STANDING AGAINST YANKEE HATE: A FAN'S TAKE

So, I'm sitting in study hall today, working on my research paper for English class. I walk into the classroom, pull out my MacBook and started researching MLB's steroid and drug policies. Instantly, our substitute teacher came over to me and asked about my topic. I explained what it was all about, and he decided to go into a rant about how the steroid era has not passed. I agreed with this, and then tried to regain focus on my work. He decided to shift his rant onto how "all teams in the Major Leagues cheat", and the marketing tools they come up with such as moving the fence in to hit home runs and so on. The teacher then chose to go onto the topic of the Yankees buying all their Series rings and players; the classic and only argument we get from opposing side of Yankee haters... it's unbelievable. Can't they come up with something else?

Fans in the class obviously fired back with many jaw-dropping stats from the 2012 season. The only thing he could one-up me on was the right field porch being so short at Yankee Stadium. Obviously, this is a valid argument, but when you look into it and compare it to other stadiums, like Tampa Bay for instance, they have a very close distance of 320 feet, only 6 feet longer than the right field of Yankee stadium. I fired back with some more stats and he finally gave up, then left, and I continued my research.

Then, being that relentless Yankee hater that we see so often in life, he decides to come back, and fire off a stat about how it was in "his day". "Oh God, here we go," I thought. He brought up how Yankee Stadium used to have a ridiculously large center field, with a dimension of 756 feet. I couldn't resist the temptation to laugh, and just googled it and proved him wrong, HERE. Surprisingly, he then left me alone for the remaining hour of class. All I could think of was "Mission Accomplished."

 After questioning him, I later found out that he was a Baltimore Orioles fan! This really made me laugh, considering this year had been the first postseason they'd seen in 15 or so years. Then I realized... it figures...the Yankees have always won in their franchise history.  No, we don't buy championships because if we did, we'd win every year, but we do utilize the free agent market like so many other teams are also allowed to do.  And yeah, bringing in fences increases home runs, another tool that all teams are allowed to do. In the end, I'm not sure what the big deal is... was it that he was an Orioles fan and annoyed that the Yankees beat them in the division and the ALDS this year, or was it once again Yankee hate... I'll go with both.

Being a Yankee fan is an honor and baseball fans who don't root for the Yanks will never get it, but that's OK, because you guys, the BYB readers get it, and that's why Casey asked me to write this up for you today. Because it's a personal story you can all relate to.

The Yankees season may be over.... but I'll always be a Yankee fan! Always!


 --Clint Wilson, BYB Guest Writer
Twitter: @CWilson_14
Facebook: Yankees Fan Forever


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