I'm not going to mock you, but I will defend George. He runs a multi-million dollar organization, and he expects the best. He pays well, but expects results. That's the way many big, successful businesses are run. The guy owns the team, he's not their father. He's always been tough on managers and some players, but he has always been concerned for the product he provides to Yankee fans. Is he a tyrant, in some respects, who goes to far? Of course. Does this bother me as a Yankee fan? Not at all. As for his players, the ones who want to play, produce, and hopefully win on the biggest stage in baseball want to go to New York and seem to get along fine with George. Are his business tactics making it hard for some smaller-city franchises? In some ways. But liking the Yankees, or hating the Yankees, it what keeps a great deal of interest in major league baseball (not all of it, I know). In a nutshell, Steinbrenner makes money and spends money. Would I feel better if he made a lot of money but didn't invest it back in the team? No. Finally, it seems the past year or so, and on into this year, George has finally seen the light with respect to keeping young talent and not going after every high-priced veteran that can be seen as a possible-quick fix. That's a big (and positive) change. Gary Sheffield is all for "The Corporation" and big business when it's about him signing a contract for ridiculous sums of money. He needs to stop being a hypocrite, accept where he's at in his career, and play the damn game.
And George's way works so well that the Yankees have won every world series over the past decade. Well, no, but half? Um, wait, not even 3 out of 10. The Yanks not only represent the biggest payroll, but the gap between their salaries and the majority of the league is massive. Yet, in the end, the best they can do is field a collection of individual superstars. What they haven't achieved is being a team. And, baseball is a team sport. The best Yankee teams were back in the 80's when my Royals contended each year with them. And back then the Yankees--albeit it with a higher payroll--had much less the salary disparity than the rest of league. But, they were the team to beat. The TEAM to beat. And that's why they were a dynasty then.
I've never particularly liked Sheff because I always felt he was arrogant.I still do but I admire him for his intelligence and candor.How many pro athletes could write their own book?(How many can write at all?) Sheffield brings up the subtlety of racism in baseball and how Whites are not usually even aware of it.This is not to be confused with C.C. Sabathia's rant the other day.
Well put. He has lightened up recently and is keeping youth around so i will give him that. Being stuck in this baseball hell called pittsburgh has made me hate the huge market teams that are mad that they didn't win a series again while we sit around with dreams of .500 ball. I guess my hatred for the yanks is just deep. I mean they Fired George Costanza for the love of god My only real concern is how long till i get my foil hat.
He's a hypocrite, and no matter what he says, I'll always feel he's bitter about not being in New York. Well, he trashes every team he leaves behind, always feeling disrespected, so I'm not sure if his bitterness is a sign of anything. I still do but I admire him for his intelligence and candor.How many pro athletes could write their own book?(How many can write at all?) Did you even read what Amateur quoted? I don't have a problem with Sheffield, but he most certainly isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. And to answer your question, any athlete can write their own book if a publisher thinks it will sell. It doesn't prove (nor disprove) anything regarding Sheffield's intelligence. Sheffield brings up the subtlety of racism in baseball and how Whites are not usually even aware of it. No, he complains that because of racism he's never been the poster child for his team, ignoring Ortiz in boston, ignoring that the reason no team would make him the face of their organization is because of his own actions and history. If he wants to make racism the scapegoat, well, Sheffields always been great at blaming others. Par for the course.
C'mon - you have to take what Sheffield says with a very hefty grain of salt. I remember him basically quitting on the Brewers as a rookie because they had the audacity to suggest that he wasn't going to be good enough defensively to remain a shortstop, and has been quite candid about his desire to be well-compensated for his play (see his turbulent relationship with the Dodgers). It's not that I mind any of that - that's his business as a professional and I can dig it, but I'm not sure that you can take that position and then complain about an organization that essentially agrees with you and takes the same attitude - just not in his favour. Smacks of sour grapes to me.
Ya know, I'm sure i'm missing some, but I've thought for at least 10 minutes, and I can't come up with even 1 team that has a white guy as the ''face'' of their team. Atlanta maybe, chipper Jones....and that's a stretch
Debo you will find that on this site you may be promised all sorts of sweet clothes but I've found that they will never appear on your doorstep.
louisville_slugger... Going back a bit, Cal Ripken was and one could argue that Doc Halladay is in Toronto. Wasn't Piazza the face of the Mets just a couple of years ago, and Jonny Damon in Boston? Of course some of those could be debated. On the wider topic, has Sheffield said anything that isn't that obvious? Aren't most manager's "owners-managers" outside of the Marlins last year?
hey about white guys whata about michael 'babe slugger barrett" no kidding
You know, I've been drinking and that punctuation and grammar still makes no sense. It doesn't validate according to W3C standards either: you have an unclosed ' intercepted by a ". And no one is the face of the Expos.
Luther, that's incoherent. I haven't been drinking, and I can't make it out. If you need some money to buy a vowel, or more importantly, some punctuation, man, I'll give you the cash. Vanna and Pat will be glad to hand over some periods, commas, and other punctuation marks.
Sheffield was, is, and always will be an arrogant player. Regardless of talent he's been a cancer on all the ballclubs he played on. My brewers saw the promising player that he was and on the flipside saw the selfishness- and the damage that one player can do to a TEAM in one season. We applauded when he left, just like the yankee fans did and detroit fans will too. His allegations about racism in baseball has always been a crutch for him to defend his poor, selfish attitude (sound familiar Barry Bonds?) whereas people hate him because he's a jerk and a quiter and not because he is black. I know there is racism still in baseball, but to have Sheffield as the mouthpiece for all African American baseball players, i think it does a disservice to them because the true problem gets overshadowed by his history.
Sheffield is NOT a professional!True professionals take life for what it is without placing blame on others!"I Create What Happens To Me!"By the way,Sheffield is also a racist.
The best Yankee teams were back in the 80's when my Royals contended each year with them. Not even close. It is true, however, that the best Royals teams took the field in the late '70's and early 80's, but while Brett, McRea, Otis, Patek, Wilson, Porter and Herzog et al were good, they did not have near the sand in their craw that the Ruth/Gehrig, DiMaggio, or Mantle led Yankee teams of earlier decades had. Just an opinion.
Mjkredliner, I stand corrected and agree the Ruth/Gehrig era Yankees were better than the 80's version. But, you do understand, don't you bro' that you're showing your age!
And George's way works so well that the Yankees have won every more world series over the past decade than any other team. Well, no, but half? Um, wait, not even 3 out of 10 in '98, '99, and '00. The Yanks not only represent the biggest payroll, but the gap between their salaries and the majority of the league is massive. Yet, in the end, the best they can do is field a collection of individual superstars who collectively go to the post-season every year and give their team a chance at a title in a post-season that more-or-less comes down to a crapshoot for everybody. What they haven't achieved is being a team impressing you, apparently. And, baseball is a team sport. The best third worst era of Yankee teams were back in the 80's (after the teams in the early 1900's and the late 1960's) when my Royals contended each year with them. And back then the Yankees--albeit it with a higher payroll--had much less the salary disparity than the rest of league. But, they were the a team to beat. The TEAM to beat that was beaten far more often than the club of the last decade. And that's why they were are a dynasty then now. D+ How can the Royals expect to compete in the American League when the city of Kansas City can't even afford history books. Regardless of talent he's been a cancer on all the ballclubs he played on. I'm going to disagree. I was very happy the Yankees traded Sheff, but not because I thought he was a cancer. He played hurt through his entire first year with the Yanks without taking a seat or griping one bit about it. When he came back from his wrist injury last year, instead of getting petulant about his right field spot, he went right to work to learn a new position and make himself valuable to the team. He was a bad first baseman, but he wasn't a cancer. Yes, he made a gripe about his contract, but in the world of New York media I thought that got precious little ink, which leads me to believe he wasn't making it that big an issue (at least not publicly). The only reason I was happy he got traded was because he was the Yankees' most tradable commodity and he brought the greatest return they could have expected of the outfielders they had. The Yankees could have continued with the first base experiment, but I am thrilled they did not. The fact that they got so much young pitching in return made the deal a huge part of what has to be considered one of the best Yankees off-seasons in the era of free agency.
Well said, top to bottom, Sousepaw.
