“We All Know We Can’t Fire Owners” & I Ask Why Not?

@GreedyStripes we know we can’t fire owners haha. I wouldn’t be too mad at replacing Joe. Cash ain’t going anywhere.

— Steve (@stvngbsn) October 7, 2015

In case you have been living under a rock for the past couple of days the New York Yankees fell to the Houston Astros in somewhat embarrassing fashion in the American League Wild Card Playoff round on Tuesday night. I personally dreaded getting back on Twitter Wednesday morning, and that’s sad because I absolutely love Twitter, interacting with you guys and putting the social back into social media, because of the “fans” backlash and reactions to the game from the previous night. After about the 100^th “Girardi shouldn’t have benched Ellsbury” tweet (although if he benched Young or Gardner and either went 0-4 the same tweet would have been made with a different name inserted into it) and after the 500^th “Fire Girardi” tweet I put out an extremely tongue in cheek response basically asking why we don’t just fire the owner instead of the Yankees manager and GM? I got the above response and it got me to thinking, why couldn’t we fire the owner? I believe we could!

I’m not one of those fans advocating for the firing of Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman. Honestly I would prefer that one or both of them be elsewhere in 2015 only because I think the team needs a new look, a new direction and new leadership. Matt Williams was fired in Washington for losing his grip on the postseason, the NL East Division lead and the grip in the clubhouse and I’m merely curious why Girardi is getting a pass. If CC Sabathia could be seen visibly staggering he was so inebriated in the clubhouse after a game in Baltimore by the beat writers and reporters how did Joe not know? Again, I’m not advocating for his firing as much as I’m simply asking the question that many people are asking and don’t have the avenue to voice it but I’m getting too far off topic here.

Can you fire an owner? Yes and no, it obviously depends on the owner. Could you have fired George Steinbrenner? Absolutely not. Why? The Yankees were his hobby, his entertainment and probably his first and true love.  George ran the team into the ground multiple times during his tenure and operated in the red many seasons while investing his own money or the revenue he gathered from the YES Network back into the team simply to keep the lights on and the checks from bouncing. Hal Steinbrenner on the other hand, and I’m assuming because I don’t know him personally, is more about the bottom line and making money rather than truly winning at all costs. How do you make someone lose interest in a business venture? Hit them in the wallet.

Don’t want the Steinbrenner family owning the Yankees? Don’t want Girardi managing or Cashman “making the calls” on player personnel? Stop buying Yankees gear. Stop buying tickets. Cancel your YES Network subscription, although the Steinbrenner family sold most of their stake in the company already, and cancel your MLB TV subscriptions. Don’t pay to park, don’t pay to watch and don’t pay to eat there. That’s how you do it. If you’re not willing to do that, and again I’m not because I don’t necessarily want them gone as much as the next guy, then please stop complaining about it. I believe it was Gandhi who said “be the change you want to see in the world.” He was a smart man, do it!