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 Oh, But That's Different

                                                                Mike DiPatri          07/21/04

It's a good thing we have the Red Sox.  Otherwise, we baseball writers would have nothing to write about during the off season.  They make sure that something is happening that keeps us entertained.

If any other team had made the deal for A-Rod, Mr. Henry would probably never say a word.  He would not want to advertise his poor business deal.  But because the Yankees did it, he can go out and blame them for it.  Everybody loves to hate the Yankees, so it's easy to shift the blame to onto them. 

Mr. Henry voted for the current revenue sharing program that forces the Yankees to subsidize the league because the organization is so financially strong.  Now, he's backpedaling, saying that it's not enough.  He now says that there should be a salary cap.  The cap, he says, should be low enough to control payroll without hurting player compensation.  It would have to be pretty high, though, to accommodate his team salary, which is second in the league, only $55 million less than that of the Yankees.  He also employs the second highest paid player in the league who makes but $2 million dollars less than A-Rod.  Oh, but that's different! 

 

The Red Sox surely are disappointed that once again the Yankees have found a way to negate any move they made to try to finally put themselves ahead of their most hated rivals.  They surely can't say that the Yankees have gone way beyond reasonable means to prevent any other team to win.  If that''s what Mr. Henry means to say, then he obviously did not watch last year's World Series.  The Yankees did not lose that Series; the Marlins absolutely beat them.  They killed the Yankees.  No other team can ever win?  Come on Mr. Henry, get real!  Your Red Sox could have beaten the Yankees in the ALCS.  They were winning in game seven.  It was the Red Sox pitcher who gave up the hits in the eighth to lose the lead and the Red Sox pitcher who threw the home run pitch that won the game for the Yankees.

Yes, it's true the Yankees have the highest payroll.  Pure numbers will show that.  But to blame the Yankees for the shortcomings of the Red Sox business dealings is ridiculous.  Mr. Henry surely isn't trying to do what it takes to bring a championship to Boston.  If so, he'd make the necessary deals.  Red Sox fans deserve a winning team.  Mr. Henry really doesn't care about the fans though.  It costs more to watch a game in Fenway than anywhere else in the league.  If he really wanted to bring a championship to Boston, he'd do whatever it takes to find an advantage over his competition.  The Patriots did it.  No, he'd rather blame the Yankees, citing unethical business practices.  If he had made the deal to bring A-Rod to Boston, he would have boasted that he made a super deal to get that advantage.  Had that happened, he would have had the two highest paid players in the league.  But, that's different!