We Shall Not Cease From Sameness......

The Yankees ended the first half of the season pretty much as they began it.

I call it our "oreo" half season........mediocre beginning and mediocre ending, sandwiching some really juicy and tasty in-between.

Kind of like this:



The Yanks began with a 4-4 record, and ended the first half exactly the same way.  If you expand the horizon, the team went 9-9 at the beginning and 10-8 at the end.

No matter how you look at it, only the middle was really tasty and inviting.

Pitchers pitched, sluggers slugged, relievers relieved and batters hit with runners in scoring position.  We got used to comebacks and walk-off jubilation.  The team produced a different hero every game.
And we caught up to the Red Sox, who were winning everything.

As the first half drew to a close, however, we became a predictable team.  We won if we scored early and often, and hit home runs.  We lost when the other teams did.  We never came back in a meaningful way.  We took a few pineapples.  Our starting pitching failed and weakened.  Strikeouts became endemic to our line-up, along with rally-killing double plays.

Injuries joined the party as guys like Montgomery, Torres, Sanchez and Tanaka all went down.  Eventually their replacements ( Walker, Wade, Lasagne, German, Hapishioka---sorry ) proved less than adequate.

In the rest of the world, Boston flourished.  Another double digit winning streak lingers.  No injuries of note. Lots of all stars.

The Yankees, despite the slow and demoralizing opening and closing to the first half, have one of the best records in baseball.....plus 30 games over .500.  Still in the hunt, but 4 games behind the front-runner.  With a one-game play-in game the only reward for second best.

It is frustrating, and we need help.  So far, we have hung on with help from our internal resources.  Let's hope it stays that way.  We have to have some long term vision here.  Give our own guys a shot, and keep the farm system deep!

We may not win the championship this year.  But, then again, we might.

Whichever way the cookie crumbles, we need more of that tasty, sweet stuff from the middle.