Yankees back on the road
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Mar 03, 2008 
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The Yankees hit the road today, playing the Astros in Kissimmee.
Covering spring training road games is much different than the regular season. The writers all go to Legends Field in the morning and try to develop a story. We’ll even talk to Joe Girardi while we’re there.
Then the team bus leaves, the players who stay behind hit the field and we head for our cars. We’ll talk to Girardi again briefly after the game. The results of spring games are meaningless and there is rarely any strategy involved. You end up writing on a topic, not the game.
My topic for tomorrow’s paper? Not sure yet. Maybe something on the bullpen.
Check back later on the blog. Assuming we find our way to Kissimmee, there will be plenty of updates.
An hour and a half east on US4, Pete. A nice ride, if there’s no construction. Watch out for those Florida drivers, though. They’re nuts.
Enjoy your spring, Pete. Be safe driving around, too !
On espn radio they are still carrying on about Hank’s quote. I just sent them an email telling them what idiots I think they are. Everyone mentions the quote, but fails to mention that it is in a 9 page article on him. And that he was asked about it.
Lets see if I get a reply.
Jennifer,
With all due respect I think Hank is the one who has shown hinself to be the “idiot” here. Many Yankee fans carried on when Theo said something about Moose. ESPN is not the only group who thinks Hank has a big mouth. I was listening to FOX sports this morning and they were saying the same thing. It has been eight or nine years since the Yankees have won a World Series with the Sox winning two and Hank is talking trash….what a joke! If the Yankees want to talk about Yankee Universe then it is okay for Sox fans to talk about Red Sox Nation.
“If the Yankees want to talk about Yankee Universe then it is okay for Sox fans to talk about Red Sox Nation.”
Except that the latter predates the former.
ray,
With all due respect, you may have a future position among both the idiots at ESPN and those that call themselves part of the RedSox Nation ( that is, if you are not one of those maroons already )
Yankees Universe? who started that crap anyway?
And it hasn’t been 9 years since the Yankees won. We won in 2000.
The Yankees put out Yankees Universe t’s for Memorial Sloan Ketteran.
Whozat
“Except that the latter predates the former.”
And Imperial Rome predates the United States. But what have the Caesars done lately?
Hank hasn’t shown himself to be an idiot in the slightest.
He said what has been on the minds of a LOT of Yankee fans, and even Non-Yankee fans, since ESPN became NESN II in 2003.
Only Red Sox fans and their shills in the media, can get their panties in a wad over something so trivial.
As Yankee fans, we hear crap about our team, and some of its players, EVERY DAY.
And, its a helluva lot more vicious than Hank’s comments.
The GM of the Red Sox singles out a current Yankee player, and rips him about a Japan experience 4 years ago.
When has Hank Steinbrenner, or anybody in the Yankees organization, ripped an individual player on another team?
It doesn’t happen. Yet, that part of this deal gets ZERO coverage on ESPN.
It was completely unprofessional (and out of character) for Theo Epstein to rip Mike Mussina. He should just worry about his own team.
Hank is an easy target because he likes to talk. In this instance, what he said was not only not out of bounds, it was 100% correct.
That’s why Red Sox fans and their shills in the media are upset.
Sometimes, the truth hurts.
One big difference between Red Sox Nation and Yankee Universe.
The invention of “Yankee Universe” was done to promote a charity and raise money for others.
The invention of the Red Sox Nation was done to promote the team and raise money for ownership.
“In this instance, what he said was not only not out of bounds, it was 100% correct.”
gotta disagree with you there sj. i travel alot and i have definatly noticed at least as many B hats and NY hats outside of the nyc area. And prior to 04 the Y hats had at least a 10-1 advantage. In fact, i’m sorry to report, i found a Yanks hat in a puddle in the gutter in front of my house the day cleaveland ended thier season.
I’m sure that if neither the sox or yanks win this year, the Y’s will regain a slight advantage. This is just another knock that comes when your stated goal is a championship every year and you dont deliver for a few years.
Brian,
I say this with no malice but, your passive aggressive swipes at the Yankees are really getting old.
I never understand the fixation of Red Sox fans coming onto this board and talking nonsense. What’s the point?
Its not like you are engaging in any substantive baseball talk.
Your posts can boil down to three things. The Red Sox are better than the Yankees in every way, you hate Hank Steinbrenner and you hate Arod.
You couch it in a lot of passive aggressive nonsense, but the three items I listed above pretty much sums up your communciation on this board.
Really, do you believe the Red Sox brand is larger than the Yankees brand based on 2 World Series wins and a slanted road attendance chart? “Slanted” because the home ballpark of the Red Sox is 30,000 fans less than most ballparks. Making “road attendance” as an indicator for popularity meaningless.
They have won 2 World Series in the last 4 years. They are also two years removed from not even making the playoffs.
Funny but, I don’t remember anybody saying the Red Sox brand was bigger than the Yankees brand in 2006.
The interlocking NY hats are the highest selling MLB item in baseball. They are also one of the five highest selling sports items IN THE WORLD.
The Yankees are a worldwide brand. The Red Sox are working their way toward that brand but aren’t there yet.
Perhaps they will one day or perhaps they won’t. Time will tell.
However, to say they are now is factually incorrect.
Need more proof? The team value of both franchises. The Yankees are approx. valued at 1.3 billion dollars. The Red Sox sit at approx. 850 million.
We are talking an almost 500 million dollar spread between the two franchises.
While this silly debate has been fun, its not really a debate.
Its like debating whether RC Cola is bigger than Coke because RC Cola had a couple of good sales years.
“And Imperial Rome predates the United States. But what have the Caesars done lately?”
Read what I said again. You read what you assumed I said and not what I actually wrote. I was talking only about the idiotic marketing labels, not the organizations in question. And I _actually_ said that the “Red Sox Nation” marketing label pre-dated the “Yankee Universe” moniker, which was a tongue-in-cheek response to the creation of the RSN ad campaign.
“i travel alot and i have definatly noticed at least as many B hats and NY hats outside of the nyc area.”
As a graduate student in computer science, I know a lot of foreign kids. Many have Yankee hats. None have Red Sox hats. And I go to grad school in New England.
I don’t really argue that my anecdotal evidence is in any way meaningful, but then again…neither is yours.
SJ44
I always enjoy reading your posts because they are interesting and have a lot of insight. Your recent post is no exception even though I disagree with your perspective. I still recall when someone from Red Sox management several years ago referred to the Yankees as the “evil empire”. As a Sox fan I thought that was inappropriate and was embarassed by it. As I mentioned in another post I think it was said from an inferiority complex. Indeed, as you have said sometimes the truth hurts, and the truth is during the 2000′s the Sox have played better than the Yankees and Hank is frustrated by that and so is resorting to talking trash. A number of Yankee fans on this blog have said they have been embarassed by Hank’s mouth.
Y’s,
After a team wins a title, people always show up wearing their merchandise. Happens every year.
Doesn’t mean they are a bigger brand than everybody else. Just means more people jump on the bandwagon in a given year.
The Giants won the Super Bowl this year and are a large brand in the NFL. The Cowboys did not but are a bigger brand. They still outsell the Giants almost 2-1 in merchandise sales each year.
They are the “Yankees of the NFL” when it comes to branding. Ironic since, unlike the Yankees, they haven’t won the most championships in NFL history.
Goes to show you what the moniker, “America’s Team” has done for that franchise.
Steve Sabol, the head of NFL Films who coined that phrase, should be given a piece of the Cowboys. He’s made that franchise millions of bucks with that nickname.
SJ44 – I believe that Hank’s quote all but denied the existence of a Red Sox Nation. The comment seemed petty and envious.
You’ve morphed his comments into a bottom line analysis of the profitability of the respective clubs. That’s not where Hank was going. His comments were more akin to Sally Field’s unquantifiable plea that “You really love me!”
His comments weren’t “true.” Your revisionist analysis of his alleged meaning are indeed true – but it’s not what he said.
sj I thought it was funny when most of the media ran with that tidbit of information, and Pete was the one who pointed out that the Yankees lose our on road attendence since Fenway is so small. And as he said the real indicatior would have been to throw out all the Yankees/soxs games. I believe when you did the Yankees beat the soxs by a wide margin.
whozat,
i was thinking that internationally, its probably still 10-1 NY hats, but i dont get out of the u.s. much anymore. my observation is based on where i live (philly) and traveling around the mid atlantic region
Ray,
How have the Red Sox “played better” than the Yankees in the 2000′s?
They didn’t even make the playoffs in 2006. The Yankees have made the playoffs every year since 1995.
The Yankees have 1 championship in the 2000′s, the Red Sox 2.
Head to head, they are even. The Yankees have won more division titles.
Really, get your facts straight on this one. You make it sound like the Red Sox have dominated the Yankees in the 2000′s when, in fact, the two teams are pretty much even.
Its kind of tough for Hank to be “upset” about something that doesn’t exist.
There have been an equal number of people in this blog who applaud Hank for talking than rip him for speaking his mind.
Its a helluva lot better than Howard Rubenstein statements.
As far as an, “inferiority complex”, I am still amazed Red Sox fans and their shills in the media still have one, given their success the past few years.
Yet, its still there. Which is why any Anti-Red Sox comments from anybody with the Yankees is met with such anger from Red Sox fans.
Its why I’m going to be interested to see how the Red Sox play this year as favorites.
The whole “Little Engine That Could” BS they try to sell is over.
They are the favorites and let’s see how it plays out.
The last time they were in this position, they didn’t win the division or a playoff game in ’05, and missed the playoffs entirely in ’06 before winning again.
Let’s see how it shakes out this time.
geez, dont be so sensitive everybody. I was just making my observation about hats, which is part of what hank was saying. i could give a bleep’s bleep about hats, marketing or some stupid “nation” or “universe” tag someone wants to stick on thier franchise. Yanks were my boys in 68 and 71 and 85 and 89 as well as in 76 or 98. in fact, it was better in some ways back then b/c you could get opening day or old timers day tickets at the gate. nations and universes and merchandise sales mean squat to me.
Brian,
Its not surprising you can’t see anything that isn’t Pro-Red Sox.
He said its BS because its was promoted by ESPN. That’s what galled him.
He is ticked off ESPN, supposedly a NATIONAL sports network, contributes to it with its biased coverage.
Again, sometimes, the truth hurts. He isn’t saying anything that many people in the industry don’t believe.
ESPN has it favorites and it plays to them. They haven’t had a negative comment about Brett Farve in 15 years. Its the way they play in Bristol.
Hank’s beef is they play favorites. He could care less about whether or not “Red Sox Nation” exists.
Jennifer
The relative sizes of Yankee Stadium and fenway Park do indeed skew the away attemdances, but so does the Yankee traditional rivalry with the Mets. The Red Sox have no equivalent NL rivalry to boost their attendance in NL away games.
So, statistically speaking, you should exclude all games not involving common opponents from the mix (as well as the NY/Boston games). Having said that, I have no idea how it would come out, and don’t care to do the research.
That’s why statistics lie, and liars use statistics.
SJ44
I think winning 2 World Series during the 2000′s more than makes up for not making the playoffs in 2006. Yes…the Yankees make the playoffs every year, but how have they played during the playoffs. Just look at last year, Wang looked miserable in the playoffs. I don’t have to remind you how Arod and others have done the playoffs.
How did the Red Sox look in the ’05 playoffs Ray?
Defended their title very well with that sweep by the White Sox, didn’t they?
The two teams are just about dead even, with more years remaining in the decade.
The previous 8 decades went to the Yankees.
One could argue the law of averages were bound to catch up and the Red Sox should be able to put one decade of quality baseball together, given their resources.
I always say you can take a static and make it say what you want it to.
To take it away from baseball for a minute;
When they say x # of jobs were created, they never say at what salary. Did they replace the same salary or are they jobs at McDonalds?
Also I don’t buy into the Yankees/Mets rivalry. I don’t care about the Mets.
“Brian (Red Sox Fan)
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 am
SJ44 – I believe that Hank’s quote all but denied the existence of a Red Sox Nation. The comment seemed petty and envious.”
Wait, there really is a Red Sox Nation? Where the heck is it? I can’t find it on the map. Is it one of those third world nations that have some idiot as president?
Petty and envious seems to be Red Sox fans who come to Yankee blogs to “defend” their team.
SJ44…
Another thing Red Sox fans never mention, of course, when preaching the superiority of their Manny-infested product, is Division Titles. How many times have the Sawx won the AL East in the past decade? Once.
As far as their anti-Alex bit, I expect it. Remember, A-Rod was almost a member of that team, except Theo decided not to play by the rules and lost him.
SJ44 – We do agree about the Favre favoritism at ESPN. I’d also agree with those who say that Steve Phillips has it in for the Yankees.
And I’m not myopic on the Sox (or Yankees, for that matter).
But we disagree on how to parse Hank’s ESPN/RSN comment.(I have a BA in Literature, but I did cut a lot of classes.) He all but denied that an RSN existed, saying that it was a fabrication of ESPN. I don’t claim to know the provenance of RSN, but I’m quite sure that it would be a viable entity with or without the alleged assistance of ESPN (as would, and is, the Yankee brand).
Okay…truce….SJ44, LOL. You got me on the Red Sox defense of their title in 2005. I am content to say that both the Yankees and the Sox have been among the best teams of the 2000′s, and I know that it goes without saying that the Yankees owned the decades before that. I look forward to the season!
i stopped wearing my ny hat, i hope i didnt skew the ratio!
i been wearing my yankee stadium hat all year.
Jennifer – I’m merely saying that the Yankees get a statistical advantage in away attendance by playing the Mets, whether you think it’s a true rivalry or not.
In the long run, the Yankees and Sox are both big draws on the road. I think we can agree on that.
Mark,
Okay, I had said to myself I would stop posting but I need to respond to your post. You ask how many division titles the Sox have won this decade…answer is one. I respond by saying who cares? The Sox didn’t win the division title in 2004, but we all know how that ended up. Would you rather have the division title or the world series championship?
i thought hanks bluster was actually pretty funny although somewhat inaccurate. But the whole thing is just that, bluster. to be honest, there wasnt that much to say about yesterday’s game and alot of people didnt even see it, so its just the inanity that goes on before this season begins to develop. i find it funny and meaningless.
also as far as espn or anybody else’s bias, who cares? I love listening to steve phillips BECAUSE he hates the yankees so much. in fact i love rooting for the yankees (and new york) BECAUSE everybody hates them. I think it sucks when everyone’s on the yanks bandwagon. i’m hoping that EVERY national writer and tv guy picks the sox to win and the yanks to miss the playoffs. it’ll just make it that much sweeter when hank and joe g are hoising the trophy in oct.
Too bad NYPD isn’t here to help out the Sox fans, he could have added some ingenious thoughts on the topic. Not.
I can’t watch Phillips, I curse at the tv or radio when he is on.
He annoys me to no end.
Buddy….now don’t you be picking on NYPD..LOL
ray…
I fully intend to let you keep the truce, and I can abide by it as well. My point was that the Sox could not claim dominance of the Yankees when they can’t seem to win the head-to-head.