Baseball topic - Hating Steinbrenner

[Itsanalias]

Ok, the ridiculous deals only keep on coming. After "bolstering" his already "bolstered" club, he goes out and steals Aaron Boone from the Reds. I don't think this guy will be happy until MLB collapses from the inside. I mean, when is enough enough, Georgie? I say let's try to top a quarter-billion dollars in salary this year.

Until someone steps in and does something about this, it'll only get worse. However, with A-Rod positioning himself for a trade, at least George didn't bring him in.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

as Adam Sandler said: "Yankees, they bring New York together. Yankees, we even love Steinbrenner..."

George has it, why shouldn't he spend it? Baseball is a business, and until it's rgulated under some sort of antitrust -type law, any team owner is free to do as he chooses.

 

[Steve H.]

There truly needs to be a legitimate salary cap (a la NFL) in MLB -- otherwise, in time baseball will get to a point where no owners (outside of NY, Bill Gates and a couple other multi-billionaires) will be able to afford to buy enough players to compete.

 

[Itsanalias]

Steve H. gets it.

You, BR, do not. The point isn't whether or not he should spend it, the point is that for the good of the game, he should be smart enough NOT to spend it. I mean, this isn't a business where you're trying to force the competition to close. This is a business that works ONLY if there is parity and more than two or three elite teams can compete each year. It's bad enough that in order to go to a game (if you have a 4 person family) costs a small mint (Mr. Itsa, your loan has been approved, would you prefer box seats?). I can't see people in Minnesota, Kansas City, Oakland, Toronto, etc. spending their hard earned jack to see their favorite team lose to one or two teams EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

If George truly loved the sport, he'd keep his money in his pocket and do the best he could with, say $100,000,000 a year in salary. I mean, don't you think that should be enough??

 

[Adrianna]

George doesn't love the sport, he loves WINNING the sport. He can, so he does. Something needs to be done before it truly DOES collapse from the inside out. I don't think the players will settle for a cap, b/c they ( or some of them ) are also greedy and don't love the game for the game, they love it for the wrong reasons. Money has corrupted so much crap in this country, why not baseball too

It would be a MUCH more interesting game to watch with a cap in place. If the Yanks keep it up it won't be a contest for much longer. Nothing will make me happier than to see them get the crap beat out of them again in the playoffs this year. HATE THEM.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

oh, I get it alright. it's business, pure and simple. no such thing as "for the good of the sport." or "for the love of the sport." he's free to spend whatever he wants to dominate the industry. if it were not profitable for George, he wouldn't do it. he doesn't care about you or the team you love. he cares about Yankee fans, and giving them what they want so that they'll buy tickets, watch games on cable and spend $$$ on merchandise. if the fans didn't want it, he wouldn't do it.

 

[figmentvi]

Well being from Boston, it's easy for me to hate Steinbrenner. But you are so right about this getting out of hand.

The game has become "The guys with the most money wins". This isn't baseball, it's Ebay for rich guys.

I just hope that my beloved Red Sox can put Mr. Steinbrenner and his high priced team in their place this year.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

just a little aside: the Yankees have the highest payroll in either league.


the second-highest payroll in either league belongs to a last place team -- the New York mets.


money doesn't always buy happiness. or championships.

 

[Steve H.]

I don't fault Steinbrenner for spending whatever money he can to win all the championships he can. Nor do I blame the players for trying to get the last dollar they can squeeze out of an owner.

It's baseball's lack of leadership that's at fault -- you can't expect owners and players to look forward any farther than this year towards what their actions are likely going to do to the game. It's up to baseball's leadership (Selig ) to realize that if left to continue, what owners like Steinbrenner and others are doing is truly going to kill the sport. Itas explained it perfectly -- 9/10ths of the teams in baseball these days can't afford to pay players what the remaining 1/10th can -- and when you have no talent, your team will lose. And when the team loses, no fans come out. And unlike a NY or Atlanta or Chicago, there's no billion dollar TV contract to pull funds from -- it all has to come from ticket revenue.

But I guess George will still enjoy those World Series trophies when he's beating the three remaining teams left in the game in a few years.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

I agree with you, Steve, it serves no purpose to "hate" Steinbrenner. if there are illnesses n the industry it's up to the leaders of the industry to come up with a cure.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

though 40 years later it's still acceptable to hate O'Malley.

 

[Steve H.]

But, on the other hand, if one of the more prominent owners in the league were to stop and think of the possible long term effects of what he's doing -- it might go a long way towards helping repair a damaged product (one that is his only business these days).

 

[Itsanalias]

Originally posted by Briar Rose 7457
oh, I get it alright. it's business, pure and simple. no such thing as "for the good of the sport." or "for the love of the sport." he's free to spend whatever he wants to dominate the industry. if it were not profitable for George, he wouldn't do it. he doesn't care about you or the team you love. he cares about Yankee fans, and giving them what they want so that they'll buy tickets, watch games on cable and spend $$$ on merchandise. if the fans didn't want it, he wouldn't do it.

Yes, but what you DON'T get is that in order for Georgie to be profitable, he NEEDS the other teams in the league. There is no NY Yankees without the rest of the American League....there'd be NO LEAGUE. If he outspends the competition, about 2/3 of which are operating in the red to begin with, then the whole system WILL collapse from the inside out. I mean even one of the most historically profitable teams, the Atlanta Braves, are being shopped by AOL/Time Warner b/c they can't spend with the likes of Georgie.

As for your 2nd highest payroll argument, if you were paying attention the last couple of months to the Mets, as soon as this high priced team started to falter, they started dumping players b/c they don't have the money to just reload like Georgie does.

The point is this - Georgie is cutting off his nose to spite his face. After hearing Georgie spout off in the press after losing a series to the Red Sox last weekend about the Red Sox "not having won anything yet," I knew exactly what was going to happen. He couldn't win it all with $150,000,000 payroll, so he'll do WHATEVER it takes to back that up. If the man had any spine, he would have ridden the storm out and believed in his team.....hence, he's an idiot.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

that wouldn't be George, then, since he's got multiple interests.

 

[Steve H.]

Originally posted by Briar Rose 7457
though 40 years later it's still acceptable to hate O'Malley.

Who the hell's O'Malley???

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

first you call George ruthless and then you accuse him of lacking a backbone. itsanalias, are you, by any chance, a Red Sox fan?

Steinbrenner has the bankroll that other owners wish they had. if not Steinbrenner, then someone else would be doing what he's doing. we're a long way from MLB collapsing in a heap, itsanalias. again, it's not the individual owner's issue, it's an issue for the industry as a whole. football did it, and didn't basketball do it? why waste your energy on Steinbrenner when the responsibility lies with the MLB leadership?

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

Originally posted by Steve H.
Who the hell's O'Malley???

a little NYC baseball history. Walter O'Malley owned the Brooklyn Dodgers. their stadium, Ebbets Field, is now a bunch of apartment buildings.

 

[Steve H.]

Originally posted by Briar Rose 7457
a little NYC baseball history. Walter O'Malley owned the Brooklyn Dodgers. their stadium, Ebbets Field, is now a bunch of apartment buildings.

Outside of ten 80-year old men playing checkers in a park in Brooklyn, who else "hates O'Malley"??

 

[Itsanalias]

Yes, he lacks a backbone. If you're gonna run your mouth that you have a better team in the press, then keep that team intact to prove it. Not only is he spineless, but he's an egomaniac as well.

I'll say this again - the problem IS with baseball's leadership....however, if Georgie weren't such an idiot and an egomaniac, he could control his wallet and realize that a little competition is good for the game. Collecting All Stars to put at every position to crush the opposition is not good for the game, it's only good for Yankee fans and his own ego.

If fans wanted to see that, they could just buy an X-Box, PS2, etc. and save a helluvalot of money.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

Originally posted by Steve H.
Outside of ten 80-year old men playing checkers in a park in Brooklyn, who else "hates O'Malley"??

the most hated man in NYC

people around here have long memories.