"The Dirty Dozen"

Walking by the newsstand today, I was stopped in my tracks by the headline blaring from the back page of the Daily News.

"The Dirty Dozen: 12 Games that could decide Yankees' season."

Combined with the logos of the Yanks' next four opponents and a picture of a semi-comatose Joe Torre, the caption for the graphic reads, "With his team 8.5 games back in AL East, Joe Torre could face disaster in next 12 games."

Yankeeland is in full-fledged panic mode. It appears, from the News' viewpoint, that the Bombers could be out of contention before the first of June.

So why am I still afraid to start bragging?

Obviously, I am surrounded by Yankee fans here in New York City at all times. There are many with whom I am very close, whether they are colleagues from work, fellow students, or teammates. As one who is not afraid to dish insults and trade verbal barbs at the drop of a hat, I can not attribute my newfound silence to good sportsmanship or tact; I am also absolutely sure that if the tables were turned and the Yankees were riding high, I would be getting buried at every opportunity.

Generally, one would keep mum if he thought the lead was an aberration and things would eventually swing away from his favor; that really isn't the case here. There is significant statistical support to the theory that the Red Sox really are as good as their record indicates and that they could concievably maintain this historical pace, and the Yankees, despite recent roster moves (did they pick someone up?), could really be as bad as they look.

So what's the problem? When do I start wearing my Tim Wakefield t-shirt to the sports bar down the street? If the Sox take another three-game set from the Yanks in a week and half, do I bring a broom to work? When do the "At least you have Eli Manning reporting to mini-camp in two months" jokes start?

To be honest, I don't think I have it in me.

I know that the blackboard of history was erased in 2004 with the hoisting of the World Series banner. Supposedly, our luck has been reversed.

But doesn't it seem like we're always this far out front in May? And yet we haven't taken the East since Mo Vaughn was playing MVP-caliber baseball. The Yankees, like cockroaches, seem to survive everything we throw at them. When do we stick a fork in them? The All-Star break? Trade deadline? Stake driven through heart?

Maybe its just in the family bloodstream - a constant all-encompassing paranoia that constantly reminds us that things will more than likely fall apart right when we get comfortable. (As exhibit A, I reference you to the previous post on this blog about the winningest team in baseball.)

I will watch with great anticipation how this team holds up over the course of the summer. They've done what they needed to do early in the season - build up a nice cushion and put an immense amount of pressure on the rest of the division to overachieve through the dog days of summer. The Yanks will obviously acquire help by the deadline, but maybe it won't be enough...maybe this is the year we break through the pinstriped ceiling in the AL East.

But I think I'll just keep that between you and me.