It’s bad enough the Boston Red Sox eliminated the New York Yankees in rather easy fashion, coasting to a four-game win in the American League Division Series.
But for Boston to go on and win the World Series a couple of weeks later? Well, that pisses Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner right the heck off.
Showing he’s got a bit of his late father’s trademark ire, Steinbrenner expressed his unsurprising displeasure with seeing his team’s longtime rivals hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy for the fourth time since 2004.
“(It) certainly pisses me off,” he told the New York Post. “I never want a division rival to outdo us.”
Of course, the Red Sox are a little more than just a “division rival” for the Yankees.
“I have no love for the Red Sox on the field or in the division,” Steinbrenner added, stating the obvious.
Well, all right then. That’s more like it. Steinbrenner and the rest of the Yankees’ power players must be seething, as Boston now has four world titles to just one for the Yankees in this century. Not only that, the Red Sox have won the last three division titles, forcing New York to play in the American League wild-card game in each of the last two seasons.
“There are going to be some changes and additions, (as) there always is,” Steinbrenner told the Post. “We need to win the division. I don’t want to go through another wild-card game.”
Perhaps that means another wild winter is on the way for New York, who despite cost-cutting tendencies in recent years, still has deeper pockets than any other team in baseball. Obviously, the first names that will come up this winter are Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, two players who are likely to command a lot of money and long-term commitment.
Those sorts of contracts haven’t “scared us in the past,” Steinbrenner told the Post, so maybe we’re about to see some fireworks from the pissed-off Yankees this winter.
