Larry Brown Sports

Baseball is a better world when Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner is popping off and running his mouth. That’s why it was delightful to hear him say Monday the Yankees were too complacent and that was a reason they didn’t win enough last season. Those comments came only a month after he dropped a four-letter cuss word describing the urgency behind the Yanks needing to win.

Steiny’s exact quote Monday was “Sometimes you celebrate too much, players concentrating on building mansions and not concentrating on winning.” Many people assumed his words were a direct jab at shortstop Derek Jeter who had been building a mansion in St. Petersburg, Florida. On Tuesday, Steinbrenner denied that was the case.

“It was a euphemism, that’s all it was,” Steinbrenner said. “It was a generalization, a euphemism. Bad choice of a euphemism, but it was a euphemism. That’s all it was. He knows that I wasn’t referring to him. You can’t say that about a guy that’s won five rings.”

Wait a sec, so Hanky Panky was backing off his words? You can’t say that about a guy that’s won five rings? Maybe that’s what Hank’s conclusion was after reconsidering his harsh words. The guy has unreal expectations and we all know that — every season is a failure unless the Yankees win the World Series. There’s nothing wrong with that mindset, but there’s only something wrong with Hank backing off his remarks. We all know he was taking a run at the Captain, why slow down now? Maybe the Yanks will win another World Series with Hank breathing down their necks this season. I just hope the backlash didn’t frighten Hank into a shell because a season full of his angry remarks makes everything more fun (unless you’re a Yankee fan).

If you think Hank Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees front office spend all this money to benefit the New York Yankees — think again.  That’s right, they’re doing it for everyone.  Without their financial dominance and perennial winning ways, baseball would be no more.  If that seems to have slipped your mind for any reason, Hank is here to remind you.

“We will do what we have to do to win,” Steinbrenner told Kevin Kernan of the NY Post.  “We have the highest payroll and the reason is we are committed to our fans to win. We just have to f***ing win.”

“Look at the money we are paying out in revenue sharing,” he continued. “We are baseball’s stimulus package. The fans of other teams have no reason to complain about us or the Red Sox or the teams that support the rest of baseball.”

Steinbrenner has a point about revenue sharing, but shouldn’t he say the owners have nothing to complain about, not the fans?  Fans can complain all they want.  Some MLB teams are not making enough money and thus cannot afford astronomical payrolls like the Yankees’ and Red Sox’s.  Other teams have cheap owners who choose to sit on their hands and pocket as much money as possible while putting a horrendous product on the field.

So Hank is somewhat right and somewhat wrong.  Does baseball need teams like the Yankees and Red Sox to survive? Yes. Do the fans of teams whose owners refuse to spend more money even though they have more money to spend have a reason to be upset?  Again, yes.

Last year’s AL Cy Young winner, CC Sabathia, was acquired a month prior to the trading deadline by the Brewers from the Indians. Since the acquisition, Sabathia has been nothing short of brilliant, going 10-2 with Milwaukee winning 13 of the 16 games he started. Sabathia has been quite the workhorse since his acquisition, throwing three straight complete games in July, and three more in August, totaling an astounding (by today’s standards) six complete games in 16 starts. And since falling out of the wild card lead, the Brewers have decided to pitch CC on three days rest as opposed to the standard four in each of his last two starts. They have also said they wouldn’t hesitate to pitch Sabathia on Sunday (also on three days rest) if it were necessary.

While Milwaukee’s worrying about making the playoffs for the first time since 1982, the Yankees have already been eliminated from postseason contention — for the first time in 14 years. Hank Steinbrenner already stated that he expects the Yankees to win the World Series next year, and that he plans on Sabathia being one of their big free agent signings in the off-season. That’s why he’s filing a grievance with MLB, saying that the Brewers are abusing Sabathia, mere months before CC’s set to become a free agent:

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George who? For anyone that was worried the sauciness erupting from the Yankees front office would disappear when George stepped out of the picture, they sure have had their share of relief in the form of Hank who has stepped right in without missing a beat. The guy’s not afraid to bash anyone or rip anything, and funny enough, he’s got a take on damn near every subject. In essence, he’s Curt Schilling without the fastball. And check out the bomb he dropped on over half of MLB in response to Chien-Ming Wang getting injured running the bases in Houston:

“My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century,” Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. “They need to grow up and join the 21st century.

“Am I (mad) about it? Yes,” Steinbrenner added. “I’ve got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He’s going to be out. I don’t like that, and it’s about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s.”

As an American League guy, I can’t agree with Steiny more. I’m all about the offense. Who the heck wants to watch pitchers bat anyway? If they’re that good, the team won’t have to use a D.H. anyway. Surely Steinbrenner’s outburst is a wholly irrational response to the situation, but it certainly has merit. Gotta love that guy. Is there any wonder why Sporting News has decided to make him a featured writer? Tell us how you really feel next time, Hank.

(via FanHouse)