Filed under: Yankees, AL East, MLB Gossip
Now that the Yankees have officially been eliminated from the playoffs, it's time for the organization to move on and start figuring out ways to get themselves back in the postseason in 2009. For Hank Steinbrenner, this means it's time to start making excuses for the 2008 season.
Hank has occasionally written columns for The Sporting News this year, and in his latest effort, he blames the Yankees problems on their geographic location.
"The biggest problem is the divisional setup in Major League Baseball," Steinbrenner wrote. "I didn't like it in the 1970s, and I hate it now. Baseball went to a multi-division 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. This is by no means a knock on Torre -- let me make that clear -- but look at the division they're in. If L.A. were in the AL East, it wouldn't be in the playoff discussion. The AL East is never weak."
See what he did there? Not only did he make an excuse for the Yankees missing the playoffs, but he also gave himself an excuse for when people start asking questions about Joe Torre leading the Dodgers to the playoffs while the Yankees missed the postseason after deciding they didn't want him anymore. In his next column, Hank will write about how the Yankees didn't make the playoffs because they have to wake up earlier than teams on the west coast, so they're more tired at the end of the season.
