A Tale of Two Taunts

I was just watching Pardon the Interruption (PTI) on ESPN2, and a couple of the stories that they started out with today revolved around a couple of things that have happened in baseball in the last 24 hours - both things that I have thought about blogging about, and was now provoked into doing so.

The first one is a comment that Hank Steinbrenner made last night, following a Yankees loss to the Red Sox that caused severe damage to their already slim playoff chances. He said that the Yankees suck. That's right, he proclaimed from the mountaintop of mass media something that many of us already knew - the Yankees suck. I've said it for years, because I'm not crazy about a team that goes out and spends all kinds of money to get the top free agents every year. Now, as you may know, up until last season a part of me was pulling for the Yankees because I so greatly respect Joe Torre as a manager. (As a side note, Torre is my dad's all time favorite baseball player - even before he played for the Cardinals in the mid-late 70's.) However, given the disrespect shown to Torre by Steinbrenner's "contract" (a contract that was lower than before, but provided "bonuses" for each level of the playoffs reached). My full-fledged less than pleasant disposition towards the Yankees was revived.

Seriously though, what is the deal with the Steinbrenners? They are constantly putting down their own team - a team that they certain had a hand in putting together. They just need to shut their mouths and let the people who actually know stuff about baseball take care of things on the field. You know, there will be times when a team unexpectedly comes out of nowhere and takes control (like Tampa this season), and because of the baseball playoff system, only 4 teams are going to make it. If you don't outplay those ahead of you, you ain't gonna make it. Period. And that's what has happened this year. The Yankees are being outplayed by the Red Sox and the Rays, and they aren't playing well enough to keep up with the Twins/White Sox (whoever is going to end up in second in the AL Central and out of the playoffs). Deal with it. People are tired of the Yankees, and this is a season where they could very well win 85 games and be sitting at home come October. We don't want to hear any more from an owner that has nothing to do but criticize his team.

The second comment that I have is regarding the Cardinals-Brewers game. Last night, after getting out of a jam in the 7th inning, the Brewers pitcher taunted the Cardinal dugout. Which, of course, infuriated Albert Pujols, who was on deck at the time. One thing you don't do it tick off an MVP-caliber player - nor do you taunt a team that has recently won a World Series, and has soundly put you in the middle to bottom of their division for years. At the time, the Cardinals were down 3-1, and, what do you know, Pujols leads off the 8th with a double, and is quickly brought home to make the score 3-2. When the dust finally settled, the Cardinals went into the 9th inning with a 5-3 lead, and they went on to win the game.

So, my message for the Brewers (like any of them would actually read my blog): You haven't proven anything yet. Yes, you won a season series against the Cardinals, but you aren't in the playoffs yet. In case you've forgotten, you collapsed down the stretch last season. When was the last time the Brewers did anything of note? 1982? Oh yeah, and who did that lose that Series to? So, man up and play the game. Don't taunt a team that is breathing down your neck before its all sown up. Take care of your business and don't worry about everybody else.