"The Devil Wears Pinstripes"

[officeglenn]

Found this excerpt from Jim Caple's new book, The Devil Wears Pinstripes: George Steinbrenner, the Satans of Swat and the Curse of A-Rod on ESPN.com today: Page 2. I know there are some here who will agree with him and some who will disagree, but it's still a really good read, or at least good enough to make me want to pick up the whole book.

[JamesCraven]

And there are some who believe that the Devil worked with Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees with the Washington Nationals (or Senators).

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Nice article.

That reminds me: From all of us around the world..Yankees Suck.

[mac]

this quote is my favorite part of the article

Sure, there is an undeniable pleasure in rooting for a winning team and in being able to look down on other fans with equal measures of superiority and disdain. But that's also the Ruthian drawback in rooting for the Yankees (along with high ticket prices, overpriced concessions and crude neighbors). The true pleasure in sports comes not from simply winning, but from watching a team overcome adversity to win in the end. The joy of sports is never the final destination, it's the journey. It's experiencing the highs and lows, and appreciating those highs all the more because of the awful lows.

The World's Greatest Fans can't know that. The Yankees have been so successful, they are so rich and so stocked with talent, that anything less than a World Series victory is a complete disappointment. And by the same token, if they win, there is no real sense of accomplishment. As George Costanza says on the old Seinfeld episode when Jeter and Bernie point out to him that they won the World Series: "It took you six games."

It's too easy being a Yankees fan. Anyone can root for a team that wins all the time. The test of a real fan is whether you have the character to stick with your team through thick and thin. Anyone can be loyal to a team when it wins a World Series but the question is whether you still love them when your parents hang up on the one phone call you're allowed from jail after being arrested for slashing the tires of the opposing shortstop's car again.

I have been saying this for years (not in those exact words) to my buddy who loves to brag about the yankees and their postseason success. "Dude it's not an acclomplishment if that's what you're expected to do." I Bet you the red sox fans will appreciate this one world series win more than the yankees fans have ever appreciated any of their 26.

[Shmee]

Sorry.

I'll mail a letter to Steinbrenner asking him to put together a losing season or two or 86 so that the rest of you will be appeased. I'm sorry that my hometown team is consistently better than yours.

Have fun bitching about my team again this season. I'll be cheering them on as usual.

[NJTank]

Sorry.

I'll mail a letter to Steinbrenner asking him to put together a losing season or two or 86 so that the rest of you will be appeased. I'm sorry that my hometown team is consistently better than yours.

Have fun bitching about my team again this season. I'll be cheering them on as usual.

Yeah that about summerizes it perfectly I guess its true everyone hates a winner from New York.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

"It's too easy being a Yankees fan. Anyone can root for a team that wins all the time. The test of a real fan is whether you have the character to stick with your team through thick and thin. Anyone can be loyal to a team when it wins a World Series but the question is whether you still love them when your parents hang up on the one phone call you're allowed from jail after being arrested for slashing the tires of the opposing shortstop's car again."