On the precipice of a blockbuster deal (that still might not happen, mind you), everybody is talking about the Dodgers becoming "YankeesWest". Bill Shaikin of the LAT even fired up the guilt factor by insinuating that by such profligate spending, we will incur others' envy and wrath:
Now they will be hated.
This is not hate from San Francisco, the hate born from a rivalry. This is hate from every other city in the National League, the hate born from the rich new kids on the block trying to buy a championship.
The Dodgers are on the verge of paying about $140 million for three players — just to secure the chance to pay about $120 million more for the one player they really want. Ladies and gentlemen, your New York Yankees of Los Angeles.
Not that the Dodgers care.
"Are you playing within the rules? That's what I always looked at," said Dodgers manager and former Yankees star Don Mattingly. "They used to say all that about the Yankees. If you don't like it, change the rules."The Dodgers have been respected and admired through most of their years, mocked and pitied for the last couple of years.
To which I say, keep it in the pants. We are not the Yankees, certainly not yet.
But even if we are, so what?
First of all, this deal isn't done yet, we don't know how much of the cash commitment the Dodgers are picking up, etc. so keep calm, as the British posters would say.
For another thing, as our own Stubbs points out, consider the alternatives:
I have mixed feeling about becoming YankeesWest, but it beats the shit out of becoming OaklandSouth.
True that, Stubbs.
And most importantly, even if we do start making big-money deals for high-profile players that blow everyone's mind, is that so bad? It seems to me there's another Los Angeles team--the Lakers--which does this quite well, with regularity. They do the deals that make other NBA teams weep. Is living with that resentment from other NBA cities so bad? I don't think so.
So if the Dodgers borrow a page from the Lakers' playbook, should we be worried about a couple of bad feelings?
Screw 'em. We're a bigger city with a bigger fan base and perfect weather and access to glitz and glamour, not to mention years of winning traditions and multiple championships. People in their right mind SHOULD want to live and work and play here. It's the best.
Go for it, Stan. Keep picking up game changers. Show everyone else we're serious, we are neither snoozing nor losing.
Make them weep.
3 comments:
I'd rather hear the "Beat LA" chants and boos drown out every road game telecast AND win championships than everyone like us and be bottom dwellers. Ala the Cubs and Padres (and Red Sox pre-2004)
Shorter Sax: Fuck 'em!
Lakers do it all the time and nobody cares fuck this shit!!! They've got the money and choose to spend it! 'Merica!
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