Tuesday, April 07, 2009

We're Talking Baseball





Ah yes, the days are longer but still awfully brisk here in the East, and Easter is fast approaching, so it can only mean baseball. I've been a fan of the Boys from the Back Bay since my brief year of residence in the great city of Boston, so while i have suffered a bit with the team I would never approach true hardcore Sox fans and pretend to know their pain from back in the day. However, beginning with that history making comeback from a 3 game to 0 lead against that most evil of franchises, the huge spending, arrogant a-holes (not to be confused with The A-Hole, as there can only be one A-Roid, er, A-Rod) from the Bronx in 2004, things have changed.

Let's just take a look at the opening day performances for both teams and you'll see what i mean.

Yesterday the Overpaid avatars of unchecked greed (and hasn't that been good for the country,) The Yanks sent out Big Cheeseburger Squared (C.C.) Sabathia to return the evil empire to their self appointed role as top dogs. Facing the lowly Baltimore Orioles, CC took his $161 million dollar salary to the only team in baseball spending consistenly over $200 per year and took the ball, ready to help the Evil Empire begin crushing people again. Now lets have some fun with neighbors.

CC already received over 6 million in signing bonus, will receive another $14 million dollars this year, another 3.5 more in "bonue", and then will spend $23 million more each season for the next 5 seasons! Oh, and don't forget, this deal was signed during the worst economic crisis in the Modern American Era. Oh, and he was only one of 3 monster deal the Empire made this summer.

So what was the return on investment?

4.1 innings pitched. 8 Hits allowed. 6 runs, all earned. 5 Walks - 0 Strikeouts and an ERA of 12.46!

Meanwhile, after a rainout, Josh Beckett, ace Righty for the resilient fellas from Beantown made his opening day start today instead of yesterday. Once again faced with the task of taking their relatively paltry payroll into a season in which they have to match up with the Bloated Behemonth from the Bronx, he took the ball and delivered the following:

7 innings pitched. 2 Hits, 1 Earned Run. 3 Walks, 10 strikeouts... and an ERA of 1.29. Oh, and Josh does this for less than half the price (salary just over $10 million, and the club has an option next year for $12 million, once again about half the $23 million the Yanks shell out to CC.

But you know, CC must do something special in the post season to be worth.. oh, what's that. I forgot. Josh is the one with 2 rings, a post season record of 7-2, 3 complete games, including a dominating performance against the Yanks in 03, and an ERA of 2.90. (BTW, if Beckett didn't pitch hurt all of last season and the playoffs, landing him an 8.79 ERA in last years postseason, his ERA would be downright sick instead of just dominating.

Finally, instead of spending a gazillion dollars to get him, the Sox traded the super talented Hanley Ramirez to acquire Beckett and Mike Lowell, (a throw in at the time who proved to be a critical cog in their championship of 2007) - the Sox have to be shrewd because no matter how deep their resources, they can never outspend the Yankees.

How people can root for that team is just something I will never get. Rooting against the Richest guy in the room with every advantage, not that I get!

Schools Out. Any Question Red Sox = Good, Yankees = Evil

Dismissed

2 comments:

Kristopher said...

You had decent points except for 1: "How people can root for that team is just something I'll never get" What do you expect Yankee fans, who have been Yankee fans for a long time, to do? Say, "The system is getting more and more and unfair, and because the Yankees, as Savvy has pointed out, haven't been able to utilize that advantage as they should have because of bad management, I am going to disown them. I am going to stop supporting a team I have loved for over 20 years because of a system all of baseball, not the just the Yankees are responsible for." That makes zero sense and you know it.

Also, the Sux trade for Beckett and Lowe was awesome. Like getting Paul O'Neill or Roberto Kelly or getting Tino and Jeff Nelson for Sterling Hitchock and Russ Davis. But don't for a minute pretend that money didn't play a role in your trade with the Marlins. Florida was looking to dump salary and you guys had the money to pay him. Which is fine, but don't play high and mighty and pretend the system doesn't benefit you, too. It does. Not as much as it does the Yankees, but it does. And more than you think, because, like you so ably point out, there is a diminishing return when the dollars get higher.

savvy said...

All true, but it would be fun to hear Yankee fans say "The system is getting more and more and unfair, and because the Yankees, as Savvy has pointed out, haven't been able to utilize that advantage as they should have because of bad management, I am going to disown them. I am going to stop supporting a team I have loved for over 20 years because of a system all of baseball, not the just the Yankees are responsible for." - that would make me very happy in sort of an evil genius ego boosting way "That's right, Richards, I Dr. Doom, am the true genius of this or any other world.. .Ha ha ha ha!!"