WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE... YOU STILL GOTTA BELIEVE!

I have not been too engaged with this year's Yankee season. You could probably tell by the lack of my writing on Bleeding Yankee Blue.  

Don't get me wrong, I love my Yankees and I will be front and center when the Yankees face the Indians tonight. But the truth is, these awards, this season, the teams in the playoffs this year and I guess 2020 in general... has taken my anxiety to another level.  I'm gonna say something I never thought I'd say... It's not that fun right now.

But when it comes to the New York Yankees, I will always have a place in my heart for them.  Gerrit Cole takes the mound tonight, and Lord knows... games like this were built for Cole.  We need this win... we need it badly.

As Mike Lupica says:

"They hired him to win postseason games, and ultimately the team’s first World Series since 2009. It all starts with his start in Game 1 on Tuesday night (7 ET on ESPN), Wild Card round, Yankees against the Indians, Cole against Shane Bieber -- who was better than Cole during the regular season, because Bieber was better than everybody.

Before he even gets to October, Gerrit Cole was hired to win this game."

What happens if he loses? Well... it will sting, but that's why there are 3 games in this series.  And let's take it further. 

Let's, for argument sake say the Yankees lose this series and are eliminated from the playoffs. Will you truly be heartbroken? Will it truly matter to you in a year where the home run leader in the American League has 22 homers?  Will it really matter to you where one of the teams happens to be the Miami Marlins?  

We all love Don Mattingly, but in a full season, could the Marlins truly sustain a playoff run? I doubt it... I doubt a lot actually. 

This season is weird, strange and everything else I can think of. 

And this is another bizarre and outrageous part of the season.  Trevor Bauer put this out:

Home team: family members can attend the games.
Visiting team: family members cannot attend the games. @mlb: Yup! Checks out!

Guess we didn’t win enough games this year to earn the right for our family to watch us play. Sorry Mom and Dad!

— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) September 28, 2020

I thought, "This can't be true, can it?" Then I did my research... and he's 100% right. Yardbarker writes: 

"MLB hasn’t announced anything specific policy-wise on this. Players will be allowed to bring their families into the bubble, but the league had not clarified any rules about them attending games. Bauer seems to have been told that home players will have families attending games, but visiting families will not."

Now it is very very possible that MLB put an internal memo out there to playoff teams with this stipulation. It's a sneaky tactic and I will bet Bauer is right and that's why he has a hard-on for Rob Manfred right now. But it just goes back to my point. This whole year is bizarre. In a move to bring some normalcy to the year, both team's families should be allowed.  Jesus man.

Now there is some great news this year.  The Astros suck without a garbage can, which is terrific because it makes the idea that these guys being cheaters more accurate and amplified than before.

They all suck.

But here's the most outrageous part of this season... the Astros had a losing season... LOSING SEASON OF 29-31. But they made the playoffs.  I'm sorry, who and how can anyone get excited celebrating mediocrity like that?  How?

In the end, it's about 1 team for me... the Yankees and I do believe.  But listen to me very clearly. Will I root in this playoffs? I will.  Will I be happy they win? Sure. But does it really and truly count for me? Not really. In fact... this entire season is a joke.  And you know what's telling me that? My heart.  This season was manufactured, fake, stupid.

That doesn't take away my appreciation for the Yankee fans out there that love every minute of this season, in fact I tip my cap to you! You found a way to love this season much better than I ever could. And so, I'll be watching and reading your tweets this playoff in your honor.  But for me personally... I just don't feel it, not like I normally do anyway.  

For me... tonight's about Cole and the Yankee fans! Let's get a win!

Go Yanks!