March to Sea: Bad Times For Yankee Haters

The willpower of New Yorkers during the past few weeks has made me proud to be an American. Despite experiencing unbelievable tragedy, residents of New York have both literally and metaphorically dug themselves out of the rubble and heroically continued on with their lives.

Unfortunately, there is a major downside to the Big Apple’s incredible display of fortitude. It makes it difficult for me to root against the Yankees.

The Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys are the two easiest teams to root against in all of professional sports. They are “America’s Teams,” which means they spend a lot of money and win many championships.

I am an Oakland Athletics fan. It is very difficult to be an Oakland Athletics fan. I’ve suffered through years of terrible baseball teams, watching my favorite players traded away because the organization’s ownership could not afford to pay their salaries.

All fans of small market ball-clubs understand a simple fact: low-budget teams have few good players, and they will all eventually sign with the Yankees.

Last year, the A’s finally made it to the playoffs. It was the first winning season for Oakland since 1992. The young Athletics were the only truly small market team to advance to the post-season, amazingly compiling enough young talent to compete with the big boys. Though Oakland spends 30 million on its players compared to the Yankees’ whopping 90 million, the A’s took the Evil Empire to a final Game Five in last year’s Divisional Playoffs. The Yankees, of course, eked out a 7-5 victory and went on to win the World Series. However, Oakland put a scare into the World Champs, showing the world that David wasn’t too far away from defeating Goliath.

All year, I’ve looked forward to a rematch. When the A’s began 2-12 to begin the season, most doubted Oakland’s chances. Nevertheless, Art Howe rounded up his troops and made a second-half charge that draws comparison to my column name. The A’s went 64-18 after July 1. All season, the goal has been to return to the playoffs and finally oust the fabled Yankees.

Yet, I find it very difficult to root against the Bronx Bombers this year. Anything that lifts the spirit of New Yorkers should be applauded.

Don’t get be wrong—Oakland is my favorite team and the Yankees are my least favorite. It’s not as if I am going to have to think long and hard about which team I hope prevails. Nevertheless, there will not be many Yankees Elimination Parties this year if New York is, in fact, defeated. If the Yankees happen to win the Series again—which would be quite an accomplishment—New York and the nation would celebrate. It would be quite a scene to see a ticker-tape parade in the streets of Times Square.

Bottom line, it would be tolerable to see the Yankees win this year, perhaps for the first time in the history of pro baseball.

Next year, when the Yankees sign Jason Giambi away from the A’s, continuing the frustrating cycle of the rich getting richer and the poor limping away penniless, my hatred of New York will be refueled.

But, if the Yankees do defeat Oakland and advance into the ALCS and then to the World Series, I might just find myself whistling, instead of bristling, to the sound of “New York, New York.”