As painful as it is to admit, the Yankees are quite a franchise. While watching the clinching game, I found myself wondering if Yankee fans count their lucky stars every day. I can’t imagine what it would be like to root for a team that has the history of the New York Yankees.
Think about this. With the win Wednesday night, the Yankees won their 27th World Series. There have been 105 World Series played since 1903. That means the New York Yankees have won 26 percent of all World Series ever played. That is staggering. A quarter of the time, every four years on average, the Yankees win the World Series. The next closest team is the St. Louis Cardinals that have won ten World Series which rounds to 10 percent.
As a Mets fan, it’s tough to swallow. In forty-eight years of history, the Mets have won the World Series just twice. That’s four percent of the fall classics that have occurred since their inception. That’s pretty weak considering the Mets share the same metropolitan area as the Yankees do.
Another startling fact to consider is the Yankees won their fifth World Series in the past 14 seasons. They were in two others when they lost to
While I admire the Yankees accomplishments, all I could think while watching the Bombers celebrate is how much I hope Mets management is as embarrassed and angry as I am. Frankly, there is not much I can do about the disparity between the two clubs but certainly the Wilpons can.
They can continue to spend like a big market club should. Look what the Yankees did last off season. They spent a whopping 405 million dollars on three players that made all the difference in the world. If not for CC Sabathia, J.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, the Yankees do not win the World Series in 2009. Teixeira gave A-Rod the protection he long sought since joining the Yankees. And the two pitchers stabilized the starting rotation that was the primary reason the Yanks did not make the playoffs in ’08.
The Mets are in a similar situation now. Their rotation needs fortification. But the Mets don’t need a Sabathia, they have Johan Santana. However, they do need a quality number two starter to help support Santana. Plus they need to provide a situation where
The Mets also need a Teixeira type player. Matt Holiday could be that guy. Perhaps he’s not at the exact level of the Yankees first baseman but he’s pretty close and he could offer Wright and Beltran the type of protection that A-Rod has benefited from.
The young fans, the ones who are just discovering baseball, we’ll be asking for Yankee caps this holiday season. Can the Mets afford to stand by and watch another generation of fans go over to the pinstripes? The Mets and their fans know what must be done. Now it’s time to act so that some day soon, the scene we saw at new Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night will play out at Citi Field.
