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As it stands right now, the New York Yankees are 11 feet deep in a 15 foot hole with no ladder. Currently 11 games back of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East division, the Yankees, at 37-41, are poised to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993 (in 1994, a strike siphoned off the remainder of the season).
The Yankees are still a juggernaut. At $198.6 million, they have baseball’s highest salary, forcing them to shell out $26 million in luxury taxes. They account for 27 percent of Major League Baseball’s merchandise, the profits of which are then evenly distributed to all 30 teams at a clip of about $3 million for each squad.
Additionally, the traveling constellation of New York stars increase attendance at most stadiums they visit. During a recent three-game stint against the Colorado Rockies, attendance increased by about 25,000 per game and per-game revenue at Coors field increased $1.495 million.
All of this begs the question: When the Yankees don’t make the playoffs this year, will baseball suffer? Will the baseball world implode because they can’t ride the coat tails of a team that Curt Shilling once compared to a gaggle of strippers?
Though it is too early to answer, a look at the competitiveness around baseball is a telling sign that there is more equity in a league often dominated by east coast teams. Take the National League West, for example. Long the whipping boy of baseball elitists, the West is now, arguably, the most competitive division in MLB. The top three teams-The San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Arizona Diamondbacks-have better records than all other teams in baseball that place 1-2-3 in their division. Want more? The NL West is a combined 32 games over .500, by far the best in the National League and trailing just the AL Central and AL West.
How does that compare to the AL East, a division analysts trip over themselves to talk about? The second place Toronto Blue Jays are three games under .500 and are 10.5 games behind the Red Sox, the only team with a winning record in the division. The Yanks are four games under .500. Even the Cubs, a team that seems it would rather play some games in a ring than on a diamond, are holding strong in the NL Central at .500.
And speaking of the NL Central: the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that hasn’t finished with a winning record since 1991, currently own the best record in the National League. Moreover, the Cleveland Indians of the AL Central are in first place and 1.5 games ahead of the defending American League champion Detroit Tigers.
In terms of attendance, the Dodgers and that other team from not-Los Angeles are on pace to get three million asses in their seats this year, something the Dodger’s have done for 10 of the past 11 years.
Perhaps the time has come to rock the east coast-centric baseball world (That means you, ESPN and Fox) and let them know that there is more going on in baseball than the Yankees losing. Between the competitive NL West, the blazin’ Brewers, and the surging Indians, there are more compelling stories out there than what A-Rod’s bitter wife wore to a game and what the Bronx Bums aren’t doing.
(AP Photo/Adrian Wyld,CP)
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Go Dodgers!
Who gives a fVck about the Evil Empire? Proof money can't buy everything. They haven't won a WS since 2000. The 21st Century Curse? That would be AWESOME. Let's hope so!
GO BLUE!
Oh yeah: 2007 World Series: Dodgers vs. the Boston Bora$ Sox. You Heard it here first.
two words: time difference.
Hey Oberstein, I love the Dodgers too, but let's net get carried away with ourselves. Whether we like it or not the Yankees are compelling, win or lose. As Americans we love when people/icons do great things but we love it even more when great people/institutions fail misserably. That's why people can't stop talking about the Yanks and why A-Rod is hounded like he is in the Big Apple. Also before we go attacking east coast news outlets for the their east coast bias (which certainly does exist) let's not forget how late one has to stay up to actually watch an entire Dodger home game if you live in the east (games start at 10:10am so you can imagine when they end). Also the LAist is owned by the Gothamist LLC a company which eminates from...New York City. So let's be honest, people are only interested in the coasts and not what's in between. I mean seriously Milwuakee, Arizona, Cleveland?...yawn. By the way great article and I hope to see more from you in the future.
Guest [5],
Ya, I agree that the sports stories covered are on the coasts because that's where the news is produced. I don't harbor any illusions that that structure will change. I'm just saying that there are more compelling issues of great baseball success happening this season that need to be considered rather than the lack of success of a group of pinstripes from New York.
As for the it's too late to see the end of the games theory: that, in my opinion, is a cop-out. To not follow the happenings of a team that is tearing up shit on the west coast or even in the mid-west is just laziness. We live in 24 hour news cycle where everybody knows what happened right after the outcome. AP stories are posted in minutes after the end of most baseball games. So, to not mention how great Russell Martin is until he makes the All-Star team or the fact that Matt Holliday is the leading hitter in the League (Coors field issues aside) smacks of laziness and, dare I say, elitism. If it doesn't happen on the east, some believe, it doesn't happen.
And thanks very much for the comment.