Carig: Yanks new attitude driving success

All year we've seen something a little different from this group of Yankees, and no it's not the nine walk-offs. It's the way they celebrate, the chemistry they have, the camaraderie, and the fun they seem to be having on and off the field. Today, Marc Carig wrote this nice article about the new attitude in the Yankee clubhouse, here are some quote from the article.

"A breath of fresh air is a good thing once in awhile," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said earlier in the day. "Change is a good thing once in awhile. ... That is one thing we've all noticed. It's a little bit different than in years past."

It sure is different. Between the pool parties, fishing trips, NBA games, whip cream pies, and now the new helmet game (more on that in a moment), they look more like a bunch of kids than the stuck up, corporate, New York Yankees.

The helmet game is something I had never seen before this year. Normally, when a guy hits a walk-off homer the tradition in recent years has been to throw your helmet away before reaching home plate. Now, A-Rod, Melky, Posada and Damon "all leaped after it like a group bachelors at a wedding reception diving after the garter belt." The winner - in yesterday's case it was Melky - triumphantly charges into the scrum at home plate with the helmet held high.

"I was just going to step on home plate, normally," said the typically reserved Matsui through his translator. "But they told me to throw my helmet so I threw my helmet. I've never done it before, so in that sense, it felt a little uncomfortable. But I like to follow whatever the team rules are."

Matsui then got a pie in the face while being interviewed by Suzyn Waldman.

"They seem to really enjoy being around each other," Girardi said of his players "The clubhouse is alive every day. Some of that is because of the characters in there. But it's a good group, it's a close group. You could see it in the way we play."

Whether it's the Yankee way or not doesn't matter, because it's this Yankee team's way, and this team is now tied for first.

All of it would have been unthinkable not so long ago for a franchise whose players won championships partly by taking pride in what became a group characteristic -- a distinctive stodginess.

Yet, here was Steinbrenner using words such as "pumped" and "looseness" and "emotion" to describe the qualities brought in by a new crop of Yankees. Here was the self-described "old school" pitcher Andy Pettittte admitting that the team's younger personalities have sparked the clubhouse. Here was first-year Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett sneaking up on Matsui, who had never before had to worry about something as irreverent as dodging a postgame pie.

"They seem to really enjoy being around each other," Girardi said of his players "The clubhouse is alive every day. Some of that is because of the characters in there. But it's a good group, it's a close group. You could see it in the way we play."

I know a lot of you don't put much value in team chemistry, but I always will. Like I said before, it may not make or break a winning season, but if members of a team like each and have fun together it's much easier playing those 162 games together.