Sports

Paul Sokoloski

So that’s what more than 200 million of George Steinbrenner’s dollars can buy.

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Betty Corcoran and her daughter Denise Corcoran of Conyngham pose with the New York Yankees’ World Series trophy on Saturday at the Anderson Center on the Misericordia campus in Dallas Township.

Fred adams/for the times leader

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A shiny World Series championship trophy representing everything that’s wrong with sports.

About 200 area fans got the opportunity Saturday to see this wondrous prize the New York Yankees claimed by out-bidding everyone on their way to a 27th world championship. Al Santasiere, a Misericordia University graduate who co-authored “Yankee Stadium: the Official Retrospective,” brought it along with him to the Anderson Center for another book signing.

It was a noble gesture by Santasiere and a gracious move by the Yankees to allow the trophy to open its tour through the New York fan base with a stop in Northeastern Pennsylvania – where their Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, play.

If only the same could be said about the way they do business.

Just before the high-priced Yankees were embarrassed by the low-budget Florida Marlins during the 2003 World Series, the Yanks adopted a new rallying cry: no price is too high for a title.

They weaseled a deal with Texas to bring $252 million man Alex Rodriguez to New York. They brought in Jason Giambi from Oakland. They went to Japan looking for Godzilla and found Hideki Matsui, the next-best thing.

They signed high-priced Johnny Damon, who humiliated them as a member of the hated world champion Boston Red Sox during New York’s infamous 2004 collapse in the American League Championship Series; and they brought back Andy Pettitte, their best postseason pitcher from the old days.

And still no championship for eight long seasons, despite regularly boasting the biggest payroll in baseball.

“But the Yankees always did that,” said Mike Saia from West Pittston, a Yankees fan since 1952 and a New Jersey native who grew up five minutes from New York before moving to the Wyoming Valley, where he was thrilled about the opportunity to see the grand prize his team won. “They always spent money.”

Not this much money.

Last offseason, the Yankees shelled out $82.5 million to entice free-agent pitcher A.J. Burnett to sign a five-year deal; they landed former Cy Young Award-winning pitcher CC Sabathia for $161 million over seven years; and they lured slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira with a $180 million, eight-year contract.

Flashing all that cash, especially in a crumbling economy, might have turned the stomachs of some fans. Not Yankees fans.

“Sorry everyone else didn’t have the money to do that,” Antonio Gallina, a Yankees fan from Long Island who showed up at Misericordia to see the trophy, said sarcastically. “It’s worth the money. If you have the money to spend, why not get the best players?”

Why not just buy an All-Star team while you’re at it?

Oh, the Yankees already did that.

That kind of free spending might be legal under the current free agent system. But it feels wrong under any moral measuring stick.

The Yankees used to measure their greatness on a scale balanced by homegrown players like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Mo Rivera. Now, those guys are heavily outweighed by outsiders.

To Yankee fans, the world championship trophy is still worth its weight in gold, never mind if it’s really created from 200 troy ounces of sterling silver.

“I’m old enough to appreciate it,” said 12-year-old Yankees fan Jack Windt, fresh off helping the Hanover-1 Little League team win its first-ever District 16 championship. “It’s probably the first World Series (trophy) I can remember.”

Hopefully, he’ll forget how it was decided.

Paul Sokoloski is a Times Leader sports columnist. You may reach him at 970-7109 or email him at psokoloski@timesleader.com.