YANKEE HATE, SOUR GRAPES OR JUST COMPETITIVE BASEBALL?

Over the years, the are guys that truly hate the Yankees. Guys that talk trash and guys that bitch and moan if the Yankees are good.  I mean, let’s face it, going up to Fenway park to catch a game…let’s just say, they HATE the Yankees and Yankee fans.   Yankee fans hate Red Sox fans too.  We have that understanding.  For me?  I don’t hate anyone, I just like to watch a good game and razz a bit, that’s me.

I think it's safe to say that a guy like Jason Varitek hated the Yankees, but it was more of a respect thing, he knew guys like Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter were good and wanted to beat them, so the hate was from a competitive standpoint and vice versa.   And it goes further than the Sox…competition becomes a passion and it drives you to the highest abilities that your body can handle for those 9 innings of play.  In the end, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but as long as you worked your hardest, God bless ya.

Which brings us to Bryce Harper and Jake Peavy, 2 guys who stirred the pot over the past few weeks. I didn't want to do a knee jerk reaction piece to what either of them said about the Yankees, I wanted to think about it and try and come up with a clever piece.  Well, you'll either like this or you won't but I tried to be thoughtful here.  Bottom line, getting under a Yankee fans skin is easy and for me personally, I love my team, but I thought about it, I thought about whether what they were saying was Yankee hate, sour grapes or just good clean competition.  You decide.

Recently Bryce Harper, the kid from the Washington Nationals spoke out. As you may or may not know this kid's stated for a while now that he wanted to play for the New York Yankees, I remember that way back when Sports Illustrated did their profile on him, but suddenly he's changed his tune.  He was quoted recently saying this:

“You look at Cal Ripken. You look at Derek Jeter. You look at all the greats that played for one team their whole career…I want to be like that. I’ve always wanted to be like that. I’ve always wanted to play with that same team.”

Read more about it HERE. You have to respect that. Then a quote came out that Bryce allegedly hold his father in mid-June when the Yankees played the Nationals. He said “I don’t want to be a Yankee. I want to beat them.”

My take on this is simple.  It’s competitive, it's loyalty and nothing more.  We’re talking about a guy that is considered one of the most talented ball players in a while.  If the Yankees we’re to hand over a ton of money for him to play in New York, guess what, I would predict he’d be in pinstripes.  We wrote about it in WHY BRYCE HARPER COULD BE A YANKEE before many because it is our belief that he eventually will. Our take is money talks, but if Bryce Harper can resist and stay with the Nationals? Well…more power to him.

Then...remember Jake Peavy last weekend? He ended up on the losing side of the Yankees, White Sox game, Yanks won 4-0. He came out blasting the Yankees, because of the long ball at Yankee stadium.  He told reporters: "They hit the ball in the air and it's a home run…Every guy is standing on the plate. How many balls get hit to the left side of the field? None. They have no interest in hitting the ball that way.”

Read about it HERE. Sour grapes much? Now you and I both know Peavy was frustrated with the loss.  The reality is he actually pitched well striking out 11 last Saturday and as far as hitting balls the left side, you and I have seen that happen dozens of times by our Yankees. The difference is Brett Gardner hasn’t played in a while and the Yankees have been playing to their strengths, one of which is power. So, is this Yankee hate? Not exactly, but it's damn close.  The reality is, Peavy was just annoyed. 

Look, Harper and Peavy are 2 guys I respect, and what a coincidence it was that both talked alittle trash about the Yanks recently, but if I’m the hate patrol, I can’t lie and tell you these comments are hate filled.  I break it down as competitive... alittle sour grapes but there have been more hate filled comments from other guys in years past than from Harper and Peavy.

Hell remember when Buck Showalter was giving Derek Jeter crap because he said he "jumped" out of the way of certain pitches? Read HERE. That stirred the pot amond Yankee fans pretty good, and clearly Showalter wasn't hating on Jeter. He IS however a Yankee hater and that stems from the way he felt he was treated while he was in the Bronx. He felt like he wasn't given enough time, or he wasn't respect.  Now, years later, he hates the Yankees organization and that is clear.

Guys like Harper and Peavy are competitive and all they're doing is talking trash, much like Frank Francisco did with the Mets a few weeks ago.  Look, bottom line, no one thought the Yankees would have as many injury problems as they've had this season, yet they've managed to have a good season so far.  Is it a sign of more good things to come? I hope so.

And as far as Harper and Peavy? They get a slide this time, but I did want to point out their comments.  I know they both have tremendous respect of the Yankees, but there’s a difference between talking trash and truly hating a team.  They don’t hate us…they probably want to be us, but they’d never admit that, would they?

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