The Pecan Park Eagle

Speaking of the Yankees, the “27th Heaven” version gets their ticker tape parade down Broadway today as the rest of go through baseball withdrawal until spring.

Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada appeared together on David Letterman’s Show last night, giving the host a chance to lay one in there on Andy for going back to Houston for a while (2004-06). “Andy,” Letterman said, “I believe you left New York for a while to go home and work in a Dairy Queen. Isn’t that right?” Everyone, even Andy,  had a big laugh over that line, but then he answered, still sort of sheepishly: “That’s right, Dave, but at least while I was back there at the Dairy Queen, I got to go to another World Series.”

See there? That’s exactly one of the points I was hoping to make yesterday, all rolled up in a single object lesson: Our Houston Astros’ National League pennant of 2005 may have just been a big night at the Dairy Queen for big celebrities like David Letterman and Andy Pettitte, but it was a pretty big deal to those of us Houston rubes who waited nearly a half century to see it happen here for even once. Now the tally stretches even further through 2009. In 48 seasons of major league play (1962-2009), our Houston Colt .45s/Astros have made it to only one World Series. We’re still looking for our first World Series win – or even a game victory. The White Sox shut us out four games to none in 2005, remember?

The New York Yankees, on the other hand, got to the World Series for the first time in 1921, during their 18th opportunity of the games even being played. They lost that first one to the New York Giants, and again the next year to the same club. Once the Yankees tweeked the Giants, 4-2, in the 1923 World Series for their first  win on the big stage, things started to change. A rosary of rarely broken dynasties was being beaded for the future.

Four Years Later: The 1927 and 1928 Yankees put together back-to-back WS wins on the heels of a 1926 WS loss to the Cardinals. Ruth and Gehrig were the leaders of the pack.

Four Years Later: The 1932 Yankees return to win again as Babe Ruth calls his shot against the Cubs in Chicago.

Four Years Later: Starting in 1936, the first real dynasty begins behind Joe DiMaggio as New York wins four World Series titles in a row (1936-39).

Two Years Later: The Yankees take their first World Series title over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1941, but then fall in the 1942 classic to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Two Years Later: The Yankees avenge their loss of the previous year, defeating the Cardinals in the 1943 games.

Four Years Later: The 1947 Yankees return to take another Series win over the Dodgers.

Two Years Later: The Stengel Dynasty hits town. The Yankees reel off five World Series titles in a row, from 1949-1953.

Three Years Later: After losing to the Dodgers in 1955, the Yankees return the universe to normal by recapturing the World Series championship from the Dodgers in 1956.

Two Years Later: The Yankees recapture the 1958 World Series from the Milwaukee Braves after losing it to the same club in 1957.

Three Years Later: The 1961 Maris-Mantle club blasts its way past the 1961 Reds after losing in seven to Bill Mazeroski and the Pirates in 1960. The Yankees also win again over the 1962 San Francisco Giants.

Fifteen Years Later: The 1977-78 Yankees pull out of the second  longest dry hole in their modern World Series history, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers twice in back-to-back fashion. During this period, the Yankees had lost World Series contests in 1963, 1964, and 1976,

Eighteen Years Later: The big gulch finally ends when the 1996 Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves, four games to two. Along this neck of the journey, the Yanks made only one other World Series appearance, losing to the 1981 LA Dodgers in six.

Two Years Later: The Torre Boys return for three straight crowns over the 1998 Padres, the 1999 Braves, and the 2000 Mets.

Nine Years Later: The Yankees take the Phillies in six games as the world returns to normal, and fairly loaded in favor of the studs from New York City. This particular dry spell is marked by Yankee losses in the 2001 World Series to Arizona, and again in 2003 to Florida.

The whole point here again is numbers. Not only have the Yankees been to forty World Series and won twenty-seven, they don’t have to wait as long as most other teams to get another chance.

Wait? Long lines? No way! Once they got there that first time in 1921, 18 years has been tops on the dry spell run for the Yankees. Compare that to the Chicago Cubs. Their wait in line has now reached 102 years!

The 27th Yankee Champions!

It’s part New York arrogance; part New York power; part listening to Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York” after every Yankee home win; part watching Rudy Guiliani wearing that “NYFD/PD” cap to all the big games in honor of his own memory; part George Steinbrenner looking down from his suite with his arms folded under a grim quick-to-lash-out face; and frankly, it’s just a big part numbers. The reasons why many fans simply hate the Yankees is a subject we could hang with all day and still have plenty left open to talk about tomorrow.

The numbers side of it is big enough for us today as a toasty subject. Let’s consider a few takes on that side of things:

(1) The Yankees have now won 27 of their 40 World Series appearances.

(2) With 10 World Series wins, the St. Louis Cardinals are the only other club even in double digits.

(3) In the 105 World Series played since 1903. the Yankees have played in .38% of these events, winning .26% of all World Series played.

The numbers just go on from there to a point of total numbness. The Yankees are smart baseball people. They spend the most money on salaries and, possibly also on player development. They have the biggest ancillary system of other revenue streams from regional broadcasting and merchandise sales. They can afford adding any player they really want who becomes eligible to them through free agency. They produce the largest group of players who later become eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown simply on the force of their sheer numbers with quality,

I don’t see another  franchise ever overcoming the place that the New York Yankees have established for themselves in baseball. And that call is right in there with the prediction that we”l never see  a second moon in the sky. It’s so obvious. Anyone else who wins the World Series has to do it in spite of the Yankees. They will not get there by overcoming the Yankees for very long.

Some things in life aren’t fair. They just are the way they are. The New York Yankees fit that description to a tee. Hate ’em if you choose. Beat ’em only if you try really smart and hard – and also happen to get lucky every once in a while.

Congratulations from Houston, New York. We”ll see you down the road one of these days. And we won’t roll over or run away when you come into sight. You’ll get our best Astros shot!