What is the "Yankee Way"?

The Goose (Gossage) doesn't like Joba Chamberlin fist-pumping, shouting, greenie-popping antics. Oh, did I say greenie? I meant ... oh nevermind.

But anyway. The Goose brings up some valid points about the idea of being "old-school" and other such forms of baseball that the ESPN generation has rendered obselete. (And I weep about that fortnightly or everytime I watch Terry Francona yank Mike Timlin with two out and no one on base to bring in a Lopez to face a lefty - whichever comes first.)

But this entire notion of the "Yankee Way" confuses me a bit. What exactly is the Yankee Way? The stiff upper lip, the 23 World Championships, the House that Ruth Built? Does the Yankee Way include a drunk Mickey Mantle getting his knee run over be an equally inebriated Billy Martin? Does it include the Yankee Wife Swap? Is the Yankee Way the excuse for being the second to last team in the Major League's to integrate?

Listen, I'm a Yankee Hater, I will admit. But I absolutely acknowledge the preeminence of the Yankees in baseball, and all the kudos that go with it. I recognize that over the last 12 years they have had an extraordinary run of success. All that being said, I think that the "Yankee Way" is more responsible for the absolutely unrealistic expectations placed on the team every year and the near apoplectic reaction from fans and the owner(s) when the team loses more than two games in a row.

[correction: 26 world championships]