Five strikes — Yankees are OUT!

I started hating the Yankees in the early ’60s. I was a young Dodgers fan back then, so it was quite natural.

I hated them through the Billy Martin years, the era of Reggie (“I’m the straw that stirs the drink”) Jackson and the Bronx Zoo.

I hated them for every pompous announcement that left George Steinbrenner’s lips (that would be all of them).

I stopped hating the Yankees when Joe Torre arrived in New York in 1996, a year after Derek Jeter made his debut. The two of them were simply too nice, too classy to dislike. It didn’t bother me when they won. I rooted for them a little. I even wore an N.Y. cap — which had more to do with Sept. 11, 2001, than the Yankees, but still …

Then last year the Yankees chased Torre away with a low-ball offer, and this year they’ve done the following:

Signed free-agent right-hander A.J. Burnett for $82.5 million; signed free-agent left-hander CC Sabathia for $161 million; signed free-agent first baseman Mark Teixera for $180 million.

In a time of deep recession when just about everyone in the country has either lost their job or is worried about losing it, the Yankees have paid $424.5 million for three — three! — players.

But that’s nothing. Wait until you see how they defend the
moves:

“The philosophy of George Steinbrenner, which has been continued by (sons) Hal and Hank, is that the Yankees are a sacred trust to their fans and they believe in continually reinvesting in the team …”

Sacred trust?

The Oxford American gives the following definitions for sacred. Let’s see if any of them fit:

* connected with God (or the gods). Nope.
* religious rather than secular. Nope.
* embodying the laws or doctrines of a religion. Nope.
* regarded with great respect and reverence by a particular religion, group, or individual. This comes the closest, but nope.
* sacrosanct. Nope.

That’s five strikes.

I’m back to hating the pinstripes. Ah, feels like home …