I’ll take any opportunity to post a pic of a cupcake, but this “sweet 16″ cupcake seemed particularly apt. The Yankees have 16 games left in the regular season – 16 games! – and suddenly it hit me: baseball is actually winding down. Doesn’t it feel as if it only just started? As if we were all talking about our hopes and dreams for 2012? Time does fly.
And now here we are, confronting a final stretch filled with lots of games against the Blue Jays, Rays and Red Sox. If we were sick of those opponents before, we’re about to get really sick of them.
I wish we had more than a one-game lead (no idea how the Orioles will do against the Mariners tonight), but that’s the situation. Wish we had a healthy Tex and a 100% healthy Jeter, but we don’t. Wish we knew how Pettitte will do and whether it’ll rain tomorrow night and if Cano will finally come alive and hit with RISP, but there are no guarantees.
My hunch is that the Yankees will be the Yankees and find a way to win the division. In two weeks we’ll know if my hunch was right. Meanwhile, I’ll let Bald Vinny and the Bleacher Creatures do the honors in welcoming Pettitte back to the team.
Tags: Andy Pettitte, Bald Vinny, Bleacher Creatures, last 16 games, roll call, Yankees
I wait all winter for baseball and then it’s so exciting when it starts. And now we are down to the wire and it’s a nail biter. I love going to the stadium. It’s so special and worth the two hour trip – the enthusiasm of the fans, the bleacher creatures, YMCA, etc.
I wait all winter too, Freya, and it pains me when I see football start up because I know it means our season is coming to an end. Sigh. Let’s hope it lasts well into October.
I was at that game on Mother’s Day! And we lost… :( Arg. We’ll have another return tomorrow, and I doubt it’ll end the same.
Speaking of returns, I was there for Nova’s return on Saturday. I haven’t seen any replays, but it sure looked like ‘vintage’ Nova! (as vintage as his young career allows anyway)
Can’t say anything other than we control our own destiny. If we win against the teams that we should, then we’ll be there in the end. Oakland is the only team left that is above .500, and they have to play in our house. I doubt the Yankees forgot about that little four game sweep back in July. I sure haven’t!
Oh, and at last check, the Orioles are up 10-1 in the bottom of the sixth. It was 7-0 against Hector Noesi in the second inning before they finally took him out. Way to show that ex-Yankee pride…
Jane, you forgot to mention the team that worries me the most in these final 16 games, Oakland. They are bad mojo.
Before visiting Oakland near the end of July, Yankees were 57-34, 13 games over .500. Then came four consecutive 1 run losses. From there we went to Seattle and lost A-Rod. Since then, the Yankees are 26 and 29.
This is BAD! Bad I tell you.
I’ve been focused on just 16 games left too. I have been working a lot and lots of doctors appointments early and sleeping too little so my husband said you have to stop staying up for these Yankee games and get some sleep. I said with a few weeks left of the season, I need to see them all. I hope they bring us joy. I am so excited for Andy. Nova was great in his return, here’s hoping Andy can be too.
Hope they get the game in…we could really use the positivity that Pettitte would bring to the Stadium. The teams, like Boston and Toronto, that are out of the running really love hurting the teams that are in or near first place (we’re only up by a half a game over Baltimore but first is first) so we really have to step it up against these teams. GO YANKEES!!!
You and Smplefy (Hi Mihael) are right about Oakland, YankeeCase. I didn’t forget to mention them – we only play them for one series as opposed to the teams in our division – but they’re a concern. Still, as you say, we control our own destiny. If we win games, we’ll be fine. If not, not.
Hope all is well with the doctors appointments, Barbara. And your husband’s right: all this matters but it’s not worth losing sleep over.
He does bring positivity, Diane. Everybody rises to the occasion when he’s around, especially his fellow starters.