Yankees disappoint their fathers

Throughout the pageantry and institutional self-love of yesterday's Old-Timers game - producing an avalanche of bittersweet memories from the likes of Ron Bloomberg, Willie Randolph and Ramiro Mendoza - one absolute certainty rose above all others: 

Surely, the Yankees would win the real game.

There was no doubt. A done deal. Best team in baseball vs the 32-38 Tampa Rays. A four-game McBroom. Surrounded by so much Yankee tradition, they absolutely HAD to win that game.

Well, so much for that.

Today, we're once again tied with Boston - a dangerous dogfight, with the loser  facing a one-game post-season. On a stunningly clear afternoon, when players could glimpse themselves 30 years from now, still drawing cheers, they couldn't score two measly runs against an ingrown toenail of a pitching staff. 

I realize that nobody wins them all, that shit happens, and that going 7-3 in their last 10 games is nothing to whine about... that is, unless you are a Yankee fan.

Surely, Gary Sanchez soon will emerge from his slump, see his shadow and have six more weeks as starting catcher. 

Surely, Giancarlo Stanton will heat up, carry the team and produce in meaningful situations.

Surely, Greg Bird will start hitting, or hurt his foot again and disappear.

That the Yankees are winning despite those three testifies to the power of their lineup and an unexpectedly quality starting rotation If Domingo German and Jonathan Loiasiga can continue - big questions there - the Yankees should be in the driver's seat at the trade deadline. You can't ask for more.

And even if Brett Gardner's knee goes blooey - he says an MRI yesterday showed no structural problems (of course, the Yankees never tell the truth about injuries, so there's that) - the Yankees are jacked with young outfield talent. Even if Gardner goes on the DL, along with Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney and Tyler Wade, there remains the mysterious Jacoby Ellsbury... though something is increasingly fishy about his situation in Tampa. 

Still, how could they lose yesterday... on Old-Timers Day, on Fathers' Day, on any sunny day before such a home crowd? 

Now and then, everybody loses. That's baseball. But there remains a queasy uncertainty about this team. For all its power, for all its young talent, we still don't know whether this is a championship lineup, or just an early October check-out. Ask me which Yankee I want up with two-outs in the ninth and the tying run on third, and I'd probably say Gleyber Torres, who hasn't even yet been tested. That's a problem, folks. And if the Yankees don't see it, their fathers do.