THE YANKEES' EYE ON THE PRIZE

The Division.  The Yankees want to be American League Division champions.  They don’t want to win the Wild Card.  Sure, we want to get in, but not that way.  For the fan, there is something very wrong walking around with a AL Wild Card 2012 Champions hat.  It’s wrong on so many levels. George Steinbrenner would have thrown up on himself.  It shouldn’t and it can’t happen that way.  The Yankees know this.

Thanks for Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record, here’s Derek Jeter’s quote on that “You celebrate for winning a division, referring to a champagne party for being champions, not the wild card."  I like that, that’s the Yankee way. 

I mentioned the Red Sox and their new mission, to destroy the Yankees season. I may have been wrong if you saw last night's game and you saw who Valentine put on the field, but that being said, I have never underestimated the Red Sox.  They always have that ability to play well when we least expect it.  Sure, they aren’t the team they used to be, but they have that ability to reach back and destroy other teams when we put our guard down.  Nick Swisher spoke of this saying: “Nothing could make their season more than to spoil ours.” Nailed it. And that's was I was thinking last night. Is Bobby Valentine playing games? Did he purposely put that team out there so we can pound them and then put our guard down to lose 2 in a row? I wouldn't put it past him. I also, don't believe the Yankees can lose again this season. Yet, it sits there in the back of my mind.

Look, I wrote extensively about the Red Sox this season.  I wrote THE SPOILER and how Pedro Ciriaco while a young superstar in Boston right now, doesn’t slow down for anyone. He just continues to kill the Yankees like each game against them is an ALDS. You need to be weary of that, it’s scary when that happens.  But it’s refreshing to know that 1 Red Sock can’t change fate.  The others are “all in” too, trust me.  I wrote  THE YANKEES SHOULDN'T UNDERESTIMATE THE RED SOX and I meant it, writing: "The Red Sox seem to turn it on when they play the Yankees and have for years.  That’s what makes this rivalry so damn special.  When we face each other, it really doesn’t matter what happened before we met up. What matters is that series.  The players come out of no where and just dominate!"  Think about that tonight.

So yeah, the Red Sox want to hurt us, so what do we do as Yankees? We win, like last night. We too have the ability to hit, to pitch and to win in our house of the Bronx.  The fans will be behind them, the adrenaline will be flowing and we need to keep our eye on the prize now.  Forget about what those pesky Orioles are doing.  Forget about what the Red Sox are doing.  We need to wake up, play hard and don’t stop believing in ourselves as a team.  The Yankees are the Yankees for a reason…we’re winners and this season should be no different.  Read THE CAPTAIN LEADS US for motivation.  Derek Jeter’s been our leader all year long and has done it through 5 championships too.  I have no doubt he will be there again, playing alittle harder, yelling alittle louder and leading alittle stronger as we make our final push.

We can do this guys.  Put on your Yankee hats proud tonight.  Root for our team…the New York Yankees are coming ladies and gentlemen…LET’S GO YANKEES!

 Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.