Reasons to Hate the Yankees

Stan Musial vs. Joe DiMaggio Musial never got his due because of the East Coast media's love of DiMaggio. Check out their stats: Musial: 24 All-Star games, three MVP awards, 475 home runs, a lifetime batting average of .331, 3,630 hits. DiMaggio: 13 All-Star games, three MVPs, 361 homers, .325 average, 2,214 hits. DiMaggio played on nine World Series winners, Musial just three. The pundits dubbed him Joltin' Joe and the Yankee Clipper. But to Cardinals fans, DiMaggio always will be Mr. Coffee and Mr. Monroe. Stan is the Man. The Rube factor Corollary to No. 1. To keep Stan, and the rest of the Midwest, in its place, Easterners look upon the region as a giant spacer between coasts, a cultural backwater. That's OK. Folks in the heartland would rather keep the joys of Midwest living to ourselves. Pinstripes Ask any fashion maven, from Calvin Klein to Steve Kline. Birds on the bat works at the ballyard, but pinstripes have a timeless elegance. Willie McGee Fans have a right to gloat over punking the Yankees in 1981, when the Cards traded Bob Sykes for Willie McGee, who went on to be the NL MVP in 1985. Roger Maris New Yorkers treated the best player not in the Hall of Fame like dirt. St. Louis got to know him and grew fond of Maris as a Cardinal in the final two years of his career. Fans here feted his gracious family during Mark McGwire's home run chase. Tino Martinez He's a god in Gotham, much to the befuddlement of those who watched him here in 2002 and '03. If he had done anything other than sulk, Cardinals fans would have embraced him. Instead, he moped, ran home to Florida, then back to NY. Signed as a reserve, Constantino leads AL first basemen in All-Star voting. Huh? George Steinbrenner He's done nothing specific to the Cardinals or their fans. But Big Stein's big spending has skewed baseball's salary structure, for which the Cardinals pay dearly every time they sign a player. 17 more rings The Yankees have won 26 World Series. The Cardinals are second in MLB history with nine. That's just a little too distant for many to consider the teams in the same breath. And that hurts. Get behind Habs, Celtics The Yankees' recent numbers lose some punch when compared to other dynastic teams in other leagues. Since 1963, they have won six World Series. In that time, the Montreal Canadiens have won 12 Stanley Cups, and the Boston Celtics have won 11 NBA crowns. Enos Slaughter Upon hearing he had been traded from St. Louis to New York in April 1954, "Country" blubbered like a baby. Tom Hanks said there's no crying in baseball, but we suspect he'd make an exception in the case of leaving the Cardinals for the Yankees. ...from the St Louis Post Discrace