Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Following up on our last poll, please consider taking the following poll:

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Following up on our last poll, please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Following up on our last poll, please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.

Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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[Hat tip to Ken Davidoff for inspiring the question.]

How could you not be impressed with the games that Cole Hamels and Jon Lester threw in Games 1 of their LDS series yesterday for their teams?

Cole Hamels is 24-years old. He broke into the majors at age 22 and did well (8 RSAA in 132.3 IP). And, last year, at the age of 23, he was already a star pitcher in the majors (23 RSAA in 183.3 IP).

Jon Lester is also 24-years old. And, this year he established that he should be considered a star pitcher in the league (with 28 RSAA in 204.3). Further, Lester was solid as a 22- and 23-year old in the majors (with 1 RSAA in 144.3 combined IP) – and probably would have pitched much better if he was not recovering from cancer.

Phil Hughes will be 23-years old next season. Will he be as good in the bigs as Hamels and Lester were when they were age 23? Will be be an “ace” star pitcher at age 24, like Hamels and Lester? Will Phil Hughes ever be as good a major league pitcher as Cole Hamels and Jon Lester? That’s today’s question…

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Please consider taking the following poll:

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Mike Mussina has 16 wins this season, to date. And, including this evening, Moose has about another seven starts left this year. Related, please consider taking the following poll:

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In 2003, the Yankees won the pennant and made it to Game 6 of the World Series. Following that, prior to the 2004 season, the Yankees acquired Alex Rodriguez. What happened next?

The Yankees finished first in the A.L. East in 2004 – but, then they lost the ALCS to the Boston Red Sox in the worst way possible.

In 2005, the Yankees barely finished in first, tying for the top spot with the Red Sox. And, they lost the ALDS – with A-Rod having a terrible series, going 2 for 15.

In 2006, the Yankees did finish in first again – thanks to a record setting collapse by the Boston Red Sox. However, once again, they lost the ALDS – with A-Rod again having a terrible series, going 1 for 14.

In 2007, the Yankees did not finish in first place for the first time since 1997. However, they did make the post-season via the Wildcard. But, again, they lost the ALDS – with A-Rod, once again, having a soft series, going 4 for 15.

And, now, in 2008, it’s beginning to appear as if the Yankees will not finish in first place or make the post-season.

Clearly, the Yankees have been going backwards since Alex Rodriguez has joined the team. Granted, it’s hard to blame A-Rod for all this…as he was the league MVP in 2005 and 2007. And, it’s not A-Rod’s fault that the Yankees team pitching stunk in 2004, etc.

However, while it’s totally illogical to think about things like “curses” and the like, you can’t blame someone for wondering if there’s some connect between Alex Rodriguez joining the Yankees and all the bad things that we’ve seen in Yankeeland since New York last won a pennant.

Related, for a minute, suspend your possible desire to call me an A-Rod hater or basher, etc. And, please answer this poll question with a simple “yes” or “no.” And, let’s see what Yankees fans really think towards this matter.

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below. If you feel the need to call me names, etc., for bringing this topic up, that’s your choice. But, just remember, unless everyone answers this question with a choice of “no,” then there are a number of Yankees fans out there who believe there could be something to this notion of “The A-Rod Curse” – and, therefore, it’s a question worth asking.

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For more on the term’s of Cano’s contract, click here.

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