New York friends are all Mets fans...guess I am not one of your friends, I hate the METS. I recall when they came into being to fill the void left by the Dodgers and Giants leaving. Their fan base consisted of people who loved going to a carnaval i.e. watching fielders catch the ball of their heads.
I agree with one point made elsewhere, the Yanks became the best team that money can buy but even with their enormous salary, they cannot win today. It seems the era of buying talent at its peak and getting ready for a decline does not guarantee success. Perhaps it never was. Under the Yawky regime in Boston, no team paid more than did the Red Sox and no team achieved less on a dollar per dollar basis.
The Yankees of my memory were the US Steel, IBMs and Standard Oil of baseball....US Excellence. They dressed well, image was important, and they played sound baseball tactics and skills, no one caught the ball off their heads, no midget led off like the White Sox tried, no fireworks, no automatic baseball refills for the umps, just a great winning product on the field...the record says so.
My dad took me to Joe Dimaggio’s last game, I never forgot that and remained a Yankee fan, as he was, ever since.
I have to say the great times of my live were the 77 and 78 seasons. I was 13 and those Yankees were the best. That team I still marvel at and still think about Catfish and Thurman.
Good comments.
The Yanks haven’t been as smart with their money as they could have been. Their only ‘key pieces’ under 32 are Cano, MAYBE Teixeira (not aging well), and (barely under 32) Sabathia.
Top players that fit aren’t available every year, and many won’t go to just any team that offers the most money.
My entire family is Yankees/Giants. My sister, and sometimes w/ my nephews, would go to many Yankee games. Just being in Yankee Stadium was exciting.
Unfortunately, they had to build “the new one”....in which I will NEVER step foot in. Yankee Stadium was FULL OF AMERICAN HISTORY. You could feel it, you could imagine all the old timers playing on that field. As I have stated, it was very exciting, each and every game. And SO much fun!
Unfortunately, I will never go to another Yankee game in that new stadium. Just not the same.
As for the Mets...pffft! Why on earth did they remove the Brooklyn Dodgers? They too were apart of American history.
It was the Dodgers vs. the Yankees, a very exciting time. Mets vs. Yankees just not the same. I will always see the Mets as “second” and NOT apart of American history.
Part of that has to be due to the crackdown of steroids. With roids you could sign a player for a 5,6,7+ year deal because they would continue to perform at peak well into their late 30s/early 40s. Now, it's "back to normal" where a player's decline usually begins in their early to mid thirties. So now you have a bunch of teams like the Yankees who have a roster of high priced, over the hill players who break down at the end of the year.