Team Info

The New York Yankees, based in the Bronx, N.Y., participate in Major League Baseball (MLB) and are a member of the American League East Division. The Yankees were founded as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901 and moved to New York in 1903 as the New York Highlanders. They became the New York Yankees in 1913. As of Opening Day 2009, the Yankees will play home games at the New Yankee Stadium, which was built next to the original Yankee Stadium. The club has 26 World Series Championships (1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000).

I've been a Yankee fan all my life. My folks have pictures of me as a toddler in Yankee gear. I have actually worked for the Yankee organization. I received a paycheck with the Yankee logo in the corner. I love the New York Yankees. I am a fan.

I hate it when people think that all Yankee fans only support the team because they win. I'm sure there are those that do. But I grew up in the 80s, and if you look at that list of World Series wins you don't see a lot of 80s in there. In fact, the Yankees didn't play a playoff game for 13 straight years from 1982 to 1994. (They did finish in first place in the AL east in 1994 though.)

I'm not going to say it wasn't nice when I moved to New York in the late 90s and the Yanks only lost one game in three straight World Series. It's always fun when your favorite team in your favorite sport wins. But it's something someone else achieved. It's nothing I did. Root and hope all you like, it doesn't affect the outcome. You just follow it.

I do take a lot of joy when other people are crushed because their teams lose. I don't think it counts as sadism though. Sadists take joy in other people's pain and suffering. And the pain you feel when your sports teams lose isn't real. I laugh at people who actually let the results of a sports contest affect their lives, their moods, their outlook. Those people are silly. They're the kind of people who refer to their favorite team as "we" as in "we won a big game." Really? What was your batting average?

I love sports. My heart races for important games and I feel the thrills and exhilaration when a team I love succeeds or the heartbreak when it fails. But at the end of the season I can put it away. At the end of the day it's just a game. If you actually have part of your life tied up into whether a bunch of overpaid entertainers succeed or fail, then you need to re-examine your priorities.