Dude, really? What the fuck?

And yet I am continually amazed by the number people who seem to forget that during the course of 162 games in 6 months, every team is going to go through some rough stretches.

Perspective. It is a wonderful concept.

And after all the walk-offs, I started thinking this could be their year.

I will throw myself under the bus and say I advocated benching Swisher in the playoffs. I believe the next game is when he did get benched, and then came back and started hitting again.

In my defense, this is why I’m posting on a message board and not actually, you know, working in baseball.

I also think that some nights when the Yanks were losing the game threads were just too crazy to read…they pissed me off more than the Yankees losing. The ledge jumpers were out in full force. Instead of being a comraderie of fans who lived by the team, died by the team, you had the jumpers who couldn’t figure out if it was a ledge or a bandwagon they were going to jump on or off.

I really hate their negativity during a game thread because it obscures some of the people on here who can use humor and talk about other things when the Yanks are going down in flames. I just hate the harpers and whiners. And I usually wind up leaving the thread for the night.

“The GM of the New York Yankees may be the worst ever at the best job in the world. Which is why he’ll inevitably fail this year in his shameless attempt to buy a World Series.”

Matt Taibbi, Sux homer and douchebag.

(CONVERSATION FROM ESPN’S FIRST AND TEN, 5/18/09):

MIKE (HOST): The boys in the Bronx finally starting to earn that money that they’re making out there, the Yankees on a five-game win streak, 3 consecutive walk-off wins. Ryan – Is this a sign of things to come or just a blip on the radar?

RYAN STEWART (RS): Before the season started, Mike, to me the Yankees were the third best team in the AL East behind Boston and Tampa. Now Toronto’s jumped ahead of a couple of teams, so they’re now the fourth best team in my eyes. I love what this team has done when it comes to the off-season acquisitions and spending the money and going for it. But until the Bombers find a way to put Joba back in the ‘pen, they’re not going to win 85 to 90 ballgames. With all the money that they’ve spent, they still don’t have enough quality arms, and pitching is where it’s at if you want to win in the majors. i like A-Rod and he’s come through a tumultuous time, he’s hit a couple of home runs, he’s got a lot to do, still, but it’s on the mound in my eyes, Mike, they don’t have it there.

DOUG STEWART (DS): I think so. Since they get Alex Rodriguez back, they’re 7-3 with A-Rod, they were 13-14 [DS FUDGES THE NUMBERS A BIT HERE, BUT IT'S A MINOR ERROR] without Alex Rodriguez, and their last 4, their last 7 games, they’ve only given up 4 runs one time. CC Sabathia has pitched OK so far, Mark Teixeira is starting to turn it on, synonymously he always starts out slow so he’s starting to turn things around, and I think that the fact that they have the biggest payroll in baseball means something, and I mean it hasn’t meant a lot over the last couple of years, and i think that right now Joe Girardi is starting to get a feel for this team, the pitching’s been OK, I think this might be a sign that the Yankees are back on the track which they intended to be.

SKIP BAYLESS (SB): I’m with Ryan on this one because the point here was, over the weekend, they were just as close to losing 3 straight games as they were to winning. Just me, I was SHOCKED on Friday, in fact I fell asleep, when it went to the ninth inning because I felt Minnesota had it in the bag because Joe Nathan does not cough up games like that and they got him, or he coughed it up, however you want to look at it, but this is a blip to me, because I’m with you, I still… and I respect, you make valid points, I respect the Yankees… I still think Boston and Tampa are just overall better teams and I think that will show itself over time. I love what Toronto is doing so far, but I think they’ll end up in third place and I think the Yankees could be fourth place in this league.

RS: I’m sorry for cutting you off Mike. With all the money you spent, it shouldn’t come down to a walk-off home run for you to win a ballgame. And i don’t know if the team has confidence in Joe Girardi like they did in Joe Torre. Maybe that’s just a me thing.

HOST: But doesn’t it say something about the team that they’re actually starting to win these type of ballgames, these close ballgames where they were losing them earlier in the season?

SB: Ok. Tampa just quietly won 4 out of 5 and they still got a nuclear weapon down at triple A in David Price, just wait until he comes up. I don’t trust the overall starting pitching enough. And again, A-Rod hit the first pitch he saw for a home run and then he was like hitting .150 for a while. I just don’t know if he’s going to make that much of a difference against two organizations in the Red Sox and Tampa that are overall better.

DS: 2 things… The Yankees haven’t done this, won back-to-back-to-back games with walk-off home runs since 1972, that’s a good indicator, and, Chien-Ming Wang has been doing fantastic in the minor leagues pitching several, you know, scoreless innings so i think they might be turning the corner.

HOST: And AJ Burnett starting to pitch well too, maybe they CAN put Joba back in the bullpen (RS in the background: “That’s what they need to do!”) IF those, uh, starting pitchers come around.