The number 27 is the number of World Series titles the New York Yankees have. How the Yankees won those titles makes it even worse.
20 of the Yankees’ 27 titles occurred before the MLB introduced a playoff system in 1969, and it was just between the two teams with the best record.
Now, the Yankees still had to be one of the two best teams in the league. But it still isn’t right: they have always had a financial advantage.
Before the MLB introduced playoffs, the team with the best record in the American League would advance to the World Series, and the same applied to the National League. The Yankees had an unfair advantage; their owner was wealthy. As there is no definitive understanding of the wealth of owners in the 1900s to 1950s, an estimate suggests that the Yankees had two of the top six richest owners during this period, with Del E. Webb being the wealthiest owner at the time. Now, in the modern day, every team’s owner is a billionaire, but before the 1960s, it wasn’t that way, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.
The Yankees’ bank account, not the team, won them those 20 titles. They paid the biggest names, the biggest contracts at the time, including In 1930, they paid the great Babe Ruth at $80,000/year; a two-year contract worth $160,000 total, making him the highest‐paid player in that era, Joe DiMaggio, who received $100,000/year, making him the first player in MLB to make 6 figures, according to Sports Illustrated.
The only reason they had these great teams was that they could pay them more than any other team could. So, between their bank account and the old World Series system, the majority of their 27 titles shouldn’t count for their bragging rights.
If all titles that happened before the playoffs became a thing in 1969 didn’t co213unt, the title race would look a lot more inclusive. If we did this, the Yankees would have only 5 titles. Now, the Yankees would still have the lead, but it would be much closer with multiple teams at 4 titles.
But in the very bottom of my heart, I don’t completely hate the Yankees, and I believe they’re a good team. But for too long have they bought their way to titles and top-level talent.
More recently, now that the rest of the MLB has the owners to compete with the Yankees’ wallets, they’ve gone on a 14-year title drought. If this doesn’t prove to you how much the Yankees have paid their way through baseball to win titles, I don’t know what to say.
