MY NEW YORK YANKEES: NO PRESSURE, JUST FAITH

Walking tall is never easy to do.  You need a boat load of confidence to pull it off. You want to show the world that “you got this”, no matter what it is and let’s be honest, not everyone has that drive.  Truth be hold, I believe in my Yankees, but when you’re a fan, you’re on the outside looking in.  Sure, you want to “guide” your Yankees in the right direction, but that’s what rooting is all about. The worst part is we can only spectate, we can’t walk down to the dugout and tell Joe Girardi to calm down with the binder or to whisper in Nick Swisher’s ear to relax and snap out of that horrible slump he’s in.  At the end of the day, these guys need to do it on their own.

The pressure can be enormous for a Yankee player. Our fan base is obsessed, although if you watched the game last night, Camden Yards was hopping, and good for Baltimore, they need that. I just don’t like it at our expense.  At the end of the day, it’s good for baseball though, everyone could agree with that.  But pressure on Thursday night was huge for the Yankees and it reminds me of that old Billy Joel song that I remember as a kid. Ironically, I loved it but was incredibly anxious when it played.  
It got me all riled up, probably because that’s what Joel wanted…he’s a genius in that regard but that’s another post for another time.  The point is, pressure brings anxiety to the highest level, but if you can cut through that like Derek Jeter, like David Robertson Thursday night, you can accomplish anything.  In short, the Yankees will accomplish their goal this season, they just need to get going. Our 8-5 win last night will in fact be the start of something, I believe that.

It doesn’t help that Yankee brass is taking notice when the Yankees lose.  No one likes being looking down on like you’re on the chopping block. Hal Steinbrenner said his piece the other day, read the New York Post HERE. Hal said it simply, something that we’ve been saying here at BYB for a month now, “We’re all frustrated…The fans are frustrated. I know that. We all expect great things out of these guys. We’ve had injuries all year long. We’re not the only team, but we’ve had our share. Each time, they push through. ..The fans and family, we expect them to push through now. I’m sure they will. But it’s alittle frustrating, no doubt.”

(In Photo: ARod homers in the Yankees 8-5 win vs. Orioles)

That’s our owner and he’s right on all counts.  But he said the most important words in that quote, “we expect them to push through now. I’m sure they will.” I subscribe to that.  One thing I know About my Yankees, when they’re backs are against the wall, they figure out a way.  I think the return of Alex Rodriguez will be a huge asset to this team, but I think the return of Ivan Nova and Andy Pettitte will provide alittle more stability. The positive part of this is we're getting out injured guys back at the right time.  Lets face it, and let’s analyze the worst case scenario…we lose the Balitmore series this weekend. What would that mean? It would mean we’re in second place with alittle over 20 games left to the season.  It’s not the end of the season, it’s 20 games that become must wins.  The Yankees know they’re better than they're playing and let’s face it, the Orioles are good, but they’re not as good as their playing right now…they have confidence…they have faith…they don’t have pressure.

Bottom line, if the Yankees can cut through the pressure, play good baseball and have faith and confidence in themselves, like last night, you will see a change.  The Yankees will start winning consistently, I believe that.  Sometimes you just need to pull a win out from under your opponent's feet to open everyone’s eyes.  Thursday night’s Yankee rally to tie the game 6-6 was huge (Read HERE) and last night, we clicked and won, read HERE.  The confidence is back, they had faith in their ability and they pulled it off.

The Yankees will be fine, last night was the turning point, but there’s no question we need to turn it into overdrive now, or the winter will come fast and as much as a baseball fan I am, I can almost guarantee I’ll be barely watching a playoff featuring the Orioles and NOT the Yankees…for some reason, being a Yankee fan, the playoffs just aren’t the same without my boys.

So let’s do this Yanks… the time is now!

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