THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL

It's October 2, 2016, the last day of the 2016 regular Major League Baseball season.  What we began on April 3rd is now coming to a close and I don't know if I feel a sigh of relief or a pang of sadness. This long goodbye has been like the slow removal of a band-aid - painfully raw. “It’s disappointing, obviously," Chase Headley said. "We worked really hard to get ourselves in position to make a run at this thing. This last week or so has been tough," reported ESPN.

We knew it would be a rough season.  We knew we didn't have all of the ingredients or maybe any of the ingredients to be at the top of our game this year.  Yet, it doesn't make it any easier to say good bye.  I know there's no crying in baseball, but today, I truly have to admit, I feel like a could shed a tear.

I feel sad because there's no more Yankee baseball until pitchers and catchers arrive in Tampa in February.  I feel sad because the Red Sox clinched the AL East in our house the same day Mark Teixeira hit a walk-off grand slam home run.  I feel sad because my daughter told me that her grandmother, my mother, congratulated her for the Mets clinching a Wild Card spot.  I feel sad because we just weren't good enough, again. This is the third time in four years, we, the winningest franchise in baseball, did not make it to the post season.  I know we are rebuilding but it doesn't make today any easier to bear.  I didn't want summer to end and today, I don't want baseball to end.

"Judged by the standards of a 'normal' baseball team, the Yankees overachieved this season, what with their horrendous start, their persistent lack of offense and their decision to shed some high-priced spare parts at the trade deadline. The fact that they even played a handful of meaningful games in September could be chalked up as a sort of moral victory," ESPN reported. I would agree with this. No one expected us to get there, except for maybe us.  We always expect to get there because we are the Yankees.  But today, that's just not good enough.

I know we can't live for the future nor live in the past.  So, we have to accept where we are presently, and that's a team who will not move on to the post season, who finished last in its division and is in transition.  No crying in baseball, no crying today...accept where we are and move on to better days tomorrow.  Oh yea, and play spoilers to the Baltimore Orioles- bam, I feel better!

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof