The reverent bias towards the NY Yankees has become automatic and fairly universal. The announcers on ESPN and especially Fox still consider them the Goliath of baseball.
This little rant began during the weekend’s Red Sox-Yankee games, in which every presentation, every reference on Fox and ESPN placed the Yankees ahead of the Red Sox, from Box Scores to announcements. I’m not being paranoid here. During and after tonight’s game came news of the upcoming Yankee-Tigers coverage.
Alphabetically, Boston and Detroit come before New York; and Red Sox and Tigers come before Yankees. What other criteria should be used for such listings? The Yankees have never been the top dog in the 21st century, while the Red Sox have been to the mountain twice, almost three times. To emphasize this paradigm shift, the Red Sox just swept the former Highlanders. Consider too that the Red Sox are the older team, played the first World Series, and play in the oldest stadium.
I am not denying that the Yankees, in the past, have had great success and should do so again. I am simply stating that their past glory does not make them first among equals. Steinbrenner is not the Pope of baseball, and NYC is not its’ Vatican, especially since the historic Cathedral is being destroyed by NYC itself.
I even heard one announcer this weekend call the New Yankee Stadium “the best know sports arena in the world.” Really? Wasn’t that the Historic Yankee Stadium, the House that Babe Built, which the Yankees are tearing down? The New stadium, fancy or not, is just one of 30 MLB ballparks, with absolutely no history, and lots of problems. Such awe and reverence for this half empty monument is inappropriate.
In summary, it is time for the media, old and new, to recognize and accept the new world order in which the Yankees are just another good team and, even if they win it all again this year, in terms of dominance are no different from the Marlins, Rays, Red Sox and others who have managed to win it all this century. Alphabetical listings would be more fair and accurate.
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Excellent point well made, although the Rays haven’t won it all.
It’s not pro-Yankees bias; it’s pro-Big News bias. The Yankees are like the Cowboys: their every move, for good or for ill, is news. Sports consumers are more likely to be interested in a Yanks story than one about the Tigers or Indians. (In many parts of the country, not just Red Sox Nation, the Yanks are the Evil Empire, and you gotta keep a close watch on the Death Star.)
ESPN knows this, so they run Yankees items near the top. The Red Sox also benefit from this to a very large degree; Sox news and scores tend to be highlighted as well, just not quite as much as the Yankees.
Take a deep breath and then exhale, does it really matter? Yankee fans maintain the same comments and insist that their team gets slighted.
Relax and enjoy the games, its only baseball.
Not to be flip or anything, but are you serious? The road team is almost always listed first- go look at espn.com’s schedule page.
Was there any way you could’ve written this piece without the inclusions of the phrase “accept the New World Order?”
Very serious, from box score listings (home or away) to conversational tone. Old habits are difficult to shake, but fairness dictates they be shaken to reflect today’s realities.
Ah, nevermind. I guess my little reference didn’t ring a bell.
As far as people still considering the Red Sox more of an underdog than the Yankees, you may have a point. But it seems to me that if I am not watching ‘YES’ then the announcers are either unbiased or against the Yankees.
I am a diehard Red sox fan. That being said. The reason the yankees were named first is because they were the visiting team. The visiting team always gets named first. Its tradition going back years.