Nearly every sporting league has it and if they don’t, it’s usually not a league you pay attention to. The dominant sports league in the states, the NFL, has been lucky enough to have that ‘it’ team for three decades. In the 90’s, it was the Dallas Cowboys and in the two decades since, it’s been the New England Patriots. In the MLB, however, it is rarely ever transferred from one team, the 27 time champion New York Yankees.
After championship lull in the 80’s, the Yankees added four rings to the tally in the late 90’s. They played in three more in the 2000’s going 1-2. It was a bit of a dry spell by their standards but the average fan continued to hate them as they signed almost every single high impact free agent in the decade. After there last championship in 2009 and long owner George Steinbrenner’s death in 2010, the team fell into a little bit of a funk.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the Yankees were and continue to be relevant and they’ve been to five of seven postseasons this decade but they lacked something. They weren’t World Series favorites in any of those years and the controversies that came with Alex Rodriguez and the aging, flawed, mega contracts they acquired in the 2000’s began to wear on them and MLB. Fans no longer flocked to the stadiums to watch their favorite teams try and beat the hated enemy. Instead, they stayed away from the New York circus.
With only one playoff game, a loss, from 2013 to 2016, 2017 was supposed to be a full rebuilding year. It’s unfathomable, rebuilding just wasn’t the word uttered in the Bronx. The Baby Bombers had other ideas as they went 91-71 and returned to the ALCS for the first time in five years. They hit a league leading 241 home runs last year and they added the reigning NL MVP who had 59 home runs of his own in Giancarlo Stanton.
The Yankees expect to challenge the single season home run record of 264 set by the 1996 Seattle Mariners and with the addition of Stanton, some believe 300 might be attainable. One thing is for sure; the team you love to hate is back. The Evil Empire is back.
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