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).
