Go Yankees?

It may be blasphemous to say "Go Yankees" around these parts, but for the next month, the Yankees are pretty much the team I will be rooting for during the MLB playoffs.

Why the Yankees you ask when there are so many better options. Well, let me break it down for you.

1 - the National League is not for me. So that obviously rules out both the Phillies and the Giants. Although, I do have a soft spot for Roy Halladay, because of his connections to Toronto, but that is as far as my "brotherly love" goes. The Phillies have been free spenders on the free agent market and have mortgaged their future for the present. If they can bring another championship to Philadelphia, I guess why not. I just won't be cheering for them.

The NL West is probably the division I follow the least in baseball. Besides playing late games and therefore never really being able to watch them on TV and missing their highlights constantly, the teams are blah. The Giants and Dodgers would still be better served playing in New York. The Giants don't have much going for them besides Tim Lincecum and Pablo Sandoval so why would I cheer form. Besides that fact, they have little to no chance of beating the Phillies, so why would I waste my time cheering for four games.

2 - The Rangers and Rays are both the up and comers of the American League and while it might be fun to cheer for them for awhile, as a fan I will just get frustrated watching their young players try and make it through the post-season.

Also, the Rays "fans" bug me. They averaged a little over 20,000 fans per game which ranked 22nd out of 30th in the Majors. Now, they are pulling back tarps to uncover seats in the highest parts of the stadium to accommodate the new support. If they didn't start the games at 5pm, they might not average 10,000 fans as all the seniors in Tampa need to head home early for the news.

The Rangers have tried to be the Yankees for as long as I remember. Overpaying for over the hill and mediocre talent and then they are shocked when they finish last in the AL West. This year they finally made a trade that made sense when they acquired Cliff Lee and hit the jackpot when they poached Josh Hamilton from the Rays, but even there recent all-stars like Michael Young have fallen on hard times. It will be nice if they win a playoff series so they can say they have done it, but other than that, the Rangers aren't a team I will cheer for.

3 - So that leaves the Yankees. It makes sense because they are in the AL East and if the World Series champs come from the division of the Jays, at least I can say we beat the best head to head this year and it gives me hope for the future.

Also, the Yankees have tradition like no other franchise. When you have won 27 World Championships, you might not need another one in the trophy case, but why not build up the resume a little further.

This season, the Yankees have had added motivation of losing key members of the organization. The most prominent being owner George "the boss" Steinbrenner and long time voice of Yankee stadium announcer Bob Sheppard. Although most of the current players don't have any connections to Steinbrenner or Sheppard they know how much it means to the fans and the rest of the organization to see the two of them off as winners.

So there it is, I'm going to join Spike Lee, Jay-Z and Billy Crystal and don the Yankees cap for the next month...