Post Staff and Wire Reports
Posted: 2:41 am
September 24, 2008
YankeesNew York Yankees 
Senior VP Hank Steinbrenner isn't all that impressed that Joe Torre has the Dodgers on the brink of the playoffs in his first season managing in L.A.
"I'm happy for Joe, but you have to compare the divisions and the competition," the bombastic Baby Boss says in a guest column in the new Sporting News magazine, which hits newsstands this week.
"What if the Yankees finish the season with more wins than the Dodgers but the Dodgers make the playoffs? Does that make the Dodgers a better team? No."
Baseball's divisional setup, Steinbrenner said, has given Torre an easier path to the postseason than the Yankees.
"Baseball went to a multi-division setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement," Steinbrenner wrote.
"But it isn't fair. You see it this season, with plenty of people in the media pointing out that Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to the playoffs while we're not.
"This is by no means a knock on Torre - let me make that clear - but look at the division they're in. If L.A. were in the AL East, it wouldn't be in the playoff discussion. The AL East is never weak."
Steinbrenner also said in the column that he isn't a fan of revenue sharing.
"That's a system I don't particularly like. It's a socialist system, and I don't agree with it. Does it work? It depends on your point of view. But is it right? Is it even American? I'd argue no on both of those points."
Steinbrenner was all set to attend the final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium. Then he decided it was more important to watch it someplace else - with his dad, on TV.
So the Yankees' co-chairman went over to his father's house in Tampa and joined George Steinbrenner for Sunday night's 7-3 win over Baltimore.
"It was emotional," Hank Steinbrenner said yesterday at the Yankees' spring training complex. "It was especially for me, watching with him. And hopefully him, watching it with me, too. He was very happy I was there. He enjoyed it. Of course, they talked a lot about him, and that was nice."
