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Yankees show class while Red Sox just want cash
By Frank Negron Jr. on March 19th, 2008 9:40 PM |
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on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 9:40 pm and is filed under Baseball, Yankees Rumors & News.
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In less than 24 hours the world got to see how different the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are. The season hasn’t started yet and already the comparisons and fire that go along with this rivilary are brought to light.
Yesterday the Yankees played a game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at English Field on their campus thanks to a prmoise made by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner last year. A year after a gunman killed 32 people, wounded 23 others, and then killed himself on Virginia Tech’s campus. Steinbrenner donated $1 million to the school and promised that the Yanks would go down and play a spring training game agaist the school’s baseball team. The Yankees fulfilled thier promise. Although the Yanks won 11-0, the bigger story was the impact the game had on the school, the staff, the players and everyone else.
“The Yankees – everyone always wants to call them ‘Evil Empire’ and stuff like that, (but) they’re going the extra mile,” Va. Tech first baseman Sean O’Brien said. “They don’t have to do this. They have a lot of work to do to get ready. It’s just amazing that they’re doing this.”
The Yankees brought most of their “A” team with them. Many, if not all of the Yankee players signed autographs and took photos for people who have not had much to smile about since that fateful day last April. I have to commend the Yankees for this show of support and for extending themselves in this capacity. It shows once again why the Yankees are the most recoginized franchise and set the standards for all the other teams in the league.
On the other half of this rivilary we have the Red Sox. They are slated to open their season in Japan in just a few days but due to a “misunderstanding” between MLB and the MLBPA the Red Sox were about to boycott their final spring training game (which was televised nationally on ESPN) and their season opening series in Tokyo. The reason behind it: apparently the coaching staff was not going to recieve the $40,000 pay that came along with the trip. Are you kidding me? The Yankees and Mets in recent years have made trips to Japan to open their season. There has never been an issue along the lines of what Boston was faced on Wednesday. So the Sox decided they weren’t going to play and weren’t going to board a plane to Japan unless their coaches got paid. Around 1:30 pm the issue was resolved.
“We felt we had to make a stand, and being on ESPN didn’t hurt,” Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said.
He also stated, giving $20,000 payments to the coaches would not have been acceptable because the players were making $40,000.
“The club’s working on stuff and trying to get money where it needs to get,” he said. “It was definitely an experience of a lifetime, and it ended in a good way” said Kevin Youkilis.
This is a clear example of night and day. The Yankees went to a college campus to help people who have been suffering and mourning, while the Red Sox complain about their coaches not getting paid enough. This is a joke and a disgrace to the game of baseball! How dare the Red Sox jepordize the game’s integrity by trying to put themselves first. It is a priviledge to be asked to apart of an event such as opening the MLB season in Japan. My friends up north have no class and consideration for the fans of MLB. What if we decide to stay home and not attend YOUR games? Where will YOU get your money from to pay for your players? It’s nice to know where your priorities are. You rather get go on strike then play the game of baseball which you love (which you are getting paid for!) Remember, it’s stilla job and people are paying to watch YOU play. If you don’t like it then leave and let someone else take your roster spot. It’s that simple. The Yankees know they are just like everyone else…human. You saw a humbling atmsophere yesterday at English Field on the YES network. What you saw on ESPN today, belongs right along side the trash on MTV.
I want to thank the New York Yankees for showing me what’s important in this world, but most importantly, for showing me what’s not and what’s disgraceful.
(Frank’s articles can also be found at OnTheBlockNY)
There are currently 9 responses to “Yankees show class while Red Sox just want cash”
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So let me get this straight. In 2008, a team sticking behind their coaches, and not only refusing to play but jeapardizing 40K a man, in an admirable show of unity is: jeapardizing the game’s integrity by trying to put themselves first. Ummm, everyone has a right to their opinion?
And to take it a step further, you were able to contrast the Yanks display of goodwill in going to Virginia Tech with the Red Sox players showing loyalty to the guys who make their jobs easier everyday. Interesting play.
How about I get two new articles? I would like to read one about the Yanks going to Virginia Tech. I would like to read another about the Red Sox boycott. And I additionally request that neither article mentions the other, because the two subjects have nothing to do with one another.
Kind regards,
A Yankees Fan
As the comment by the Yankee fan above mentions – one of these things has absolutely nothing to do with the other. It’s like comparing apples to…. sheep. You think the Yankees (or any other pro sports team, for that matter) wouldn’t get pissed off if their coaches weren’t getting money that was promised to them? If anything, the Boston players showed some respect for their coaches by risking their own pay to stand up for them. And I have a feeling that the Red Sox have done one or two touchy-feely community service events, too…every team does so that they don’t look like the money-hungry, self-centered organizations they ALL are.
Nice try, though.
They might not have anything to do with one another but that was NOT the point of the post. The point was to show how classy the Yankees are and how the Red Sox tried to upstage the game. Not playing a game you are PAID to play bc you arent getting “x” amount of money is absurd. If Boston boycotted the game yesterday and their trip to Japan it wouldve caused millions of dollars in losses for MLB, MLBPA, tv, sponsership,etc. Play the game as you are PAID to do so and let the business guys take care of the business end of the deal. Play the game that the fans PAID for. If you paid to go a game and the team decided it wasnt going to play bc the coaches werent getting paid enough, you’d be upset too! The Dodgers and Padres got gift baskets for their trip to China earlier in the month, do you see them complaining?? NO!
And again, the POINT of the post is to show you the good side of the game and bad. Since it was the Yanks n Red Sox involved, it was easy to connect the two. So I put them both in one post, why make 2 diff posts, I can I couldve made it simpler haha..
You hit the nail on the head, dina. The players were actually risking their own bonus checks for the sake of their coaches, so to try and construe any of this as a selfish act is extremely tough to do…even for Frank. The Yanks and Sox both deserve a tip of the cap for their actions yesterday afternoon. Kudos to all.
The Biased Yankee Fan Test
1) Do you know that Clemens took steroids?
2) Did the Yanks handle the Torre situation with class?
3) Have you forgotten how bad the Yanks were in the 80’s?
4) Bleature Creatures – They’re cool? Or they’re nice for the casual fan?
Answer Key for Being a Biased Fan
1) Clemens would never take steroids because he said so.
2) Yes.
3) The Yankees were never bad and they should win the World Series every year.
4) I am one.
It also should be noted that were the game cancelled, the sox were prepared to remain on the field as long as it took to sign autographs for every fan in attendance that day. And ultimately the Sox have decided to go out of pocket to make up the difference between the 20k MLB has agreed to pay the trainers and coaches compared to the 40k each player is receiving, so it’s an absurd notion that this was anything but a group sticking up for their own and making sure mlb didn’t screw the “forgotten” personnel that make every team tick.
via the Daily News:
“Mike Mussina, one of the few remaining players in the Yankees clubhouse who made the same trip to Japan four years ago, said he didn’t blame the Red Sox for their displeasure with the situation.
“I think it’s good,” Mussina said. “We’re all in this together.”
Mussina, who has served as the Yankees’ player representative since 2003, recalls being given a dollar figure the team would receive and splitting it accordingly between players, coaches and support staff such as batting practice pitchers, clubhouse managers and bullpen catchers.”
This is an absolute joke of a post. It shows the credibility of this website. You did zero research before you posted this absurd story.
If you knew anything about the situation you would know that the Yankees coaching staff was paid for their trip to Japan a few years back because it was pooled in with the whole trip. However, this year it was either an oversight or somebody is just plain cheap and the Red Sox Players stood up for their coaches and demanded they get compensated as well, as anyone who works should. These coaches have families to feed as well and work long hours and although are compensated well for what they do they still earn their money like everyone else. THE PLAYERS GET NOTHING EXTRA FOR TAKING THIS STAND.
Instead of spewing you biased garbarge why don’t you write an intelligent article about how two GOOD things happen. One, the Yankees did a great thing by playing a game with VT and second, the Red Sox players took a stand to support thier coaches.
Before I’m done let me ask you a question. If the roles were reversed and the Yankees were heading to Japan and their coaches were not being paid for the trip and the Yankee players found out about it 2 days before the trip would you expect them to say something or just let their coaches get screwed?
Please think before you write, it might help.
Frank was obviously way off base with his post, and he definitely did a poor job of standing up for his stance (sorry Frank), but let’s be clear on something. We should all find it refreshing that sites such as this one exist which serve to express both sides of an argument, and are not riddled with bias and agenda. Frank’s article spoke to the biased Yankees fan, sure, but there are plenty of HotStove articles that come at the audience from the other side of the spectrum. Everyone’s voice deserves to be heard, this is a fine example of that ideal, and I think that just that we could respond on this blog speaks to the credibility of this site. And the more you know…
It’s been said by others who’ve posted, but it needs to be said again – these are two TOTALLY different situations and shouldn’t be compared. I respect what the Yankees did for Virgina Tech – that’s awesome. I also respect what the Sox did – they stuck up for their coaches, who don’t even sniff the pay the players make. That was a situation of MLB trying to save a few bucks, and the Sox made it clear that they wouldn’t stand for it. I think the players for both the Yankees and the Sox did good things.