Folks, I’ve been watching baseball for a long time now, and never in my days of watching the sport can I recall a team beating another team 5 consecutive games in a row. I finally did. Not only did the Yankees win 5 straight against the hated Red Sox, they did it in 4 days, after having played a 3-game set the days before, with no day off between the series. I’m proud of the Bombers for winning out, but even more proud because they now have an almost unapproachabel 6.5 game lead over the Red Sox in the A.L. East.

Those who know me know what sort of Yankee fan I am: the shameless kind. I love the team, and I have since before I knew what a salary cap was, and how bullshit it was that MLB doesn’t have one. I eat shit all the time for being a fan, but hey…when you go to see Star Wars, and you root for the Empire, you deserve to eat shit, right? Well…I’m going to disagree, here’s why:

Yes, the problem with baseball is there is no parity (balance). Major Leage Baseball, and more importantly the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) have never been able to agree to even entertain the notion of a salary cap. As a fan and student of the game, I can agree full-heartedly that this is a serious problem. Here’s where I start to take the heat. Baseball fans around this country always offer up the “Boo. The Yankees buy their championships.” You hear this all the time from non-Yankee fans, because the Yankees spend 200 million + a season on their team payroll. It seems excessive, but just because Boston, and Houston only spend a little more than 150 million a season, the Yankees are the evil ones. How can this be? Wouldn’t it suffice it to say that once you’re xx% over the league average, you’re all evil?

Why don’t these other teams take the same heat? Or even better, why doesn’t MLB take the heat? I argue that George Steinbrenner (owner of the Yankees, for whom don’t know) spends what he has to to win. I believe that if he could spend 200 million on the on-field talent, but only does spend say, 70 million on payroll, then he’s not giving his team everything he can to make them winners. He would be doing a great justice to the game, but c’mon…He wants his team to win every night, and he pays good money to see that happen.

The fact is, he’s doing everything in his power to make his team a winner. If he voluntarily contributed less than he can afford, then he’s not doing everything in his power to win anymore. The league needs to step in and say “No more”, but they won’t, because the players - not the owners - won’t ever let the salary cap into the game of baseball.

Like I said, I’m a Yankee fan, but above all else, a baseball fan. I would be willing to deal with a lockout for a season or even two seasons to get a salary cap in place. I know I’m in the minority here. I know most fans don’t give a shit about the game; they only care about seeing homeruns, beanballs, and bench-clearing brawls. It’s a shame the game has slipped so far, even thoug it’s still tops in the country.