Those of you who know me well (all of you who read this blog) know I’m in pain. No, I haven’t fallen down a flight of stairs. I don’t even have a paper cut. It’s my heart that hurts.
My team, the New York Yankees, were eliminated from the playoffs yesterday. The Detroit Tigers, one of last year’s worst and a team that was just swept by the Kansas City Royals (this year’s worst) dispatched the Yankees 3 games to 1. What made it more humiliating was the way the Yankees played. The most expensive team in the history of the game couldn’t buy a hit! They fell apart in a way I haven’t seen since they lost 4 games to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS.
I thought this was the year. This was the season I was going to introduce my sons to the thrill of being a fan of the World Series Champion. Instead, we’ve got to wait until next year. I’m beginning to understand a little of what it is like to be a Cubs or a Red Sox fan.
It’s going to be a long winter this year. I’ll be counting down the days until the pitchers and catcher report for spring training. That’s approximately 132 days away.
October 11, 2006 at 9:09 pm
What is it that we can say after an exhibition of baseball like we saw this weekend? Better luck next year? I guess we got spoiled with the team of 96-00, winning 4 titles in 5 years, but the one thing that they had that this team did not this year was heart.
Look up and down the roster of the ‘96 or ‘98 Yankees and what do you see? Future Hall of Famers? No, not the majority. Stars statistically speaking? No. What they had was heart. There was one thing for sure, the team was greater than the sum total of the parts. Each player made the other better, and together, they were something great.
What will happen from here on in? Will Joe get fired? Will the Yankees unload some of the big money? It’s hard to say, but it is also hard to see them getting back to what they had in the late ’90s any time soon.
October 11, 2006 at 11:20 pm
The interesting thing is that throughout the regular season, the Yankees were all about heart. They had a cobbled together line-up with old fogeys like Bernie Williams and young homegrown talent like Melky Cabrera. The amazing thing is they found a way to win with them. When the Yankees should have won, they collasped. Maybe the Boss should take a close look @ what so many other see clearly. Put together a real team and win.
October 11, 2006 at 11:33 pm
What a bizarre turn of events. The Yankees collaspe in the ALDS and Corey Lidle crashes his plane into a Manhattan condo building. Just tragic. May God bless his wife and son.