Wow...what a difference a year makes! One year ago today, we were getting ready for the next night's Game 6 of the 2009 ALCS, Greg posted the story of my son Tyler here on the blog, and I posted my first comments on the site that would become a second home to me. Here we are, 365 days later, saddened by the ultimate outcome of our season, and resigned to the fact that we will not be playing in the World Series.
I have seen many headlines over the past few days calling our Yankees a $210 Million Dollar Bust, among other things, and I just can't accept that. While some (players and fans alike) believe that is is always World Series or BUST with our Yankees, I don't tend to feel that way. Would I like it if the Yankees won every single year? Sure I would...but that is just not feasible. The only thing that disappointed me in this last series, was that the Yankees seemed to play without any heart or determination. They were flat out embarrassed. Outplayed in every aspect of the game, they really should have been swept. At least if they had shown some signs of life and made each game somewhat competitive, I could appreciate it more...but this time there was none. That is how our season ended this time. So who's to blame.
If you must...you can start with Joe Girardi. Did he make some boneheaded moves, and rely on his binder too much? Sure he did, but he also didn't ground into DP's with men on base, or throw gopherballs to good hitters. Robbie Cano (.348), and Curtis Granderson (.294) couldn't make up for Tex (0-14), A-Rod (.190), Gardner (.176), Jeter (.231), or Thames (.125). On top of that when you throw in the fact that our ALCS ERA was 6.58, and I think that you get the picture...
Truth is, Texas wasn't that bad of a team this year. They sort of remind me of a younger version of our own Yankees. I don't think that continues next year if they don't lock up Cliff Lee, but with Hamilton, Andrus, Young, Cruz, etc. they have got a great lineup that could serve them well for years to come, and now that they have beaten us, I look forward to the revenge factor next year. These two teams make for an interesting rivalry.
What has amazed me so far, is the outcry of Yankees fans about how horrible this team is. What is all that about? I have been a Yankees fans since I was about 5. That puts us back in 1979. I suffered through the lean years of the 80's...when we didn't even know what the postseason was. I watched on WPIX 11 on July 1, 1990 as Andy Hawkins pitched a no hitter and LOST...I remember rooting for Hensley Bam-Bam Meulens (Congrats on it to the World Series with San Francisco as their hitting coach), and wondering when Stump Merrill and Dallas Green would get fired (Talk about your crappy managers). I remember the sheer agony I felt when the Yankees made it back to the dance in 1995, only to lose a heartbreaker in Seattle in game 5 of the ALDS. I also remember the sheer joy of the title in '96, and the three that followed in '98, '99, and '00. Oh yeah, I seem to remember something about a title last year as well.
The point is folks, we are (and I have said this before), a spoiled lot. We shouldn't be ready to bury a team just because they lost in the playoffs. That just makes us seem like Phillies fans. Be proud of the fact that we made it to game 6 of the ALCS, when 26 other teams were dying to be in our posistion. Be proud that we have the best owners in the sport, who will put as much money and resource behind this team as they can to bring you championship caliber baseball every year. Be proud to be a hated fan of the EVIL EMPIRE! They hate us for a reason...not because we buy up every one in sight...not because we have a certain air of arrogance around us...but because we are WINNERS! Yes folks, even when we lose...we are still winners at heart. We know what it takes to succeed, and when we get knocked down, we always rise again to fight another day!
I have enjoyed writing for SIH this year, and I wanted to thank Greg for giving me the opportunity to do so. He does such a great job with this blog, and he is to be commended. He is a person who never backs down from writing what he believes, and is never afraid to stand up against it when others try to smack him around for it. Congrats Greg on another great year at SIH!
I would also like to thank all the other writers here at SIH for continually trying to make this the best blog in the Yankee Universe. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming months to figure out what we can do next year to make this blog even better! Keep the ideas coming folks (I personally have a couple of things up my sleeve that I will divulge at a later date.
I would also like to thank YOU...the readers of the blog for chiming in on our posts. Whether or not you agree with us, you always keep us on our toes. Keep up the good work.
Finally, please do not forget that there is also a companion forum to this blog at
It is a great place to come and discuss whatever you feel like you want to discuss, Yankees related or not. There is even a chat room there that I am going to try to get a couple of events going in this offseason. We didn't have a lot of response this past season for it, but it is such a great tool, so get on over there and register!
Allright boys and girls, I have probably outlasted the attention span of some of you, so good night. I'll be seeing you this offseason. Hot stove is right around the corner, and soon enough it will be spring training (with a little bit of Cliff Lee throwing from the mound in Tampa maybe). And remember...LET'S GO YANKEES! DRIVE FOR #28 in 2011!
