I’ve often wondered if major league baseball deliberately encourages Yankee anti-fandom, for the same reason pro wrestling had heels.
I can think of several organic reasons for Yankee hatred, of course:
1) Fairly high win percentage, making many cases where they were the reason someone’s favorite team lost
2) Sports fans seem to be more “root for the home team” than “everyone loves a winner”, but the Yankees’ home is also shared with the Mets and Dodgers (I think? Not entirely sure…)
3) Something about being better funded than most other teams? I know salary cap rules have existed and may still exist, but if that sort of thing worked, this would be a socialist blog.
4) The team is old enough for antifandom to be traditional
5) The above points also give many opportunities for a fan’s rising star that could take their team far… to find a way to transfer to the Yankees.
I wonder if any non-American sports leagues have anything that can compare.
3) …but the Yankees’ home is also shared with the Mets and Dodgers (I think? Not entirely sure…)
No. The Dodgers used to be Brooklyn, about 80 years ago, but now they’re in Los Angeles
The Mets were never in Yankee stadium, they’re in Queens, used to be Shea Stadium, I’m not sure about the new stadium, the Mets are dead to me.
When most teams were spending about $30-50,000,000 on a team, the Yankees spent $200,000,000 on players and won championships while the Mets spent $100,000,000 to win half as many games.
The Yankees have won one of the highest percentages of championships of any sport, the only one that ever came close, to the best of my knowledge, was the Montreal Canadiens.
There’s even a movie about how people hate the Yankees, Damn Yankees! from the 40s.
It’s pretty good and predates the George, Let’s Sign Every Good Player To A Ridiculously Large Contract, Steinbrenner years by 3 decades.
And all major league teams share the North American continent. Point? You did miss that the Yankees played in Shea stadium, home of the Mets, in 1974 and 1975 while Yankee stadium was being renovated. Also the Yankees and the Giants, another NYC team, shared the Polo grounds for several years until the original Yankee staduim was built.
And the Cowboys…
Exactly.
Sorry, gotta draw the line there.
I’ve often wondered if major league baseball deliberately encourages Yankee anti-fandom, for the same reason pro wrestling had heels.
I can think of several organic reasons for Yankee hatred, of course:
1) Fairly high win percentage, making many cases where they were the reason someone’s favorite team lost
2) Sports fans seem to be more “root for the home team” than “everyone loves a winner”, but the Yankees’ home is also shared with the Mets and Dodgers (I think? Not entirely sure…)
3) Something about being better funded than most other teams? I know salary cap rules have existed and may still exist, but if that sort of thing worked, this would be a socialist blog.
4) The team is old enough for antifandom to be traditional
5) The above points also give many opportunities for a fan’s rising star that could take their team far… to find a way to transfer to the Yankees.
I wonder if any non-American sports leagues have anything that can compare.
1) Yes
2) No
3) No
4) Yes
5) Yes
3) …but the Yankees’ home is also shared with the Mets and Dodgers (I think? Not entirely sure…)
No. The Dodgers used to be Brooklyn, about 80 years ago, but now they’re in Los Angeles
The Mets were never in Yankee stadium, they’re in Queens, used to be Shea Stadium, I’m not sure about the new stadium, the Mets are dead to me.
When most teams were spending about $30-50,000,000 on a team, the Yankees spent $200,000,000 on players and won championships while the Mets spent $100,000,000 to win half as many games.
The Yankees have won one of the highest percentages of championships of any sport, the only one that ever came close, to the best of my knowledge, was the Montreal Canadiens.
There’s even a movie about how people hate the Yankees, Damn Yankees! from the 40s.
It’s pretty good and predates the George, Let’s Sign Every Good Player To A Ridiculously Large Contract, Steinbrenner years by 3 decades.
And all major league teams share the North American continent. Point? You did miss that the Yankees played in Shea stadium, home of the Mets, in 1974 and 1975 while Yankee stadium was being renovated. Also the Yankees and the Giants, another NYC team, shared the Polo grounds for several years until the original Yankee staduim was built.
Yeah, as an Indians Fan I really appreciate that one. GO TRIBE! Too bad I can’t heckle the Yanks this season…
Not until July 23rd.