Now That I Have Stepped Away from the Ledge....

It is the next day later, and Jim and I decided to skip the mandatory Yankee fan meeting atop the GW Bridge last night. I want to address something that many Yankee fans, including myself, have been pondering the last couple of days.

Are we cursed?


The last two days all I have heard on ESPN, the radio, in the papers, and around the blogosphere world, "since 2004, the type of games the Yankees would win, the Red Sox are now winning." Most were hinting at the fact maybe we are cursed, others have flat out said. Red Sox President John Henry even tweeted about the possibility of The Curse of Mark Teixeira. If you look at what has happened to this team over the last five years, yes, things have not gone our way, especially shown by yesterdays performance.


But maybe yesterdays game is a sign that once you start believing in curses, bad things will start happening. Johnny Damon missed a routine fly ball. Nick Swisher got doubled off second base on a play that was not even close. Our ace gave up a HR to the biggest disappointment in the league. And, after taking a 3-1 lead, our starting pitcher stays in too long and loses the game in the eigth inning. All things that would seemingly happen to the Red Sox pre-2004.

I write this as a plead to Yankees fans to STOP thinking we are cursed. STOP thinking like Red Sox fans. We are 0-8 against the Red Sox. There is nothing to do about it, it is what it is. We are only 2 games out of first place.

After the game, Captain Derek Jeter asked if he was worried about the ballclub. He looked right at the reporter and quickly responded, "Nope." The reporters fell silent. Maybe a bit baffled.

Jeter is the captain. He has confidence in his team, and so should we. It makes me feel better that we have someone with the leadership like Jeter on this team. Why should we as fans start worrying too?


We are 34-18 against teams not from Boston. We have 20 come-from-behind victories. We have a true ace in CC Sabathia, something we have lacked since Clemens was on the team. Mark Teixeira is having an MVP season. A-Rod has not even heated up yet (and he will). Either the real Chien-Ming Wang or Phil Hughes will be pitching for us after Wednesday. The Red Sox have only beaten us twice at Yankee Stadium, which was during the worst slump of the year. We are 2 games out of first place with 102 games left in the season.


The Yankees need to take a Mo-like mentality and forget what just happened. It is time for them to go on a tear during this 55-game gap between the next time they play Boston. They have shown they play their best baseball at home. They need to go out and play for the best record in the AL and get home-field advantage for the playoffs.

I'll be at the game tonight. And sure, if I get the chance I will probably punch Swisher in the face for how he played this week, but tonight's game marks the next chapter of the Yankees season. How they play from today on out will determine their playoff fate this season.

Curses? Please. This team just has a flare for the dramatic.