'll see. But there's one thing we can all agree on...at least this one won't include Roger Clemens.
Yankee fans are degenerates, and not De-Generates, just degenerates. They are a lower class of human being. Always have been, always will be. Nothing is different.
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