Having lived in
New York for the better part of a decade, I became a big New York Yankees
fan. It was an especially good time to be one, too, since the Bronx
Bombers have made it to the playoffs for each of the past twelve seasons
(with a few World Series wins to boot). Hell, I even caught a Tino
Martinez foul ball once while sitting up in the cheap seats near right
field.
Today the
Yankees presented their manager, Joe Torre, with a contract "offer" that
he clearly wouldn't accept. Not only was it only for one year
(meaning he could be fired at any time without much penalty), it would
have also represented a pay cut (and who likes those?). More to the
point, it was a little insulting to the guy who brought the team to the
playoffs all those years.
Still, that's
their prerogative--they've got a (very lucrative) business to run.
Professional sports are a major industry and sometimes tough and/or
unpopular decisions need to be made.
Then, a couple of hours later, the Yankees sent out the following "News
Alert" to everyone who has ever purchased a ticket online for a game at
Yankee Stadium:
This is clearly
a low blow and, quite frankly, is just evil. This isn't "spin"--it's
kind of mean. To wit:
* The photo.
Could they have picked a more weasely image of Torre? Seriously,
they're only working with a decade and a half of photos, right? He
looks suspicious. His gaze is off to the side, eyebrows arched, like
some cartoon villain about to steal some candy from an unsuspecting baby.
There is no way this is an accident.
* The
headline. "Torre Rejects Yankees' Offer." The proof that they
wanted to present an unacceptable offer is in the pudding; now they can
say that it was Torre who didn't want to make things work. He's so
difficult to please! Give us a break: anyone in his position with a
shred of dignity left after being publicly lambasted for years for doing
an above-average job would have rejected this offer.
* The
language. "In a shocking turn of events" begins the second
paragraph. Shocking? Really? Then it goes on to talk
about the salary in a way that continues to drive home the idea that Torre
is spoiled and unappreciative. Interesting how they chose not to
mention the fact that this would be a pay cut... a pay cut from the team
that almost singlehandedly created baseball's luxury tax and has been its
biggest over-spender.
Maybe it's just
me, but I was kind of shocked to see this in my inbox. Did the
Yankees think this would win over fans? Are they that deluded?
There's nothing wrong with making a business deal--if they think they can
get a better candidate elsewhere, that's their choice to make. But
to try to portray a guy who gave his all for so many years as some kind of
scoundrel is just lame.
