I hate Hank

Oh Hank Steinbrenner, where do I start with you?

Hank Steinbrenner, part owner of the New York Yankees, doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Son of principal owner George Steinbrenner, Hank feels that he can shoot his mouth off about whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

Sorry Hank, but no, you can't. You aren't me.

Now, I tried to respect him. I tried to listen. I tried to take the man seriously. The problem is; he has no idea what he is talking about. Ever. Like baseball, I've given him three strikes before I said anything, and he has used all of them up pretty quickly.

First off, during the fourth game of the 2007 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract with the team. After this occurred, Steinbrenner was quoted as saying, "I don't want anybody on my team that doesn't want to be a Yankee. We're not going to back down. It's goodbye."

Ironically enough, Rodriguez called Steinbrenner three weeks later, and told him he wanted to negotiate a contract on his own terms. And what happened?

Steinbrenner gave in. He gave Rodriguez the money, and put his foot so far into his mouth, you could see his pinkie toe wiggle through the back of his neck.

The moment I saw this, I chuckled to myself, and simply pushed it to the back of my mind, considering I really could care less about the New York Yankees. I focused on more important things until he decided to open his mouth yet again.

It didn't take long. When Joe Torre decided to leave the Yankees in October, Steinbrenner spoke to The New York Post.

"Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him?" Steinbrenner said. "My dad was crucified for hiring him...Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity-and the great team he was handed."

Recently, he mentioned that new Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, has "a little more fire in his belly" than Torre.

I guess twelve straight playoff appearances, with four World Series victories isn't enough fuel, now is it, Hank? Not to mention, Torre is one of the most respected managers in baseball, by fans and foes alike. While he managed the team, I hated the New York Yankees, but I loved Joe Torre. This is coming from a Red Sox fan, which might be sacrilegious.

Most recently, Steinbrenner decided to shoot his mouth off about a group that neither he nor his precious overpaid Yankees can get past - my Boston Red Sox.

After the MLB Champion Boston Red Sox won the World Series - again, Hank decided to denounce the team and their fans.

In an interview with The New York Times' Play Magazine, he stated, "Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans."

He goes on to say that the Red Sox were afraid to play the Yankees in the 2007 playoffs, and that the Yankees were, and still are, the better team.

Last time I checked, Hankiepoo, the Cleveland Indians beat you, who were in turn defeated by the Boston Red Sox. Let's use simple mathematics to explain this:

Red Sox > Indians > Yankees.

Pretty straightforward, right? Hank can say all he wants. It still doesn't matter, considering the Red Sox have won two World Series Championships since the Yankees last won in 2000. Either way, "Red Sox Nation" wins in the end; especially after what Red Sox principal owner John Henry did in retaliation.

After hearing the comments made by Steinbrenner, Henry decided that Hank needed to be inducted into Red Sox Nation; so he was.

"I'm a big Hank fan," Henry wrote in an e-mail to several media outlets, including The Boston Herald. "Just to ensure he knows how cool Red Sox Nation is, [Saturday] we officially inducted him as a member of Red Sox Nation and we are sending him his membership card giving him access to an array of options including our newsletter, bumper stickers, pins, Green Monster seats, and a hat personally autographed by David Ortiz."

Oh Hank, you can never win, can you?

Red Sox Nation 1, Hank Steinbrenner 0.