Baseball teams like people are creatures of habit. Another year and another slow start for the Yanks.  What comes next should be no suprise - the prima donna Yankee fan base is up in arms (and thanks to the babeling of Andrew Blanco, they demand reparations NOW).  Cries in the night to rebuild, and calls for Brian Cashman’s head are running rampant on local talk radio shows and fan message boards.  Predictably this is no shock, and sadly it only gets worse each year.  Too many Yankee fans are spoiled by this franchise’s historic run of success that began in 1994, and these over-privileged fans are outraged by the team’s audacity to begin the 2008 campaign with a mortal 5-5 start.

Lest we forget this team is infamous for lackluster April’s, yet routinely gains momentum as the season wears on.  Sure it is cliché but baseball is a marathon not a sprint.

Personally, I just throw the woe is me Yankee fan banter right out the window.  It pisses me off and it is the reason other people shudder when they find out I am a fan of the Bronx Bombers.  The looks are so terrifying it is as though I am burdened by the disease of the lepers.  But fear not as I understand your acrimony, it is the same hatred I have for the Dallas Cowboys and their pompous fan base (see I can make gross generalizations too).

But I digress as I do not want to get further side-tracked from my point.  This 2008 Yankee team will be dominant because of a simple dynamic that lurks menacingly in their recently bereft bullpen.  The overpowering combination of Joba (pronounced like everyone’s favorite black market dealer on Tatooine) Chamberlain and the legendary Mariano Rivera.   In a baseball sense, these two are the closest thing to a guarantee.  With these two dynamos closing games where the Yankees are leading after 6 innings, leaves the opposition with virtually no chance to comeback.  It is arguably beyond argument; there is no better bullpen tandem in the big leagues.

Over the course of the season, their physical effect on the game will be eclipsed by the mental burden that is inflicted, as opposing teams will always know what is poised to strike should they be losing to the Yankees late in the game.  Some people might say, “come on they are professionals and they are above fear and doubt”.  Remember, athletes bleed just as we do and they too feel adversity and the prick of a steroid needle.  How did that get there anyway?  The opposition will be cowering as they hear the prophetic double talk of Yogi Berra in the back of their minds, “it got late, early”.

If you think back to 1996, the Yankees were a team with far less offensive talent than the 2008 incarnation.  This does not bode well for Yankee haters.  More than likely the potent Yankee offensive will supply enough firepower to ensure Joba and Mo have plenty of late leads to protect.  This is going to be a carbon copy of 1996, when Mariano would own the 7th and 8th innings while John Wetteland would come in and slam the door shut in the 9th.  This formula allowed a solid but inexperienced team to go on and win a championship against the imposing Atlanta Braves.

While I am hardly prepared to pronounce the 2008 Yanks champions of baseball, I just want to call back the Yankee fan base from the precipice of doom.  Remember, your team does not boast a divine right sent forth from the heavens to be the greatest team in the Universe year after year.  Regardless of what Hank Steinbrenner says.  Just be happy you are a fan of the greatest organization in sports, and remember it is a privilege and an honor to call yourself a Yankee fan.  Sit back and enjoy the fact that you can watch three first ballot hall of famers take the field night in and night out.  These are ballplayers you will tell your grandchildren about.  Sit back and enjoy this team, and pay proper homage to the House the Ruth Built as this is the last year you will have such an opportunity.  And please for the love of God stop sounding like a bunch of morons, we are supposed to be the smartest fans in sports!