Meanwhile, The Boston Mud Hens Win Another World Series

This weekend's biggest news in baseball--at least here in New York--was agent Scott Boras's announcement that his client, Alex Rodriguez, would opt of the last three years of his contract with the Yankees and become a free agent. The Times story covering the announcement contained a comment by the apparent new boss of the Yankees, Hank Steinbrenner (George's son) that epitomizes what I dislike about the franchise:

In an interview before Boras's announcement, [Hank] Steinbrenner said he would try to impress on Rodriguez the value of winning titles and making his legacy as a Yankee. He related a story of talking to Joe DiMaggio, who told him his championships would not have been half as meaningful if he had won them for any other team.

"Does he want to go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee," Steinbrenner said, "or a Toledo Mud Hen?"

That sneering remark pretty much says it all. In the eyes of the Yankees, any team other than their own is basically the equivalent of the Toledo Mud Hens. This, I guess, is the "class" and "dignity" that the Yankees' fans and broadcasters are constantly bragging about . . .