THE YANKEES NEED THE MAGIC MORE THAN EVER

There is no other way to say it. If the Yankees lose today, they lose...the season is a failure and despite the fact that they are in the ALCS, the bottom line is, you need to play like you belong there, or you go home.  Sure, the Yankees need magic, but they also need wins, but is that gonna happen?

I'd venture to say that CC Sabathia will pitch a great game tonight.  He has to, he knows it, he grinds it out better than anyone. But what about the rest of this team? And why the hell are the Yankees using speedsters like Brett Gardner and Eduardo Nunez in the lineup if they're not going to utilize their strengths?

Gardy should have been bunting every time he came to the plate, and once on, he should be running.  Ichiro Suzuki batted second in the lineup, clearly because he's quick and can get on base.  He also got on base on 2 hits last night and yet, Girardi never sent him to get a stolen base and set him up to score on a hit from Mark Teixeira.  You see what I mean? There's no urgency, there's no aggressive play... in fact, we're flat...there's no nothing.

I remember seeing "The Natural" as a kid, one of my favorite baseball movies and I remember the shrink they brought into the clubhouse after the New York Knights were in a massive slump.  He said "Losing is a disease" and it's so true. It always stuck with me and while it's a film, it holds alot of weight, especially in the context of the Yankees situation right now.


The Yankees are very contagious right now and it's almost too late. They are all infected.  But can they turn this around in 1 game? Can they be like the mighty Red Sox of 2004 and sweep the Detroit Tigers when the Tigers put their guard down? Can they be like the 1974 Oakland Athletics and the 1986 New York Mets, who, while only batting around .200, went on to win their World Series' respectively? No one will know until tonight.

Look, there's no question Joe Girardi made the right move juggling order and benching guys like Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher, but they can't keep doing it. Why? I'll tell you... you never know if these big boppers are going to start bopping. That's what baseball is about sometimes, relying on  talent to try and get your team on the board.  That's baseball Suzyn, you never can predict it.

Look, the Yankees need to hit collectively. They need to be a nice compliment to the great Yankee pitching. If not, they go home...they know that.  Think of it this way, the Yankees pitching only gave up 2 runs last night.  Not bad, but where the hell was the hitting? We got our run in the bottom of the 9th. Seriously?

Can the Yankees overcome this losing streak? Sure, but like they do after the 8th inning so many times, it's getting late early and with a possible final game loss lingering, the Yankees can't "hope" they win tonight, they need to know they "can" win today.

Damn... it's time like these that I miss Jorge Posada. But you know what? These guys are adults and they're professional baseball players. It's no longer about a single guy trying to pick up a team.  These guys know what's expected of them...they know the fans want them to win and they need to get a "sack" and take off the training wheels off.  Guess what Yanks? It's time to do it yourselves... so do it behind CC.

Let's get some wins! Time is running out and people are losing faith.

The time is now. Do it, or the winter will get here fast... and no one wants to that... no one.

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