The Yankees are still the most dominant and influential team in the Major Leagues
For the New York Yankees, thirteen straight years in the playoffs have come and gone, as has Joe Torre’s 12 year tenure as the manager. Babe Ruth is gone, Lou and the Mick are too. However, one thing that is not gone and never will be gone is the great pride of the New York Yankees (the “Evil Empire” if you will).
Something else that will never leave is the memory of the great players that have strutted the pinstripes. The Ruth’s, the Gehrig’s, the Mantle’s, the Jackson’s, the Berra’s, the Munson’s, and many more.
The Yankees are the most proud franchise in all of sports, and also the wealthiest. The wealthy part was demonstrated this winter when the Yankees spent over 423 million dollars on only three marquee players in Starting Pitchers C.C. Sabathia (161 million over 8 years) A.J. Burnett (82 million dollars over 5 years) and star first baseman Mark Teixeira (180 million dollars over 8 years).
When these signings were announced, there was an uproar throughout baseball, and across the nation. Many people were shocked as to how and why the Yankees could and would spend so much money on just three players. Those three players together will be averaging 59.3 million dollars a year in salaries. That amount is more than six entire MLB teams’ payrolls.
The U.S. unemployment rate is 7.2%, the highest it has been in 50 years. People everywhere are struggling to survive; yet why does some baseball team seemingly throw almost half of a billion dollars down the toilet?
Simple, because they can.
For starters, it is the Yankees’ money, and they can do whatever they would like to with it.
The Yankees themselves are the perfect example of a team utilizing the capitalism philosophy. They privately can control their wealth, and the government has no say or stake in it. Team’s who are in favor or disagree with the Yankees ways might as well be called Socialists, as they believe that the resources and money should be divided equally between all 30 of the Major League Teams. This is not what our country is built on, and why should this idea of socialism ever apply, especially for professional sports.
Also, the Yankees only come under this much criticism because they are the most public and well-known sports franchise in the entire world. People everywhere have heard of the Yankees, and they have probably heard negatively about them because of the perception that they are greedy and only power and money hungry. When in reality, the Yankees are one of the most charitable and giving organizations out there. For one, the Yankees are very active in the Boys and Girls Club of America. such marquee players as Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada take part in making sure that the world can become a better place. The Yankees have also established the “Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation.” The goal of the organization is to educate people about domestic violence, an issue Torre was forced to deal with during his own childhood. Alex Rodriguez himself has given nearly 4 million dollars to the University of Miami. Rodriguez has also donated over one million dollars to the Boys and Girls club of America.
The New York Yankees are a great and storied franchise that will always be remembered for treating their players right and, most importantly, wining 26 World Series Championships, not to mention 39 American League pennants. They spend a lot of money, but then again, so does the Boston Red Sox, yet no one criticizes them; they are still considered the underdog, the “innocent ones.”
