When was the last time you heard a New York Yankee fan admit their team was not the best in baseball? Let's see. Still thinking? There's no hope. Never. In fact, they can't even admit this when their team doesn't win the pennant.
There's something about the Yankee aura that evokes a sense of tradition, success and winning that makes the Bronx Bombers seem more of an American icon than good old hardball itself. Yankee pinstripes are so synonymous with red, white and blue that if a crowd of Yankee fans filled a section of an Olympic stadium, the entire world would know that they're rooting for the U.S.
But maybe there is some credibility to this. After all, the Yankee fans have every right to be proud of their team and plenty of good facts to back it up.
The Yankees have won more World Series than any other team and have more memorable names than former presidents of the United States.
Still, each year the calendar starts over and each team is given a clean slate. But not the Yankees.
In fact, the first day of the season they will undoubtedly hand out towels marking all the years the Yankees have won the Series in order to remind the entire world just how great they are. The point is that New York Yankee fans rely too much on tradition and the Yankees' past heroics when talking about the Yankees of today.
Perhaps this air of Yankee superiority is a good thing. It gives them first dibs on the opening highlights of Baseball Tonight. But that's about all a good reputation should earn.
Instead of looking to this October , the Yankee fans would still rather contemplate and debate about whether their season was the best in team and, therefore, baseball history.
The thing that is irksome is that instead of making it a local concern, the Yankee fans must make it a national topic of interest in the baseball world.
Looking at the standings, the Yankees are only a playoff team. There's really nothing to brag about at this point.
During last year's World Series, when a San Diego television network asked a New York Yankee fan 'What is a Padre?,' a man who claimed to be a die-hard fan of baseball (not to be mistaken with the common die-hard Yankee fan of baseball) was sure that a Padre was a bird. Being the resident Padre fan, I can clearly say that at no street vendor in New York City will you ever find blue and orange (Padre colors), while the Yankee hat can be found everywhere.
The Yankees have had a number of rather monumental breaks that Yankee fans have overlooked in the past.
Their last two World Series championships could've been easily denied if it weren't for a certain 'hometown' umpire who made questionable calls.
For those non-Yankee fans who do remember, I'm talking about the strike-three call that never was against Tino Martinez and the homerun ball that was aided by a fan with poor catching skills. Both were made by the same umpire " it's nothing short of a conspiracy.
There's one thing that is certain about this year's baseball. The Yankees are back (in their minds, as good as ever). The fans are going to be as cocky as ever " and they're proud of it.
-Stuart Yee is a sports columnist and is still waiting for Tony Gwynn to get his 4,000th hit.
