Friday, August 05, 2005
Yankee Baseball
This has been a disappointing season. No doubt. I guess $200 million doesn't buy what it used to. So far this season, the Yankees have been in first for about 15 minutes. Whatever. I think this season has the potential to be the greatest victory the Yankees have had in this last 10 year run.
96 will always be my favorite because it was first, and because they were the underdogs. They got killed -- embarassed -- those first two games, only to win three on the road to close out Turner Field forever. In 98, the Yankees were a goddamn machine, and that season was probably the most dominant we will ever see from a baseball team. In my mind, that was just as good as going 17-0 the way they tore through the regular season and the playoffs. 99 was the most blah of the four, but good because it once and for all ended the debate over whether the Yankees or the Braves were to team of the Nineties. And of course 2000 was the one that they had to win.
In all of those years, the Yankees basically were guaranteed to be in the playoffs from day one. And it was almost as certain that they were going to win the division, despite the constant threat of the Red Sox.
Now that the Yankees have finally run out of their Red Sox kryptonite, this season has never been quite so secure. People wrote the Yankees off, but a couple of 16 out of 18s has kept them alive. 4 1/2 out of first and 3 out of the wild card isn't the best place in the world to be, but it sure as shit isn't out of it either. To come back after all the shit and all the talk, get into the playoffs, and win it all would be a great achievement. It would be a different way to win it all, that's for sure.
Remember this, for all the talk of the Yankees' pitching woes, they've had three starters spend significant time on the DL. I'll even cut that to two, since Kevin Brown is worthless. Who knows what the Yankees will get from Wright and Pavano, but there's no doubt that they're an upgrade over the chumps the Yankees have thrown out there. And they'll be coming back when it gets to real crunch time. I still have faith that when the red light goes on, Randy will be Randy again. And Mussina has been more clutch than he gets credit for in the playoffs.
In the playoffs, Sturtze Gordon Rivera is as good a 7-8-9 as anybody. Sturtze can go two or three innings 3-4 times in a series, Gordon is great when he shows up, and Mariano is the greatest postseason reliever ever. If anything, Mo is more rested and dominant than he's been in a while.
I'm not saying that the Yankees are going to win it all -- just that they can. They're still in it. And when they do win, it will be awesome. It might put me in the hospital, but it'll be awesome.
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96 will always be my favorite because it was first, and because they were the underdogs. They got killed -- embarassed -- those first two games, only to win three on the road to close out Turner Field forever. In 98, the Yankees were a goddamn machine, and that season was probably the most dominant we will ever see from a baseball team. In my mind, that was just as good as going 17-0 the way they tore through the regular season and the playoffs. 99 was the most blah of the four, but good because it once and for all ended the debate over whether the Yankees or the Braves were to team of the Nineties. And of course 2000 was the one that they had to win.
In all of those years, the Yankees basically were guaranteed to be in the playoffs from day one. And it was almost as certain that they were going to win the division, despite the constant threat of the Red Sox.
Now that the Yankees have finally run out of their Red Sox kryptonite, this season has never been quite so secure. People wrote the Yankees off, but a couple of 16 out of 18s has kept them alive. 4 1/2 out of first and 3 out of the wild card isn't the best place in the world to be, but it sure as shit isn't out of it either. To come back after all the shit and all the talk, get into the playoffs, and win it all would be a great achievement. It would be a different way to win it all, that's for sure.
Remember this, for all the talk of the Yankees' pitching woes, they've had three starters spend significant time on the DL. I'll even cut that to two, since Kevin Brown is worthless. Who knows what the Yankees will get from Wright and Pavano, but there's no doubt that they're an upgrade over the chumps the Yankees have thrown out there. And they'll be coming back when it gets to real crunch time. I still have faith that when the red light goes on, Randy will be Randy again. And Mussina has been more clutch than he gets credit for in the playoffs.
In the playoffs, Sturtze Gordon Rivera is as good a 7-8-9 as anybody. Sturtze can go two or three innings 3-4 times in a series, Gordon is great when he shows up, and Mariano is the greatest postseason reliever ever. If anything, Mo is more rested and dominant than he's been in a while.
I'm not saying that the Yankees are going to win it all -- just that they can. They're still in it. And when they do win, it will be awesome. It might put me in the hospital, but it'll be awesome.
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