[red-in-la]

In my brief experience as a fan (at the time) I recall that it was quite a big deal when the fighting A's managed to win the WS.....teams normally worked like a team or were lampooned in the media of the day and the manager was soon fired.

It was only when Reggie (I did it my way) Jackson and free agency made stars of Hunter and Jackson et all, that having a bunch of "individuals" was OK.

Hence the point that was made about teams with narrow margins for error. The Yankees hire enough talent that pulling together isn't necessarily needed. Using the analogy of the writer.....if you have twin mercuries pushing your vessel along, the fact that one or two guys are rowing in another direction doesn't mean much.