…that apparently for you begins in 2000. For people who are more educated about calendars and such, however, we’ll continue to observe 2001-2010 as a “decade”. During which time, the Sox have 2 championships to NY’s one. Since every NY fan since 1920 loves to mention nothing but WORLD SERIES wins, we’ll use YOUR OWN barometer to judge which team is better so far in this decade:

2001-2010. Boston 2, New York 1. Boston wins.

There’s one more year left in this decade by the way.

Congratulations on being able to breathe a sigh of relief that your team finally won its first World Series this decade. I can’t imagine how much it must suck on the inside to never really enjoy a championship, since you are expected to win it every year, and every year you don’t is a failure.

Bandwagon teams. Yank$, Cowboys, Lakers. Never liked any of them. I’m going to sports heaven when I die.

Silly NY fans who aren’t even educated enough to read a calendar correctly, and write a silly self-congratulatory article based on a false calulation: priceless.

If you look by Pythagorean W-L something interesting comes up. The Yankees and Red Sox have nearly identical PWL for the decade. The difference is a mere 3 total wins over the entire 10 years (921 Yankees/919 Red Sox). Thus, in talent equated wins the 2 teams have been basically identical. One funny thing in looking over this data-the 2002 Red Sox did not even come close to making the playoffs, but were a much better team than the Yankees by Pythag. They had 101 wins (actually the Yankees have not had a 100 win Pythag season this decade, the Sox have had 2). That team scored 860 runs and gave up a slim 3.75 ER game behind awesome starting pitching of Martinez, Lowe and Wakefield.

And time wasted by trolls…

The Yankees would not even be considered a great team if it weren’t for the Red Sox and all of the history between them.

With no salary cap, the Yankees have and will continue to have the best team that money could/can buy each year.

Thus they should win more games each year.

Which means they will win their division and have home-field advantage most years.

Which increases their chance at success in the playoffs most years.

Prior to the introduction of the wildcard, the Red Sox are arguably the team most at a disadvantage due to the lack of a salary cap because spending the second most in baseball would only be good for … staying home in the fall. Lesser spending teams in other divisions at least had a chance at winning a division and getting into the playoffs.

Yes, once in the short-series world of the playoffs, any team can get hot or catch the breaks and win it all. However, a high payroll definitely helps there as well and the plain and simple fact is that the Yankees payroll has put them IN the playoffs more than anyone else.

With the introduction of the wildcard, the Sox have at least managed to get into the playoffs more often than before. And they have thus had more chances to succeed in the playoffs. And hence finally ending the curse.

However, they are still, like other teams in the AL East, at a huge disadvantage because of the economic inequities. Like other teams in the AL East, they have to play more games against the high-spending Yankees thus putting them at a win total disadvantage against other teams in other divisions competing for the wildcard. It took 9 years of having the wildcard in place before the Sox finally broke the curse.

Thus even though the Red Sox have managed to catch lightning in a bottle over this last decade and take advantage of at least being present in the playoffs, overall, this year reflects probably a resetting of economic realities. The Yankees outspent everyone, including the Red Sox, by a huge margin and the results were predictable.

These are simple, inescapable facts.

So long as there is no salary cap and no true revenue sharing in baseball, the Yankees will continue to dominate. And while I know a lot of Red Sox fans shudder at the thought that they might not be able to outspend say, Kansas City – the fact is that even as the second highest spender in baseball overall, the Red Sox are hurt most by the lack of a cap because they are in the same division as the Yankees because the Yankees are a huge regular-season barrier that the Sox have to get past or around in order to make the playoffs.

Look at the other sports that HAVE a cap: NFL, NBA, NHL – you don’t see extended NY dominance in those sports.

but historically the fact is the Yankees have been able and willing to spend more than other teams.

In the reserve clause era they would outright purchase players from other teams that needed money.

In the free agency era they can out bid other teams for free agents AND always afford to resign their own farm-developed players.

Certainly there have probably been seasons where they haven’t outspent other teams (or at least by anything significant). But over the course of time, the trend is clear.

And it is the long-term trend that is most relevant. Other teams may have a handful of years were everything comes together between farm-developed talent and the right injection of free agents. But what happens when the farm-developed talent matures and the youngsters are eligible for new contracts? Other teams can’t sustain the high budget for year after year after year. That is when those other teams lose their players and they sink back into oblivion. The Yankees and a few other teams are able to keep their best talent and remain competitive on an on-going basis.