Baseball Is NOT Against The Yankees

By Paul Semendinger

May 26, 2026

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Whenever things don't go the Yankees' way, some fans decry that there is some sort of bias against the team.

We saw this about a week ago - a call went against the team and comments were made, all as statements of fact, that the umpire had an anti-Yankees bias. No one could explain the bias, why the umpire was against the Yankees. They just claimed it was there, and by making the claim, that made it (for them at least) the truth.

Take a moment to think of this logically. The claim was made that an umpire has such bias against the Yankees that he purposefully makes calls against them.

No one ever explains why this is so.

The claim makes no sense.

Do fans really believe that there are umpires who just wait for a moment when they can make a call against the Yankees? Never mind that close calls get reviewed. Never mind that there are rating systems available to fans that would show an umpire's bias.

Why would an umpire do this?

That, of course, is never explained. To some fans it just is. There is a sense that, "They're out to get us."

And the "they." to listen to some, continually expands to all sorts of people involved in the game.

Some fans also state that the sportswriters - the ones who vote for year-end awards and the Hall of Fame, are also biased against the Yankees.

Some fans claim that the national announcers and the national sports media in general are anti-Yankee.

It has even been claimed by some that rival teams won't even deal with the Yankees and will accept inferior players from other teams just so they don't make a trade with the Yankees. (In other words, they'll make their own product purposefully worse just because of an anti-Yankees bias. Why a General Manager would make his team weaker is again never explained.)

I have also read in the comments the idea that the commissioner himself is against the Yankees.

It seems that some believe that there is a huge conspiracy against the Yankees. Everyone involved in baseball, it seems, according to some, has an anti-Yankees bias. They are all out to hurt the Yankees.

Again, why this is so is never explained. (It can't be because the Yankees always win because... they don't.)

It seems to some that whenever the Yankees don't get a call, or when they can't make a trade, or a player doesn't get an award (or even some award votes) that there is some nefarious reason for those results that all stem back to this system-wide cabal against the Yankees.

Again, never mind that there is no proof (or logic) in of any of this - these are just accusations and conspiracy theories that are stated as facts.

When Aaron Judge didn't win the MVP unanimously, to some, that was proof of an anti-Yankees bias by some sportswriters.

Some fans state that Don Mattingly isn't in the Hall of Fame because of anti-Yankees bias.

When these bias arguments are made, the facts don't often matter. Someone perceives the bias and then claims it as fact.

But when Yankees get in the Hall of Fame, or when the players win awards, the supposed bias, for whatever reason goes away - only to reappear conveniently when something goes against the Yankees or the way a fan perceives it should in relation to the Yankees.

A great example of this anti-Yankees bias argument can be seen in the belief that Ron Guidry didn't win the 1978 MVP is because the sportswriters were against the Yankees - never mind the facts around that vote:

• In 1976, it can be argued, Thurman Munson did not deserve the MVP Award that he won

• In 1977, it can be argued, Sparky Lyle did not deserve the Cy Young Award that he won

• In 1978, Ron Guidry won the Cy Young, but Jim Rice, who had a great year, won the MVP. The fact that Guidry wasn't MVP is proof to some that the writers were anti-Yankee. To some this vote proves an anti-Yankee bias. (Never mind that these same writers were giving all sorts of awards to Yankees.)

Don Mattingly is not in the Hall of Fame. (I wish he was.) Some says it is because of anti-Yankees bias. By those fans never note that there are other players more deserving such as Keith Hernandez who also isn't in the Hall of Fame. Facts don't matter to the argument - Mattingly's exclusion proves Yankees bias. (Never mind that some of the most controversial border-line inductees, such as Catfish Hunter and Phil Rizzuto, were Yankees.)

Why the commissioner, or league, or the entire sport, would be against the Yankees is never explained.

Understand that this bias claim makes no sense because the Yankees are the game's biggest draw. When the Yankees win, they create even more interest, not less. When Yankees get in the Hall of Fame, the crowd of attendees grows. Why smart business people would purposefully hurt their product is, again, never explained.

Let me state, again, clearly, and unequivocally, my position on this - There is no league-wide bias against the Yankees.

One new such new theory actually acknowledges that there is no discrete obvious bias. The talking point now is that some in baseball have an unconscious bias against the Yankees. (Again, no one explains why. They fell don't need to. They just state something as fact and, to them, that makes it so.)

It is claimed even today that umpires purposefully call bad pitches strikes against Aaron Judge. Why they do this is never explained. It's just that they do because, for some reason, they are against him or the team. No one ever explains the "why" in this. But, if ever there was a player that shows respect to the umpires and the game as a whole, it's Aaron Judge. For the conspiracy theorists, that matters little. To them, for some nefarious reason, umpires cannot wait to call him out.

When examined logically, these anti-Yankees bias arguments make no sense.

The last time a bunch of bias claims were made came about a week ago, Anthony Volpe was called out on a close play when he tried to steal second. It was a very close play. I thought Volpe was safe. The umpire did not. The call was challenged. The replay umpire(s) watching the video also did not. The replay umpire(s) upheld the call on the field.

Even though the play was reviewed, some still claimed that the umpire on the field had an anti-Yankees bias.

Sometimes fans "collect" these bad calls and bring them up as proof that the umpires are against the team. But, these fans never "collect" or mention the calls that go they Yankees' way. Those are always conveniently forgotten.

Again, no one explains why these individuals are against the Yankees. It is just stated as a fact. The call that night went for the Blue Jays, so it was clear, to some, that an anti-Yankees bias exists.

Why the umpires felt the need to call Volpe out in that situation to purposefully (if supposedly unconsciously) hurt the Yankees is never explained. The game wasn't in the balance. The call came in the bottom of the fourth inning. The score was tied. Even if Volpe was safe, the batter at the time was Austin Wells, a player in an awful slump. There wasn't much likelihood that Wells would even deliver a hit in that situation. All logic, though, is suspended. The call went against the Yankees, so to some, it was because the umpires had a bias against the Yankees.

That same night some also claimed that the home plate umpire purposefully made bad calls against Aaron Judge because of some bias against him or the Yankees.

The umpires in question calling the game the other night were as follows:

HP - John Tumpane (supposedly called unfair strikes against Aaron Judge).

What evidence is there that Tumpane is against the Yankees? (There is none.) When one looks up his history, he finds that the most controversial call he ever made came against... the Miami Marlins.

2B - Brennan Miller (made the bad ball, upheld by replay, on Anthony Volpe's stolen base attempt)

It was pointed out by some that Miller is the same umpire who made some bad ball and strike calls against the Yankees when Aaron Boone had his "Savages in the Box" tirade. That fact, to some, demonstrates that the bias exists. "He made bad calls once against the team, he is obviously against them," they state as proof of the bias.

As a fact, the "savages" situation took place in 2019. Yes, seven years ago. There have been no calls in that time that Miller made against the Yankees that were of any note, but some claim that because he was in a situation in 2019, that his bias against the Yankees reared its ugly head again on the Volpe play. This, simply, makes no sense. Just think about this. This is an umpire, they claim, that waits, for years, to find ways to hurt the Yankees. The "why" is never explained.

Also, if Miller was trying to hurt the Yankees in that 2019 game, he did a very poor job. The Yankees won that game. At the time in question, when Boone had his tirade, it was the second inning and the game was tied at 2-2. Why he was so against the Yankees, as some believe, in 2019, but not in any game since until the other night, is never explained.

In summation, I do not believe that this system-wide anti-Yankees bias exists. At all. I think the claims are silly at best. I think some fans need to find excuses for situations that go against the Yankees. The easy excuse is "They (whoever "they" are in that situation) are against us."

It is easy to claim that a bias exists, one needs no proof, but that claim falls apart, immediately, when one examines that claim with logic and common sense.