Why I Continue to Hate the New York Yankees (as should everyone else)

Sandy Levinson

I have loathed the New York Yankees for more than half a century, ever since I realized that they epitomized mean-minded arrogance (not to mention oppression of their near-slave employees thanks to the "reserve clause" that allowed George Weiss, the tyrannical general manager, to pay Yankee stars a fraction of what they would have made in a free market). Everytime I think that I should perhaps "grow up" and realize that to err is human (and that Derek Jeter appears to be, at least most of the time, an admirable athlete and human being), I come across a story like this, in which the Steinbrenner family and the Yankee organization are denying a 77-year-old woman the right to quote from some entirely innocent letters that George Steinbrenner wrote her when he was attending Williams College. They are, of course, asserting their rights under copyright law. But there is always something amusing when the Steinbrenners assert their legal rights, since George seemed to have, shall we say, a touch of the Holmesian bad man about him with regard to any felt obligations to obey the law when it touched on his own interests. Thus, of course, he was a convicted (albeit pardoned by a Repubican President) felon for violating campaign contribution laws, and he was suspended by Major League Baseball for a year for his thuggish conduct vis-a-vis Dave Winfield. Generally, one shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but Steinbrenner is truly exceptional, as proved by this latest example of Steinbrenner (and Yankee) tyranny (however much this particular tyrannical conduct might be protected by law--which, of course, is all too often the case, as demonstrated by various acts of the Bush and now Obama administrations).

It deeply grieves me that Mark Graber, whom I adore as a virtual brother, continues to be a Yankees fan. Perhaps this latest example of unbridled excess will persuade him to see the error of his ways. Go Rangers (which is a phrase I thought I'd never utter, as Austinites are not in the habit of wishing Dallas teams well, especially a team that was once owned and mismanaged--remember who sold Sammy Sosa--by George W. Bush)!
Posted 2:48 PM by Sandy Levinson [link]