It’s more than laundry.

I’m a pretty cynical guy. Sometimes I wonder what the point of being a “fan of a team” is, after all, it’s just a corporation made up of a bunch of highly paid freaks of nature. But yesterday was touching.

What the Yanks did in playing Virginia Tech, and donating a million bucks to the school, may not mean all that much in the great grand scheme of things, but it seems inarguable that what they did touched people, showed people that the world cares for them and their loss.

What the Yankees did yesterday was pretty damn human, I’m proud to cheer for this organization.

The most exciting, yet totally unchanged Yankee team ever.

We’re about two weeks from Opening Day. Actually we’re 12 days 23 hours 18 minutes and 4, no 3, no 2, no no…hang on…ok you get the idea, Opening Day is like pretty soon.

Countdown To Opening Day

It could just be me, but doesn’t this upcoming season, feel way different than the past 5 or 6 seasons? Like I feel as though we have all this stuff to be excited about this season, even though the reality is that we’re returning exactly the same lineup that we finished last season with.

The only off season deals the Yankees made were deals to keep guys that were on the team last year, A-Rod, Posada, MoSada, Abreu, etc.

The Yankees lost Roger Clemens, and so what, I don’t care about his PEDs but he was obviously pretty much through by the end of the season. We get to see another twenty some, grump filled starts from Moose this season, we get to see if Pettitte can shake off the off season nonsense, so nothing new there.

We get to see Phil Hughes hopefully pick up where he left off the last time he was on the mound in a game that counted, we get to see Joba pitch without bugs in his nose, and we get to see if Ian Kennedy is really a legit #2 quality starter (I think he is.)

So, other than Morgan Ensberg and LaTroy Hawkins, there aren’t a lot of new faces on the Yankees entering the 2008 season, so why am I so excited for the season to start? Why do i find hope growing in my loins? Or is it my bosom? Either way, here’s why:

Change at the Top

This will the first season since 1995 that Joe Torre hasn’t been at the helm. What will it mean? Will the Yankees miss Torre’s ability to shield them from the media and go in the tank because instead of taking batting practice they will be sitting in press conferences that never end? Or was Torre’s skill at being a “calming, shielding, shielder” oversold, and overvalued, and will Girardi’s apparent love of physical fitness and running bring old number 27 to the Bronx? (Fucking finally, right?)

Sampling Error.

Just basing this analysis, on visits to the team’s home pages, doesn’t take tons of other fan venues into account.

Plus the dollar value of the Yankees is higher than the dollar value of the Red Sox, as is the brand recognition and “Q” scores.

Fluffer.

Man, that guy is dreamy, but Tommy Bahama? Come on.

This theory makes sense, no?

No, not really.

That theory only helps to possibly explain pitchers who have dominant first starts, and shitty second and third starts.

Scouts are dumb.

Don’t believe me? Check this shit out.
If you’re too lazy to click, it’s a link to a table of “Best Players” in various categories as complied by a bunch of presumably drunken scouts. If you think I’m being hard on the scouts, consider that under “Best Hitter” Ichiro is number one followed by A-Rod. That’s insane.

Ichiro Career EQa (adjusted for all time): .297

A-Rod Career EQa (adjusted for all time): .322

So, the next time you hear some old timer griping about how the stat nerdy guys don’t understand baseball, tell them to shut their pieholes.