Hank Steinbrenner has some issues with playoff system
I thought I was done blogging for today. Then I read the excerpts from Hank Steinbrenner's latest column in the new Sporting News magazine. Yikes!
— On revenue sharing: “That’s a system I don’t particularly like. It’s a socialist system, and I don’t agree with it. Does it work? It depends on your point of view. But is it right? Is it even American? I’d argue no on both of those points.”
— On the divisional setup: “… If you want to talk about things that infuriate me about the game today, revenue sharing doesn’t top the list. The biggest problem is the divisional setup in major league baseball. I didn’t like it in the 1970s, and I hate it now. Baseball went to a multidivision setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement. But it isn’t fair. You see it this season, with plenty of people in the media pointing out that Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to the playoffs while we’re not. This is by no means a knock on Torre — let me make that clear—but look at the division they’re in. If L.A. were in the A.L. East, it wouldn’t be in the playoff discussion. The A.L. East is never weak.”
— On Joe Torre: “I’m happy for Joe, but you have to compare the divisions and the competition. What if the Yankees finish the season with more wins than the Dodgers but the Dodgers make the playoffs? Does that make the Dodgers a better team? No.”
— On his case for the divisional setup not being good for the game: “Go back to the 2006 season. St. Louis winning the World Series — that was ridiculous. The Cardinals won their division with 83 wins — two fewer than the Phillies, who missed the postseason. People will say the Cardinals were the best team because they won the World Series. Well, no, they weren’t. They just got hot at the right time. They didn’t even belong in the playoffs. And neither does a team from the N.L. West this season.”
— On the media: “The divisional setup is not right by any definition of logic. But the sports media rarely deals with logic —s o you never read about this.”
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Comments (19)
Hey Hank--
The 2000 Yankees finished with the 5th best record in the AL, behind CWS, OAK, SEA, and CLE. Between that and the fact that half the team was on PEDs, are you going to hand back that trophy?
Hank's column's are much better than anything Mike Lupica ever wrote.
totally agree w/LOL - Lupifag is a loser -
-FB
Well, we all know which of the sons got George's mouth.
Hank the Crank will still have to go some to top his all-time looney beef - blaming Wang's injury on the National League's refusal to adopt the DH rule.
Of course, if he wants to take on something with a lot meat on the bone, how about getting a sweetheart deal from New York (a cool half billion in tax free debt) so he can move to a new stadium with double or triple the ticket prices? And, as an added bonus, getting a free pass on the "payroll tax" because of the new stadium? What say, Hank, ol' buddy?
Can Selig fine him for this?
Now we know why Torre wasn't mentioned on Sunday night
Wow, Hank is just plum crazy!
hank is right as usual, but the media portrays him to be nuts; so most of the public follows along.
hank is right as usual, but the media portrays him to be nuts; so most of the public follows along.
hank is right as usual, but the media portrays him to be nuts; so most of the public follows along.
I actually agree with him that the divisional system, as is, enables sub-par teams to make it to the playoffs--even win the World Series. All that said, it's hard to argue that the Yankees are a playoff team this year--no matter what divisional math you can come up with.
Being a fan, I hope that by some miracle they eke it out, but with the magic number down to "one," probability is beating out possibility.
I happen to agree with Hank on this one, but an arguement can always be made to oppose this point..
Does it really prove that the Dodgers are that bad, or is the Dodgers division more evenly matched. In other words, is the talent more spread out in the west than in comparison to the Yankees, Sox, and Rays (Still can't believe that name is in here)
I don't believe so, but sometimes that is the case.
If baseball didn't have the divisional systems, the Yankees would have missed out on the postseason most of the years from 1996 to 2007, and would not have won 2 of the 4 World Series in that stretch. But aside from not having those trophies, Cranky Hank needs to remember all the money the team wouldn't have made from the sale of tickets/food/merchandise/parking. The loss of all that loot would really have him squealing.
So I guess by Hank's logic the Giant's weren't the best team in football last season even though they won the Super Bowl, they just got hot at the right time.
If Hank had his way all baseball players could be hired and fired at will so he can always have the best 25 guys in the game. He would then play each team in baseball 6 times, all at Yankee Stadium, with the DH. If the Yankees had the best record they would be the champs, if another team has a better record then he would have a series against them at Yankee Stadium that would go as long as it took for the Yankees to beat them for the title.
Hank, Seriously grow up you crybaby. It's the same thing in the NFL too. Try spending less money on your players and maybe losing won't feel as bad.
Hank has hit this one right on the head. When there were two divisions, American/National the winners played in the World Series. To make more money for the owners they made more teams and more divisions so they could set-up playoffs. It made the strong teams more profitable and the less fortunate teams less competitive. The only problem Hank has today is he spent a few hundred million on players and doesn't get a chance to make more money in the playoffs. His pappy was part of the division expansion decision process. Let's face it he paid for the team what it cost to buy a sky box to see them play next year. I don't think he should be the one complaining!!!
Go back to the way it was, one N.L. (all teams) and the same for the A.L No longer any divisions, just the A.L. and N.L.. Discard the D.H. The top 4 teams in each league qualify. One plays four, two plays three. The final winners from each league meet in the World Series. This way will play out much better than all the division races where you have a division winner with a 82-80 won lost record!
What Hank proposes in the article is the AL has a 14 team one division and the NL a 16 team one division. Top four in each league go to the playoffs. Nothing about length of season, whether there is interleague or how many games in each playoff series. I think a lot of teams would object to the extra travel which is why the divisions are roughly geographic. He acknowledges the 2008 Yankees would miss the playoffs under his system.
If Hank was really money hungry, wouldn't he want more teams in the playoffs like the NFL, NHL, NBA and NA$CAR have? Personally the only thing I would do is shorten the ALDS to three games and LCS to 5. But that ain't happening (although Judge Landis told the owners to go back to 7 games instead of 9 as they had in 1919, 1920 and 1921).
Hank will never take responsibility for anything. He'll eat himself into oblivion and be forgotten.
Tips
http://njfrogman.blogspot.com/2008/09/judge-valkenheiser-on-whining-hank.html
Leaving Torre out just confirms what I already knew... Hank has 'no class'. What a jerk!!