LOSSES NOW DON’T MATTER. JUST ASK THE ’98 YANKEES

“Adrenaline keeps me in the game. Adrenaline, you don’t ever feel the pain. Wilder than your wildest dreams.”

–Gavin Rossdale singing Adrenaline

The Yankees stunk up the join early this season. There is no question that the fans are screaming at Girardi for over managing and the Yankees were leaving too many runners on base in the first 3 games. We are 0-3 against the Tampa Bay Rays and in last place. The Maya may have it right…maybe the world is coming to an end in 2012… at least some Yankee fans believe that because of the first 3 losses of the year, but not so fast. I remember feeling the same way a few times before, and one of those times was when the Yankees started the season 1-5 in 1998. Really you ask? Really.

The New York Yankees have never been incredible starters. Sure, there have been seasons where we’ve started winning more than we lost in a batch of 6 games or something, but what about those slow starts? Well, I got to thinking about the feeling in the clubhouse in 1998 after the first 3 games, so I tweeted Chuck Knoblauch today and asked him about it... Chuck, being the stand up guy he is, said this after I asked him about the team's morale and mentality in the clubhouse:

"Our first win was in Seattle after a player's only meeting. It's a long year but you have to get it going."

As a former player yourself, what would you tell the fans...Chuck said: "We will start getting those W's."

It's simple thinking but for ballplayers, it's a job and while there may be a loss or 2 or three, they know what they're capable of and they know they will win. Look, if the Yankees won the World Series in 1998 after a 1-5 start, anything is possible. You don't believe me?

We interviewed Scott Brosius about that 1998 team, read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: SCOTT BROSIUS, and we asked him what made that team so special...once they got rolling. Brosius said:

Scott Brosius: I think that team was so good because we were pretty complete both in terms of talent and of attitude. We had great starting pitching, a great bullpen, swung the bats well 1 through 9 and played good defense. On top of that, this team had a strong desire to win. We never took a game off, and we were never satisfied. They had the killer instinct and would not accept losing.The player on that 1998 team believed in themselves. Just like the guys now on this Yankee team. Meredith Marakovits interviewed Russell Martin yesterday before the Yankee game and Martin said something very positive, he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that the Yankees can’t get panicked yet, it’s too early. This is Muscle Martin we’re talking about, a catcher with the guts of a bull who sees red. If anyone knows his team, Martin does.

All I’m saying is don’t get freaked out…yet. In 1996, the Yankees started 2-3, they won the whole thing that year, and they had the New York sports media to battle as well. Talk about stacking the deck, right? No one believed that Joe Torre would be successful with the New York Yankees, but he was and that team was a perfect mix and they won it and proved everyone wrong.

How about in 2009? The Yankees started the season 0-2, against the Baltimore Orioles of all teams, but then turned it around in their 3^rd game against them and went 3-2 in the first 5 games of the season.

There are many things in the world that I wonder about. Number 1 is will I ever win the lottery? Number 2 is where the hell is that giant clay bust of Lionel Richie from the “Hello” video back in the 80’s… does someone own that or was that ugly thing destroyed after filming?

And Number 3… why do my New York Yankees start slow sometimes and then turn it on. Why do they leave so many runners on base for a spell but then get red hot? Why can’t they ever get into that rhythm early and stay hot all season? I don’t know the answers to any of those questions, but I believe in my New York Yankees and I believe in adrenaline. Sure, this is just a job to my Yankees, but great teams ride the Adrenaline train all the time and while they lost 3 games to start the season right now, they aren’t thinking about the losses, they are thinking about what they can accomplish and that will fire them up pretty good. I truly believe that. I’m not giving up on my Yankees yet. You gotta believe, it’s that simple.

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