Why I Stopped Worrying About the Yankees

Despite my vocal objection to Frownifer‘s early-season post that the Yankees were the favorites to win it all (in a post, oddly, he appears to have removed), it’s been pretty clear over the past few months that the Yankees are having the sort of run that often ends with a trophy being hosted over one’s head. It’s been de rigeur recently to say that the Red Sox are out of it, and treat that as some sort of ultimate statement on the Yankees’ season — that since their rivals are out of the division picture, they’re the World Series favorites.

Now, they may in fact be the World Series favorites, but I see three good reasons for Yanks fans not to get too excited. Or, conversely, for Yankee haters not to get too worried:

1) The Angels

Quietly — at least on this coast — the Angels are winning the AL West again, despite Baseball Prospectus’ best abilities to measure their performance. BPro has them second to the Rangers in adjusted standings, but the Angels always bust that measurement. I’m not sure the BPro folks find it as charming as Mike Scioscia does, and I’m sure Yankees fans don’t. The Yankees have (in)famously been beaten in two postseason series by the Angels this decade, and any Yankees fan will tell you the Angels have their number. Never mind introducing any sort of logic into the discussion — let them believe that! Let’s hope the players believe it too and cower at the sight of a shorn Jered Weaver. He’s all grown up now!

But seriously, a Yankees/Angels series would, and should, scare the piss out of Yankees fans. Which means good things for you and I. The kicker is that should the Red Sox sneak into the playoffs, they would play the Angels, and their history against the Halos is better. Since I’m not sure the Red Sox can beat the Yankees (though I will address it in #3), I wouldn’t be crushed if the Angels pulled that one out. Blasphemous? Hardly. Now that the Red Sox have won a couple, the most important part of each baseball season is making sure the Yankees don’t win it. We’re in this together.

2. Joe Girardi

I don’t know how much difference managers make. The name alone evokes a passive, the game-comes-to-me approach to running a team, as opposed to, say, a coach. Certainly the manager has the smallest role in the actual goings on of the game of any major sport. Some decisions get punished (Grady Little), while some, ultimately, don’t (Bob Brenly removed Curt Schilling from Game 4 of the 2001 World Series when he was unhittable).

Here’s what I know: Joe Girardi is kind of a prick. He got fired from the Marlins after winning Manager of the Year. He’s got zero of the Torre gravitas. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, but when I look at Girardi, I’m inspired with confidence — that he will do the wrong thing if given the opportunity. Mariano is insurance against this, and I have no evidence for this, but just looking at him, I’m confident in his ability to sow the seeds of chaos for his own team.

3. It’s the freaking playoffs

After the Cardinals won the World Series with an 82-79 record, it should be clear that anything is possible. That may be less true this year, with a few truly excellent teams around, but the fact is there are a few excellent teams. The Phillies are better now than they were last year — not that it means anything. The Dodgers, if they can get their shit together, can beat anyone. The Angels are great. The Cardinals are playing out of their minds, as are the Rockies. And if the Giants make the postseason, they could roll out a rotation of Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez. If they can find a map of the strike zone for Jonny S. (maybe on Ebay?) and score a run or two, well… you see what I’m saying. Oh, and the Red Sox could revert to early-season form.

It’s baseball, it’s the playoffs. Yankees fans are too paranoid to start talking big. Let’s let them be.