The Clash of Sentimentalisms

We have a theory that in baseball sentimentality is inversely proportional to winning -- at least for the Yankees. New York media and fans love to exaggerate the contributions of bad but lovable players. It's why fans fondly recall Andy Stankiewicz's stint with the team in the early 90's, but few remember Dion James, who was vastly more valuable. It's why the portly Enrique Wilson, with a career line of 14 stolen bases against 19 caught stealings, served as the team's pinch runner during the unspeakable horror of the 2004 playoffs. Give us a player with a funny face (Wilson) or a funny name that makes for a goofy sobriquet (Stanky), and we'll find a spot for him in our hearts, and sometimes our lineup.

A corollary to this theory is that the Yankees are more vulnerable to sentimentality than other teams. This is not because New Yorkers are more sensitive souls than the rest of the country. Rather, it's because we're deeply insecure about the team's disgusting wealth. The only way to relieve the burden of guilt -- a burden which stems from the litany of expensive free agent signings and salary dump trades which every year benefit us at some other team's expense -- is for us (the fans and media) to latch onto the journeymen, the career minor leaguers, and any other underdog we can find. Enrique Wilson, Clay Bellinger, and yes, Shelly Duncan, represent the Yankee fan's penance. It's our way saying to a Royals' fan, "we, too, know it feels like to support shitty journeymen. "

Never mind that this is a false analogy, or that Royals fan would be rightfully offended at any suggestion of empathy from a Yankee supporter. The Yankees will always be filthy rich, and as fans we'll always be despised for it. Since it's impossible even for Yankee fans to embrace this side of Yankeedom -- wealth just isn't attractive -- we need to forge some type of underdog-ism in our identity, even if it's largely a lie. Otherwise we'd be unbearable, even to ourselves. But how can we do this without disrupting the team? Can the Yankees build a roster that makes sense and allows us to feel good about ourselves at the same time?