Asymmetrical Information

"This was about like deciding to go into the market in a big way on October 1, 1929."

Didn't the Yankees have one of the best records of any major league team across the 1980s? Not making it to the playoffs, even though your team is very good, would be a huge step forward for many baseball franchises.

I'm glad someone is happy.

Bah. Die, Marlins.

This might actually be the first year that some folks here in Chicago root for the Yankees ... but I'm not one of them. Yankees Suck! (nothing personal of course)

And it was a glorious loss for the Sox who, as usual, did it in spectacular fashion. I respect that you are no fair weather fan, and I don't "hate" the Yankees. I'm in favor of "positive" baseball fanage (is this a word?)...root for your team, don't root against someone elses. But give a little shout out for the Sox here...they sure made the Yankees job difficult.

That being said as soon as Grady Little let Pedro stay in I think Red Sox fans across the country smacked themselves on the forhead and gave up. The true difference between the two teams, The Yanks have quality management and the Sox do not.

So congradulations Meg. Can't say I'm rooting for the Yankees in the post season, but I am looking forward to (hopefully) seven more great baseball games.

Whoa, whoa! Don't forget that Dan Pasqua played for my '93 White Sox that went to the playoffs.

Second night in a row the losing manager left his pitcher in too long. One would think they would be smart enough to learn from other people's mistakes.

The Yankees simply have the best team that money can buy. It is destroying any further interest that I may have in the sport. Those who have the most bucks--get the best team. It's as simple as that. Oh well, at least football is far more exciting. The likely winner every year is always up in the air.

I hate to be picky, but Dan Pasqua didn't play in the majors until 1985. Are you thinking of someone else?

I must have been older than I thought -- it was definitely Dan Pasqua at my first game, which makes me eleven, not eight. Sheesh.

I don't dispute that metaphysics played a key role in the Yankee win, but upon what evidence do you suggest that the Special Plan which calls for a victorious squad of Bronx bombers could have been promulgated by a just and merciful God rather than by a brilliant but prideful Lucifer?

The games this week have proven once again that, while the NFL is undeniably the best-managed game, thereby maximizing the game's appeal, baseball is inarguably, inherently, the best game; so good that even the morons who control the sport can't keep it down. Imagine any other sport where a fan's tragically human reaction could have such an effect! Theater at it's finest!

I'm neither a Yankees fan or a Sox fan, but I was pacing around the room watching last night's triumph/tragedy. I've appreciated this Yankees edition's approach to the game since Torre came on board; Jeter isn't the best shortstop in baseball, or even the second or third best, but he is the ultimate professional, and it is a pleasure and a privilege to watch him play. I've generally liked the Sox through the years also, but I had to root against them in this series, simply because any team with Manny Ramierez must not be allowed to win the World Series, regardless of the other good guys on the team. He makes Barry Bonds look like Roberto Clemente, so as Boone sent the ball deep into the night, it was satisfying to realize that Ramierez would not be celebrating.

The wealthier teams in baseball have an enormous advantage over their poorer opponents. So much so, that many teams are virtually wasting everyone’s time. They have practically a zero chance of ever being serious contenders. And yes, baseball may very well be the better sport. Football, though, is far more exciting---and unpredictable. A team playing badly this year may win the Super Bowl the following season.

The Yankees have the best team that money can buy. It’s as simple as that. Thus, any World Series championship they “earn” is tarnished.

"The wealthier teams in baseball have an enormous advantage over their poorer opponents. So much so, that many teams are virtually wasting everyone’s time. They have practically a zero chance of ever being serious contenders."

Are you kidding me? Haven't you been paying attention? The Yankees are playing the FLORIDA MARLINS(!) in the World Series. The Marlins 52 million dollar payroll was 20th in the majors. Oakland was 21st, under 50 mil.

I'll confess to being a fair-weather Yankees fan, if only to see the Marlins defeated. Go Cubs!

You're both right. The Marlins have pretty close to a 50% chance of beating the Yankees, if not better, and certainly the Angels last year had a relatively small payroll. Having said that, the NFL, within the past 10 years, has really perfected maximizing fan interest, nationwide. The NFL will never again have one team go to the Super Bowl six times in a decade, much less the recent Yankees performance of six World Series in eight years. If I was a die-hard fan of one particular, non-Yankees, professional sports team, it would be better to be a football fan. However, if one simply enjoys the contests, regardless of rooting interests, playoff baseball builds tension like no other sport.

I hate the Yankees.

Wait 'til next year!

Remember when y'all were in the series and we weren't? Because I sure do.

Once?

I know, I know. But I'll make you a deal: over the course of the next 30 years, the Yankees can make it to the World Series the same number of times the Red Sox have in the previous 30 years. And vice versa.

Respectfully, Jane, I don't think you know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of what happened last night, just because you remember when we were in the series and you weren't. . .ONCE, in 1986. And we didn't even win it then.

So many people in New England (myself included) have buried beloved grandparents who spent eight decades or more waiting for the Sox to win it all. Yankees fans will never know what it felt like for us to watch Boone's home run last night. Or at least not until, oh, 2088 at the earliest.

Respectfully, Jane, I don't think you know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of what happened last night, just because you remember when we were in the series and you weren't. . .ONCE, in 1986. And we didn't even win it then.

So many people in New England (myself included) have buried beloved grandparents who spent eight decades or more waiting for the Sox to win it all. Yankees fans will never know what it felt like for us to watch Boone's home run last night. Or at least not until, oh, 2088 at the earliest.

So I click the link on Instapundit and a pic of a cute chick in glasses pops up...and I think, "Hey, cute chick...wonder what she has to say..."

Then I click "home" and I am thrust, once again, into the 11th inning of last nights game--and that feeling returns, you know the one where youre not sure if you want to cry or throw up,and you can't help but rock back and forth in your chair hugging yourself like you just saw the Blair Witch.

Thanks. Did you want to kick me again?--'cause I'm still down.

For payback I will refer to you as a 'chick' twice in this comment and post your pic on alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.fetish.glasses.

That'll learn ya!

So I click the link on Instapundit and a pic of a cute chick in glasses pops up...and I think, "Hey, cute chick...wonder what she has to say..."

Then I click "home" and I am thrust, once again, into the 11th inning of last nights game--and that feeling returns, you know the one where youre not sure if you want to cry or throw up, and you can't help but rock back and forth in your chair hugging yourself like you just saw the Blair Witch.

Thanks. Did you want to kick me again?--'cause I'm still down.

For payback I will refer to you as a 'chick' twice in this comment and post your pic on alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.fetish.glasses.

That'll learn ya!

The Yankees are like the little rich kid who has all the toys but no friends. Winning isn't everything.

"The wealthier teams in baseball have an enormous advantage over their poorer opponents. So much so, that many teams are virtually wasting everyone’s time. They have practically a zero chance of ever being serious contenders."

Take your original statement and replace "baseball" with "business" or "education". Sound familiar?

Some would argue that the "practically a zero chance" is exactly what makes it interesting. Doesn't everyone love to root for the underdog? I grew up in NJ and I was an Expos fan as a kid(don't ask, it doesn't make sense). However, I've really enjoyed watching the Mets & Yankees success over the past couple of years (OK, 1 year for the Mets). The Yankees are capitalism at it's finest. They're in the biggest market, have the strongest fanbase, and thus make the most money. Why should they bring themselves down to the level of everyone else?

If you suggest that they should institute a salary cap and revenue sharing to prevent the long-term demise of the league, that's one thing. If you suggest that they should institute those measures to create a better and more interesting product, that's another. To suggest that they should implement those measures simply for "equality" is rubbish. Equality is not the same thing as fairness.

My father died a few years ago at the ripe old age of 84. He was a suckling babe the last time the Sox won the World Series.

He once said "For a Red Sox fan, death is just another disappointment."

Frank T.

I feel your pain Meg. It seems that we are of that generation of Yankee fans who began rooting for the Yankees in the 80s, when all those championships seemed like some cruel rumor. I remember hearing about the 22 championships as a kid and saying "well, I never saw them win one!"

What makes it worst for me is that I'm from Queens and live in a family with a long line of Dodgers/Mets loyalties...so much so that a great-grandmother of mine worked for the Dodgers upon arriving in this country. Yet, it was my hatred of seeing "good" pitchers not being able to approach the Mendoza line at the plate that turned me off to the Mets. Long live the DH!

I feel your pain Meg. It seems that we are of that generation of Yankee fans who began rooting for the Yankees in the 80s, when all those championships seemed like some cruel rumor. I remember hearing about the 22 championships as a kid and saying "well, I never saw them win one!"

What makes it worst for me is that I'm from Queens and live in a family with a long line of Dodgers/Mets loyalties...so much so that a great-grandmother of mine worked for the Dodgers upon arriving in this country. Yet, it was my hatred of seeing "good" pitchers not being able to approach the Mendoza line at the plate that turned me off to the Mets. Long live the DH!

"If you suggest that they should institute a salary cap and revenue sharing to prevent the long-term demise of the league, that's one thing. If you suggest that they should institute those measures to create a better and more interesting product, that's another. To suggest that they should implement those measures simply for "equality" is rubbish. Equality is not the same thing as fairness."

I think we might essentially be on the same page. On the practical level, baseball is increasingly providing an inferior product. The poorer teams are usually out of the picture even before the season begins. What about the Florida Marlins? Aren’t they considered a poorer team? Occasionally such a teams beats the incredible odds. Unfortunately, though, they will not be able to keep their team together the following season. The wealthier teams will offer their players more money.

Once again, the New York Yankees are the best team that money can buy. Their championships are always tarnished by this fact. That’s just the harsh reality of the matter.

On the practical level, baseball is increasingly providing an inferior product. The poorer teams are usually out of the picture even before the season begins.

I don't belong in this discussion, really, because I don't know baseball well & haven't watched it intensely before this post-season. But really, an "inferior product," David? I have to rely on expert testimony (that'd be the fiance) here, but how often are teams in the post-season as well-matched as they were last week? Do the games routinely go into extra innings like that? Do the pennant races routinely go to the seventh game in both leagues?

I'm just bummed because I wanted it to be the Red Sox and the Cubs. Anyone with an ounce of chivalry in their soul would want the same. But given how close it came to being just that, I can't believe that the playing field is as tilted as you say it is.

You know rich people get a lot of grief.

Now, I've earned my money. I studied hard at Princeton and then I had to work full time at the law firm.

And I remember going through law school, I couldn't afford to go out to eat. I often had to cook at home.

So, believe me, when I hear about your Bangladeshi families selling your children and working 14 hours a day for $1.05, believe me I know what it's like. I know poverty sucks.

But you see I'm wealthy because of God's special providence which revolves around me and my money.

So, poor people, please understand when you see me in my Escalade singing about 'gettin paid' I mean it in the most loving way possible.

[Message: this article is not charming to this Red Sox fan. Not at all.]

You know rich people get a lot of grief.

Now, I've earned my money. I studied hard at Princeton and then I had to work full time at the law firm.

And I remember going through law school, I couldn't afford to go out to eat. I often had to cook at home.

So, believe me, when I hear about your Bangladeshi families selling your children and working 14 hours a day for $1.05, believe me I know what it's like. I know poverty sucks.

But you see I'm wealthy because of God's special providence which revolves around me and my money.

So, poor people, please understand when you see me in my Escalade singing about 'gettin paid' I mean it in the most loving way possible.

[Message: this article is not charming to this Red Sox fan. Not at all.]

“But given how close it came to being just that, I can't believe that the playing field is as tilted as you say it is. “

Gosh, I’m going to have to blow your bubble. The New York Yankees have dominated baseball for the last hundred years---simply because they have the most money. As matter of fact, the Boston Red Sox sold the contract of the great Babe Ruth for something like a $100,000. The current Yankee organization make so much money that it barely knows what to do with it all. And indeed, the poorer teams are barely competitive. They almost always lose their best players when their contracts run out.

Once in awhile, a team like the Florida Marlins beat the incredible odds against them. However, their poverty will likely doom them to a mediocre follow up season. A dynasty is possible only for a team like the Yankees.

Ya know Jane, your article got people REALLY passionate about the subject...notice the number of double postings.

Hate to break it to ya, but:

Yankees fan who roots for Mets when Yankees suck = fake Yankees fan

Actually, if the Yankees' wealth was really just capitalism at its finest, 3 other teams would enter the New York market, grab a chunk of revenue and bring the Yankee payroll back to earth.

I've ran the numbers on the odds of losing streaks as long as those of the Red Sox, White Sox, and Cubs, and it's not that extraordinary:

The odds that one of the original 16 teams would not have won the world series purely by random chance since 1908 (cubs) is 1 in 11.12

The odds that one of the original 16 teams would not have won the world series purely by random chance since 1917 (white sox) is 1 in 6.70

The odds that one of the original 16 teams would not have won the world series purely by random chance since 1918 (red sox) is 1 in 6.35

The odds that three of the original 16 teams would not have won a world series between them purely by random chance since 1918 is 1 in 1282.

"Actually, if the Yankees' wealth was really just capitalism at its finest, 3 other teams would enter the New York market, grab a chunk of revenue and bring the Yankee payroll back to earth."

Nope, the voting directors would never allow it. Aren’t aware that baseball is exempted from our nation's antitrust laws?

John Derbyshire agrees with you

Lots of nyah-nyah from readers in that state whose name I can't be bothered to remember, supporting that team named for some kind of seafood, after last night's ball game. Pshaw, the Boys from da Bronx are just trying to add some entertainment value by taking the series to seven. The rubes may be fooled, but we seasoned Yankee fans are smugly confident.

YANKEES SUCK!! the loss in the world series couldn't have happened to a better team. Here's to the end of the dynasty!!

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