ELIMINATED!

Sure, be mad.  It shouldn't surprise anyone.  As my friend Delia tweeted today... this year we kinda knew this was happening in August.  It makes it alittle easier I guess.

In theory, our Yankee club had the ability to climb mountains and challenge other clubs to win a championship.  But we seemed doomed from the start. 

Injury killed our rotation... and when replaced, guys like Brandon McCarthy, Chris Capuano, David Phelps, Shane Greene and the always reliable Hiroki Kuroda stepped up big time.  That's a ballclub. That's teamwork. You can't fault them.  Out bullpen was superior, doing much better than anyone expected too.

But it was the Yankee offense that literally buried us game after game.  I got on the guys pretty good and I'm tired of being mad.  Brian McCann struggled at the plate, but I give him a helluva lot of credit for having to learn the first pitching staff just to have to stop and do it all over with the new one. 

Alot of the guys were supposed to do big things this year, but many didn't.  There were glimpses of energy which I personally enjoyed watching.  Dean Anna and Yangervis Solarte were fun, but they didn't stick around.  Brett Gardner not only interviewed with Bleeding Yankee Blue this year, but he had a terrific season providing energy to our club. I love Ichiro off the bench and he filled in and did everything asked of him, but who knows if he'll want to be a bench player again with the Yanks, or if he'll try to find a club where he can play full time to get his 3000 hits in the Major Leagues.  And Derek Jeter, the Captain, the leader.. he did his best and did it well as always. 

I'm not going after Girardi here. I'm not going after Long or Rothschild or Cashman or the Steinbrenners. You know where I stand.  If you don't, type their names in the BYB archive and find out how I feel.  Again... I'm tired of being mad. 

I was going to do a recap in this space, but I'm not. The Yankees didn't make the playoffs for 2 years in a row.  That's all you need to know. In the past, we'd hear "Changes will be made". In reality, changes should be made. Who knows what will happen.  All I know if Jeter didn't deserve this.  It's a damn shame.

Final today: Orioles 9 - Yankees 5

Finally, let me say this... and this goes back to the character and class of Derek Jeter, something bonehead Keith Olbermann doesn't understand (Read JETER IS A GREAT ROLE MODEL FIRST, A GREAT PLAYER NEXT.) When asked if Jeter would play the series in Boston, he simply said he couldn't think that far ahead. He was just preparing for tomorrow's game.  Always the professional. Unbelievable work ethic.  I applaud you, brother.  You make us proud, Derek. Thanks for being you and thanks for being a great role model to my kids.

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