Rob Neyer has a column on the history of hating the Yankees over at ESPN. You mean everybody doesn't adore the lovable and huggable Bronx Bombers? What gives? I'm shocked.

In the final analysis, here is Neyer's take:

I would suggest that people hate the Yankees for one reason: they win. Yes, there's some hometown antipathy, and management could show a bit more humility when the Yankees do win. But how many people hated the Yankees in the late 1960s or the late 1980s, when they were struggling? I don't remember paying them any mind at all; they were just another overpaid, under-performing team that happened to wear pinstripes.

So, yes, for most of us it's simply the winning. Sour grapes. For me, though, it's more than that. I honestly believe that when the Yankees win, it's unhealthy, because when the Yankees win that becomes the topic of conversation. The Yankees haven't won since 2000, and yet people still tell me all the time how horrible it is, that the Yankees win every year.

...There's a fine line between hating the Yankees and hating what the Yankees mean. I don't exactly know which side of the line I'm on, but I do know that Josh Beckett is going to be one of my favorite pitchers for a long, long time.

Before Yankee fans get too steamed here, just remember that Rob roots for the Royals.