This week the Yankees were defeated by the Cleveland Indians 3 games to 1 in the ALDS. This marks the 3rd year in a row that the Yanks have failed to get past the first round of the MLB playoffs. Joe Torre is most likely out as manager, and many are crying for the removal of GM Brian Cashman as well. Derek Jeter hit into double play after double play against the Tribe and Alex Rodriguez (once again) had a sub-par post season – going 0-fer during the first 2 games.

Pitching was a problem all year for the Yanks, but in a surprising twist, it was the 19 game winning Ace of the staff, Chien-Ming Wang who was absolutely hammered during games one and four – giving the New York virtually no chance to keep up with the likes of Cy Young frontrunner C.C. Sabathia and scrappy junk-baller Paul Byrd. The Yankees led the league in Batting Average, RBI, and Homeruns (the franchise triple crown) but were still unable to slug their way past the Tribe.

The last time the Yankees made it passed the opening round was 2004. Does anyone remember that year? That’s right – After leading the Boston 3-0 in the ALCS, the Yankees fell in 7 Games to the Red Sox who went on to sweep the World Series for their first Championship in 86 years. The “cursed” Sox overcame the greatest deficit in sports history on their way to an improbable championship – leaving behind them all thoughts of a curse.

So I ask you this – Is it possible for a sports curse to be transferred from one team to another? Can one team somehow absorb a curse from another? If so, wouldn’t a record-setting comeback be just the way to do that. Remember the movie, “The Ring” and how the only way to remove the “7-day” curse was to replicate a VHS tape (which was the medium of choice, the last time the Yankees won the World Series, by the way) in order to propagate the curse, potentially leading someone else become afflicted?

I think this is what has happened to the Yankees.

Now, Joe Torre (the club’s 3rd winningest manager) is going to be fired and all indications are that A-Rod will opt out of his contract. Abreu, Posada, Pettitte, and Rivera are free agents – (I don’t expect Rivera and Abreu to stick around, but the other two might) the team looks to be on the brink of a major over-haul. Steinbrenner will, no doubt, be looking to make some serious changes in the organization during the off season. I don’t see Cashman going anywhere, but I am very sure that Torre is out and it looks like he’ll take Rivera with him.

Torre has had his job longer than anyone under The Boss’s regime – but don’t expect the next guy to be so lucky. The Yankees are in danger of falling into the same category as the Cubs may now be in – that is, a good team that is forced to endure so much pressure, that it shatters during the highly volatile post season. This year’s off season could very well shake the team up enough that each subsequent year causes more turmoil, which in turn yields more shakeups. This could be a difficult few years for the pin-stripers. Only time will tell.

Long live the curse! Here’s to 80 more years of failures and heartbreaks in the Bronx!

PS – My diagnosis for the Cubs is simple: Just get to the post season more often…Once every 5 years is not cutting it. You need to get there for a few years in a row - let the players and fans realize that this isn’t a once in a lifetime shot at greatness – get rid of some of the pressure and, eventually, you’ll win one… I think that played a huge role in the 2004 success of the Red Sox as well.

Go Sox!! I can’t wait to see you soon in Phoenix or Denver!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 5:23 pm and is filed under Baseball, Red Sox, Yada Yada. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.