It's time to take nominations for YANKEE EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

May is a wondrous period.

The robins return, the maples bloom, the coeds run braless, and the Yankees endure moments of angst comparable only to the final scenes of "Million Dollar Baby."

And yet, we march on.

Let us now praise famous men. And women.

We need at least five strong candidates to run for May Yankee Employee of the Month. As you know, this is a dangerous mission. Because of The Curse, IIH, IIF, IIc Employee of the Month is the most feared designation in all of sports, after Roger Clemens' trainer.

I ask each of you, in proposing names for this reverse Schindler's List, to ignore the suffering, slumps and symbolic castrations that have followed past honorees... and to award our sacred preferred IIH, IIF, IIc parking spot to the Yankee employee who has most earned it.

Damn the Curse! We shall not truck such nonsense. We are scientists. We are truthseekers. We are Yankee fans, the most revered and respected evaluators of the human condition in all of sports. Let Royals fans stumble through the graveyards with their amulets and divining rods. We shall stay home and take pills. We shall go to our laboratories and find cures. WE SHALL PRACTICE THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE OF SPORTS FANNERY.

And so here is a starter list of players who have achieved in the month, and for whom we should fear no downside, if such a curse did exist, which it doesn't!

Kei Igawa.
Jose Veras.
Kevin Cash.
Lonn Trost.
others?