The Padres are going. So are the Angels. The Tigers will get a dance, too. The Yankees…
Haha! Not so much.

This is the time when the rest of the baseball world gloats with a one-sided smile. The mighty Yankees aren’t going to the postseason this year. It would mark the first time since 1993 that it has happened.

It was a valiant effort. Too bad they ran out of Royals and Orioles pitching staffs to feast on.

Unless Joe Torre is going to borrow John Turturro’s prosthetic ears, even a month long homestand facing Daniel Cabrera every night wouldn’t have set this ship right. All the money in the world can’t buy a championship and that makes me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside.

The best laid plans don’t always account for an aging bullpen anchored by an aging closer with the nosferatu shoulder. Without the cut on his fastball Rivera has looked like an over-the-hill Jorge Julio. Even Kyle Farnsworth is making fans long for the days of Ron Villone.

The rotation has been a patchwork with a high price tag as well; Mussina appears to be done, Clemens hasn’t been the band-aid they envisioned and they have yet to have a reliable 5th slot starter all season.

The Yankees will face their biggest hurdle this week as they take on the Boston Red Sox and depending on the outcome they could fall all the way to 11 games behind the division leader. Unless the Yankees can invoke the spirit of ’78, these bombers are toast.