I woke up early today. I went to be around 2am this morning but I couldn’t sleep and woke up at 5. I decided to go into work early this morning. While I traveled, I kept thinking about everything that could have been done differently in Game 5. The reality is, everything was done right, except of course the timely hit that would have propelled us into the ALCS. I’m mad at the Yankees right now. I’m not sure why, I understand baseball. John Sterling says it all the time, “It’s baseball Suzyn, you can’t predict it.” Bottom line, last night’s game was ours for the taking and we didn’t take it. But, like a real Yankee fan, I did what I was supposed to do this morning; I threw on my Yankee jacket and walked out the door to go to work. After all, I’m a Yankee fan, I’m a true Yankee fan and I’m not going to NOT wear my jacket because they lost. I’m not ashamed, I’m just disappointed. My family was asleep when I left and I knew that when my son found out this morning, he'd be crushed. 
I put his 2011 Topps Yankee set back on his nightstand with a note "It didn't work this time, we'll try again next April," I wrote. He gave it to me to put next to the television last night for as he put it "Good luck for the Yankees." Man, I'm superstitious, but it must be rubbing off. He’ll be disappointed and I get that.
I received a text from a good buddy of mine this morning. He’s a huge Tigers fan. He wrote “Tough one.” Yeah, it was. The dude wasn’t rubbing it in. We have a mutual respect for each other’s teams. He could have razzed me, he could have told me the Tigers were much better. He didn’t. He understands defeat, so while he was just texting me as one baseball guy to another, it stung, but with win comes loss. I get it. That’s not even a baseball thing, it’s a life thing.
My iPod this morning had a song called Goodnight, Goodnight by Maroon 5. While the song itself has nothing to do with the New York Yankees, I just found it ironic and the first set of lyrics I heard hit home to how I was feeling:
“I licked my wounds but I can’t see them getting better. Something's got to change... it cannot stay the same.”
Change is needed and we'll be hearing about it soon enough. We can try and blast Joe Girardi but personally, I don't think you can. You definitely can’t blame AJ Burnett this time Ladies and Gentlemen, he was the best pitcher for the Yankees ironically… 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in this ALDS. You can’t blame Granderson, Cano, Jeter, Gardner… and you can't blame the bullpen, no. What about our hero this ALDS... Jorge Posada? Nope, they were all terrific.
I know... when we lose, we’re always looking to blame someone. You want to blame Ivan Nova for being hurt? You can’t. How about CC Sabathia for giving up the 3rd run? Personally, I wouldn't. 
Blame the Yankees for not having the timely hit. That’s it. Blast Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher for being the heart of the lineup and giving us absolutely nothing, but then, may I suggest, you don't blame them either... instead, let's just move on. Bitching about those guys won’t change anything. Season’s over. Steinbrenner said it best: "Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing."
Take a minute and applaud Brian Cashman. After all, every move he made this season turned to gold. We fell in love with Russell Martin... the Freddy Garcia & Bartolo Colon combination was amazing. How about Nova, huh? Remember when he almost went to the Mariners last season? We had 97 wins… the best record in the American League, that’s a great run.
We have nothing to be ashamed of... being disappointed is another story, but one thing you can't do is hide the interlocking N-Y. Don't NOT wear the Yankee cap like you're punishing the Yankees. Instead, embrace it. I wore my gear proud today. I was looking for someone to say something. I wanted to engage. I wanted to get it off my chest and move on. Yes, we're the Yankees and we blew it, but we rise above it. Bottom line... we lost, we didn't die. It could be worse... we could be Red Sox fans.
So yeah, as I was writing this, ironically another close pal just sent me a a text. He knows I’m a gigantic Yankees fan. He wrote “Sorry about your Yankees. You’re the biggest fan I know and I know you’ll rise above it. They’ll be back.”
Damn. It is crazy how things happen. I believe in my New York Yankees, no matter what and he’s right, we will be back, it’s the Yankee way. So, take a day or 2 and forget about the loss, but don't be ashamed of our New York Yankees...EVER. After all, we had a great run... all of us... together in Yankeeland.
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