Funny enough, the Yankees have been replenished for a good part by some of their farm guys, like Cano and Wang. If anything, the Yankees need to get out of that "Buy" mentality and actually invest much more into their once rich and plentiful farm system. I mean, where did Derek Jeter come from? Bernie Williams?

Anyway, Fatersson is right. Buying Barry Bonds or Barry Zito from the Bay Area aren't the answer. I know many Yankees fans are anxious to win another title, but half-ass methods is really a major reason why the Yanks haven't won shit since 2000.

The baseball system is indeed out of whack. You're correct again Fathersson. If anything, MLB needs to adopt a salary cap. Why has the NFL as a corporate organization has overtaken MLB as America's prefered pasttime and sport to watch?

Consider last year with the Union/League feud that almost lead to a lock-out in the NFL. If that had happened with MLB, Selig and MLPA would rather drink piss then compromise. Instead, Tagliabue was able to convince several of the major franchise owners(like old school Lamar Hunt of the Kansas City Cheifs) to take a necessary hit to their own pockets, for the sake of the league. I mean, its a good logical argument. Would one club rather lose say $10 million, or $100 million, if the season was partially or fully cancelled?

As for why the YAnks have dominated for decades, here are three reasons:

(1) Babe Ruth. People forget that until the Babe's headline arrival to NYC from Boston in that era's version of "Free Agency", the New York Giants under Jim McGraw ruled that town in wins and popularity. With the Babe as the anchor, and collecting players over time(best example, Lou "Iron Horse" Gehrig), the Yankees overtook the Giants, and have ruled the city pretty much since then. Several dominating World Series-championship seasons sorta help as well.

(2) 1940s to the 1960s, the Yanks got unbelievable amount of farm talent from lower clubs like the Kansas City Royals. While Kansas City was open to having over-the-hill veteran players, the Yanks got rich prospects oh mighty. Mantle and Maris anyone?

(3) George Steinbrenner and company. I hate Steinbrenner personally, an egotiastical, arrogant bastard that displays such rage and emotions over logic(hire/fire Billy Martin three times, almost whacking Torre in 2005, firing Yogi Berra after 10 games). However, he's a whore. He'll suck a room full of cocks to get a title. He would pawn off his legs as well. He has the resources to waste/spend as much money as he sees fit in order to win titles. REally, $200+ million team salaries don't happen by accident.

Right, That is why so many people think that the system is so off whack. When does it stop? If they don't make it, then go out and BUY the fix. They have the money.
Other teams don't have the large market or if they don't make it, so the fans don't show. Then the money flow stops so they clear out their big stars because they need to make a profit for their stock holders/owners.[/b][/quote]And as always I pose the question, how many titles have the Yankees won since 2000? If the answer is none (which it is BTW), what are you complaining about? Look at when Chicago, Florida and the Angels won it. Very few people probably picked them to go all the way and they did just that. Sure a big payroll full of superstars makes it easier to win, but as the last 5 years have proven, the men on the field still have to get the job done themselves!

Well as DJ already pointed out, much of the Mets success this year has been without Pedro (so the guys who have filled in for him have had more experience in that role). Now it's playoff time and Unit might not be available, it's not the same thing to throw Jaret Wright, Corey Lidle, etc. into a Game 3 (on the road no less) and tell them to win it. TOTALLY different set of circumstances.

That's one of the reasons why I love George Steinbrenner so much, he has that much passion and desire to win. He's not one of these owners (Jeffrey Loria, perhaps?) who's interested in making money. He already has plenty of it. No, George spends his hard earned money and invests it back into the team (that's one of the reasons why the fans come back and why so many Marlins fans are pissed off). Come on, a $15 million payroll not even 3 years removed from a World Series title with 2 drawing power stars in Willis and Cabrera? 2 firesales since 1997 after winning the World Series? What is that!? I think it's clear we can see where George Steinbrenner's and Jeffrey Loria's priorities are (winning vs the almighty dollar).

I love your simplicity, Irish. What would we do without you?
First off, the Yankees have since the 1930s been the "team" of New York City. Even with the Rangers winning the cup in 1994, or the Knicks' success in the 1970s, the Yankees winning or losing have moved the city. Titles bring joy, losing years bring disapointment. Besides, the Giants and Jets haven't played within the state of New York in years, decades....they friggin play in New Jersey!

Besides, look at NYC right now. The Rangers made the playoffs last year, but their ownership is basically Steinbrenner, but without the titles to shield them from being called "idiots". The Knicks have become such a joke, it will take years, if not a decade, before they ever return to playoff contention. Save for the Mets' isolating good year of 2006 so far, what else does New York City have?

Anyway, your Papa George works for money too. The difference between him and other owners, for better or for worse, is that he's impulsive. Over a decade of playoff series, and currently the longest-active division title consecutive streak in baseball? Oh nice. No World Series titles in 6 years? YOU'RE FIRED!

The problem with Loaria, you're about right. After 2003, if he had been willing to spend some cash and actually hungry for more major success, the Marlins would keep more fans in their stands.

The other side though Irish, which you brilliantly haven't researched at all, is that Dolphins Stadium SUCKS for baseball. It's hard to drive too, its another football stadium convertedly, awkwardly, for baseball, and so on. REally, if the Marlins can fucking get that new stadium in Miami, thus a commitment between the franchise and South Florida for the Fish to stay in Miami, and if Loaria is willing to spend the darn cash, and quit doing stupid shit, then the MARLINS would have a good stable attendence rate.

If anything, we Marlins fans do understand Orioles fans. We both fanbases have to deal with an asshole of an owner that won't spend the cash, is more worried about the profit margins, and worse, doesn't seem to give a shit.

I mean God, the Marlins get a surprisingly strong manager in former Yankee hero Joe Giradi, who takes an expected 100-loss club, and his reward for being a candidate for NL Manager of the Year? A pink-slip. :rolleyes:

So Irish, will your Papa George fire Uncle Joey Torre if he fails to get another title?

I agree that George's is, for better or for worse, impulsive. But again, at least he's doing SOMETHING and seems to have a deep affection for his team and not worrying about cutting costs to fill his fat pockets. It's not just about him, it's about the team!

First of all, there's too many if's in that sentence. Second of all, the stadium can't be that bad since they seem to pack it in come football season. :rolleyes:

Again, that's why I love Steinbrenner because he DOES seem to give a sh*t about his team, unlike Baltimore's, Florida's and many other teams owners. Furthermore, I agree that firing Joe Giradi (who did a HELL of a job with that team this year) does NOT deserve to get fired. However, I don't think he'll have a problem finding another job after his performance this year. Perhaps, another area where George is willing to set aside his own personal feelings towards Joe Torre? Sure he's talked about firing Joe for years but has it ever happened yet? Nope!

Back to reality...

Yanks will face the Tigers in the ALDS, which is far better than going to the artificial turf of the Metrodome. Plus, the Yanks crushed the Tigers in the regular season.

Considering the last few years, don't expect shit from the Yankees. I mean, they got KICKED last year from the ALDS. Last Year!

Anyway Irishman, you and simplicity go together like Mark Foley and young 16 year old athlete/pages. Inseperable!

You have any idea of how the Dolphins are an institution in South Florida? You know, like Yanks in NYC, but playing America's real current past time, instead of that sport that proclaims itself to "still" be.

Of course, the last few years have been lousy for Miami, and sadly 2006 looks to be another bummer year. However, the days of the No-Name Defense, the '72 Undefeated Squad, Dan Marino, the Marks Brothers, and Jason Taylor keep the "Dol Fans" with a stable and large fanbase.

Besides, the Dolphins always make, or at least try, to go for a committment of winning for each season. the Marlins? Not really. Again Irish, you said it so yourself a long time ago, why fucking bother if the ownership doesn't give a shit?

Also, there are only 8 football games at Dolphin Stadium every season. I'm sure people know they have limited opportunity, unlike say 81 Home Games for the Marlins. Again, you seem to ignore variables and complexity.

P.S. - Joe Giradi will go to another club and kick ass. Righteously, he will beat the snot out of the Marlins. Hey, thats what they get for tossing a good manager.

I expect them to at least make it to the World Series. They're fundamentally better than any of the other AL teams in most categories.

Lets go Yanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well said. The Dolphins were Miami's first pro franchise and are this city's baby.

do you guys remember when the season was about to start a lot of people still had doubts about the Mets and A LOT of people still thought the Braves would win another NL East title. Jose Reyes was not that good, Beltran was coming from a terrible 2005 season... I mean, look at it now, they won easy, but in the start of the season they did had to prove and build all that huge lead. those early days were the toughest ones, and Pedro Martinez was brilliant in the first 2 months. in the month of may he went 0-1 in 6 starts with 2.14 ERA and 55 K in 42 IP. if he had better run support in those starts (what depended just on bad luck, especially because the Mets have probably the best lineup in baseball - Yankees don't count) he should have at least 10 wins. I guess he just ran out of arm later.

when they already had a huge lead in the NL East it was way easier for young guys like Traschel and Maine keep it up, but now in the playoffs it all starts from zero, so I think the Mets miss Pedro more than the Yankees miss Randy Johnson (considering them both healthy) because the damn Yankees have like 6 starting pitchers. in my opinion, the Mets will run out of SP in the postseason. the Yankees will roll over the Tigers and I think I'll root for the Twins

I expect them to at least make it to the World Series. They're fundamentally better than any of the other AL teams in most categories. [/b][/quote]I agree and I'm sticking with my Subway Series prediction

How bout them Sox!?

Some random happy thoughts about the 2006 season

-Boston finishes in 3rd place in the AL East (behind New York AND Toronto)
-The Angels didn't make the playoffs
-The Rangers didn't make the playoffs
-The Braves didn't win the NL East (AND didn't make the playoffs for the first time since 1990 AND finished 4 games below .500)
-The Marlins didn't make the playoffs
-The Diamondbacks didn't make the playoffs

And probably my happiest 2006 thought
-THE ASTROS MISSING THE PLAYOFFS!

Thank God. They'd probably still kick our ass.

How bout them Sox!?

Some random happy thoughts about the 2006 season

-Boston finishes in 3rd place in the AL East (behind New York AND Toronto)
-The Angels didn't make the playoffs
-The Rangers didn't make the playoffs
-The Braves didn't win the NL East (AND didn't make the playoffs for the first time since 1990 AND finished 4 games below .500)
-The Marlins didn't make the playoffs
-The Diamondbacks didn't make the playoffs

And probably my happiest 2006 thought
-THE ASTROS MISSING THE PLAYOFFS!

[/b][/quote]These kind of posts will not win you any friends Irish.
Then again, you don't seem to need any.

In fact this is the type of post that drives up anti Yankee feelings. People who hate your type of nasty
So as the post season starts and the questions is: Who would you like to see win it all in 2006?

The answer quickly becomes: ANYBODY BUT THE YANKEES!

All other Yankee fans- Good luck and have a great playoffs.

Good thing we've gotten to witness good Yankee fans and idiot Yankee fans to know they're not all bad.

If only the good Yankee fans would bring the idiots out back and have them shot, like political prisoners in Latin America, then all would be good.

Hey Irish, I've got a NEW garden in my backyard I so want to show you... :p

Well, while I laugh at these Yankees fans who assume they'll walk over the Tigers....they could. Its not impossible, but considering the last few years, one series at a time. Take down the Pussy Cats from Detroit first. Then either the Twins/A's(guess? A's) in the ALCS, and the A's would be a bitch to fight against in the ALCS.

One series at a time!

The Royals didn't come into existence until 1969.
the Yankees success in the 90's occurred despite Steinbrenner when the Yankees built a winning foundation from within (Williams, Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and Rivera.
Steinbrenner's influence led to the acquisition of overpaid, whiny prima donnas who hadn't won anything prior to joining guys like O'Neill, Brosius and Martinez(A-Rod, Giambi, Mussina and Clemens) while watching the farm system suffer.

How bout them Sox!? [/b][/quote]do people still think I'm a Red Sox fan??? I just hate the Yankees...

as for the Tigers, believe me, they're not as good as they look. ALL of their starting pitchers (who made the hell of a job in the regular season) are worn out and/or slumping, and their offense looks better than it is because different players had huge hot streaks in different moments throughout the season. my guess is the Yanks will get past them. I don't know how many games it will take, but they will.

the Twins are on a roll and I believe they have what it takes to win it all. the poor Mets, well they just ran out of starting pitchers. if it wasn't for that, they'd win.

How bout them Sox!?

Some random happy thoughts about the 2006 season

-Boston finishes in 3rd place in the AL East (behind New York AND Toronto)
-The Angels didn't make the playoffs
-The Rangers didn't make the playoffs
-The Braves didn't win the NL East (AND didn't make the playoffs for the first time since 1990 AND finished 4 games below .500)
-The Marlins didn't make the playoffs
-The Diamondbacks didn't make the playoffs

And probably my happiest 2006 thought
-THE ASTROS MISSING THE PLAYOFFS!

[/b][/quote]These kind of posts will not win you any friends Irish.
Then again, you don't seem to need any.

In fact this is the type of post that drives up anti Yankee feelings. People who hate your type of nasty
So as the post season starts and the questions is: Who would you like to see win it all in 2006?

The answer quickly becomes: ANYBODY BUT THE YANKEES!

All other Yankee fans- Good luck and have a great playoffs. [/b][/quote]I'm not here to win any friends fathersson so don't worry. And like I said, these were just things I was happy to see this year in MLB. You guys aren't the ones who have to see all the Astros crap (or rather lack there of now) thrown in your face. I've always hated Houston but all the more since Clemens and Pettitte went there. GOOD RIDDANCE! As for good old Yankee hating, you didn't need me to stir the pot. You either love them or hate them (there's NO in between)

Yanks are turbocharged this October

The last time the New York Yankees won a World Series -- way back in the dark ages of October 2000 -- there had never been a major league player named Melky, Johnny Damon was still a Royal and Chien-Ming Wang was a man with a dream that some day there might actually be a big leaguer from Taiwan.

That was six long years ago, friends.

It was so long ago that George Steinbrenner has had enough time to fork out nearly a billion of his precious payroll dollars trying to get back to the Canyon of Heroes.

It was so long ago that the likes of Steve Karsay, Drew Henson, Karim Garcia, Jeff Weaver, Raul Mondesi, Armando Benitez and Esteban Loaiza have all had time to zip on into Yankee Stadium and also zip on out.

It was so long ago that there was enough time for Derek Jeter to get 1,142 hits, for Jason Giambi to make 201 home run trots (and one grand-jury appearance), for Ron Villone to pitch for seven different teams.

But enough of that nostalgia. Wake up the Lower Manhattan street-sweeping crew. They're about to get 19 tons of confetti dumped on their heads -- because The Best Yankees Team Since That One is about to begin its rampage through another glorious October.

Yes, friends. We're picking the Yankees to win the 2006 World Series. We know that's not a pick that will make Yankee haters across the universe real euphoric. Sorry about that.

It's also not a pick, to be honest, we've had no second thoughts about. Heck, we've had third thoughts, fourth thoughts and several thousand other thoughts about it.

But we're applying the old That's My Story And I'm Sticking To It principle here. We picked the Yankees to win the World Series before Opening Day. And they look even better now. So this way, we can always say we nailed this from square one.

If we're right.

But the one common theme running through the last five postseasons is that nobody is ever right. So there's no reason to think anybody has this Octoberfest figured, either.

"This is the strangest baseball season I've ever seen," one longtime scout was saying over the weekend. "So I look for the playoffs to be equally strange."

That scout was one of a dozen GMs, scouts and executives we polled over the last week-plus see what team they thought would win the World Series. You might have presumed that poll would turn into a Yankees landslide. Far from it.

The Yankees got five votes. The Twins got four. The Tigers, A's and Mets got one each.

So what does that tell you? Here's what:

• Just about nobody thinks a National League team can win.
"I don't see anybody in the National League that's better than the top seven or eight teams in the American League," said one AL GM. "We've got eight teams over here with 85 wins and five with 90 wins. Now in a seven-game series, who knows? But from a realistic standpoint, it's no contest."

• Hardly anyone thinks the Mets can win now that Pedro Martinez is hanging out with his local rotator-cuff surgeon
"You don't get Pedro for the [regular] season," said one NL GM. "You get Pedro for the postseason. That's what they got him for. So without him, they're not the team they were constructed to be."

Even the one GM who picked the Mets to win made his pick before he knew Pedro was done. But there was also no reason to think he'd be the Pedro at that point, either. And that GM still had a gut feeling that the Mets would find a way to rise up.

"I know their pitching isn't great," he said. "But there's something about that group of guys [in the lineup]. They just don't let up on you. They're relentless."

But that was a sentiment no one else bought into. In fact, one scout said the Mets' rotation, minus Pedro, is "the weakest starting pitching of any of these teams. [So] I don't see the Mets making it through the LCS now. I'm not sure they can even get out of the first round."

• Not many people buy the idea that the Tigers might follow the 2005 White Sox script.
You all remember that script, of course: Best Team in Baseball for four months. Scare the carburetors out of your fans for the next two months. Then recapture the magic and blitzkrieg through October.

"There's one big difference between the Tigers and the '05 White Sox," said one AL executive. "The Tigers don't have the dominant pitching the White Sox had."

• Oakland's regularly scheduled second-half heat wave hasn't convinced many people that this is their year, either.
"I don't discount Oakland," said one scout. "They're better than people think. But I just don't know if they can score enough. It all depends how these teams pitch Frank Thomas, and I don't think they'll pitch to him. You get Frank out, you get Oakland out. When Frank doesn't hit, they don't have an offense."

• The loss of Francisco Liriano hasn't opened many seats on the Twins' bandwagon.
With Liriano, the Twins would have been the hot pick this October. Without him, you could see them doing just about anything -- from winning it all to getting swept in the first round.

But our panelists who favor them think they still match up with just about anybody, Liriano or no Liriano. And the biggest reason is a bullpen that has given up 83 fewer runs than the Yankees' bullpen. Yep, 83.

"They don't need to get great starting pitching, because once you get the game to the sixth inning against them, if you don't have the lead, it's over," said one AL assistant GM. "You can't say that about the Yankees. The guys the Twins bring in there in the middle innings are better than the guys most teams bring in there in the late innings. Jesse Crain pitches the sixth inning for the Twins. He'd close for a lot of teams."

And the man who does close, Joe Nathan, is the least-talked-about dominator in the whole sport.

"Mariano Rivera gets all the attention," said one scout. "But the guy in Minnesota is as good as anybody. And I mean anybody."

You could listen to these arguments and easily pick the Twins. They have the best record in baseball over the last 100 games (68-32). They've been just about as good (40-25) since Liriano's last win. Their lineup is so much better than it used to be, they actually outscored the White Sox in the second half. And they have the one pitcher in baseball who can win a series just about all by himself -- that Johan Santana guy.

So why are we still picking the Yankees? We have our reasons:

1. Have you seen that lineup?
All discussion about the Yankees starts with the most terrifying batting order of this millennium -- a lineup that will, literally, feature an All-Star at every position.

Yankees 2006 Offense
Stat Total MLB rank
BA .285 2nd
Runs 925 1st
Hits 1,597 T-1st
HR 209 5th
OBP .363 1st
SLG .461 3rd
OPS .824 1st

For two weeks now, we've been listening to folks from other teams muttering stuff like: "They've got Hideki Matsui hitting eighth." And: "Robinson Cano might win the batting title, and he's hitting ninth." Etc., etc.

"Think about this," said one AL executive a few days ago. "They're going to win close to 100 games, and they lost Matsui and [Gary] Sheffield for almost the whole year. If most teams lost 250 RBIs, they wouldn't even contend."

Instead, here's what the Yankees did -- with those two guys out for more than four months apiece, with Jason Giambi going a month without a homer, with Alex Rodriguez having the ugliest 35-homer, 122-RBI season of his career:

They scored nearly 100 more runs than the next-highest-scoring team in the playoffs (the Mets). They led the major leagues in runs, on-base percentage and OPS (on-base plus slugging). And they were the only team in the American League (in fact, the only team in baseball beside the Mets) to put up 200 homers and 130 stolen bases. So they can score any way there is to score.

"I know pitching wins in October," said one AL GM. "But that lineup is too good for anybody to shut down. There isn't a dominating pitching staff out there, like the White Sox had last year, that's good enough to shut them down."

This is only the 10th team in Yankees history to score 930 runs with this high an on-base percentage (.363) and OPS (.824). Seven of the other nine won the World Series. And to find the last team that didn't, you have to go all the way back to 1931.

2. They're relentless.
We know that word was used to describe the Mets, too. But now that Bobby Abreu wears pinstripes and Matsui and Sheffield are back, we can't recall any lineup since the mid-'90s Indians that was this exhausting to face.

Four of the nine Yankees regulars average more than four pitches seen per plate appearance. Two -- Abreu (4.46) and Jason Giambi (4.37) -- rank in the top three (with Kevin Youkilis) in the whole sport. Only one regular (Cano) averages under 3.7 pitches per PA.

So what does all that add up to? The Yankees had about 1,400 more pitches thrown to them this year than the Twins, and about 1,500 more than the Tigers.

"I just saw them for two days," said one scout. "And they had over 315 pitches seen. What they do is, they get to teams' middle relief and go through teams' bullpens like no other team I've seen. You just don't have enough pitchers when you face them."

3. Derek Jeter still works there.
In our recent debate with Jerry Crasnick over which New York shortstop you'd rather have -- Jeter or Jose Reyes -- I spent the 100 words allotted to me talking all about Jeter's world-famous intangibles.

Almost immediately, one Yankees fan e-mailed us to say we'd missed the point:

This year, Jeter has the tangibles to go with the intangibles.

And that's true. This was, clearly, Jeter's greatest season since 1999 and the second-best of his career: 214 hits, a .417 OBP, a .483 slugging percentage, a .900 OPS (higher than Andruw Jones, Carlos Lee or Mark Teixeira), a career-high 33 steals.

But the biggest reason to mention him here is that this is Derek Jeter's time of year.

Jeter is not a man who uses words like "disappointing" or "unfortunate" to describe not winning the World Series. He's a man who says not winning the World Series "makes me sick to my stomach."

So if they don't win another one, you may see him as the national spokesman for Zantac.

4. Mariano Rivera still works there.
The Great Mariano is hardly a known quantity right now. His name has shown up recently in the same sentence as letters like "MRI." He has pitched precisely four innings since August. The last time he left the mound without any runner having reached base was Aug. 12.

But since his return, he hasn't exactly reminded anybody of Jay Witasick. He has faced 17 hitters in those four outings, allowed only four to reach base, punched out six and allowed zero runs.

Granted, there's no way to know whether he's ready to assume the workload Joe Torre loves to heap on him in October. But it's also possible his 21-day September siesta will leave him more fresh than he has ever felt this time of year. Scary thought for the Yankees' opponents.

While Rivera's health is one of many Yankees questions that make us squirm, you can never go wrong betting on a closer with a postseason ERA of 0.81. And let's remind you there has only been one closer like that in history.

5. The Red Sox went over a cliff.
Over the last 10 years, history has taught us that teams that spend the last half of September on cruise control are usually not the teams that win the World Series.

Only one of the last 10 World Series champs (the '98 Yankees) has been a team that clinched early. But four of the last 10 champs were wild-card teams -- all of whom essentially played playoff games for the entire month of September.

But we have a feeling that's a trend that won't apply to these Yankees. And for that, they can thank the Red Sox.

The last three years, the Red Sox exhausted the Yankees before they ever got to the World Series -- last year with a final-weekend mano a mano for first place, in 2004 with The Comeback, in 2003 with the Aaron Boone Series that made the World Series feel like an anticlimax.

But this year, with the Red Sox Holy War off the autumn schedule, the Yankees could use September to "catch their breath," said one GM. And even more important, said an AL scout, they could "rest their bullpen, which Joe [Torre] has abused all year."

The Yankees are always charged up for October. But this year, they're turbocharged. Which is not an uplifting thought for the other playoff teams.

Now we've already admitted there is stuff about the Yankees that doesn't make us feel real confident about this pick. We're not guaranteeing it -- or your cable bill back, or anything like that. Can't do it. Not with this team, in this sport.

There's nothing encouraging about Randy Johnson's getting an epidural, unless he's secretly about to give birth. And we recognize that this is a team with the highest bullpen ERA (4.16) of any of the eight playoff teams.

And the thought of Gary Sheffield playing first base while Wang is busy throwing 23 ground balls in Game 1 ought to terrify anybody who has dared to pick this team.

But on the other hand, it's also possible this group has already survived a summer full of injuries, adversity and A-Rod soap operas. Now, said one GM, they're actually "getting healthier. Their lineup is unreal. [Mike] Mussina, Wang and Johnson are a legitimate top three [assuming the Unit is OK]. They have a combination of experience and hunger."

Plus, of course, they're The Yankees. And those six years since the last time they won are the equivalent of 60 years for any other franchise.

We can all agree there's nothing sadder than a billion dollars going to waste. So we hate to break it to the rest of the planet. But this is the year when Boss Steinbrenner will finally get his money's worth.

Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

Source: ESPN.com

Imagine the crushing disappointment if they lose. With all the talk about the lineup, the deification of the pitching, and the astronomical payroll, there will be a lot of embarrassment if they don't bring home a title.

And if the Mets don't....

The Mets have to get to the Series. They're still in the Yankees' shadow.
They have nothing to lose once they face the Yankees. I think the Dodgers will upset them just as they did in the '88 NLCS.

and the saddest part is that he didn't even find a way to really describe how scary that lineup is. neither did I. just take a look. they have one of the greatest outfielders of all time (I'm not a fan of Bobby Abreu but he does have the numbers) as a last minute addition who doesn't even have a place to field and was thrown up in the middle of a lineup that features a leadoff batter that could bat 3rd for most teams, a 9th hole man who battled for AL batting title and a slumping 3rd baseman who hit 35 HR with 122 RBI. I hope I'm deadly wrong but I can't disagree with Stark.

Originally posted by Irishman12:
I'm not here to win any friends fathersson so don't worry. And like I said, these were just things I was happy to see this year in MLB. You guys aren't the ones who have to see all the Astros crap (or rather lack there of now) thrown in your face. I've always hated Houston but all the more since Clemens and Pettitte went there. GOOD RIDDANCE! As for good old Yankee hating, you didn't need me to stir the pot. You either love them or hate them (there's NO in between)

Yes, I can see how your type of "sportsmanship" couldn't "win" friend down south. Hell, we hate you up here and we are all Northerners- Sure, coming from the North and spewing that kind of stuff againist the area home team could make things uncomfortable for you.
And I do understand where you are coming from about Clemens and Pettitte. I am sure that the Boston fans feel the same way about Damon.

I guess we shouldn't hate the team just because we dislike some of their fans.
I would surely hate to have to go to classes down there if the Yankees lose it this year.

Right back at you buddy

That's the 2nd time someone has said that to me. Wow, it's really flattering to think you'd hate the Yankees just because of little ol me

Yeah well, a post-graduate still working at Blockbuster can piss off alot of people on his own.

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe!"

Hey, it pays the bills. Working at Blockbuster isn't my LIFE. I'm not making a career out of it. I work there because the pay isn't too bad, 5 free rentals a week (PLUS the new movies that come out on Tuesdays, we get them the Friday's before), it's close to home, they're flexible with my schedule, etc.

I work at a porn shop.

They're just plain flexible.

:p