To all the Red Sox fans who are now done reading Tom’s column, I’d like to welcome you to my side of the page. “The dark side,” as you like to call it.
As for my fellow Yankee fans, can I ask you a question?
How sweet is it right now?
It was only a few months ago that we were sitting here in our dorms, townhouses and apartments, waiting for the summer to arrive, reminiscing about the parties that were and the good grades that, well, weren’t.
And I can’t help but remember how the Yankees were somehow in last place, losing to the likes of Tampa and Toronto on a weekly basis.
As if watching ESPN wasn’t enough of a reminder, I had the pleasure of hearing some nasty, wicked accents tell me how much my team sucked.
Now here we are, just four months later, and the New York Yankees are steamrolling their way towards the postseason, led by as good and talented a pitching staff as I’ve seen in my day and an offensive juggernaut that finally started to live up to the hype.
Anyway, that was just my way of saying, “I told ya so.”
Now back to the topic at hand: Why the Yankees?
Well here’s my own personal ten reasons why the Yankees are the team to beat this October:
1. Right now, we’re currently in the Bostonian position of second place, something that is making me nauseous on a daily basis. Still, playoffs are playoffs, and I love the idea of being the underdog for a change. In fact, three of the past five World Series Champions were wild cards.
2. Our New York accents, somehow, are equally as annoying as yours. Now that’s impressive.
3. Josh Beckett gets all the credit, but Chien-Ming Wang is a shutdown pitcher who has the same amount of wins with 18.
4. Dice-K? Let’s be serious. He is certainly not worth $51 million, just for the right to chat. Based on his stellar 4.44 ERA and the fact that he has only two more wins than losses, I’m pretty sure he should be working shifts serving saki at Panda IV on his off days to try to earn that kind of cash.
5. Derek Jeter.
6. I can’t speak for Fenway’s music of choice, but there is no victory tune sweeter than ol’ blue eyes, Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “New York, New York.” Classy.
7. Speaking of classy, one can’t help but admire the fact that the Bombers not only win, but also win in style. A clean-cut, fresh-faced look is certainly the way to go. Kevin Youkilis looks like a New Hampshire biker who is secretly a “switch hitter” with that goatee.
8. A-Bombs from A-Rod. Just ask Jonathan Papelbon.
9. To quote the late John Belushi, “Joba! Joba! Joba!” (OK, I’m paraphrasing a little bit.)
10. The year 2004. That’s my reason. Most Yankee fans may think I’m crazy, but I’ll be the first to admit that it was a cute story which people fell in love with. They were due. Now it’s done. All those, “Just once in my life, God! Please!” prayers were answered.
Obviously so much can change; the playoffs are still a few weeks away.
Nonetheless, I can’t help but think of all the possibilities ahead, including the possible opportunity of taking the Metro North to the Stadium to see a Yankees/Red Sox playoff game.
Does it get any better, Sox fans? Even that’s something we can agree on.
So, I’ve got a little advice, Tom: “Start spreadin’ the news. …”
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