It’s not like being a Cubs fan, or a Red Sox fan of days past. They were bad teams and they didn’t win. But when you have a team that looks great on paper, and – oh, by the way – is the highest payroll in Major League Baseball, you can reasonably expect a competitive team. That’s why the Yankees need to adopt the plan I’ve been yapping about for the last three or four years. Here goes:

The Yankees are a high priced team consisting of many expensive veteran players. The problem is, it’s a slippery slope, and to remain at that level or better, you must continue to acquire expensive, proven talent. Where does it get you? A team that doesn’t gel, a team that costs more each year, and a team that can’t produce. Why are there $50 million teams that can win in the post season and the Yankees can’t?

Enter my plan. It’s radical. It starts like this: scuttle the ship. We’ve gotta dump Abreu, Damon, Giambi, and Posada. We’ll keep Cano, Jeter, A-Rod, and Matsui. Start replacing your empty spots with younger guys with potential behind the bat. Melky Cabrera, Shelley Duncan… these guys need game time, not just when there’s an injury. Good guys become great only with experience.

Then we have to revisit pitching. We need to invest in some young prospects. Not just one. Don’t pin the hopes of the season on just one guy. Stop investing in $20 million/yr guys who no longer produce. Start sinking some cash into developing young guys by giving them some early innings. Accept that for a few years, we’re going to be not-so-good. And let’s focus on a few prospects we can grow into superstars. After all, until recently, when his effectiveness has declined slightly, who was our secret weapon? Mariano Rivera, homegrown talent.

Now is the perfect time to execute this plan. The AL is as competitive as ever, there are some really good teams, and the odds of making the post-season, frankly, are against us. I recognize that it’s early in the season, but the Yankees strength has always been in slow-but-steady consistency. I don’t see that this year, and even if I did, there are enough good teams that even that old trick may not play out in Yankee favor. If we’re going to lose, I’d like to take advantage of that time to rebuild, restructure, retrain, re-energize, and reinvigorate.

The fact is simple: the Yankees first 50 games or so were a disaster. They lost about 30 of them, for one and they looked piss poor as a unit. As fans watched some of the most expensive players in baseball tank, other, smaller, less expensive ball clubs succeeded with young prospects.

Now, I have maintained for about 3 years that the Yankees need to purge some of the their older veteran superstars and invest in some young talent; they have to expect to trade 2-3 years of post-season appearances in order to season their players with experience. But George Steinbrenner wouldn’t ever do something like that. And that is why the Yankees are a $200 million plus club with no ring since the millenium.

As a result, I advocate taking a backwards step for the future of the club. Every dynasty ends and must be rebuilt. Now is a good time to let that payroll wind down a notch.

So, while I think the best choice is to keep Joe Torre, installing another coach would not break my heart. And if they allow Rivera and A-Rod to go, they might as well dismantle most of the core team and start over with your young stars: Cano, Hughes, Joba, Shelley Duncan, Melky, even Jeter. But might as well refresh Posada, Abreu, Mussina, Pettite, Giambi, etc.

Some will say a true fan would never agree to a plan like this, but I would ask them what’s more embarassing: rebuilding, conceding a few years of postseason play, or losing 6 years in a row with a payroll almost twice that of every other team?

Read on for more.

The problem is two fold, I think. First, the people who do the electing, sportswriters, are out of touch with the actual fans of professional baseball. Most fans fall into one of two groups: those who know their crap, and people who know pretty much nothing. Seriously, ask the average fan to name just three people on their favorite team and they will struggle. I’ve tested this.

The HOF voters usually consist of the first type of fan, and they get very technical in their analyses, and often, I believe, forget that the game is for FANS, and that it’s FANS who generate all the money, and FANS who keep the sport alive.

But ALL types of fans know Mark McGwire. “Big Mac” was the sensation of America back in 1998 when he and Sammy Sosa duked it out for the home run title in a famous, season long battle for the better pace. And McGwire is one of the best known players even today. There’s barely a bigger name in baseball; Bonds is more known for negatives today than postives, and no one else is that big: not Jeter, not A-Rod, not Ichiro, Rivera, Ryan Howard or David Ortiz. The only person who you could make a case for would be Roger Clemens. And frankly, I don’t think Clemens popularity amongst the general public, and even the general public fans, know Clemens like they know McGwire. McGwire was the last *big name* in baseball, bigger than Ripkin and Gwynn for sure. Tony Gwynn and Ripkin are ENTIRELY deserving of HOF status and I’m thrilled they made it, but I promise you more Americans — hell, more baseball fans — know McGwire than Gwynn or Ripkin.

Cooperstown is for people who have really made an impression on the game. It’s where fans can go to remember what baseball was like in previous eras. To omit Mark McGwire from the record is to ignore a large chunk of history, even if he HAS used steroids.

Now, on to the second issue: for whatever reason, there seems to be some sort of differentiation between being voted in on first ballot versus subsequent ballots. Sports journalists often feel as though someone who is… I guess… “less worthy” of HOF stature should be denied access right away but voted in in a later year of eligibility.

The reasoning completely eludes me. Perhaps someone is not a hall of famer one year, but then, the next year, is somehow better? Why do people take this so seriously? This is just stupid. Now there’s a backstory to the votes?? Come on!

Seriously, I think if you don’t vote for someone, they should *immediately* drop off the ballot. Either they are a hall of famer or not. You shouldn’t be able to say “last year I didn’t think they were good enough, but now they are.” That’s hypocracy. And it’s just plain old dumb.

I think that the Baseball Hall of Fame election system needs a shake up, something to revitalize it. The current voters have proven themselves to be irresponsible, inconsistent, and out-of-touch.

Let me record some thoughts from the last week:

1. Sleeping in a hammock on the beach with a Pina Colada is the best relaxation technique ever.
2. If Reggie Bush had waited even another day to sign with the Saints, he would have sacrificed more with New Orleanians than any amount of money could replace.
3. Ann Coulter is the most hateful bitch ever. I won’t use “the C word” on this blog, but dammit, she deserves it! She spews negativity. She has set up this idea of “the liberal” and attacked it, despite the fact that it really doesn’t exist, and used her vile toxicity to sell books. …Of which she’s done a damn good job. When she called liberals “godless,” but then refused to “make it personal” or name even a single person who fit into that category, she made a fool of herself. That’s like saying “Christianity is a religion of sinners,” but then when asked about individual Christians, saying “I’m not making this personal, this is about Christianity in general.” God she sucks.
4. The fact that there are people out there who are sympathetic to Lebanon right now – a state that actively supports a terrorist organization – is sick and sad. It illustrates that the “war on terror” is complete bullshit. Any American who believes this is a hypocrite and any foreigner who believes it is spitting in the face of America. You may not like how Israel is going about it, but it’s certainly no worse than we’ve done in Iraq, and THAT was unprovoked.

   Here’s a great Martin Luther King quote: “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

5. The Yankees have GOT to invest in some prospects, for fear of condemning themselves to an eternity of all-star-size contracts for aging success stories. And they need some pitching depth. But you’re still my boy, Moose.
6. It takes about 3 days to get used to a wedding ring.
]]> http://www.firsttube.com/read/Im-back/feed/ 0 http://www.firsttube.com/read/world-cup-headbutting-madness/ http://www.firsttube.com/read/world-cup-headbutting-madness/#comments Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:48:57 +0000 Adam S http://firsttubecom/read/World-Cup-Headbutting-Madness Continue reading →]]> This is lifted DIRECTLY from the Register. All credit goes to them, I’m reprinting it here only because it’s funny as hell.

Update 08/08/06: I’ve moved the images to the body of this post to speed up load time. They are all weighty animated gif files.

As seen by the Germans:


As seen by the French:


As seen by the Italians:


As seen by the Americans:


As seen by the press:


]]> http://www.firsttube.com/read/world-cup-headbutting-madness/feed/ 1 http://www.firsttube.com/read/Yankee-Pride/ http://www.firsttube.com/read/Yankee-Pride/#comments Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:24:16 +0000 Adam S http://firsttubecom/read/Yankee-Pride Continue reading →]]> This weekend was my bachelor party. We hit up the Yankees/Devil Rays game, which the Bombers won. There are SO MANY Yankees fans who just root for the Yankees with no backstory. They don’t know the players, they just like the ultra-stylish NY logo. It makes me nuts. They are currently hosting a DL with TONS of their stars. Can most of these fans name more than 3 people on the field right now?

Do they know Andy Phillips? Melky Cabrera? Bubba Crosby? I mean, seriously… Kevin Thompson?!

At least the Yanks won.

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