It was fun while it lasted....

[YankeesMVPDJ2]

It has been a great run for the Yankees. This stretch from 1995-now will be one that I or any other Yankees fan will forget. We rejoiced as our team won those WS, bonded with the team as they had that 2001 run, jumped up and down in sure joy as Pedro got shelled and eventually Boone beat the Sox, cringed as our team lost that 2004 ALCS, celebrated after that terrible 2005 start, and watched all the memories in between....Even though I wish our beloved Yanks could send the Stadium off in proper manner, it is not meant to be....This run was a great one, the high's were high, and he low's were low, but the Yankees always made it fun. Thanks to my fellow Yankees fans for rooting with me the whole way...We will continue to root till the end of this year, but lets hope the Yankees can open the new Stadium the right way.

[YanksNoHitter96]

Yes , the right way!

Er......which exactly is the right way?

[yankeesrule2000]

It was fun while it lasted...I really thought we would sweep the Sox, silly me.

[Jeter Kid]

It was fun while it lasted...I really thought we would sweep the Sox, silly me.

You must of had those vintage Yankee feelings.

[yankeesrule2000]

You must of had those vintage Yankee feelings.

That about sums it up lol

[nyks4324]

i think we need to get real...we are lacking alot of heart....not talent heart, you look at a team like minnesota. you have people on that team getting paid beans and all they are doing is performing.

We have the highest payroll and we cant win with the players we have on the roster.

Cashman has his work cut out for him. We need to find some more role players and not superstars...i.e the chad curtises, shane spencer, miguel cairo.

we need players who can play in the a good system not just a system where we have to wait for a homerun.

All i am saying is yes the yanks had a great run but I am not satisfied and neither is george...especially when i am paying the highest ticket prices in the world.

[YanksNoHitter96]

Remember when watching baseball was fun?

[ThePinStripes]

Remember when watching baseball was fun?

My buddy and I polished off the bottle of Chivas tonight. I figured waking up tomorrow would be the hardest part of the day. Go figure, it would putting my Yankee cap on.

[ThePinStripes]

i think we need to get real...we are lacking alot of heart....not talent heart, you look at a team like minnesota. you have people on that team getting paid beans and all they are doing is performing.

We have the highest payroll and we cant win with the players we have on the roster.

Cashman has his work cut out for him. We need to find some more role players and not superstars...i.e the chad curtises, shane spencer, miguel cairo.

we need players who can play in the a good system not just a system where we have to wait for a homerun.

All i am saying is yes the yanks had a great run but I am not satisfied and neither is george...especially when i am paying the highest ticket prices in the world.

What do you expect to happen? Long term bazillion dollar contracts? umm.. can anyone say "union mentality?" Punch in, punch out, go home. Das it. It's simply human nature. What's the best way to improve productivity in the office? start rumors of lay-offs.

Not to be an A-rod hater, by the way, but I'm going to toss this out there. either the guy is naturally cold as ice or he doesn't care. I've seen just about everyone show SOME sort of frustration when they don't come through- except for him.

[Vin]

Manny Ramirez says there's always next year.

If not then the year after that and after, before you know it there's another dynasty.

[stupidpunchline]

1996-2001 = 1976-1978
2002-2004 = 1979-1981
2005-???? = 1982-????

[azzurribaggio]

Geez we have a month left guys.....as Yogi says "it ain't over till it's over"....

[apalradio]

Geez we have a month left guys.....as Yogi says "it ain't over till it's over"....

Yogi also said you should go to other peoples funerals because otherwise they won't come to yours. Seems like a good time to pay our last respects to the 08 season.

[Casey37]

Geez we have a month left guys.....as Yogi says "it ain't over till it's over"....

Yup. I refuse to count these guys out until they are mathematically eliminated.

[hugelongtermdeal]

i think we need to get real...we are lacking alot of heart....not talent heart, you look at a team like minnesota. you have people on that team getting paid beans and all they are doing is performing.

We have the highest payroll and we cant win with the players we have on the roster.

Cashman has his work cut out for him. We need to find some more role players and not superstars...i.e the chad curtises, shane spencer, miguel cairo.

we need players who can play in the a good system not just a system where we have to wait for a homerun.

All i am saying is yes the yanks had a great run but I am not satisfied and neither is george...especially when i am paying the highest ticket prices in the world.

i think that it is the age of the hearts involved.

cashman gets way too much slack here -- he built a very old team.

[BeantownYankee]

Yup. I refuse to count these guys out until they are mathematically eliminated.

Past Yankee teams yes, this team lacks the heart, sole, and pitching to comeback....

[Bub]

I chalk this season up to a combination of uncanny bad luck, injuries, off-years and anything else that could go wrong did. Over the course of 14 seasons, no matter how good the team is, it's bound to happen. Next year will be different.

[YankeePride1967]

The streak was bound to end sooner or later. I honestly thought missing the playoffs this year was a possibility. I'm just glad we didn't do any panic trades and trade the farm away.

[YESSIR!]

I chalk this season up to a combination of uncanny bad luck, injuries, off-years and anything else that could go wrong did. Over the course of 14 seasons, no matter how good the team is, it's bound to happen. Next year will be different.

Agreed. I've said it before and I'll say it again: losing Wang pretty much sounded the death rattle on this season. You can't lose the ace of an otherwise below average pitching staff and expect to make a serious playoff run. The only way that happens is if the bats explode, and it just didn't happen this year. This team probably doesn't make the playoffs last year, even with Wang, if they don't out-slug all of baseball by a considerable margin.

The fact that Sidney Ponson started for the Yankees last night, in an absolutely critical game against the Boston Red Sox, tells you all you need to know about this season.

On the bright side, if this team can add a front-line starter in the offseason, and actually stay healthy next year, they are set-up to be right back in the thick of things with one of the best rotations in baseball.

This season kind of reminds me of the 2006 Red Sox season. They were a fringe competitor in it through some of August before playing a critical series w/ the Yankees that they had to win. Well, they got swept, ultimately destroying their hopes for a post season. That looks like us this year. Hopefully our '09 season will be akin to their '07 one.

[cupcollector99]

That three game sweep of the hapless Orioles was the biggest tease since my prom date.

[silverdsl]

I chalk this season up to a combination of uncanny bad luck, injuries, off-years and anything else that could go wrong did. Over the course of 14 seasons, no matter how good the team is, it's bound to happen. Next year will be different.

Agreed. Nothing lasts forever. It's disappointing but I expected that sooner or later, one of these seasons when the team wasn't as strong as they've been in the past they wouldn't find a way to overcome their weaknesses and they'd miss the post-season. It's unfortunate but the Yankees really have had a great run the last 14 years. Next season the slate is wiped clean and it's a new opportunity to start a new streak of post-season appearances. But between now and then there's still plenty of games and even if it's unlikely that they're going to make the playoffs I still want to see them play hard and win to end the season on as good of a note as possible.

[jnewmark]

As a Yankee fan since the '60's, I'm always glad when the Yanks get a World Series run going for a few years, and this run has been one of the best. But I'm ready to blow this team up. As another poster said, we can't win with the players on this roster. I don't know the reason why, I just see the results. I'm willing to go into a lean period to bring in as many young players as we can and start all over again. I don't know who those players should be, I just know the ones we have now are not gonna get it done.

[R.V.47]

The streak was bound to end sooner or later. I honestly thought missing the playoffs this year was a possibility. I'm just glad we didn't do any panic trades and trade the farm away.

If there was ever a year, the yanks were set up not to make the playoffs this was it. At least we will likely stll finish over 500, it wont be a complete collapse that will take years to recover from like when the Braves ended their streak.

[apalradio]

I chalk this season up to a combination of uncanny bad luck, injuries, off-years and anything else that could go wrong did. Over the course of 14 seasons, no matter how good the team is, it's bound to happen. Next year will be different.

I hope you're right. But in reality, this team has been regressing for the past several years. Even though we've made the playoffs each of these last few seasons, the weaknesses that kept us from closing the deal have been building up to the ultimate disappointment of 2008. Ever since the historic 2004 postseason debacle, we've been chasing "next year". I hope that believing 2009 will again be "different" is not just blind faith. We've needed a change in the team's makeup and approach for a long time. What does everyone think we really can and should do this offseason to fix it all in 2009?

[ThunderFan]

2008 = Blip on the radar. The Yanks will be back.

[BRNXBMRS]

There was nothing fun about this year, maybe the 1-0 win at Fenway Joba/Beckett game. Opening day was ruined and that set the tone for this season.

[Retire21]

There was nothing fun about this year, maybe the 1-0 win at Fenway Joba/Beckett game. Opening day was ruined and that set the tone for this season.

Why was opening day ruined? We won that game.

[DEADSOX]

The Red Sox finished third one year only to come back and win the WS the next. We will do the same

[BRNXBMRS]

Why was opening day ruined? We won that game.

3/31 the delayed rain out and it stopped raining as soon as the game was called.

[BonusCantos]

Geez we have a month left guys.....as Yogi says "it ain't over till it's over"....

Why shouldn't the fans give up on the season? The Yankees already have.

[Torre Must Go]

I feel like the team has kind of been under a dark cloud since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. I know we've made the playoffs up to this point and won some division titles since, but it hasn't really been the same and we haven't gotten the same breaks and luck that we did in the past. I think we need to make some big changes in the offseason and do expect much better next year.

[JfromJersey]

Good post. There are probably many Yankee fans here who never experienced a Yankee season without a playoffs. Let's all hope we are not at the beginning of a dry spell. Except for birth, death, and taxes, nothing is guaranteed in this world.

[Joba1stBallotHOFer]

I feel like the team has kind of been under a dark cloud since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. I know we've made the playoffs up to this point and won some division titles since, but it hasn't really been the same and we haven't gotten the same breaks and luck that we did in the past. I think we need to make some big changes in the offseason and do expect much better next year.

I don't think it has anything to do with '04. We've had our chances, and we just haven't made it happen. You can pretty much roll this team out "as is" every season and expect to make the playoffs every time. It was just a fluke year with injuries.

Imagine what's going to happen next season when we have a healthy Wang on the mound along with Hughes, Joba and Kennedy! With this line-up behind them, the 2009 Yankees will be unstoppable. This is a fluke.

[OlgMvp]

It's going to be weird watching the final game at the stadium in the regular season with no hopes of watching them in the playoffs.


I'm not sure if it's accurate or not but I think the last time I had that feeling was in 1993. This was over 15 years ago but I was still a young Yankee fan at that time, still yet to experience winning but that was such a promising year for us. I remember watching the very last game of the year on TV, it was extremely exciting and if I remember correctly a very wacky game. They played the Tigers, was tied til the 9th. Spike Owen was the runner, Stanley was at the plate. Stanley hit the ball on the ground I believe at the shortstop for what would have been the second out of the inning but a fan had run onto the field in the middle of the act of the pitch being delivered, the play was waived off and Stanley promptly used his new life to drive in the game winning run. I was ecstatic ending the season that way. Team had a lot of fight. I wish I could say the same for this team, while I know the ceremonies will be plentiful for that final game at the stadium, I doubt this team will give me anything resembling that feeling. I will feel hollow inside watching these overpaid underachievers. I hate calling them that but that's what they are.

Where do we go from here? I still believe in Cash and I believe Girardi did his best with what he had. You can cite injuries but when you spend this kind of money, that shouldn't be an excuse. A lot of that money coming off the books is dead weight, contributing to that inflated number. I just hope they continue to tighten the belt a bit and stop spending stupid money...especially on the bullpen, the one bright spot this year was the pen and the fact that we didn't throw stupid money out at overrated relievers, it proves yet again, the best options ESPECIALLY for the pen come from within, with middle relief anyway.


Things to look forward to....

The Rays holding onto the AL East lead.
The Sox being denied a title.
Pushing Moose to 20 wins.
Letting Hughes and Kennedy pitch in a lax environment at the major league level so they can work on getting hitters out and finding out what works for them at the ML level without trying to carry the weight of the baseball world on their shoulders and trying to lock down a playoff spot.

and finally...Football season.

[apalradio]

It's going to be weird watching the final game at the stadium in the regular season with no hopes of watching them in the playoffs.


I'm not sure if it's accurate or not but I think the last time I had that feeling was in 1993. This was over 15 years ago but I was still a young Yankee fan at that time, still yet to experience winning but that was such a promising year for us. I remember watching the very last game of the year on TV, it was extremely exciting and if I remember correctly a very wacky game. They played the Tigers, was tied til the 9th. Spike Owen was the runner, Stanley was at the plate. Stanley hit the ball on the ground I believe at the shortstop for what would have been the second out of the inning but a fan had run onto the field in the middle of the act of the pitch being delivered, the play was waived off and Stanley promptly used his new life to drive in the game winning run. I was ecstatic ending the season that way. Team had a lot of fight. I wish I could say the same for this team, while I know the ceremonies will be plentiful for that final game at the stadium, I doubt this team will give me anything resembling that feeling. I will feel hollow inside watching these overpaid underachievers. I hate calling them that but that's what they are.

Where do we go from here? I still believe in Cash and I believe Girardi did his best with what he had. You can cite injuries but when you spend this kind of money, that shouldn't be an excuse. A lot of that money coming off the books is dead weight, contributing to that inflated number. I just hope they continue to tighten the belt a bit and stop spending stupid money...especially on the bullpen, the one bright spot this year was the pen and the fact that we didn't throw stupid money out at overrated relievers, it proves yet again, the best options ESPECIALLY for the pen come from within, with middle relief anyway.


Things to look forward to....

The Rays holding onto the AL East lead.
The Sox being denied a title.
Pushing Moose to 20 wins.
Letting Hughes and Kennedy pitch in a lax environment at the major league level so they can work on getting hitters out and finding out what works for them at the ML level without trying to carry the weight of the baseball world on their shoulders and trying to lock down a playoff spot.

and finally...Football season.

Let's not forget that the Hot Stove League is another entertaining diversion of the highest order.

[GoYanks]

I feel like the team has kind of been under a dark cloud since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. I know we've made the playoffs up to this point and won some division titles since, but it hasn't really been the same and we haven't gotten the same breaks and luck that we did in the past. I think we need to make some big changes in the offseason and do expect much better next year.

I think it dates back to 2001, but 2004 made it worse -- and I think the Braves are a good comparison. Realistically, the run can't last forever, and I'm thankful to have enjoyed it after over a decade of not even being close.

[Yankees Empire]

It had to happen sometime. It's been a hell of a ride. Personally, I don't think the Yankees get enough credit for winning those 4 titles in 5 years. I mean, think about what has to go into a streak like that.

Morons say "Blah, blah, blah, the payroll."

Think of the skill and the LUCK a run like that takes. Remarkable.

I hope we make some big time moves. If this bunch isn't good enough to win this year, they sure as hell won't next year. Let's see some real progress and get guys in here who will be part of the next dynasty run. It's not an "if" but a "when."

That is provided, of course, we don't import a bunch of dinosaurs trying to fruitlessly pursue "one more" for Papa Steinbrenner.

[BonusCantos]

It had to happen sometime. It's been a hell of a ride. Personally, I don't think the Yankees get enough credit for winning those 4 titles in 5 years. I mean, think about what has to go into a streak like that.

Morons say "Blah, blah, blah, the payroll."

Think of the skill and the LUCK a run like that takes. Remarkable.

I hope we make some big time moves. If this bunch isn't good enough to win this year, they sure as hell won't next year. Let's see some real progress and get guys in here who will be part of the next dynasty run. It's not an "if" but a "when."

That is provided, of course, we don't import a bunch of dinosaurs trying to fruitlessly pursue "one more" for Papa Steinbrenner.

I agree with absolutely everything you said. There are flaws in this team and it will take some time to fix it all. The people who expect everything to fix itself next season are dreaming...it will take some time and care and I, for one, am willing to wait if it will bring another string of championships.

[BroadwayBomber55]

It had to happen sometime. It's been a hell of a ride. Personally, I don't think the Yankees get enough credit for winning those 4 titles in 5 years. I mean, think about what has to go into a streak like that.

Morons say "Blah, blah, blah, the payroll."

Think of the skill and the LUCK a run like that takes. Remarkable.

I hope we make some big time moves. If this bunch isn't good enough to win this year, they sure as hell won't next year. Let's see some real progress and get guys in here who will be part of the next dynasty run. It's not an "if" but a "when."

That is provided, of course, we don't import a bunch of dinosaurs trying to fruitlessly pursue "one more" for Papa Steinbrenner.

True to that.

It's going to take time with a lot of struggles for another run, but a wise man once said, 'pain is temporary, glory lasts forever.'

I'm not giving up on 2008 until the Yankees are officially eliminated from the playoffs, but nothing lasts forever.

[BroadwayBomber55]

Agreed. Nothing lasts forever. It's disappointing but I expected that sooner or later, one of these seasons when the team wasn't as strong as they've been in the past they wouldn't find a way to overcome their weaknesses and they'd miss the post-season. It's unfortunate but the Yankees really have had a great run the last 14 years. Next season the slate is wiped clean and it's a new opportunity to start a new streak of post-season appearances. But between now and then there's still plenty of games and even if it's unlikely that they're going to make the playoffs I still want to see them play hard and win to end the season on as good of a note as possible.

Not all teams are perfect, they get the job done.
The Yankees had a great run in these last 14 years.

I don't care how long it takes to build the right and proper pieces for another run, just get it done.

[allybear]

Yes , the right way!

Er......which exactly is the right way?

I'd assume the right way to open the new Stadium would be with a baseball game, but what do I know?

[allybear]

This has been a Murphy's Law kind of year, but there has been some good...
Moose was a pleasant surprise, and there have been one-off good performances by such unlikely characters as Sidney Ponson, Darrell Rasner, and Carl Pavano. As a fan since 1977, I've learned to look for the bright spots during bad times, which we are certainly going through. Next year will be the defining one - I really don't know if this is a blip or the beginning of the end (although I do believe the beginning of the end happened already, I've been feeling this way for a few years now).