Bias at the Times
The Yanks won a beauty last night, 8-7 against the Rangers, topping off a three-game sweep of a solid Texas team. Jason Giambi won it with his 29th homer in the top of the 9th, snapping out of, we hope, a 4-32 slump.
But you'd barely know that from reading the New York Times.
For the third straight day, at least 50% of the front page of the Times sports section has been covered by photos and coverage of the Mets. The Yankee game gets about three inches of column space in the left-hand margin; the previous two days, the Yanks were relegated to the inner depths of the section—even though the Mets lost both those games. The Mets managed to take one of three from the Cubbies, who have a record of 39-61. And yet, huge above-the-fold photos....
This is getting ridiculous.
Let's exercise some editorial judgement here, shall we?
The Yankees are in a terrific pennant race against century-old rivals, the Red Sox. Right now they're a game and a half back, but with their injuries and pitching problems, you'd have to consider them the underdogs. Still, they're fighting. They're also in a tight race for the wild card against the surging Minnesota Twins and the "world champion" Chicago White Sox. And the reinvigorated Toronto Blue Jays.
Pretty exciting stuff, huh?
But again and again in the Times, it's the Mets on Page One.
Do they deserve it? Sure, they're in first place in the NL East by 11.5 games. But remember—they're playing in the weaker National League. If they were playing in the AL East, they'd be a game ahead of the Yanks, half a game behind the Sox. (That's assuming they could maintain that record playing in the AL, which I doubt—they're at .500 against the Yankees, and they got swept by the Red Sox.) If they were playing in the AL Central, where Detroit has won 68 games, they'd be nine games out of first.
How much competition do the Mets face? (I.e., how good are they, really?) Well, the second place team in their division, the Braves, has a record of 48-52.
The second-place team is four games under .500. If the Braves were in the AL East, they'd be next to last, just beating out the worst team in baseball, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
So, please, Times—can we have a little sports reality check?
