For the 2023 Yankees, the wolf is at the door.

This year, Crunch Time - aka, the AL East divisional race - has come early. 

For the 2023 Yankees - baseball's Edmund Fitzgerald - it begins tonight in red tide Tampa, and it might conclude its limited run next weekend in NYC.  

Seven games against Tampa, baseball's most successful modern franchise. 

Seven games, in which the S.S. Edmund will either compensate for its wretched first five weeks, or realistically start focusing on the 2023 AL Wild Card Home Field Advantage, or WCHFA.

Close your eyes, and light the candles. (Actually, light the candles first.) This could get quite ugly, quite soon. The Yankees have used up their Pepsi Points, Raleigh Coupons, Mallo Cup Coins and Rizzutonic juju. What wiggle room they once enjoyed, it's gone the way of Putin's shot at doing a Ted Talk. Yeah, they still have 130 games to play, and, yeah, it's May, but they cannot fall further behind and expect Jack Curry to talk up the pennant race with a straight face. It's WCHFA, all the way! Something's pawing at the front door, and O, what large teeth it has. Crunch Time is here, and we might get crunched.

Over the next 10 days, the Rays could effectively disappear us. A sweep - (and, ugh, it's a possibility) - would put us 13 games out in baseball's toughest division, without enough games against Tampa to cut their lead. Last year, we played them 19 times. This year, 13 - most over by May 15. We must win at least four of this seven. We cannot fall further behind.

Tonight, it's Jhony Brito. Tomorrow, Domingo German. The heart of our batting order includes Jake Bauers and Willie Calhoun. Our closer is, apparently, Clay Holmes. Our manager has the ringed eyes of an abused raccoon. Our GM came up for air, saw his shadow and scurried back down his hole. Our owner is in outer space. As for that howling sound outside? Don't open the front door. What? Too late. It's open? Okay, everybody... time to crunch, or get crunched...