Hanky Stein Crying Over Yankees Missing Playoffs

This should come to no surprise to anyone. Hank Steinbrenner is whining over Major League Baseball's playoff format the day after the Boston Red Sox officially eliminated the New York Yankees from the playoff race.

"The biggest problem is the divisional setup in major league baseball. I didn't like it in the 1970s, and I hate it now," Steinbrenner wrote. "Baseball went to a multidivision setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement. But it isn't fair. You see it this season, with plenty of people in the media pointing out that Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to the playoffs while we're not.

I'm not sure how the Dodgers making the playoffs would keep the Yankees out in any format since their in a different league.

Even if Major League Baseball still listed teams as a league instead of divisions, the Yankees would only have the fourth best record among American League teams and thats only by a half game over the Chicago White Sox.

"I'm happy for Joe, but you have to compare the divisions and the competition," Steinbrenner wrote. "What if the Yankees finish the season with more wins than the Dodgers but the Dodgers make the playoffs? Does that make the Dodgers a better team? No."

Again he's using an argument that wouldn't matter in any format.

Steinbrenner also questioned the legitimacy of the Cardinals' 2006 title, noting that their 83 regular-season victories were two less than the Phillies' total, but because of the system, St. Louis reached the playoffs as NL Central champs while Philadelphia lost the wild card race to the Dodgers, who had 88 wins.

"People will say the Cardinals were the best team because they won the World Series," Steinbrenner wrote. "Well, no, they weren't. They just got hot at the right time. They didn't even belong in the playoffs. And neither does a team from the N.L. West this season."

Someone should ask Hanky if he should be taking shots at World Championship teams since the accomplishments of at least two of the Yankees recent Championships are tainted by steroids.

Of course, the same could be said for the 2000 Yankees, who won the World Series that fall after registering just 87 wins to capture the AL East title. Four other teams in the AL had more victories that season, including a 90-win Indians team that missed the playoffs.

Ahhh and one is tainted by Hanky's own logic.