It's gonna be a long season. Yesterday's Yankees' opener ticked me off for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is to see the major league debut of the highly touted outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. I am not envious of very much about the Red Sox, but I am envious that their fans can cheer on Bradley, who seems like a good dude, as well as third baseman Will Middlebrooks. Instead, we Yankee fans can cheer on the ancient Vernon Wells in left field, and Kevin Youkilis, the guy who lost his job due to Middlebrooks' ascension. Oh, joy.
But how is it that Boston could have such good young players, given how high in the draft they have picked over the last decade? Isn't that one of the many excuses Brian Cashman has when it comes to the state of the Yankees?
Anyhow, it seems like most of the Yankee fans there at Opening Day seem to be as "optimistic" about the team this year as I am. Which is to say that they are not. Why else would they flee in droves *before* it rained, when the Yanks were only three runs behind in the seventh?
Loved Joe Girardi's excuse that it was a "school night" for fans leaving early. Really, Joe? The game ended at 4:47 p.m.! What a lame rationalization.
And so much for the Yankees' great pitching saving the day. If CC Sabathia's velocity doesn't increase soon, the Yanks will have a very long -- and losing -- season indeed. To top it all off, the Mets had a terrific Opening Day, making the Yankees look even worse in comparison.
I was completely unsurprised by this turn of events for the Yanks, though. Why should we expect crummy ownership, and a crummy general manager, and a crummy manager to produce a diamond in the rough out of this crummy team. Not to mention that the rest of the AL East has improved, while the Yankees have regressed. Maybe we can clap our hands and believe in fairies, but the reality is that the Bronx Bombers are really going to be the Bronx Bummers this year.
Ten times the Yankees have lost their first game of the season and gone on to win the World Series. In 1998 we lost 4 of our first 5, and won 113 the rest of the way and won the Series.
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me, "1998's not walking through that door." I told him, "That's what they told us in 1998, that 1961 (opening with a 6-0 loss to Minnesota) isn't walking through that door." And it broke the door down.
CC won't pitch like that every game. We have the pitching to contend. Jeter will be back shortly. Teix and Grandy will be back in May. Youkilis, Wells or Overbay will turn into this year's Johnny Mize, Enos Slaughter, Cecil Fielder, Chili Davis, Raul Ibanez. The other teams in the division are simply not good enough to stop us -- especially much-heralded Toronto, who made the mistake of bringing NL East pitchers into the AL East. We'll be fine.