As a Red Sox fan, it is my duty to personally root against the Yankees at any and all ventures, as well as hate the entire roster. In the past, under Joe Torre when the team seemed to be a bunch of stoic, superstar individuals that were not allowed to grow facial hair that happened to be on the same team, that was an easy task. Guys like Paul O'Neill, Randy Johnson, Jason Giambi Chuck Knoblauch, and the likes made it terribly difficult to rationalize enjoying them as teammates and human beings. However, when I look at this year's team, I have trouble despising the individual players (I, of course, still hate the team). Let's take a look:
The one player who is universally despised in baseball is Alex Rodriguez (the torch was passed to him by either Clemens or Barry Bonds, take your pick). His own mother hates him, so it's OK that I do too. Aside from making Red Sox fans believe he'd be hitting balls over the Green Monster for many years to come not that long ago, his personal life off the field is bothersome, and the whole steroids and HGH thing only further villified him.
The other guy I really hate is Johnny Damon. However, that's pretty explicable, given that he jumped ship from a team who he had just won a World Series title with (the franchise's first in 86 years, nonetheless), where he was also one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed "idiots" on the Red Sox (oh yeah, he's got a book about it too), to the Evil Empire, which also happens to be the Red Sox greatest rival. Seeing him try to throw out runners with his glass arm from left field and struggle out there in general has brought great pleasure to me. The fact that Yankee Stadium is ideal for his swing and he's hit so many homeruns to the second deck that it's often dubbed "Damon's Deck," has not.
The rest of the team, however, has proven to be shockingly fun. They still have four Yankee staples in Jeter, Pettite, Posada, and Rivera, as well as a whole group of new guys. I've always respected Jeter because I think he does everything the right way, and am somewhat happy that if anyone were to have gone on to break past Yankee greats' records, it's him. He plays the game the right way and doesn't let anything he does off the field become public or a distraction. Given his dating record (found here in Rick Reilly's article, scroll down to the 3rd one titled, "People Much Better than Me"), that's no small feat.
Pettite has always, at least to me, been dependable and a team-oriented guy. He always sits in the dugout on his off-days, which, to me, conveys the message, "Hey guys, you're there for me every fifth day when I go out and start, so I'll be here for you the other four." I like that in a guy, since it shows that, to him, it's not just about solely about the paycheck, but about winning and having a good relationship with his teammates. Roger Clemens, in his later contracts, was not even required to travel on road trips where he wasn't scheduled to pitch. Hmm, seems like a really likable guy, huh?
Posada is just a silent, steady producer, who has done some hilarious ESPN commercials. I love that the Yankee fans say, "Hip, hip, Jorge!" every time he steps up to the plate. The fact that his knees have held up and he still does what he does with a bat in his hands amazes me.
Lastly, Rivera, while not the owner of an incedible personality and charm, just goes out there year after year and does what he does best, which is save games. It looked like he was cooked a year or so ago, but now he's back and scary again (plus it doesn't hurt that he routinely blows saves against the Red Sox).
Now, several of the new guys are hilarious too. Rumors out of the Yankees spring training were that Nick Swisher is one of the funniest guys in the league and made the clubhouse as a whole more relaxed. Every team needs a guy like this. Teams need to stay loose, because, at the end of the day, they're still playing the game they grew up playing because they enjoyed it, not because they were being paid.
I am still of the opinion that C.C. Sabathia only signed with the Yankees to appease the player's union so that other free agents in the off-season had a higher benchmark with which to work. That being said, he's sort of like the lovable fat guy that every group of friends have, only he's really, really good at baseball too. He bought a ton of the Yankees players tickets to an NBA playoff game (think it was a Cavaliers' game, but I can't remember), which lets you know he's another team-oriented guy.
The last guy that seems absolutely hilarious is AJ Burnett. While he seems angry on the mound, he's another guy who is in the dugout every day cheering on his team. Not to mention that he seems to have exclusive rights to shaving cream pie-ing team members who get walk-off hits since he himself can't get one. Those can be seen, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Granted a few of those are on A-Rod (who doesn't always look so pleased, unlike the rest of the guys), and I hate that A-Rod has gotten any walk-off hits, but the fact remains that Burnett has brought some pizzazz to the team (my personal favorite was #5 where he involved Joba as well).
Although I don't find him terribly funny, another guy I respect (and who I feared the most of all the free agent signings the Yankees made as soon as they signed him) is Mark Teixeira. To me he seems like the kind of player who plays his heart out every single day because he doesn't have the skill set to allow him to be lackadaisical, only he actually does have that skill set to complement the work ethic. I think the play that best defined his desire was when he scored from first when Luis Castillo dropped the pop-up during interleague play. How many guys run hard on that play and score? Maybe five or six in the entire league?
Anyway, now that I have written about how I respect and enjoy the new-look Yankees, I am going to inform you that I still wish an early playoff exit upon the team. I hope the Red Sox win the Wild Card (and beat the Angels, who they should just get a bye past anyway), the Yankees struggle past the pathetic AL Central winner, and the Red Sox just dominate the Yankees in the ALCS. I'm talking a sweep and outscoring them along the lines of 42-5 over the four games. I will still root against the Yankees with every fiber of my being, don't get me wrong and call me a traitor. It's just that the new-look Yankees are a more likable bunch than their predecessors.
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