11/21/24
October 26, 2009
The Nation is Well Again - the Yankees are back in the World Series: Normally reliable and skilled NY Times writer Tyler Kepner loses his balance and goes over the hometown edge, stating that postseason baseball has been ordinary and without drama since the last time the Yankees were in the World Series, and suggesting that there is a direct correlation between the absence of the Yankees and the woefulness of the playoffs. In one fell swoop, A-Rod's childlike wonder at his first trip to the Series is brought back to earth by a return to arrogance. From the pages of the newspaper of record, no less.
posted by beaverboard to baseball at 07:18 PM - 14 comments
Huh. I didn't read that kind of homerism into the article. The message I took away from it is that these two teams are evenly matched, and unlike recent series, is should probably go 6 or 7 and involve some drama. The last few series have been whuppin's (and this one might be no different) but the author seems to be giving the Phillies as much credit as the Yanks for the anticipated competitiveness.
posted by tahoemoj at 09:09 PM on October 26, 2009
The Times writers are the Yankees biggest critics. Always have been. And they hate Steinbrenner.
And all this guy is doing is relaying facts to his readers.
By the way- I'm a Yankee fan and I feel they will lose. They are the clear underdogs here- due to the intangibles.
posted by JButton at 09:32 PM on October 26, 2009
By the way- I'm a Yankee fan and I feel they will lose. They are the clear underdogs here- due to the intangibles.
Ha. Underdogs? You can't possible be serious. Nearly twice the payroll and a team of all-stars; not to mention plenty of experience at this level of urgency. I appreciate that the Phillies are the reigning champs, but NY won 110 games this year. They're no underdog.
Florida when they make it is an underdog. Tampa was last year. That's an underdog.
While 4/5 of the article was a balanced synopsis of the series, starting with "The Yankees have been away from the World Series for the last five years, and in the meantime, baseball's showcase has flopped on a national scale." is pretty homeristic writing. There are fans all over this country who actually believe that there's been something relevant in the World Series for each of the last five years, myself included.
posted by dfleming at 09:46 PM on October 26, 2009
They are the clear underdogs here- due to the intangibles
now, that's funny right there....
Bigger payroll, all-stars, home field, umpire bias etc.
Unless, by "intangibles" you meant that A-Rod gets ahold of a bad batch of steroids, or maybe Madonna shows up in the dugout and "drains" his energy.
Other than that, the Yankees are the favorite.
posted by dviking at 10:10 PM on October 26, 2009
The Yankees are -200 to win the series. The Phillies +170 .
Odds courtesy of bet365.com
posted by tommybiden at 10:30 PM on October 26, 2009
Hometown writer makes case for his team being in the series being an event of importance that surpasses all other teams making it to the series.
In other news, dog people tend to prefer dogs 100% of the time over cats.
posted by Joey Michaels at 02:17 AM on October 27, 2009
That was ruder to bb than I intended it to be. My point is, this isn't necessarily a bad thing or a surprising thing. Indeed, as a New York sports writer, Kepner would be something of a dick to not engage in a certain amount of pro-Yankee hyperbole after the bad luck they've had in the last few seasons and post-seasons.
posted by Joey Michaels at 03:24 AM on October 27, 2009
These teams are not evenly matched. The Phillies have some great hitters and a stacked middle of the order - but they don't have the same starting pitching, and the Yankees feature not just All-Stars, but Hall of Famers at key positions (lead-off, clean-up and closer). Phillies may have an advantage in the outfield, and defensively, and they'll also be able to run at will against Posada, but that's about it.
Yankees deserve to be favorites, which is a bit surprising considering the Phillies are probably better suited to win this year than last.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:21 AM on October 27, 2009
Kepner would be something of a dick to not engage in a certain amount of pro-Yankee hyperbole after the bad luck they've had in the last few seasons and post-seasons.
The Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates feel the Yankees pain.
posted by tommybiden at 11:08 AM on October 27, 2009
Unless, by "intangibles" you meant that A-Rod gets ahold of a bad batch of steroids, or maybe Madonna shows up in the dugout and "drains" his energy.
LOL AROID IS A CHEATER AMIRITE!!!!!!11111one
posted by MKUltra at 01:06 PM on October 27, 2009
I've never seen that typo spelled out as "one" before, MK. Well-played.
posted by rcade at 01:09 PM on October 27, 2009
I've never seen that typo spelled out as "one" before, MK.
You need to get around more. It's all the rage on OMG.
One expects a certain level of homerism from Yankees fans and the local NY media. That's kind of why it's fun to hate on them just a bit. Well, that and their tremendous success, purchased or not. The Haves will always be somewhat despised by the Have-Nots. It's one of the ways of the world. It's the kind of thing that fuels revolutions and divorces.
That being said, Go Phillies!
posted by THX-1138 at 01:50 PM on October 27, 2009
This belongs in the post, not the ny times. I thought it was going to be the usual claim that the Yankees are good for baseball because everyone cares; they either love them or hate them. There's some truth to that.
But then he goes on to basically say that the WS has been a blowout without the Yankees, and I'm not sure how the hell the Yankees being in the WS assures it won't be more of the same.
Then again, I heard a few Yankee fans saying what a great series the Angels series was, so maybe it's victory = great series for New Yorkers.
posted by justgary at 07:22 PM on October 27, 2009
I don't think the quality of baseball has suffered during the 'Yankee-free' years. Obviously the TV ratings were lower during the Cards/Tigers, Astros/ChiSox series, but in my opinion, there are just as many fans that watch to see the Yankees lose than there are to see the Yankees win. And after articles like this, I just want to see the Phillies demolish the Yankees just for the authors sake.