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thegman
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Joined: 23 Sep 2002
Posts: 3088
Location: 12 yards out.
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 Posted: 10/26/04 - 09:26 Post subject: An interesting comparison.
Are the Yankees a metaphor for the stock market and the dollar?
Consider this:
Prior to the Babe Ruth trade, the Red Sox were a dominant power and the Yankees just another team with grand visions. After the trade, the Yanks went on to win 26 World Series - an inconceivably high number considering the number of teams and years involved.
The U.S. really emerged as the dominant world power (overtaking Great Britain) after World War I. The British entered into WWI as the strongest military presence and left the war weaker than the U.S.
WWI ended in 1918. Same year Boston last won a Series.
Following 1918, the Yanks went onto an unprecedented level of domination based on hard work, talent, consistency, good fortune, and the mistakes of its competitors. Sounds a lot like the U.S. during this time.
The Yankees last championship occurred in 2000 - the year the U.S. peaked based on stock market performance. In 2001, the Yanks still looked like world-beaters until a relatively unknown opponent shocked them by not only winning, but beating the previously invincible Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth. In the fall of 2001, America's sense of invulnerability was also dashed.
The recent "bull run" of the Yankees relied on gritty hard-nosed guys like Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius, Andy Pettite, Tino Martinez, et al. With each passing year, the Yanks lost guys like this and replaced them with high-priced free agents like A-Rod and Sheffield. They spend and spend to try to maintain a level of dominance they have come to expect is their destiny. They don't seem to understand that it was hard work and selfless team play that made them great. They also mortgage their future by selling away young talent (Alfonso Soriano, and numerous exceptional minor leaguers) to acquire today's superstars- very gratifying and exciting in the short run. So much so that when Randy Johnson essentially agreed only to go to NY this year, the Yankees had no one left of value in their farm system to trade. The massive spending and surrendering of one's future for immediate gratification and the maintenance of a highflying lifestyle that is not earned but rather comes from a sense of entitlement. Sound familiar?
Stubborn, often-reviled, leaders named George lead both the nation and Yankees. Both are seen by opponents as bullies who maintain their dominance by spending more than anyone else ever has. Both have created so much resentment from the rest of their counterparts that others cheer when they fail.
Both have spent the last four years desperately trying to get back to the top by spending more money than has ever been spent but neither is able to quite get back to the old highs.
Now, in the fall of 2004, the Yankees have not only not achieved their goals, but have suffered probably the single greatest collapse in team sports history- a collapse that has never been seen before. It has left the previously ever optimistic, bombastic Yankee fan with a sense of pain and vulnerability that he has never known in his life. In fact, the feeling that his team's greatness is a birthright - born in 1919 - has arguably forever been shattered. Yes they were shaken by the fall from the top after 2000, but they never were truly humbled until 2004.
I'm curious to see if our stock market and dollar continue to follow this path.
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