WHY THE YANKEES ARE COMING

(In Photo: Brian Gordon / Getty)
We’ve had injury and some slow points in the season, but the New York Yankees have never given up. We’ve had to reach back, find a few pieces that can fill the holes, and those pieces have shined like diamonds. Brian Gordon, Eduardo Nunez have done their part. Hell, you can go back to Hughes going on the DL and Bartolo Colon rising as a true Yankee ace. Luis Ayala? Love the kid. I could go on and on. Brian Cashman has made moves that many would call silly on paper. Brian Cashman saw potential. Brian Cashman is a genius.

The best part of all of this is the New York Yankees have suddenly clicked as a team. What I mean by that is slumps are disappearing and like Mikey Blue has said in WHY AJ MAKES ME SCRATCH MY HEAD, while you never know what your going to get with him, AJ is suddenly giving us what we need. He's confidence, he's a leader. Players have stepped up, players have worked out the kinks. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is our battle cry…the 2011 New York Yankees have arrived.

Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada have been leading the charge as of late and thank God. So many of us love these guys. Poe Poe to me is the ultimate New York Yankee and while everyone was on this guy's back, I said to back off a bit. Jorge and I are the same age. I find it absolutely terrible that players are considered over the hill at 39 years old, but it's life. I knew he had it in him though, he's finally hitting. Well, haters, where are you now? No one's ripping Posada now, huh? Why? Because he’s helping his team? Listen up, Posada needed his rhythm in his new role, and guess what... Posada is back.

Nick Swisher just needed to find the stride too, it took longer than I expected, but the guy is loved and now that his hot streak has come, there’s no looking back for this guy. One of my friends is a gigantic Sox fan. She saw Nick and Joanna Garcia, his wife, walking in New York City 2 days ago. She sent me a note that read:

“I just saw Swish and his wife in the city. We looked at each other. He smiled. He always smiles, it’s hard not to like him.”

Does that say it all? It does for me, this guy just won over an evil Red Sox fan in the matter of moments. By the way, her husband’s a Yankee fanatic… wonder how that works?

Anyway, my point is, things are clicking and the Yankees are about to make a pennant run. Even with the injuries, this year strangely feels like 1998 or 2009. They keep finding ways to win, no matter what. Derek Jeter’s hurt? OK, we’ll put Nunez in that role. Colon is out? Hey, Brian Gordon’s available. Freddy Garcia goes tonight? OK, make that 7 wins for Freddy. The strange is taking over in the Bronx and it's for the better, and I like it.

I mentioned 1961 in WHY IT’S 1961 ALL OVER AGAIN. Another element of 2011, my fascination with the home run race. Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson have alittle home run thing going. It’s slowed down a bit lately, but make no mistake, players feed off each other. Just like Maris and Mantle did, I have no doubt that the hit machine between Granderson and Teixeira will begin again. Tex starting hitting them again, and look for Grandy to start up soon. How do I know? I don’t, it’s just a gut thing.

Russell Martin has been quiet lately, but he wants to join the party, you can see it in his eyes. He was looking to break out and suddenly, he is. Home run 2 days ago and he just recently has looked real good at the plate.

My point is, you take all the things that are already working, like CC, Mariano, Alex, D-Rob and you throw in these surprise talents and hot bats and suddenly the New York Yankees have reached their high watermark, 17 games above .500 with yesterday's win and to me, I feel like it can only get better. I'll put this in perspective; the Red Sox have what appears to be a better team on paper, yet, in reality, the Yankees are 2 ½ games in first place and not looking back. Plus, we have some of the filler in the lineup, and we still are finding ways to win. Looking at teams on paper is fine, but the Yankees are the reality right now. Are you hearing me Las Vegas?

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