All indications are that the Yankees will spend an enormous amount of money this winter to restock the team. The brass is admittedly embarrassed about not making the playoffs-and now that a tough American League East is even stronger with the emergence of the Tampa Bay Rays-the Yanks are in dire need of keeping up with the Epsteins and the Friedmans.
Suppose the Yankees sign the likes of CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and Lord knows who else to elaborate multi-year contracts this winter. Is there anyone out there who thinks the Yanks should be more fiscally conservative in bad economic times?
And what about the absurd prices of tickets at the new Yankee Stadium and the cost of soda, beer, hot dogs and parking? Is it getting too costly to be a Yankee Fan?
Will the cost of re-stocking the team or the price of attending games upset any Yankee fans that are personally weathering a putrid economy and perhaps facing foreclosure, unemployment, diminishing expectations, or any of the other pleasantries bestowed upon them by eight ghastly years of Bush's policies and the greed of unregulated Wall St. fat cats?
I took an informal poll of several Yankee fans from all walks of life-rich, poor, older, younger-and the result is a landslide: The Yankees should do whatever they need to in order to capture that elusive 27th world championship… Price be damned.
Jorge Cabrera, 49, of Yonkers, NY told me: "Look, I can separate the Yankees and my own situation. I lost my job this summer and my wife is on disability. There is a real chance that we will lose our home by the time the season starts up next year. But no matter what happens, the Yankees are my security blanket. I can forget about my problems and worry about the team. It actually makes me feel better. I just hope I can keep the lights on so I can watch them."
Ben Wendon, 31, of Fort Lee, NJ said: "I was a commodities trader, but at the moment I'm unemployed. I don't want to say who I worked for, but guys like me…we are just doing our jobs. I'll rebound. And I will be there on opening day against the Indians."
I canvassed 35 people; the only pre-requisite was that they be Yankee fans. Twenty of the people I spoke with earned below the national median household income of $44,334. Only two of the 35 people thought the Yankees should hold tight on their purse strings.
Matt Mitchell, 18, of Manhattan thinks it's "unseemly" for the team to be "spending so much money when so many are suffering." When I asked him why the Yankees were supposed to feel responsible for the suffering of others, Mitchell replied, "Look, I don't know. It's just not right. Who do you think I am? Joe the Plumber?"
Since I had no idea what Mitchell was talking about, I moved on. Henry LaPoint, 67, of Queens thinks there should be a tight salary cap in baseball. "It's the only way to make small market teams competitive."
"Teams like Tampa?" I asked. "Aberration." claimed LaPoint. "They are hardly an aberration, I told him, "They've been built from the ground up with superb scouting and drafting. They deserve to be in the ALCS because they've mad ebetter choices than the Yankees have. Brains will trump bucks every day of the week."
OK, so I wasn't being an impartial journalist, but LaPoint made a fair point as well. "The salary cap works in other sports. Why not baseball?"
The real answer to that question is simple: The players' union is too strong. They would never stand for it.
For the vast majority of fans, the Yankees are a pastime. The team's function is to entertain and help fans forget about the pressure of daily life. Perhaps Jim Holland, 29, of Norwalk, CT said best:
"I've got the NY logo emblazoned throughout my DNA. I may go to fewer games, but I will continue to chart their every move. For me, it's a way of life. They aren't going anywhere, and neither am I."
Other quotes from those I polled include:
"Oh, I want the Yankees to put the best team on the field they can. And I will still take my three boys to Yankee games. Maybe we don't go on vacation. Maybe we don't do some other things." -- Cindy Maddow, 55, Huntington, NY
"Just spend the money wisely. No more Pavano and Jaret Wright signings. The scouts have to earn their money." - Max Clairmont, 32, Bridgeport, CT
"Can we send Igawa back to Japan?" - Frank Reynolds, 73, White Plains, NY
My take is that baseball will continue to grow and prosper, despite hard economic times. There will always be a downtrodden man getting by on unemployment or welfare checks, reading The New York Post under the glare of a single, bare lightbulb. He'll be gritting his teeth and bemoaning the fact that Derek Jeter got a raw deal when he signed his last contract.
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