The Yankees Chances

[champs99and04]

Well think about it, they lost 3 of 4 vs the Sox and then the opener of the O's series............while they still have a chance who would've thought the Rays would tank it as bad as they have? Remember we still have either Hughes or Huff tonight and in order to won we will more than likely need to throw an 8-9 spot up there..........at least!! They have zero bullpen, all hurt and they're wearing down a 40 yr old on the back end. I don't think 50/50 is good but hey they're giving us more than we could've asked as fans with that patched up team........no denying that they are plucky and gritty!

I have something of an irrational confidence in this years Yankee team, so take my word with a grain of salt. I never gave up on them even when they were like 7 games out of the Wild Card - call it blind hope or what not, but this is a team I believe can make a run. Look at the last couple Yankee teams: both rosters constructed to win in the regular season. Guess who isn't on the team this year? Swisher and Teixeira, two colossal postseason choke artists. The rest of them - Granderson, Cano, Ichiro, A-Rod - have at least managed to display some semblance of clutch postseason hitting in recent years. Overbay and Soriano have been enormous in clutch situations all season, so there is good reason to have faith in them down the stretch. Nunez is another guy who performed well in the big moments last year (go check out his epic at bat with Verlander in the ninth inning of game three last year) and has been swinging a hot bat for the last couple months despite sub-par production for most of the season.

Our pitching staff is relatively trust-worthy - Kuroda's been great all season, went through a rough patch, and appeared to be back on track with a great outing against Boston last weekend. Pettitte is what he is, a gutsy 41-year-old who doesn't have A stuff anymore but is going to keep us in games most of the time. Nova's been a lot better than anyone expected and has it in him to deliver in big games. Sabathia probably won't be re-gaining his form anytime soon, but you could still do worse as a #4 guy. All in all, maybe we're doing it with smoke and mirrors this season, but I think there is still reason to believe.