Why Yankee Fans Should Always Vote Democrat
President Obama Ushers In New Era of Winning for the Bronx Bombers
Nov 8, 2009
The Yankees have always been associated with Republicans. Perhaps it’s the long history, the great success, the price of the seats, or the clean-cut image of their players that is projected to the world. Or maybe it’s because their owners and upper management usually have been staunch Republicans.
George Steinbrenner was once too closely involved with the GOP, making illegal campaign donations to the Nixon Presidential campaign, a no-no that earned him his first long-term suspension from baseball.
New York Republicans are Overwhelmingly Yankees Fans
A 2007 study conducted by Quinnipiac found that 62% of Republicans in the New York area declared themselves Yankees fans, whereas only 29% identified themselves as fans the Mets. This has been the pattern throughout the team’s history.
Nonetheless, the point of it all is that – well, the Yankees have always been a team for Republicans. In the old days, the Dodgers and the Giants were associated with liberals, perhaps because of each team’s early and enthusiastic embrace of racial and ethnic integration. The same is now true with the Mets.
But maybe the Yankees are working from the wrong side of the aisle. After all, baseball history shows, quite clearly, that the Yankees have been far more successful with a Democrat they have been with a Republican. Don’t believe it? Well, let’s look at the statistics.
Yankees Much Better With a Democrat in the White House
Since 1923, which was the year of the Yankees first World Series title, Republican presidents have sat in the Oval Office for 47 years. Democrats, by comparison, have only slept in the Lincoln Bedroom for a mere 40 years. During that time, the Yankees have won 26 World Series titles, 19 under Democrat Administrations and 7 during Republican regimes.
That’s roughly one title every two years for Democrats and one championship every seven year for Republicans. For the record, the Bombers won the following titles while the GOP ruled the land: 1923 (Harding), 1927 and 1928 (Coolidge), 1932 (Hoover), 1953, 1956, 1958 (Eisenhower).
Democrat regimes have been much better to the Bronx Bombers, however. The team won five titles under FDR (’36-’39, ’41). They won five more while Truman was in the Oval Office (’47, ’49-’52). A young and vibrant Red Sox fan named Jack Kennedy took the oath of office in January 20, 1961. The Yankees won it all during his first two years. Then all was lost.
The Bombers won nothing during the administrations of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Three Democratic Presidents and Eight Yankee Championships
Jimmy Carter came into office in January 1977, and the Yankees finally got off the 15 year schnide. It wasn’t just another championship, it was an historic series that ended with three straight Reggie Jackson home runs. They did it again in 1978.
Nothing during Reagan’s eight years or George H. W. Bush’s four years.
An eighteen year drought was finally broken when the Yankees knocked off the Braves in six games. Democrat Bill Clinton watched the Yankees win from a comfortable seat in the Oval Office. Another Democrat, another World Series. Then they won another three straight World Series from 1998 through 2000.
Republican George W. Bush came into office on January 20, 2001. That November the Yankees and Diamondbacks played one of the great series if all time, but the Yankees lost in a shocking, heartbreaking fashion that revealed a vulnerability in their T-1000 type closer.
Eight years and not a single title. Two really heartrending losses in 2001 and 2004. The final insult came in 2008 when the Yankees didn't even make the postseason.
But this year, this 2009 season, marked the return of the Yankees to the top of the mountain. Is it just a coincidence that this also happens to be the first year that a Democrat has inhabited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in eight seasons?
Probably not, but Yankee fans, do you really want to take a chance on another Republican? Ever?
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