A terrifying thought for Yankee fans: Could this World Baseball Classic turn out to be Aaron Judge's greatest moments?

 
Last night, while the baseball world watched America throttle Mexico, the lost and abandoned leftovers of Tampa - a roster of big names and the nameless - continued its spring quest for significance, (a mission that cannot succeed.) 

The Yankees did their annual mating dance with the Pirates of Bradenton, Brian Cashman's preferred trading partner over the last decade. But while Team Tampa cavorted before drunken spring breakers and diapered ex-cops, over in Houston, games of supercharged emotions were happening, with a few Yankees in key roles. 

1. First and foremost, there is Captain America, Aaron Judge. Last night, he did us proud: a HR, a single, two walks and a zipline throw to 3B, catching a runner.

Here's a terrifying thought: Could Judge's greatest career moments happen not as a Yankee, but in the jersey that says USA? When you look at the lineup around him, you see players who shoulda been Yankees - Harper, Schwarber, Bregman. Will he ever win a world series? Or are we seeing his zenith?

2. Jose Caballero, as SS for Panama, continues to show he belongs in the Yankee infield. Last night, he went 2-5 against Columbia, with a HR and stolen base, his 2nd of the tourney. The craziest Yankee notion is the one where Anthony Volpe returns in June and takes over his rightful position at SS. Nope.  

3. Elmer Rodriguez, 22, pitched three scoreless innings for Puerto Rico, striking out four and giving up one hit. He could be this year's Cam Schlittler - or maybe Carlos Lagrange. Over the winter, Brian Cashman decided to play a strategy: Stand pat and somehow spackle together a pitching staff until July, when Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and maybe Clarke Schmidt return. That's a grand infusion, if the Yankees can get there. If Rodriguez is for real, their chances are much better.

4. Giancarlo Stanton needs scissors to open a bag of Utz's Honey Barbecue. I cannot see him without imagining him tearing open the bag with his teeth, surging for a salt and vinegar rush. Yesterday, he homered for Team Tampa. What does it mean? Dunno. Nobody - anywhere, these days - nobody knows what to make of Stanton. He just comes and goes, a Shakespearian ghost. We don't get excited when he hits one. It's just a reminder that he's there. Could it be a good thing if he cuts back on the chips?  

5. The Randal Grichuk Era has begun. The Yankees newest RH platoon hitter went 0-2. Neither The Martian nor Mr. Jones saw a pitch. Unlike the pitching staff, the Yankee batting order won't see a Cole/Rodon infusion this summer. 

If anything, come April, Judge might need to rest his psyche, after the pressure-packed WBC. He'll face two colossal challenges: Ohtani 's Japan, and Juan Soto's Dominican Republic. I wonder if he'll miss the easy afternoons of Tampa? But there's no turning back now. It's on. 

Game Thread: USA vs Mexico. Plus, Five Reasons I'm Enjoying the WBC

1) I'm happy to be watching "meaningful" baseball.

    I know that it's a manufactured tournament and that there are teams that have no business playing but, if you look at how happy the players are when they score or make a great play or win there can be no doubt that the games mean something.  Aaron Judge just gunned down a runner at third and his teammates and the crowd went wild. It matters.

Update: Judge goes the other way for a two run HR. Always great to watch. 

2) As opposed to watching more spring training games. 

    I tried to watch the Yankees/Pirates, Stanton hit a HR. Other things happened. I don't care.    They don't care. 

3) It's great to see other players from other teams and be able to root for them. 

     I'm fully prepared to hate Roman Anthony for the rest of his career. Just not today. He's VERY good BTW.  Plus, I get to see Paul Skenes, Turbal, even Bregman, and wish them well. 

Harper is up. Judge on deck. In another universe I've been rooting for that line-up for years. 

4) The Stories

    Contreras's kid at seventeen breaks Judge's bat and get him to ground out in a DP. The guy pitching for Mexico is old and just what you'd expect.  Crafty. 

Kids. Old men. People from England.... C'mon.

5) Baseball. 

    There's a lot to worry about these days. I need the three hours. 

Bonus:  You know to want the USA team to beat Japan and Othani and Yamamoto. If you say no... you are lying to yourself.

An AAlert from the Emergency Bit-Cast System !

NO NO NO it is not AAron'geddon (at least not yet) !  

Rather, this is a blog early warning system message from 13 BIT alerting everyone that a get together is in the works to take place at Yankees Stadium to watch the 2026 Yankees battle against the team from Cincinnati, aka "The Reds" on 

Saturday, June 20th @ 1:35 PM

(There is also a game at the same time on June 21st but, uh, like...you know - that's Father's Day and it might be a problem because of, uhm, uh - all THE DARN DADDIES !)

It appears that Hoss, JM, Carl W, RangerLP and Hinkey can go.  The question is: How many others can make it ?

Feel free to post here and/or send an email to motelsign (@) protonmail.com.

We are also looking to organize an event for sometime in August as well.

And, much as I like the upper decks, after the musical onslaught at the last get together, I'm probably going to want to spring for some slightly nicer seats.

Please let us know your interest so we know how many tickets to acquire.

Thank you for your attention and please, carry on.

And remember:  Chew 'em and Blow 'em if yah Got 'em!

While Team USA rests, the Yankees sleepwalk...

That thunder you heard last night, roiling up from the Gulf Coast, rather than Houston? That was no storm. Nope. It was the Weathers. (Get it? Ha-ha.) 

It was the bursting of Yankee balloons, as one of the brain trust's great hopes for 2026 fostered an ear-popping reality.  

I direct your attention to the above box score, the keeper of secrets and the bringer of insignificance. 

Ryan Weathers - for whom the Yankees traded four prospects, and for whom the front office has congratulated itself, nonstop, ever since - got raked by the Mets. Of course, we can take comfort in knowing that, as Rose Leslie once told Kit Harrington, "You know nothing, John Snow." Because it's true. We do know nothing. 

Still, in recent days, Yank pitching hopes are reminding us why their former teams are - well - former teams.

Weathers got trounced. After a 1-2-3 first, his barometric pressure caved. In the second: Leadoff single, fly out, walk, infield single, walk, single, hookaroo. Boone brought back out in the third, because - hey, it's March. Weathers didn't fare much better: Four hits, two doubles, and it was Cade Winquest time.

Yep, Cade Winquest, the Rule 5 draftee that last month had Cashman drafting his GM of the Year acceptance speech. He pitched to four batters, gave up a walk and a single. The Yankees may yet return him to St. Louis.

Yesterday followed a string of lame outings by hopeful bullpen lug nuts. Jake Bird and Angel Chivilli, I'm talking to you.

In recent years, the Yankees have started seasons with seemingly lockdown bullpens, only to watch them stride into quicksand by mid-season. This year, we might start the season with a problem.

Two young pitchers - Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez - have provided excitement. Lagrange has pitched twice - 5.2 innings, 6 Ks, one earned run. Rodriguez went to the World Baseball Classic, for Puerto Rico, and threw three scoreless innings in an exhibition against Boston. Haven't seen him since. 

The Yankees roster features two position players, similar to Legrange and Rodriguez. For the record, yesterday, The Martian and Mr. Jones played decently against the Mets.

Jasson Dominguez went 1-4 with 2 RBIs and 2 Ks. Most importantly, he threw out a runner. Any game in which The Martian does not commit an error or a non-box score snafu - that's a victory of sorts.

Meanwhile, Spencer Jones went 1-3 with an RBI and a strikeout. Any time he doesn't contribute a Golden Sombrero - a victory of sorts. 

Any other team in baseball would pit these two against each other for at least the fourth OF slot; they possess talent that could sustain the lineup for the next five years. Not the Yankees, though. Nope. We're waiting on Randal Grichuk. (Who didn't play yesterday.)

And the Yankees wonder why their fan base has turned to the WBC? I'm just worrying that Aaron Judge will be to the Classic what the Quad God was to the winter Olympics. Or worse, what if he pulls something? Please, juju gods, protect him!  

Let 'em Play

But why kid ourselves: Brazil? Great Britain? The Netherlands? Czechia? What about Madagascar? This so-called "Classic" is crapola. Globally, three teams, maybe four - USA, Japan, Dominican Republic and maybe Mexico? - stand above the rest. You could make a case for an eight-team tourney. But twenty? Ridiculous.

It is a shame to see a writer as gifted and clever as Mr. Seely stoop to writing a sentence like this. Perhaps he does not understand that every tournament-style competition will have teams that are decidedly weaker than the rest of the competition. Let's take a look.

In the recently concluded Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics of 2026, there were 93 participating countries. Here's the complete list. I do not recall seeing one word written by any reputable writer that the Olympics were "crapola" because Lichtenstein brought a team of 7 athletes who won zip. They let them play and compete.

In the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, 48 countries will be competing. Here's the complete list. We should probably kick out at least half of those third-world countries (like Iran) who have no chance of winning, and cut to the chase. Hell, no one in the USA likes soccer anyway, right? So even though we're hosting the event alongside Mexico and Canada, let's just have Team USA serve Gatorade to the real competitors.

The International T-20 Cricket World Cup features 20 teams, with the United States as one of them. Here's the complete list. Why is the USA even in this tournament? They suck. Throw the bums out and let the real cricket powerhouses play, I say!

The 2024 Summer Olympic games in Paris featured teams from 204 countries. Here's the complete list. I'll let Mr. Seely go through the list and pick out the ones he would eliminate so we could get the Olympics down to a reasonable number of countries - say, 20 - and just get it over with. 206 countries? Ridiculous! I'm sure the IOC would love to hear Mr. Seely's recommendations.

When you compete in a world sporting tournament, of course you're going to have weaker teams, and in many cases, much weaker. So what's the point of picking on the Brazils and Great Britians and Chinese Taipeis of the WBC? Such criticism simply shows a small-mindedness, a provincial way of looking at worldwide competition. Brazil itself admitted that it would be an accomplishment just to play 9 innings against the USA. They know what they're up against, and I doubt they have any illusions.

And guess what? The MLB stars on the USA team don't think the WBC is crapola anymore. They used to. Now they ask their agents to try and get them an invite to join the team. People who think the WBC is crapola are simply looking at the event through their narrow provincial glasses. The excitement the tournament brings to baseball lovers around the world seems to escape their notice or attention. It's an unfortunately typical way that Americans view anything outside their shores.

They came to play. So let 'em play.

United States pounds United Kingdom, while Tampa Yanks pound sand

Behold! While Team USA was strangling England, 9-1, in a tourney that might be forgotten in two weeks - (Aaron Judge, 2-for-9, or .222) - the Yanks of Tampa were delivering their latest, ultra-meaningless, box.

What it shows: The Martian went one-for-three. 

What it doesn't show: He threw out a guy trying to stretch a single into a double. This, one day after he was embarrassed on just such a play. Progress? Don't matter. He's checking apartments in Scranton.

What it shows: George Lombard Jr., now our consensus #1 prospect, went 0-2 with a walk and a K. 

What it doesn't show: He got picked off. He's ticketed for Somerset.

What it shows: Spencer Jones went 1-2 with an RBI. No Ks.

What it doesn't show: He stole second, was stranded. Later, he walked with two outs, stranded. Sums it up. Stranded.

What it shows: Will Warren pitched 4 IP, 3 Ks, 2 hits, an unearned run.

What it doesn't show: The Martian saved him on that assist at 2B. Lombard's botched grounder led to the run.

What it shows: Jake Bird got pounded. Two-thirds of an inning, two runs. He's starting to look like a Cashman Cutie, a deal that never bears fruit.

What it doesn't show:  How it went down: Leadoff walk. Single to center. Triple to right. Strikeout. Flyout. Hook. Ugh. 

While Team USA toyed with a tomato can, the Yankees unveiled Cam Schlittler

On the most obscure night yet for the '26 Yankees - while Team USA was punishing a concoction of players apparently drawn together by the 1985 Terry Gilliam movie, "Brazil" - the Yankees uncorked Cam Schlittler, their most critical pitcher this spring. 

Every hopeful prediction for the 2026 Yankees is framed by three keys: 

1. Aaron Judge stays healthy.

2. Gerrit Cole returns. 

3. Cam Schlittler is for real.

If those three happen, the Yanks will challenge in the AL East, selling tickets into September. Come October, as the brain trust loves to assure us, anything can happen. (It just hasn't, for the last 17 years.)

So, last night, Schlittler pitched well enough to set aside our darkest fears, that last fall's extra stresses could impair his upcoming season. 

Last night, we could watch a split-screen buffet: 

The B-squad, featuring the future no-names of Somerset, against the dregs of Tampa.

Or USA's systematic dismantlement of Team Brazil, which should have been playing in Double A. 

From the git-go, when Aaron Judge homered, the World Baseball Classic game was a joke. It was USA bombing Iran. Against a team of MLB all-stars, Brazil trotted out a 17-year-old high school pitcher, a college hurler, a truck driver and a lineup of players past their sell-by dates. 

Listen: I like the WBC, especially with Judge playing. It warms my heart to see Houston fans wearing robes and powdered wigs, and even to see Alex Bregman, for a change, cheating for our side. Last night, as Judge rounded the bases, it reminded me of how lucky Yank fans are: On a nightly basis, we watch the greatest slugger of modern times. It's nice to share him with the world.

But why kid ourselves: Brazil? Great Britain? The Netherlands? Czechia? What about Madagascar? This so-called "Classic" is crapola. Globally, three teams, maybe four - USA, Japan, Dominican Republic and maybe Mexico? - stand above the rest. You could make a case for an eight-team tourney. But twenty? Ridiculous. Last night, it was Lions v Christians, and - frankly - any HR hit by Judge is just one that doesn't matter, and I'd prefer to see them helping the Yankees. 

So, the usual takeaways:

1. Spencer Jones and the Martian did not play in the Yankee game. Donno why. You might think one of the benefits of losing 11 players to the WBC is more playing time for Dominguez and Jones. Oh, well... 

2. Schlittler's line. Two innings. No runs. Four Ks. Fingers crossed. 

3. Ben Rice played 1B and went 1-2. He's now 7 for 17 - .412 - this spring. Of all the Yankees, I believe Rice is our greatest hope to break out as a star in 2026.

4. Oswaldo Cabrera finally played into a game. Nice ovation. He walked and scored. Played SS. Not since Didi Gregorius has a player smiled his way into the Yankee fan base. Everybody loves Oswaldo. I really hope he gets a shot. 

Game Thread: WBC USA vs Brazil

Judge hit a two run HR in his first at bat.

https://www.mlb.com/video/aaron-judge-s-two-run-homer-8dd118?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

Plus:

Manny Ramirez's son hit an HR for Brazil.

Jose' Contreras's son, seventeen years old, throws 98, 

and got Judge to ground into a DP with the bases loaded.  

Hal Steinbrenner is lying to you...

 ...and so are the owners of the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies, and maybe about half of all teams is the atrocious corporate entity known as MLB.  

How do I know? Check out this list of the most profitable sports franchises in the world for 2026:

Holy simolees, Batman! Not a single MLB club is on the list of the top 20, most profitable sports franchises (not sure how Mercedes F 1 is a franchise, but never mind) in the world, supposedly from Forbes.

It's a joke.  

(The most hilarious parts being that the Yanks are supposedly less profitable than the Rangers. Or the Jets, even with the NFL's version of corporate communism.)

For starters, the self-same Forbes has for years—even decades—named your New York Yankees one of the top 2 or 3 wealthiest sports franchises in the world, usually just behind the Dallas Cowboys.  From the most recent Forbes assessment I could find online, they value the Yanks at $8.2 BILLION.

Forbes further claims that this figure represents 11.3 times the annual revenue of NYY. Do the math—or, all right, let the all-knowing, all-seeing brain within your computer do the math—and that puts the annual revenue of the Yanks at $725,663,717—give or take a few pennies that Hal always snatches out of the till.

There are differing figures for the Yankees' payroll this year, but at max it is $332 million.  

Take away the payroll from the revenue, and we're talking about $393 million.  Even subtracting the $100 million in taxes that Hal complains so bitterly about—and another $100 million for everything else, those incompetent scouts, trainers, and front office—and we're STILL talking about an annual profit in the ballpark of $193 million, or enough to crack the Top Ten on Forbes' own list.

What's more—and I know this will come as a shock—there is every reason to believe that the Yanks are not being fully forthcoming about what they actually make.

For instance, while estimates of the average price of a Yankees' ticket vary greatly, some sources have it as high as $128. Multiply that times the 3,392,659 fans the Yanks drew in the regular season last year, and we're talking $482,495,616—or ALREADY the team's entire payroll this year and about $150 mill to boot.

But let's say it's even at the low-end estimate of $67 a ducat.  That's still $227,308,153—just $105 mill short of payroll. 

What's more—that $67-128 does NOT seem to include the 56-68 luxury boxes, where 12-100 customers pay $2,500-$20,000 each, or the 4,300 "premium club level seats that go for $200-$900 each.  

(And how IS it that every single financial figure regarding the Yankees is so madly vague and speculative.  Could it be...on purpose? And why has no local news source ever set out to pin down the real figures?)

All of which is before we figure in...concessions, parking, souvenirs (at and away from the ballpark), and...what's that other thing...don't tell me...

OH YEAH! Broadcast rights. TV (on the Yanks' own channel, and so many others), radio, phones, computers, etc.

In short, it's difficult to believe that the Yankees are raking in less than at least $500 million a year in profit, and quite possibly over a billion. Which would leave them topping this new Forbes list.

I don't mean to single out Hal, who lies as he breathes. I'm sure the rest of MLB is lying, too, probably on command of Maximum Leader Rob Manfred.  

Why would they do this? Um, maybe to help set the table for the upcoming basic agreement Armageddon?

I know, I know. It's a very small thing, with so many monstrous lies going around in the real world, and a possible, true Armageddon looming (You guys have been killing it on that, by the by, and I want to join in as soon as I have the time.).

But let's be clear. It's just not true that, say, the Atlanta Hawks are out-profiting every team in MLB. Or the Edmonton Oilers. Or the New York Jets.

 

Headlines for the posterity scrapbook

 

An Above Average look at our leader, Seedy–Bubbles Boone . . . . .

Just LOOK into his EYES and

FEEL the FIRE of his DESIRE !

Will he deliver us to the promise land in 2 0 2 6 ?

(and who will pick 100 wins for the team this year – 

STANG or ABOVE AVERAGE'S CAT ?)

 

As the WBC takes off, the Yankee leftovers plod onward

Searching for meaning in an especially meaningless universe...

Box scores during the new Winter Olympics World Baseball Classic. Ten takeaways.

1. Twelve Yanks in the WBC. Judge, Goldy, Bednar (USA); Wells, Doval, Rosario (DR); Cruz, Rodriguez (PR); Caballero (Panama), Chisholm, Beck (UK); Cohen (Israel.) Yes, Jazz is playing for jolly old England. Bob's yer uncle.

2. You'd think being 12 players down would mean extra playing time for Spencer Jones and the Martian, but - nah - only one OF gone.

3. Jones and Dominguez continue to haunt. Yesterday, in his lone plate appearance, Jones drew a walk. The Martian came up twice: singling to center and flying out to left.  

4. Box won't show it, but Dominguez lollygagged a gapper to left-center, letting a Twin leg it into a double. The Martian looked surprised at the notion of a runner, hustling, then he threw wide to second. Exactly the play he needs to make next month, in Scranton. 

5. Angel Chivlli - whom Cashman obtained for T.J. Rumfeld, (currently 6 for 18 with 3 HRs at Colorado) - a source of front office self-congratulation, entered the game with decent numbers... and left with an ERA over 18.00. 

6. Here's how it happened. He came in for the 5th, facing the Twin no-names. (That's a redundancy, eh?) First guy doubles. Next guy - (named "Outman," I mean, you can't make this stuff up) - homers. Then... infield hit, strikeout, walk, single, Boonie hook-a-roo.

7. Another Cashman pitching project, Cade Winquest, got knocked around, sorta, giving up a run on two hits.

8. For Winquest, it's not as bad as it sounds: He walked the leadoff hitter, moved him to second with a wild pitch, then gave up an infield hit. First and third, nobody out. He works a K, conjures a ground out, then gives up an infield hit, with 3B Ryan McMahon botching the throw, scoring the runner. E-5.

9. Winquest is a December Rule 5 draft pick, which means a) the Yankees must keep him all season or return him to St. Louis; b) practically every team in baseball had a shot at picking him, and passed; c) he'd be a big win for the front office, which needs a win. 

10. A lotta noise out there about Bryce Harper being pissed at the Phillies, who seem to be disrespecting him. It has spawned bullshit rumors about a trade with the Yankees, who were Harper's dream destination, as a kid. Make no mistake: Harper will someday be a Yankee. But he'll be pushing 42.

Baseball is about to see a spring like no other in our lives.

 

Yesterday, the Death Barge whupped Boston, 4-0, and ran its meaningless win streak to a pointless nine games. At 9-2, we are tied with the Pirates for 1st place in the MLB Grapefruit League! 

All for nothing, right? 

Not complaining, I guess. A win's a win, right?  

Over nine games, the second-tier Yankees have beaten sluggish, second-tier opponents, sometimes by whopping margins. "Victories," mostly from no-name players, chasing a final, nonexistent bullpen slot, or a place in the traveling Wilkes Barres' outfield. 

A win's a win, right? I mean, when the Yanks win a game in July, it still doesn't fix the brakes on your car, right? Spring, summer, fall - they're all meaningless in the context of our lives, right? 

Well, this is a spring like no other.  What do I mean?

1. No matter what happens over the next two weeks, the Yankees will enter 2026 as wild card contenders. The AL East is a jumble. 

2. The Yankees' key returnees - Cole, Volpe, Rodon - won't arrive until summer. 

3. The team has not yet suffered a major injury. (Last year, by now, Cole was gone and Giancarlo faced a lost season.) 

4. Our most hyped prospects - The Martian and Spencer Jones - will be relegated to Scranton. How will they take to it? 

5. The World Baseball Classic is about to put unprecedented stresses on key players, across the spectrum of MLB. 

6. The bombing of Iran will add to the pressure in ways that I do not believe any of us can readily imagine. 

7. It's already putting enormous stress on Aaron Judge, captain of Team USA. (Of all things, he was mocked yesterday for a fumbling speech to the team.)

8. The WBC will surely bring injuries. We want America to win. But at what cost?

9. It remains to be seen whether the WBC will capture the American audience. Will these games be similarly meaningless, come June? Will anybody care who won?

10. No past WBC has taken place in such an unsettled world. This shall be a spring like nothing we have faced in our lives. Meaningless games, right? March Madness. 

WTF is coming?  

"Give us our canal back!" Yanks tell Panama, via meaningless 11-1 whipping

It even meant beating turncoat Jose Cabalero, who forgot what privately owned corporate entity signs his paychecks, and who played for Team Panama. 

Takeaways:

1. Jose "The Gay" Cabalero off for his homeland, went 0-2 with a walk, stole no bases, played errorless SS and turned a DP. He's ours. From now on, we should call him "The Isthmus."

2. The Martian went 1-3 with a run. Thus far this spring, he is hitless (0-6) from the right side, against LH pitchers. Batting lefty, he is 5-9 with two doubles. Unless he starts bashing lefties, he's ticketed for Scranton.  

3. Potato Chips Stanton: 1-2 with a walk. His first game all spring. He could celebrate with a can of Pringles.

4. No sign of Spencer Jones. Again. Is he playing for Team Madagascar? 

5. Yanquiel Fernandez, the 23-year-old former prospect from Colorado, went 0-2. Why do I care?

6. Max Fried pitched 3 innings, no runs, one hit, three uncharacteristic walks. 

7. Yanks ended the game with Osvaldo Bido on the mound. Gave up a run - the only run for Panama. He's 30, on his 3rd team in the last three years. (Pittsburgh, Oakland, Yankees.) An international man of mystery, no minor league stats on mlb.com. Did he just arrive, fully formed? Osvaldo Bido.

8. There was a time when Team Panama would have meant facing Mariano... 

Dear Captain Judge: You are about to make history. Don't let them turn you into a prop.

O Captain, our Captain...

It will soon get crazy. And tumultuous. And, maybe, dangerous.

Your name. Your image. Your legacy, that is. 

The World Baseball Classic is about to replace what should be two weeks of lollygagged, easy-going afternoons with some of the pressurized games in our time.

The series will pit nations against each other, as the world surges toward war. 

As captain of Team USA, you will be scrutinized, sanctified and maybe defined for years to come by malignant forces that seek to turn ballgames into political points. 

Your job is to win those games, not to prop up a leader, or resistance to one.

Your job is to unify a team, not rouse the nation to the right or left.

Your mission is to win the tournament, not to let yourself or your teammates be used as a prop.

None of this will be easy. America always demands a winner, and baseball will always be the national game. In this tourney, there shall be no wild card, no finishing 2nd - and no quick returning to normal. 

When it's over, if you fail, there will be no excuses, no silver medals, no reward for having played the game. 

And if you prevail, there will come a moment when you are expected to pose for pictures, for photographs that might just define your place in history. 

Your time in the hot seat is coming. I know you will represent the Yankees with pride. I know you will represent America with dignity. 

But please... whatever happens... don't let them use you.