Why do we hate the Yankees? Let us count the ways

My grandfather on my mother's side was a big Yankees fan. I recall many times watching games at his house back in the 70s when they were winning and when the whole Steinbrenner-Billy Martin-Bronx Zoo thing was in full swing.

At the time, I can honestly say I didn't hate the Yankees. They were a good team, I enjoyed talking about them with my grandpa, and I liked Billy Martin. I even had a collection of famous Bill Gallo sketches of Martin that the Daily News sold as a set, with several of them hanging in my room (and later, in my first job after college, above my desk at work). And because I was a Strat-O-Matic Fanatic -- and got into the Oldtimers Series -- I had an appreciation for the great Yankees teams of years gone by.

I even had a Yankees T-shirt. (Shudder)

Things changed in the 90s with the Yankees revival. And while there were certain Yankees whom I hated (Paul O'Neill, Jorge Posada, Roger Clemens), and while I refused to give any credit to Joe Torre for "managing" this team of stars, the real reason for the hatred was because of the Yankees fans.

The sense of entitlement, the arrogance, the blindness to the team's significant economic advantages (I know, it's the league's fault, not the team's) -- those were the things that made Yankees fans, particularly the spoiled, younger ones, so annoying, which jacked up the hate level a million fold.

So why do I bring this up now? Because fantasy guru Matthew Berry has an outstanding post on why he hates the Yankees. Classic stuff. A personal story that cuts to the true essence of the obnoxious Yankees fans.

Are all fans of the Bronx Bombers like this? Of course not. But there are waaayyyyy too many of them.

And if you're into fantasy baseball, stick around for Berry's Love/Hate list. Berry isn't always right -- in fact, he's wrong a lot -- but he's entertaining enough and I always make a point of reading his stuff. Two American Roid Rage Federation NL baseball championships in three seasons can't be wrong!