On this tragic day, I must rise to the defense of my beloved Yankees. I was at the Yankee game last week when Cleveland squeaked out a narrow win against NY (after dropping the first two games to the Yankees). Upon leaving the stadium, I was greeted by a Cleveland fan who expressed their opinion about NY. My response to the Cleveland fan then and now is simple: I’ll see you in the post-season. But of course I won’t, because Cleveland will not make it to the post-season. It is a terrible thing to see one’s team beaten the way the Yankees were admittedly pummeled last night, but that is one game in an exceedingly long season. The season is a marathon, and the Yankees are true marathon runners. They will see the end of the race in the post-season--the Indians will not.
Mr. Kajca shows that no one is harder on the Yankees than a Yankee fan. I certainly agree that this team is not as good as Yankee teams in recent years. I do not believe that they will win the series this year, but unlike Mr. Kajca, I have little doubt that they will make it to the post-season. Why? Because they play Boston 6 times this month. Boston is only 3 1/2 games back. The pressure is mounting. There is only one thing for Boston to do--that which they have done so many times before--choke. Boston choking in fall is as much a tradition as school starting or leaves falling. It is something that can be counted on. And so, when I am in New York this weekend sitting in the house that Ruth built, I can be confident that the Yanks will take the AL East, because the curse of the Bambino lives.
So very true. Barring a miracle, the Indians will not be in the postseason this year. Despite selling out over 400 games in a row and having reasonably successful merchandising, the Tribe could not afford to pay the huge salaries to keep and add stars every year. So they had a fire sale and went young and were terrible last year and have been surprisingly solid this year. Yet that young team with a tiny payroll and with almost no chance of making the playoffs handed the Yankees the worst loss in their history, and one of the worst losses in all major league history. And the Tribe did it in the Yankees’ house.
Talking about the playoffs this year does nothing to diminish the fact that the game last night will be in the history books long after most people forget who went to the playoffs in 2004. As an Indians fan, I fully expect the Tribe to lose 23-0 in the near future and ruin all this fun, but until that happens, the Yankees and their fans need to suck it up and take their whuppin’ like men.
Yankees, schmankees. You know I don’t care about this bandwagon you jumped on (albeit at an early age). The real story this summer is still the Iraqi soccer team, and I’m still waiting for an article on it, Robert.
Having said that ... how sweet it was to see the the worst defeat in the history of the tyranny handed down by the good guys from Cleveland. Long may that beautifully politically incorrect Wahoo scalp those pinstripes!
[An interesting note in all fairness to the California Beatnik in Steinbrenner’s Court: I believe that a year or two ago the Yankees also gave the Tribe its worst defeat in history - by a similar, if not identical, margin. But, as those cheese-eating surrender monkeys "over there" would say: "Touche!"]
Now, where’s my article on the Iraqi soccer team??
Mr. Alt is correct in that the Yanks do face the Sox 6 more times and there is still the curse, if one chooses to believe in such things. Additionally, it is also true it was one game. My concern is this slow, but sure decline in the recent weeks. Remember though the Sox may not beat the Yanks head to head, they play other teams. Therefore, they could lose all six to the Yanks and beat everyone else on their schedule.
This decline is just in the recent weeks. In last year’s post-season all the following teams were better than the Yanks (and I do not care if they lost to the Yanks in playoffs): Red Sox, A’s, Cubs, Giants and Marlins. I still think the Cubs were the best in the NL last season. The Yankees and Marlins were very fortunate to play in the World Series.
Hopefully, the Yanks will right this sinking ship in time to save their post-season dreams. However, even if that happens they cannot escape a pitching staff that is worse than the Philadelphia Flyers goaltending. For those who do not know hockey, that was far from a complementary statement.