Yankees Go Home For Winter

Sob, sob, sob, I feel so badly for the Yankees.

Not.

As my wife, who is only a casual baseball fan said upon learning that the New York Yankees had been eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series and would play no more baseball in 2011, “It’s always a good day when the Yankees lose.”

It’s an even better day when the Yankees lose a meaningful series. As a serious baseball fan who admires excellence, there have been many, many ballplayers wearing pinstripes in my lifetime whom I liked, appreciated for their skills, and readily admit belong in the Hall of Fame. But I can’t think of a single time that I actually rooted for the Yankees to win games, with the only exception being if a Yankee win had direct, relevant, positive bearing on a team I cared about. For example, on the last day of the regular season when the Red Sox needed the Yankees to defeat Tampa Bay. Of course, on that day the Yankees lost. Not that any self-respecting Red Sox fan would want to count on the Yankees for any good deed, so we all got what we deserved when Jonathan Papelbon couldn’t throw a third strike against the Orioles.

I admit that there have been days when I am as pleased about a Yankee defeat as I am about another team’s victory. In this case I was cheering for the Tigers anyway. The Tigers have a lot of appeal this season. So that was a no-brainer. I would have been cheering for Tampa Bay or Texas against the Yankees, too, just not as enthusiastically. If it’s anyone against the Yankees I am on anyone’s side.

I don’t actually dislike New York or New Yorkers. But being born in Boston and putting up with the Yankees overshadowing the Red Sox for my whole life I am just sick of too many New York victories and not enough anyone else victories. Actually, I was amazed that the Yankees did as well as they did during the regular season with their patched-together pitching rotation.

Bartolo Colon? How many comebacks has he made and did anybody believe he had a single 90-mph strike remaining in his right arm? And he wins eight games. Freddy Garcia? Another cat with nine lives. He couldn’t even stick any longer with the White Sox with his cousin-in-law Ozzie Guillen as the manager. How the heck did he get into the Yankees’ rotation and go 12-8? And don’t me started on Ivan Nova, who finished 16-4. Can he do the Bossa Nova? Will he be a super nova and disappear into a black hole in the galaxy after this season?

All I can say is that if we didn’t know it before, Mariano Rivera, 44 saves at 41 years old, is a deity. Some Steinbrenner will offer a human sacrifice at the top of a volcano to ensure Rivera’s well being on some obscure island soon.

There will be fans who might say they want to see Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada, who will probably go straight from the lineup to Old Timers Games at Yankee Stadium, in one last World Series. I don’t care. They have been there, done that enough. Let others have the chance to play in their first World Series.