[The Horrible Esthete]

Reds fans are "dying" to fiscally support a winner, are they? So, if Lindner announced that ticket prices were going to increase 400% so that they could afford a $186MM payroll, am I to believe that Reds fans would be fine with that? Yeah, whatever.

That's a rediculous analogy. Of course not. But Reds fans certainly will come out to the ballpark to support a winner, and I guarantee that bumping payroll from $46M to the $60-65M range would do enough to a) field a reasonably competitive team, and b) to keep fans filling the seats through season's end. By the way, don't pretend to know the baseball climate here in my city - there isn't a more zealous baseball fan-base per capita than Cincinnati, except maybe St. Louis, who have the best baseball fans anywhere.

Don't believe me?

Chew on this: In early June of this season, when the Reds were actually in first place in the NL Central, a three-game homestand drew an attendance of 105,160 to watch the freaking Montreal Expos - that's an average of 35,053 per game, compared to the 2004 home season average of 28,237! That shows you how much attendance dropped off in the second half of the season when the Cardinals lead stretched to double-digits. When a season wears on and the product becomes visibly horrific, real baseball fans stop going to ballgames, because they refuse to be swindled and insulted.

Or this: In July, when the Reds trailed the Cardinals in the NL Central by only 6.0 games (in other words, when we still had a fighting chance) a four-game homestand with those Carinals drew 138,879 in paid attendance (an average of 34,720 per game). In two subsequent homestands with the Cards, when the Reds trailed by 13.5 games or more (and it was apparent that this team was not going to compete and that Uncle Carl wasn't going to add talent / salary), the paid attendance totaled 140,349 for six games (an average of 23,392 per game).

Obviously, Reds fans will plant their asses in ballpark seats as long as there's a decent product on the field, and if Carl would bother to invest a little more in that product, his returns would easily allow the franchise to remain profitable. There simply is no excuse; Lindner is out of touch with the great fans in this city, and we aren't stupid. He is destroying the proud tradition of Cincinnati Reds baseball.

The simple fact of the matter is that the Yankees have a non-baseball factor (i.e. being located in New York) that greatly enhances their chances of winning. Good on Steinbrenner for taking advantage of that factor (as he should), but don't act like the Yankees are on a level playing field as everyone else. It is one thing to build a winner through great scouting, great drafting, and great trades, and quite another thing to build a winner by outspending everyone else by 30%.

So then why don't the NEW YORK METS experience the same success and operate on the same budget as the Yankees do? The fact is that Steinbrenner's agressive spending never left Yankee fans feeling slighted, which in turn padded revenues, which he reinvests religiously back into the team. In other words, he built a great product with a great business plan, and has been reaping the rewards ever since. That's called free enterprise, and that is what America is all about - economic freedom on the open market. Am I supposed to hate Steinbrenner and his fine product and cry 'foul' because he is a savvy entrepreneur? Do I need to remind you that the US is a capitalist society, not a socialist one?

I never said the Yankees are on a level playing field, but the lowly Marlins didn't seem to find things slanted against them in 2003, did they? Sometimes, a team refuses to be psyched out by the Yankee might, and just won't allow them to be their 'Daddy'. Just wait till the World Series - you'll see.