Posada is incompetent.

The planets are realigning after a protracted period of chaos….

Yankee fans lot in life is to fret (constantly) and then win.

Botox fans lot in life is to strut and then lose (often in heartbreaking fashion).

Since there are no really great teams in this year’s playoffs (Yankees come close, but are still one stud starter away and could use better corner outfield defense), the playoffs are, like most years, open to some luck and unforeseen twists.

Fear not guys, we’ve got a winner here. We should be more confident than anyone else out there.

Havent been this nervous in quite a while… i hate the long series.. if we win will feel like we are giving rest for the Twins’ bones, if we lose.. i cant stand 2 days of Yanks suck columns…damn

butchie22 wrote:

@ Our Man in Tampa (Clint) and YankCrankee, 2004 didn’t shake your confidence in the Yanks in the playoffs?

In 2004 we lost, and collapsed, to a worthy opponent and a very good team (eventual champions). Did it suck? Yep. Was it a monumental collapse? Yep, but at the same time, it was to a team that proved to be better than us.

In 2006 and 2007, the Tigers and Indians were not as good as us. Those were instances, much like the one we face in the series starting tonight, where we lost to inferior teams. Those are the tough ones to swallow, the ones when you’re better, and you know you’re better, but still underperform and lose.

It broke my heart in 2006 that we lost in the first round, when neither the Sox nor the Angels would be in our way to the series, and it broke my heart in 2007 that the Sox were waiting for us in the ALCS and we couldn’t get there. Those are the ones that are tough to stomach.

YankCrank wrote:

clintfsu813 wrote:
Im definitely excited, but 2002,2005,2006, and 2007 have done wonders on my confidence, lol.
Only 2006 and 2007 have shaken my confidence. Those years we were just better than the teams that beat us and it was really, really hard to swallow.
2002 wasn’t so bad to me, our streak had to end at some point.

@ Our Man in Tampa (Clint) and YankCrankee, 2004 didn’t shake your confidence in the Yanks in the playoffs? The most monumental collapse in baseball history? They were 3 up and Mo pitching in the 9th with a lead and then it all fell down like a row of dominos. To some that was the most mortifying of all of their performances in the playoffs………and most disheartening.

Quite frankly the Twinkies starting roation is very weak in comparison to other teams in the playoffs. I can’t see how they can beat the Yankees. Yes, that 4 game series they played at the Stadium this year was very close, bBUT the Yanks eked out victories every bloody time.

And for those who are scared about the Yanks losing the first game, they’ve lost the first game to the Twinkies before in the playoffs at home and The Bombers came back to win the series. Look, like I had said yesterday, they are a very hot team and those teams are usually dangerous in the playoffs.They are great fundamentally , have a never say die attitude and I respect that immensely. BUT these are the Twinkies NOT the LA Assholes OR the Red Pox. Yes, anything can happen in a 5 game series BUT I would be surprised if the Twinkies turn the Yankees into the Tankees again. There’s an extremely minute possibilty that it could happen BUT I would be surprised if it did.

nwyank wrote:

The NY pitching MIGHT be enough to carry them all the way….but, frankly, other teams appear better armed.

MIN:
Duensing, Blackburn, Pavano, Baker

LAA:
Lackey, Kazmir, Santana, Saunders

BOS:
Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Buchholz

NY:
Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, #62/Gaudin

Boston’s got the best 4th starter in the bunch but I’d say that the Yanks have the second-best playoff rotation in the AL and certainly can compete with Boston’s given how evenly-matched our two teams are.

As for the NL, Billingsley/Kershaw, Hamels/Lee and Carpenter/Wainwright might be nice duos but look deeper at those teams’ third and fourth starters. Garbage. I didn’t mention the Rockies because outside of Jimenez, they don’t have a single starter worth a damn (de la Rosa, Marquis, Cook).

Remember the 9th inning in ’05? Down by 2. K-Rod pitching. Jeter led off with a hard single to left. Meat of the order to follow. There was hope. Until, that is, Alex GIDP. I swore badly and pounded my leg as if it were a punching bag. Of course Sheffield and Giambi followed with hits, but Matsui ended the season with a groundout to 1st. That’s my recollection; could be wrong.
I’m excited, but as a pessimist of sorts I kinda sorta expect the Yanks to lose a series at some point. Probalby not to the Twins, but it wouldn’t surpirse me.
Why? In general, the team is based on offense. Like the old Air Coryell Chargers or the Texas Rangers of the 90′s, the offense will dry up at some point. The NY pitching MIGHT be enough to carry them all the way….but, frankly, other teams appear better armed.

Raf wrote:

I shoulda stayed in the Bx, instead of moving to Port Chester

Absolutely! From a baseball perspective, moving to the Bronx last winter was the best thing I could’ve done. I’m a 10 minute train ride away from the ballpark!

I’m pretty excited with the tiniest bit of nervousness mixed in. I can’t wait to see how live we can get the stadium going tonight. It should be electric.