Several weeks ago, Ben Peisch wrote that true Red Sox fans would vote Republican based upon their baseball allegiances. He cited John Kerry's famous misstatements ("Manny Ortez" as his favorite player) as evidence that he is nothing more than an uninterested politician posing as a Sox fan for attention and votes. While it's clear that Kerry is far from a passionate Sox fan, Peisch ignores a host of facts which paint a completely different picture. A little investigation by this Tigers fan shows that if baseball and politics must be mixed, the Republican Party is very much the party of the Yankees.
To begin with, "The Boss," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, is a convicted felon. It turns out that he was convicted of illegal campaign contributions to Nixon's 1972 re-election fund. He was suspended from baseball for a few years as a result, although it wouldn't be the last time (again later for hiring a gambler to find dirt on Dave Winfield).
If that wasn't enough, President Reagan, another Republican, pardoned Steinbrenner. As a result, The Boss is back on the political scene and gave $2,000 (the maximum permitted) in contributions to President Bush's reelection fund. As a side note, even the "fair and balanced" Fox News has reported that the Cardinals ownership includes two Bush "Rangers" and one "Pioneer," titles given to individuals who raise $200,000 and $100,000 for the Bush campaign, respectively. In sharp contrast, Sox owner Tom Werner gave $2,000 to Kerry's campaign.
What's more, take a look at a few of the big names associated with the Yankees and their political affiliations. How about superfan Rudolph Giuliani? Also a Republican. His friend, Yankees manager Joe Torre, is also a Republican. Despite the boos he received from the home crowd, Cheney attended a Yankees game this year. Kerry, on the other hand, no matter how deep his loyalties, was in the front row at friendly Fenway. Remember Alex Rodriguez? He also contributed $2,000 to Bush's election campaign this year. Jeter is reputed to lean Republican, although there's less documented evidence. So are Don Mattingly and Yogi Berra, not to mention professional turncoat traitor Roger Clemens.
There's a general aura surrounding each club that's worth considering. The Yankees are the most expensive club in baseball by $60 million, and they spent four times the Tigers' payroll this year. Clearly this is not a team of the middle class; that would be the Twins, or someone along those lines. The Yankees are capitalist opportunists who oppose baseball's luxury tax, a flimsy mechanism trying to achieve some competitive parity between New York's $180 million payroll and the Milwaukee Brewers' paltry $27 million. The Yankees are beyond upper class; this is a team with plutocratic tendencies that makes the extremely wealthy Sox look almost shabby by comparison.
So where should a good Sox fan turn this Tuesday? I think that it's pretty clear that a vote for President Bush is a vote for convicted felon Steinbrenner, noted cheat Rodriguez, and the increasingly obnoxious Yankeenomics style of baseball. Like the Yankees, who began the season with a well-financed and talented team on paper, President Bush found the nation united and incredible resources and support at his disposal in the foreign policy arena. Like the Yankees in the playoffs, he failed in his duty to the nation and is seeking reelection after dividing the nation and embarking upon a disastrous unilateral war in Iraq. As the Sox cruised into the World Series, perhaps it's worth considering that their series against the Yankees, improbable comeback and all, contains a message for the nation?