BALTIMORE – It’s a little too early for team meetings at this point.
Motivational speeches usually take a few weeks before they are brought out.
Even I find it difficult to believe that there is such thing as a “must win” three games into the season.
Surely, it has not come to this has it?
Unfortunately, in the over reactionary world of Yankees fans, the world of sports talk radio and internet message boards have provided this avenue to channel anger after a loss, turning these games into referendums every night.
Mind you, we as Yankee fans usually bitch and moan (it's our charm) when we WIN! Losing takes on a completely different animal. In this case, losing the first two games of the season has slowly begun to turn this thing in to a building volcano, set to spill out of control.
It’s only TWO games into the season!
No, this is not the NFL where if you go 0-2, because of the 16 game schedules, your season is on the brink. These are two games out of a marathon 162. Many teams have lost two in a row before. However, when you are talking about the Yankees, the rules change a little bit.
That’s why when the Orioles lighted up CC Sabathia on Monday afternoon, all of Yankeeland watched in horror as they saw their off-season prized possession beaten and bloodied before Joe Girardi had to go to the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning.
When Mark Teixeira went 0 for 4, including grounding to second base in the eighth inning with the Yankees trailing 6-5, the anger continued to build and the doubt began to creep in as to whether this newcomer can hack in pinstripes.
It is just our way as Yankees fans for better or worse.
Are we spoiled? Yes. Though after eight years of not winning the World Series, it’s hard to be spoiled to be fair.
Do we have disproportionate amount of hubris when it comes to our team? Absolutely. That’s just ingrained into our personality. These are not the New York Knicks were talking about.
So to the “Moveon.org” wing of Yankee fans, losing is almost unacceptable most nights. For those of us in the reality business, or like me, who looks at the season in 20 game intervals, there is very little concern in our world. At the end of the day, they are a very good team who will still win at least 95 games and barring anything cataclysmic, will make the postseason.
But when you see Chien Ming Wang not have his trademark sinker on Wednesday and, like Sabathia, get roughed up and not being able to finish four innings, it gives you a little pause no matter how early in the season it is. When you watch the offense unable to get a man in from third base with less than two outs, you have immediate flashbacks to 2008.
Is that fair? Probably not. It’s a new year. Yet, it’s a reminder of what we watched last season with the hope of not repeating the same two years in a row.
I know I wanted to go through a season wire-to-wire without any drama as a means of enjoying the season stress free. However, the more I think about it, this day-to-day drama with the Yankees actually makes these games more interesting. There is not real way to quantify it, but it adds intrigue. Surely, there is never a dull moment. Every day and every night bringing something new and unexpected that in reality to most other teams would be glossed over takes on a life of its own.
Welcome to our world.
From whatever news A-Rod seems to make (we are going to start tracking days without A-Rod in the news), to the offense’s continued struggles with runners in scoring position (3 for 18) so far this season, the relievers in front of Mariano Rivera and the starting rotation, there is always something to scrutinize on a daily basis.
That’s why two games into the year, suddenly there is warped thinking of “win or else” by some fans and media members.
Slow down people. We have a long way to go until October.
Right now, it’s just a bump in the road.
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