NY Daily News Blowhard Has it All Wrong

The Yankees have a great history, yes, but does that matter?

I have a little history lesson for Yankees fans, who more than any other fanbase (most of which are bandwagon) like to live off their history.

Yeah, we all know about your 27 World Series rings, "The Boss", Jeter and the Sultan of Swat. But guess what, none of that matters this year.

In the Rangers' Game 5 series-clinching win over Tampa Bay, Ian Kinsler's frozen rope hit to left field sealed the game, and also put the Rangers in that beloved history book.

The blast put Kinsler and Nelson "Walk-Off" Cruz in the baseball record books as the first pair of teammates to each hit three home runs in a single postseason series. The last pair to do that? Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig — in a best-of-7 series. Kins and Nellie did it in 5.

Point, Rangers.

That brings me to today's column in the New York Daily News by Filip Bondy, and the utter ridiculousness spewed in it. Someone needs to tell this guy, who can't even spell his own first name right, that history doesn't mean a thing.

Here in Texas, we're living in the here and now, and the here and now is looking pretty damn good.

This blowhard goes on and on about how terrible the Washington Senators were. Who cares? No one on this team was born when that stuff went down. 

[Rangers president/owner/resident beast Nolan] "Ryan's no-hitters aside, this ALCS represents one of sports' great historical mismatches, 40 pennants versus zero. The Yanks should win this series just by throwing their pinstriped uniforms onto the field and reading from a few pages of The Baseball Encyclopedia. 

 If only Selig would agree to waive a few silly postseason rules, the Bombers might send their Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster to Arlington for the first couple of games, make this a fair fight."

OK, I can only hope our friend Filip was taking a poor attempt at humor here. First off, give me Frisco over "the Bombers'" farm squads any day. The Yankees don't have a farm system because they continously gut it to bring in their hired mercenaries who add to the Yankees' boring, dry, no-personality, "we're awesome" facade they like to play up. So, that's idiotic point No. 1.

Sure, the Yankees were the Rangers' arch nemesis in the 1990s — the last time the Rangers made the playoffs before this season. Granted, we took a long break, but minus Darren Oliver, this team is completely different. But apparently, Filip doesn't think so. 

"Well, it should. The Rangers are the oldest of three existing major league clubs never to have won a pennant. They should be ashamed to bring their media guides to the Bronx.  

The late '90s? What about the '60s, when the Rangers were born as the Washington Senators, mostly to appease congressmen who were ready to vote away the league's antitrust exemptions after the other Senators moved to Minnesota."

"How about a New York Times reporter declaring with anguish her retirement from sports writing after fighting the backward postgame flow of fans and dealing with the horrors of the old rat-infested Arlington Stadium?"

I personally take offense to this. I loved the old Arlington Stadium and the metal bleachers throughout the park. And again, Filip, you bring up the Washington freakin' Senators? We don't give an Arlington Stadium rat's ass about the 1960s before the team even moved here, nor do Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler, Vlad Guerrero or Josh Hamilton.

Your two best players? They're both Rangers cast-offs. This team was better off without A-Roid or Teixeira. Both are typical Yankee free agent signees who are robotic, have no personality, and can't even sniff hitting .300. They can't even crack .260.

Meanwhile, we have the batting champ, the soon-to-be AL Rookie of the Year with more saves than your precious Mariano Rivera, the best postseason pitcher going right now, actual team chemistry and a lovable, huggable Old School Brotha for a manager who could outdance, not to mention, outquote Girardi at any given moment.

Finally, one more gem from our good friend, Filip: 

The Yankees' total payroll on opening day was $206.33 million, while the Rangers' was $55.25. The Rangers were sold to the Greenberg group for $570 million, despite playing now in the respectable Rangers Ballpark.

Forbes estimates the Yankees are worth about three times that.

Why are they even playing this series? Why don't they just use the scores from '96, '98 and '99?

 You really are slow aren't you. Speaking of history, and not of the 70-year variety, didn't you learn anything when your big, bad Yankees lost to the Florida Marlins AND the Arizona Diamondbacks in the early aughts. Oh, not to mention some really recent history when we beat the small-market club that edged you guys out for the AL East title. See ya Friday, Fil, and look out because on Monday there's a big freight train heading up to Gotham and it's got a big ol' T on the front of it.

Claw me!!

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