When Sabathia pitches well, the Yankees are transformed (but that's the problem)

Ladies and gentlemen, we ask you to rise, remove your caps and join the IT IS HIGH color guard in center field for a moment of reflection, as we salute America... 

Let us cease our incessant bickering, dickering, finger-pointing and caterwauling, and observe the magnificent gift that Mr. CC Sabathia bestowed upon us yesterday: A fully operational time-machine, which whisked us back to 2009, the last great year to be a Yankee fan. 

Ahh, 2009... Nobody had ever heard of Daenerys Targaryen, or Instagram, or Kickstarter, or driver-less cars, or avocado toast. The Rooskies were our enemy, and the Canadians were our pals. And CC Sabathia was the man we could always count on to break a Yankee losing streak.

Yesterday: Five innings, one hit, no runs. And the end of a four-game barf.

When Sabathia pitches well, the planets line up, the juju gods stand down, and the Yankees play the way Yankees are supposed to play. All is well, regardless of who is perched on the Injured List. 

Trouble is, when CC is hurt, or compromised, or simply pitching poorly, the Yankees revert to being a team with a five-inning starter going tick-tick-tick, while its overly ballyhooed bullpen tries to diffuse the bomb with a claw hammer. And no matter how well he pitched yesterday, it's not 2009, the White Walkers have breached The Wall, the Mother of Dragons cannot save us, and we can never go back.

The fact is, CC was slightly out-pitched yesterday by Ivan Nova, a guy the Yankees dealt for Stephen Tarpley, (who was sent to Scranton the previous night.) In the 2016 midsummer meltdown sale, we traded Supernova for whatever we could get - (the human bowling ball, Tito Polo, was also acquired; he's now rolling around in the Mariners Triple A outfield.) Over the last three years with the Pirates, Nova compiled a 3.99 ERA - a performance that would have made him our fourth starter. (He certainly would have topped Michael Pineda, who is currently 2-0 with the Twins.) But it wouldn't have mattered. We still wouldn't have won a damn thing. 

Still, one karmic quality of being a Yankee fan is that all great Bombers eventually receive a final day in the sun. For some, it comes on Old-Timers Day, and - for sure - CC will receive a thunderous ovation next summer, when his name is called, and he hobbles - bone on bone in his power knee - to the mound to doff his cap.

But yesterday, he made us remember how great a Yankee he has been. Now comes the hard part. You may now put on your caps and sit. WAIT A MINUTE, DAMMIT, WHO OUT THERE WAS TAKING A KNEE?