As a Yankee fan for over 55 years, I have to admit that this guy's on the money.

And if you think about it, the whole idea of Yankee "class" boils down to four concrete symbols:

1. the understated pinstripe uniform, without even the names on the back

2. Bob Sheppard ("Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Yankee Stadium. Here are the lineups....")

3. the name "Yankee Stadium," unsullied by corporate naming

4. Memories of those many afternoon World Series games, with the shadows falling over the infield

Of course that last one only works for some of us....

But that's about it. It's amazing how much mileage the Yanks have gotten out of the uniform and their PA announcer. It's sure tough to think of much else (other than all those rings) that makes their franchise all that distinctive.

But I do notice that Sheppard's replacement is almost a Sheppard clone, right down to the way he prononunces every last syllable in his introduction to Kate Smith's God BLESS America. Good for him, and don't let the barbarians mock you out of it.

If Cano, Cabrera, Chamberlain and others actually want to look like they are having a little fun while they are wearing the pinstripes good for them.

There is nothing wrong with letting people see you actually enjoy what you are doing.

Word.

But... but... but... the other teams' feelings are getting hurt! Can't you see? You're ruining baseball when you enjoy it!

One is reminded of the gas the Yankees' organization emitted in the early 1950s when they explained their refusal to promote Vic Power to the majors, not because he wasn't a good enough player (which he clearly was), but because he didn't conform to the "gentlemanly" Yankee standard.

This coming from an organization that had Billy Martin on its current roster, and whose all-time greatest star was the quiet, reserved Babe Ruth.

Lou Gehrig quit on his team in the middle of the season.

This is the team that had the guy WHO CALLED HIS SHOT IN THE MIDDLE OF AN AT-BAT!

This is the team that had a player that would roll up his caddy windows and slice unsuspecting children's fingers off into neat widdle sausage rolls!

This is the team that once killed an opponent on the field. I think that pitch was the origin of the term "Cleveland Steamer."

Are we going to rip him, too?

Well... yes.

The title of this story reminds me of a story by Alberto Brescia in Heavy Metal Magazine in early-to-mid 1985, titled "Poe Phooey!".

And that's my arcane reference of the day....

Another classy tradition.....white with pinstripes at home...greys on the road. NO THIRD UNIFORM!!!! (touch wood).

I always thought the classiest thing the Yankees did was sell out to CBS in a Loria-to-Florida-level shady fashion while baseball had legislation pending that would have enshrined the antitrust exemption in law. Either that or frankfurter magnet night.

Bronx-Zoo-like as they've been over the years, it is true that there is a sort of classy Yankee image associated with Gehrig, DiMaggio, Elston Howard (once they let him play), White, Mattingly, Jeter. It's just one motif in the general cacophony, but it's at least there.

What's the classiest tradition? The Cardinals are candidates (Musial, Gibson, the Oz), but they also have Hornsby, the Gashouse Gang, etc. ...

Lou Gehrig quit on his team in the middle of the season.

It wasn't even the middle of the season; it was EIGHT FRICKIN' GAMES INTO IT!!

-- MWE

What's the classiest tradition?

Polishing the reputations of professional baseball players, who are pound-for-pound the largest collection of boozy skirt chasers in the history of the world?

That's right. The classiest tradition is... sports writers.

(Almost got through it with a straight face.)

The Yankee way is winning. Period.

Yes.

Which is the same as the Raiders' Way.

Which was the same as the Raiders' Way.

Fixed.

The Yankee way...being a poster child for a salary cap.

Lou Gehrig quit on his team in the middle of the season.



It wasn't even the middle of the season; it was EIGHT FRICKIN' GAMES INTO IT!!

He just didn't want to play for a team as crappy team as the 39 Yankees.

Obviously the classiest team would be the Padres, since they have only had two people be synonymous with the franchise, and those people are Tony Gwynn, whom everyone respects and admires, and Jerry Coleman, whom everyone, um, loves.

That's a CINCIR (classy idol:non-classy idol ratio) of 2/0, or to look at it another way, infinity.

Unless you count the Famous Chicken, who from my vantage point is sort of an isolated entity instead of being strictly associated with the Padres.

Polishing the reputations of professional baseball players, who are pound-for-pound the largest collection of boozy skirt chasers in the history of the world?

"Pound-for-pound"? If that's how it's measured, jockeys have to be in the lead.

He just didn't want to play for a team as crappy team as the 39 Yankees.

"Today, I consider myself, the luckiest man, on the face of the Earth. I mean that because I don't have to play on a team that starts Babe Dahlgren. I mean a 76 OPS+ from your ####### first-baseman? What the hell is that?"

The Yankee way...being a poster child for a salary cap.

The Sox are closing in on that designation as well.

Either way. The Yankees (and perhaps the Sox as well) are a cash cow for the rest of MLB as it is. Before there's a salary cap, there should be a requirement that MLB owners be required to invest the funds that they derive from revenue sharing in their team rather than being able to pocket the money.

Obviously the classiest team would be the Padres, since they have only had two people be synonymous with the franchise, and those people are Tony Gwynn, whom everyone respects and admires, and Jerry Coleman, whom everyone, um, loves.

That's a CINCIR (classy idol:non-classy idol ratio) of 2/0, or to look at it another way, infinity.

I identify the team with some of the ugliest uniforms ever to appear in the World Series. And they've retired Steve Garvey's number.

Not classy. That stain has set.

How many times did Reggie Jackson stand at home plate and admire a home run? Is that the Yankee way? How is Billy Martin and Reggie brawling in the dugout classy? Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were legendary carousers? Is that the Yankee way? How many times have we seen Derek Jeter with the fist pump after a big hit or a World Series victory? Are we going to rip him, too? For crying out loud, the Yankees are the franchise that had two players (Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich) trade wives. Is that the Yankee way?

Not that he belongs in the same paragraph as Jackson/Ruth/Mantle/etc., but Luis "Mets in 3000"/"Statutory Rape" Polonia comes to mind as well. What a d-bag.

The Sox are closing in on that designation as well.

The Sox are 4th in payroll this year. I believe the difference between the Yankees at #1 and #2 is as big as the difference between #2 and #22.

When the Yankees chop $40M off their payroll you might have a case, Rich.

When the Yankees chop $40M off their payroll you might have a case, Rich.

Come on, after the Sock rocking posting fee that they paid for M'zaka? They're in the conversation.

Posting fees are way classier than salaries.

No they aren't.

They aren't a big revenue, free spending team?

I do think it's pretty classy the way the Yankees give a lot of their money to the elderly and the lame.

Before there's a salary cap, there should be a requirement that MLB owners be required to invest the funds that they derive from revenue sharing in their team rather than being able to pocket the money.

I agree completely. Tampa Bay used revenue sharing money to pay the entire team payroll PLUS put a few mil in the owners pockets before the season even started. Not exactly what the powers that be had in mind.

Would that be the Tampa Bay that just routed the Yankees to move a half-game out of first? :)

They aren't a big revenue, free spending team?

Boston is a big spender, no doubt. But their payroll is closer to that of the Twins and Royals than that of the Yankees. The Yankees are in a class by themselves at the top, in the same way the Marlins are in a class by themselves at the bottom.

I think it's useful to think of payroll in tiers, rather than simple rank. Here's how I'd break down the 2008 payrolls (courtesy of CBS).

TIER 1
1. New York Yankees $209,081,579

TIER 2
2. Detroit Tigers $138,685,197
3. New York Mets $138,293,378
4. Boston Red Sox $133,440,037

TIER 3
5. Chicago White Sox $121,152,667
6. Los Angeles Angels $119,216,333
7. Chicago Cubs $118,595,833
8. Los Angeles Dodgers $118,536,038
9. Seattle Mariners $117,993,982

TIER 4
10. Atlanta Braves $102,424,018
11. St. Louis Cardinals $100,624,450
12. Toronto Blue Jays $98,641,957
13. Philadelphia Phillies $98,269,881

TIER 5
14. Houston Astros $88,930,415

TIER 6
15. Milwaukee Brewers $81,004,167
16. Cleveland Indians $78,970,067
17. San Francisco Giants $76,904,500
18. Cincinnati Reds $74,277,695
19. San Diego Padres $73,677,617

TIER 7
20. Colorado Rockies $68,655,500
21. Texas Rangers $68,239,551
22. Baltimore Orioles $67,196,248
23. Arizona Diamondbacks $66,202,713
24. Minnesota Twins $62,182,767
25. Kansas City Royals $58,245,500

TIER 8
26. Washington Nationals $54,961,000
27. Pittsburgh Pirates $49,365,283
28. Oakland Athletics $47,967,126
29. Tampa Bay Rays $43,820,598

THE NINTH CIRCLE OF HELL
30. Florida Marlins $21,836,500

Before there's a salary cap, there should be a requirement that MLB owners be required to invest the funds that they derive from revenue sharing in their team rather than being able to pocket the money.

Excellent idea.

Of course, for these teams it's far wiser to invest the money in scouting and player development initially, not payroll. And when the average fan sees only three sets numbers - opening day payroll published by USA Today and others, team valuations published by Forbes, and luxury tax payments/receipts published here and there - they're not going to see any of this investment. It's funny... if a fan just judges a team's investment based on the numbers they see, they might get the mistaken impression that these dollars would go right into the owners' pockets. Heh.

Then again the average fan assumes that, without the revenue sharing money, small-revenue team owners would choose to lose money while making a large investment in scouting and development. They assume that the revenue sharing money just goes from one owner's hard-earned money to another owner's pockets. It's a fairly myopic view, but you'd be surprised how many people believe it. In reality, without the revenue-sharing money a small-revenue owner would still pocket a lot of money but shortchange the scouting and development (and payroll, and marketing, and stadium upkeep, and...).

Come on, after the Sock rocking posting fee that they paid for M'zaka? They're in the conversation.

Sure, but why don't you go ahead and add Igawa's posting fee to the Yankee salary. They're still spending $50M more.

You can either use that posting cost for last year (in which case they still don't out-spend the Yankees) or you can fold it in over the AAV of DiceK's contract. Using Mattbert's nice table, if you do that The Red Sox then move to the top of Tier 2, but not out of it, and the Yankees are still sitting well above anyone else in Tier 1.

You can try and fudge the numbers all you want, but the payroll disparity between the Yankees and everyone else is incredibly large.

I had no idea the Mariners were spending that much this year. Very poor ROI.