by Trevor Freeman
This morning I received an e-mail from a Yankee fan and smiled…….the nervousness is setting in.
“Why do you even bother? We all know how this ends….with the Bronx Bombers hoisting the World Series trophy for the 27th……let me repeat…27th time. The Oakland Athletics are not beating anyone, Boston will have its way with you guys and then they’ll head to the BX for their annual ass-kicking at the hands of the Yankees. Do yourself a favor and start mentally conditioning yourself for the inevitable.”While having a nice discussion on e-mail about the Red Sox and A’s and how they are getting ready to play each other next week in a nice ALDS preview, this e-mail was sent out by a typical Yankee fan belittling both our squads. Read that above paragraph twice, because you have to know what that means. America, it is official! The Yankee fans are now getting nervous. The fact that they need to point at their past and remind people that they are still the big, bad New York Yankees means that even they think this team is not capable of winning the World Series.
Hey, two days after taking the worst beating in American League history I’d be getting nervous also. Knowing I’d have to be throwing a rotation consisting of “El Duque” and a bunch of question marks against the likes of Mulder, Hudson, Harden, Zito, Schilling, and Pedro would have me pointing at the past also. For all the money George Steinbrenner spent on this team, not having a quality starting rotation will be what comes back to bite him. Who was the last team to win a World Series with mediocre starters? You can’t remember one can you? Neither can I, because it just does not happen. In the playoffs, pitching wins championships.
What should also be noticed in the above e-mail is how Yankee fans have already written themselves into the ALCS against Boston. In my opinion, the Yankees are going to have problems against the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the playoffs. The Twins have two front-end starters in Cy Young Award candidate Johan Santana and Brad Radke. Two guys who are better pitchers than anyone the Yankees have. The way Santana has looked; I would give the edge to the Twins in both of his starts. Therefore all the Twins would have to do is steal one of the other three games. However, since they are the Minnesota Twins, most Yankee fans do not even realize what kind of threat they pose.
Right now the best two teams in the American League are the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A’s. If you want to watch a great playoff warm-up then tune in next week to the three game set being played in Oaktown between these two squads. Unfortunately Mark Mulder, Rich Harden and Curt Schilling will not be pitching in this series, but it should still be fun. The knock on these two teams is that Boston historically has not been able to get over the Yankee hump and the recent A’s teams have not been able to get out of the first round. I cannot speak for the Red Sox, but last I checked Curt Schilling has a ring and didn’t believe in curses. In regards to the A’s, let the record show that Oakland has never had a full deck for any of those postseason series. Jermaine Dye had his unfortunate injury, which he still has never really came back from and Mark Mulder has missed two of those four series. The A’s look like they’ll have close to a full deck this time around plus they brought in a couple guys in the offseason with rings. These guys are Mark Kotsay and Damian Miller and they will make an impact in October. Notice that these two play centerfield and catcher, two of the three most important everyday positions. Think Billy Beane did this on purpose? I’ll answer that, of course he did. The shame of all of this is that I believe Boston and Oakland are destined to meet once again in the first round of the playoffs. You could easily argue that this is the series that will determine the American League title.
Know this baseball fans and take comfort in it. Every time you get an obnoxious e-mail from a Yankee fan it is due to their insecurity about this year’s squad. Just smile and delete it. For we know what they fear. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Titanic is sinking.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].
3 replies on “The Titanic is Sinking”
Moving this into the Voting queue
Excuses, Excuses Fear, I saw no Fear in that email from your friend? What I saw was confidence in his team. Unlike the remainder of your article which was just a list of excuses why the Oakland A’s have been unable to get past the first round of the playoffs for years and a prayer to the baseball Gods that your team plays the Redsox instead of the Yankees!!!!!
What facts are you using to base the best two teams in the American League on? Last I checked the records of these three teams were as follows:
NY YANKEES (83-52)
BOSTON (80-53)
OAKLAND (80-54)
All very close, but the best team in the American League is the Yankees. And I am basing that on RECORD not on BIASED Opinions.
I understand the bitterness and the fear. The Yankees have dominated the AL for Since 1996 and it must get frustrating, however, base your opinions on the FACTS and not on DELUSIONS.
I do see fear What confidence did that guy in the email display? That because the Yankees are the Yanks they are automatically better than everyone else.
Personally, i think the Yanks are a first round exit, and thats not a biased opinion. Straight from a former yankee follower.