With three weeks left, the Yankee Ownership Team has achieved its objective

Tonight, Boston visits Gotham - the battle of clam chowders - seeking to salvage a rather abysmal Redsock season. The frat boys sit four games out in the Wild Card and, to worsen matters, the Tigers - one game ahead - are the AL's hottest team. 

Boston will face the usual Bronx welcome - boos, taunts, threats to family and maybe even a fly-by C-cell battery. The September finale used to bring fights - on the field and in the stands. When the suits drew up their 2024 schedule, they surely didn't foresee Boston two games above .500, and - to be fair - probably didn't expect the Yankees to be (with Cleveland) atop the AL.

And, fuck, neither did most of you. With 16 games left, the Death Barge will probably finish 2024 with 91-to-95 wins. As the partial chart to the right indicates, eight of you are in the running for IIH 2024 Poster Child, depending on the last three weeks. (I predicted 86 wins. So much for that.) 

But before tonight's hysteria begins, let's take time to congratulate the Yankee front office/ownership team: They have achieved their Primary Objective for 2024: 

Stay relevant until October. 

That might seem a modest goal for a storied sports franchise, but last year, relevance was a bridge too far. Then, on the weekend of September 14th, the Yankees hit Boston with a 73-73 record, grinding toward 4th place in the AL East, 19 games behind Baltimore. We were a traveling shit show. 

So, shine up the participation trophy. The Yankees are guaranteed to play through the second week of October, guaranteeing sellouts and media self-worship. Like most of you, I see good and bad in that. It's been 10 years since the Yankees spent like the Yankees, and for all their success this season, it's hard to imagine our bullpen holding leads in mid-October. This year will likely end with a walk-off hit and opponents celebrating at home plate. In the end, that would obscure everything, raising heartaches, as Altuve's 2019 shot still does.  

But for the Ownership Team, it doesn't matter. This year goes down as a success. Yes, they want a ring. The Yankiverse grows angrier every failed season, and I suspect that Hal must sneak through the kitchen in his favorite restaurants, for fear of receiving a soup shower.  

But it doesn't matter. As Bill Murray would chant, it just doesn't matter. 

For the people atop the Yankee shit pile, mark the 2024 objective as ACHIEVED.