WHY THE YANKEES ARE A STATE OF MIND

The past 20 hours have been quite insane. When I watched the Yankees lose to the Tampa Bay Rays and saw the Red Sox’s Carl Crawford miss a liner and Jonathan Papelbon walk off the field, it may have been the greatest feeling of my life since the worst feeling of my life, that 2004 collapse of the Yankees when the Red Sox won 4 in a row. I still don’t know how that happened there. I just remember this… the Red Sox fans made every single one of us Yankee fans feel like shit and when I think about it, I still get pissed. Now, the payback is sweeter. I don’t hate 1 Red Sox fan. I hate the franchise and love my Yankees beating them, and if that means they don't make the playoffs, that's terrific... plain and simple.(Photo: Getty)
Then I got to thinking about last night’s Yankee game, you know the one where Joe Girardi single-handedly lost the game being cute using every pitcher we had, I realized that you can’t even blame Scott Proctor for that loss last night. He was throwing around 60 pitches at that point where Evan Longoria homered. You have to expect a homer to happen eventually. Even though that game didn’t matter to the Yankees, I thought about something interesting. If the Yankees were playing the Red Sox last night but were in the same position, meaning that they had already clinched, and already had the best record in the AL, would we have played the same way? Would Girardi had used all his pitchers the way he did? No. Would Mariano Rivera had come in to try and shut down the Sox? Yes. If last night we played the Red Sox, it would have been a must win.

It goes back to my theory, winning every ballgame counts. Look, the Yankees and Red Sox don’t mix, they’ve never mixed and trust me, if Dan Johnson was David Ortiz last night, the Yankees would have brought in the top closer in the world to shut him down.
(Photo: Getty)
You know me. I hate to lose and in my opinion, walking into a playoff against a potential Cy Young winner like Justin Verlander scares the everliving shit out of me. Why? Because we’re riding a 4 game losing streak. Now, the ALDS is a whole new season, this is true. Do I have faith in CC Monster and my Yankees? Yes, but losing is easy to do and once you do it a few times, it becomes easier and easier and all I’m saying is our Yankees need to and will have to turn it around tomorrow. We need to set the tone.

Luckily for us, this Yankee team is loose. This Yankee team forgot about last night, because, let’s face it, it was more of a celebration of the Red Sox being out of it than the Rays winning the Wild Card. Today is a workout day, tonight, a light dinner, talk alittle strategy, early bed of an early rise and my Yankees will be ready to go. They’re over it so I’m over it... I’m ready to see my Yankees do damage.

I wrote a piece simply titled WHY THE YANKEES WILL LOSE ALDS WITHOUT MOMENTUM. I was sick of losing the last few games of the season and was shooting from the hip. Luckily, you die-hards talked me off the ledge. @jenjeter2211 said it best. “Casey, we have momentum… home field, CC, Nova, Freddy... Jeter, Grandy."
She’s right. We DO have CC and the others. The Yankees CAN make their own momentum. Yankee Stadium during the playoffs is the best place in the world. We have the best fans in the world and the Yankees know that. They feed off that, they feed off each other. Can we win this ALDS? Yes, damn straight! Will it be tough? Yes, but there is one phrase that I forgot about in my 48 hours nervous insanity... “One game at the time.” We can do this, we WILL do this and we will advance… Why? Because we’re the God damn New York Yankees, that's why.

A few quick notes: Alex Rodriguez will be in the lineup tomorrow night for the start of the ALDS. Read about ARod HERE.

Jesus Montero’s X-Rays have come back negative and he’ll be ready to play. Read about it HERE.

Freddy Garcia will be the #3 starter in the ALDS behind CC Monster #1 and Ivan Nova #2.
The Yankees won 97 games this season. That’s no fluke, that’s not luck... that’s solid offense and solid pitching… and we were worried about our rotation all season...remember?

Get Ready Ladies & Gentlemen… here come our New York Yankees…Quest for 28 coming up!

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY IS PAPELBON CALLING MARIANO NAMES?

(Photo: Getty)
I don’t care for Jonathan Papelbon. I feel like the kid is way too arrogant for only being around for 7 years...but he is. I feel like he needs to be more of an athlete and be less cocky. True, it did cross my mind, I did think to myself, “Why can’t he carry himself more like Derek Jeter?” Well, maybe I was wrong about Papelbon... I doubt it, but maybe.

Ian Browne of MLB.com has a piece HERE about how Jonathan Papelbon is in awe of Mariano Rivera. Well, in fairness, who isn’t? But more importantly, I don’t even know if I believe Papelbon being complimentary of anyone but himself. Does he actually have a heart? If he does, it's probably 3 sizes too small...right? So I started reading and to be honest, I came away from the article caring for Papelbon less than I did before.

Browne writes: “Not only would Papelbon love to pass Rivera, he’s even told him as much. ‘I’ve told Mo, he’s the man of chase,” Papelbon said. “I’m going to go after him. There’s no question.”

‘I look at it like this: The guy is a freak,’ said Papelbon. ‘I know he’s a handsome looking guy and has those beautiful pearly whites, but he’s a freak.’"

Then something changed halfway through. Papelbon became human and his heart seemed to grow three sizes than before. He actually complimented our Yankees hero, there was no more aggression, no more “freak” name calling. Browne writes as Papelbon said:

“’I owe a lot of gratitude to him because of what he’s done. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him,’ Papelbon said. ‘I think everybody knows that.’”

Wow, well Jonathan, I know it now. I never thought it to be in your nature to actually give a compliment to anyone, to be nice, but it was the right thing to do and I'm proud of you. Good job.

I still don’t care for the way you carry yourself though, that’s my opinion…freak.

P.S. I loved How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

THE YANKEES RALLY CRY... WIN

I love blowouts when the Yankees play. I love good, clean hits, runs and rallies. I love winning streaks and dominant pitching, much like everyone else who loves the game of baseball. Well, the table is set for what seems to be the most important weekend in Yankees/Red Sox history. OK, maybe I’m being overly dramatic, but the point is clear; The Yankees are in first place, tied with the Red Sox and they are coming in with a 7 game winning streak. The Bombers are clicking night after night and if the passion for victory wasn’t clear before, it is now.It goes back to every big play against the evil Red Sox, and one of my favorites has to be Bucky Dent crossing home plate after his historic 3 run home run in the 1978 AL East division playoffs. It was beautiful then and beautiful even today when I hear Bill White's home run call.

I often think about Derek Jeter making a brave catch in foul territory and then sailing straight into the stands face first. That's heart, that's passion, that's wanting to beat the evil Red Sox so bad, you'd do anything to make sure it happened.



In all the games against division rivals, no games are more important than these 3 this weekend in Boston. I firmly believe that winning against all division rivals in the second half of the season is crucial, but beating Boston always feels the best for me. Seeing Derek Jeter fist pump after a victory means this is big and this weekend, we'll him do it. Seeing Alex Rodriguez crack a home run against Jonathon Papelbon brings smile to my face every time. While Alex isn't there, there's plenty great hitting from the Yankee lineup to keep the line moving. Hell, I just want to beat enough to make me smile the next 3 days.Bottom line, you need to win all 3 all or at least win every Series. The biggest test is against the biggest rival. It's tonight, no bullshit New York… this is it. Treat it like a playoff game. Do it for the fans and do it for you.



Look, I love a Yankees win but I love a Red Sox loss more, especially this time of year. Keep the hot hitting coming; Do you hear me Mr. Granderson? You have proven to be a true leader of this Yankee team and your leadership is needed more than ever right now. How about you Jeet? Can you continue to set the example for strength, passion and victory? I know you can. Teixeira, crank it over the big green monster, once, twice or 3 times, we love it. Gardy... run your ass off. This is it, make your point.

So, what's the key to the weekend? Great pitching for 1 and continuing the hot hitting for 2. I’ve preached about how I’d love our rotation be: 1-CC Sabathia, 2-Bartolo Colon, 3- AJ Burnett, 4- Freddy Garcia and I’ve explained my reasons in WHY FREDDY GARCIA IS THE YANKEES ROCK. I believe that formula can help this team in any big playoff or any big series.

Bartolo Colon has the confidence and the drive to get a win tonight. Freddy Garcia has the experience and the heart and creative ability to get hitters out, every time he's out there. The wild cards of Colon and Garcia have turned into assets and they are the key to the Yankees this year.

Big Bart has an important job tonight. He can’t think, he needs to motivate and dominate. Motivate the Yankees and dominate the Sox with his stuff. He needs to go 7 strong and he needs to make his pitches count. Once he does and once the Yankees own the Red Sox in the offense category, it’s just a matter of keeping them down. The evil Sox always fight back so that means once Colon gets the hook, Robertson, Ayala and Cory Wade need to tee up Mariano Rivera. No runs can score. They need to be the stopper.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching is the name of the game tonight. It's my message to the Bronx Bombers. Just win. Do everything you have to do to make sure these Red Sox know that there isn’t room for them in the AL East anymore. Bottom line, Red Sox Champs are so 2004. It’s 2011 now. We will win it all again, not them. Why? Because we’re the God damn New York Yankees, that’s why.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.