Posted By:
warshawlawThe Yankees were without a pennant from 1965-1975 and 1982-1995, the latter being the longest dry spell of the franchise since the Babe came over from Boston.
I greatly dislike many aspects of the modern game: the obviously souped-up ball, the drug pumped batters, overuse of relief pitching (situational lefthanders? Not a manly occupation), lack of pitchers dominating the plate, tolerance of lengthy rituals at the plate (watching Nomar Garciaparra ready himself to hit is exceeded in obnoxiousness only by watching Sergio Garcia ready himself to putt), $8 parking, $7 beer, $6 hotdogs, and the proliferation of luxury facilities that separate the first-class citizens from the hoi polloi with walls, metal and glass enclosures (seems to me to be profoundly un-American).
One thing that is not broken about the game relative to the past, however, is competitive balance within the leagues. The modern baseball structure has resulted in far more competitively balanced major leagues than in the golden era. For example, from 1949-1964, the Yankees won the pennant in every year except 1954 and 1959, and the Dodgers were there in 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959 and 1963. Want further proof: look how many truly s**tty teams are in serious contention for the wild card spot.