Yankeetorial: All day, all game, all the time... playing to lose

Yesterday, Alphonso and I listened to a nine-inning cascade of unrelenting Sterlingtonian dread. Every batter, every pitch, you heard pure terror in John's voice.

The Master claims you cannot predict baseball. But his voice belies that statement. In his subdued, pessimistic tone, it is clear that John has seen the post-season, and it does not include the 2012 Yankees. 

Yesterday, when we fell behind early, John noted with pain that CC would not be the stopper we needed. Down by two, John declared that if Tampa scored again, the game might be over.

When we scored our three runs to take the lead - courtesy of an outfield blunder and a seeing-eye hit - John opined that it wasn't enough. And when we squandered scoring opportunities, he foresaw our fate. He just didn't want to say it aloud.

All day, waiting to lose again.

This last month has been a bad dream. Even when we win, we lose a player. Now it's Robbie Cano, whose hip went south, and who hasn't hit for weeks. Something is obviously wrong with Sabathia. And soon our middle of the order will be hitters in rehab.

But it's Ichiro these days who leaves me the most hopeless. He is turning into just another wretched trade with Seattle. Since coming to the Yankees, the man has drawn three walks - just three. A 3-ball count on Ichiro is the most meaningless statistic in the game. The guy doesn't hit, and he doesn't accept a free pass. We needed a grinder. We got a grounder. Right now, I'd have more hope in Chris Dickerson. How did we get to be so bad, so fast?