Yankee Schadenfreude
The Boston Red Sox are 11.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees in the American League East, and I must confess this makes me quite happy. (Although it could be a setup for a major gut-punch collapse, in which case, won’t that be a story and a half.) Part of me feels bad when I celebrate the Yankees losing. I went to college in the Bronx just as the Yankees were getting this current dynasty together, and there was a lot of happiness on campus when they won the World Series in 1996. Plus I have family members who are huge Yankee fans. So why the antipathy?
I gotta say it probably comes down to George Steinbrenner. Back in 2001, the Yankees were in Game 7 of the World Series with a lead in the ninth inning, but the Arizona Diamondbacks came back to win the game. Afterward, Steinbrenner said something to the effect that this was an unacceptable failure and he would make sure it didn’t happen again, and over the next few years the Yankees went from being in the group of league-leading payrolls to way ahead of everyone else. There’s something about that sense of entitlement that bothers me, the idea that if you do not reach the absolute pinnacle you are a failure because by rights you should be at that pinnacle. There must be some midpoint between accepting mediocrity and being hypercompetitive, but Steinbrenner hasn’t found it. So while I know it is horribly unfair to the many Yankees fans and personnel who realize that hey, some of those other teams are pretty good too, I enjoy it when George has to watch another team celebrate.
Besides, I’m a Phillies fan. It’s not like I’ve had a whole lot to celebrate for the last 13 seasons.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.