Empire State of Mind: Jay-Z vs. the New York Yankees

You really can't go anywhere these days without hearing Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys - can they play this song any more? (Forgive the double negative, but I can't not mention the incredible parody, Galactic Empire State of Mind. But I digress) In the song, Jay-Z claims "I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can." You can make what you want of this lyric, but it's obvious to me that Jay-Z is calling for a new blog post on Who Would Win? Well, Hova, here's what you wanted.
More famous than the Yankees? The kids from The Sandlot will have something to say about that

We might as well skip the obligatory context paragraph because I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of these two. Usually, I try to make the case for both sides, but this time, I'm not messing around with that. The Yankees are more famous than Jay-Z. Period. Actually, scratch that: exclamation mark. He may be the god of rap, but taking on the entire New York Yankees franchise is like the title of his song from the Blueprint 3: it's "so ambitious." One man can't take on the entire Evil Empire, unless you're Luke Skywalker (and technically, he didn't take down the Empire by himself, he only blew up their space station. But again, I digress).
If freezin' safe for Han, doin' Luke the same way...

Jay-Z is a household name, but you know who else is? Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and George Steinbrenner. That's three names from the Yankees off the top of my head that are as famous (if not more) than jigga man. And here's the thing: that's only the current Yankees. Jay-Z has been in the Game since the early 90s, but the Yankees have been running the nation's pastime since the early 1900s. If you want to say that rap is bigger than baseball, then why is Hova borrowing from baseball terminology with his 40/40 Club (which, by the way, A-Rod is a member of)? Yes, Jay-Z is a business tycoon, having been estimated to be worth $150 million. But let's remember, he's competing with the Yankees - whose payroll alone in 2010 is over $200 million.

I haven't even gotten into the history of the greatest sports franchise in the world. Let's play a game called Name Yankee Legends More Famous Than Jay-Z: Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris (who, if not for the juiced up McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds, would likely still be the single-season home run king), Whitey Ford, Casey Stengel, Reggie Jackson...need I continue? These names are so famous, I don't even get that red underline for misspellings when I type "Gehrig" and "DiMaggio" (You're just going to have to trust me on this one). I mean, Lou Gehrig has had a disease named after him. This means that there are people who may not even know what baseball is but have heard of Lou Gehrig. On the other hand, there are people who listen to Jay-Z and don't even know his real name (Shawn Carter).

As a reminder, Jay-Z has dropped ten number one albums in a row, second only to the Beatles. I'm not trying to be a hater. But you don't even have to be a baseball fan to know that the Yankees have 27 World Series titles, more championships than any franchise in American sports. Just for good measure, what's the biggest rivalry in American sports? Yankees-Red Sox. Who's thrown the only perfect game ever pitched in the World Series? Don Larsen, a Yankee. And who's the greatest baseball team ever assembled? Most agree it's the '27 Yankees.

Jay-Z, I'm glad you were thoughtful enough to ask for this blog post (because I know this is what you were referring to in your song, and I'm sure you're reading this). Let me say that I love your music and I think you're great. And to be honest, I don't even really like the Yankees, but everyone knows that the pinstripes and the "NY" cap are theirs, not yours. And yes, everybody knows that Jay-Z rocks the Yankee hat. But at the end of the day, it's still called a Yankee hat for a reason. But when they start calling it a "Jay-Z hat," let me know.

I realize you've had a hard knock life, Big Pimpin, so I'll give you this: you're a lot more gangsta than the Yankees. But more famous? Well, you're going to have to brush your shoulders off and move on to the next one, because Thaaaa Yankees win this debate.

PS: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a certain inconsequential Yankee from back in the day named George Ruth. Some people called him "Babe." I know, I know, you've probably never heard of him. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
I told you they had an opinion