by Paul Semendinger
July 12, 2021
***
The season now takes a break. I like that baseball does this. The players need a break. The managers need a break. And so do the fans.
Boy, have the Yankees toyed with my emotions throughout this season. They’re good. They’re bad. They are amazing. And they are infuriating.
Over the past weekend, the Yankees demonstrated what they can do. Against the best team in the American League, they battled, played great defense, got enough clutch hits, and had outstanding pitching.
Yeah, all of that can make one a believer.
After Saturday’s win, I said, “They can even lose on Sunday, it won’t matter as much.” I felt they had already made a powerful statement. They stood up, stood tall, showed the Astros that they are tough, and seemed to really prove something.
And then came the ninth inning.
Disaster.
***
Do I believe in the 2021 Yankees yet? No.
Maybe this is a defense mechanism. Maybe I’m hedging my bets because I don’t want to have my heart broken. But, truthfully, it’s not that. I just haven’t seen enough in this team these last few years to have the faith or belief (or hope) that they can go on a sustained run. The players don’t seem to have it in them. And neither does the leadership.
I’ve written all of that, a lot.
When I first wrote this article, before the game yesterday, and a few others to come later this week, I was starting to believe. I started believing more as the Yankees scored seven runs and started looking like they’d sweep….
This was supposed to be a post about how there is hope. I was starting to believe. Sincerely. I spent much of the afternoon writing about how the Yankees were proving me wrong.
Then they proved me right… in almost the worst possible manner.
And now, again, I don’t believe. At all. The Mighty Yankees are just 46-43.
How is this a championship team? It’s just not.
Yesterday’s game was awful.
The Yankees are done. It’s over.
Sell, sell, sell.
***
But, here’s the thing many people probably don’t realize – I hope I’m wrong.
I hope I am dead wrong. Flat out wrong. Embarrassingly wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
I’d love that.
I’d trade me being wrong every single day (and twice on Sunday) for a World Championship.
I love the Yankees. The Yankees are part of me. I long for championships and all the fun that comes with them. I’d love for the Yankees to win a ton of games and turn this all around.
I want to buy World Series hats and programs and photos. I want o spend hundreds of dollars on World Series tickets. I want a World Series sweatshirt. And more!
Give me a pennant. Give me a championship. Give me a parade. All of those things are more important to me than me being right.
I run a Yankees blog. I think it’s a great Yankees blog. We provide a ton of quality content day-after-day. We have outstanding writers. We are completely original. We’re so successful because this is real. We write from our hearts – all of us. We write honestly. We write with passion. We share our thoughts and hopes and perspectives, always telling the truth and commenting on the Yankees as we see them.
I hate writing about the bad stuff, but when I see it, I have to call it out. I’d much rather write, 162 times during the season and then again all through the playoffs, “The Yankees win again. They’re the best ever.”
I want to spend my time writing about the Yankees writing about how great they are.
I want to enjoy the games.
I want the Yankees to win. Always. And forever more.
This weekend made me start to gain a little hope. A little hope, at least before they did it again and lost in spectacular fashion.
But, maybe, maybe still, they can turn it around.
Maybe they can compete.
Maybe they’ll go on a run.
I hope they do.
I’d like nothing better.
I’d love to be wrong about this team, oh, how I would love that!
Let’s Go Yankees!
***
(Tomorrow I’ll share a story I wrote when I thought the Yankees had swept the series…)
