Does the New York Times have it in for the Yankees? The New York Post sure thinks so. Last Sunday, an editorial in the Times blasted the Yankees' plans for a new stadium:

While a plan is still being negotiated, the team seems to be acting like a superstar free agent and asking for the moon. The team is reportedly expecting the city and state to pitch in $300 million to build, among other things, a parking garage that would be used mostly during games. That is wrong, and if the city intends to give the Yankees Macombs Dam Park for its new site, the team - not the taxpayers - should pay to replace that open space elsewhere. The Yankees can boast that they would pay for the stadium - about $750 million - but under new rules they can deduct capital costs from annual payments to the league, so they will hardly feel the pinch.

The Yankees have the richest franchise in the league, and they have played the better part of a century in a depressed area of the South Bronx without adding much to the neighborhood. There are plenty of ways the team can give back, including helping to build affordable housing, schools and retail space in the area. The Yankees should also preserve at least the facade of the beloved House That Ruth Built.

The Times owns a piece of the Boston Red Sox. Yankee president Randy Levine told the Post:

"Not only were the facts cited in the editorial incorrect, but the arguments are similar to those emanating from rival teams worried about a new stadium rising in The Bronx."

..."Isn't it amazing that the Times never mentions the tax enhancements it receives for its projects, including the new Times building, when they pass judgment on other transactions?" Levine said.

"In the past 25 years, 20 out of the 30 major league teams have built new stadiums. Except for two, they all got public subsidies," Levine told us. "All we are asking for is infrastructure. Is the New York Times paying for the streets and subways around their building? Of course not."

Fight, fight.