Woe are the Yankees, doomed to oblivion by home futility before unsold sections, the excavation of their captain, the looming Hurler from Hell and a lineup sucking wind through a toothpick. Their fans, conditioned to World Series entitlement, are tearing out hair and rending garments.
The end is nigh.
Sure, but...
True, Derek Jeter, a bronze bust-in-waiting and several wins a year better than a replacement level player like Eduardo Nunez, will watch in a cast.
True, three of the next five games are in Detroit, and two of them will be pitched for the Tigers by the baddest thrower on Planet Earth.
True, the middle of the order is waving at distant pitches -- in the dirt, around their chest, in the visiting dugout. Nick Swisher is 4-for-26. Alex Rodriguez is 3-for-23 with 12 strikeouts. Curtis Granderson is 3-for-26. And for you momentum fans, Robinson Cano entered the playoffs hitting .615/.628/1.026 in his last nine games. In the seven since, he's 0-for-26.
Things look bleak.
But baseball is a fickle game. Justin Verlander gets strafed now and then. Guys break 0-for-26 skids with multi-homer games. Whole lineups slump together and then revive as one. Two wins -- one, two -- change everything. Then suddenly home field has returned. The crowds come back. The other team's on its heels. And CC takes the ball.
The modern era of Yankee dominance began in 1996 when the post-Mattingly Bombers met the defending champ Braves in the Fall Classic and got hosed by Maddux and Glavine in the first two games. Then they came back to win the Series in six. They won again in '98, '99 and '00, won the AL in '01 and '03 and took the championship again in '09.
More recently, like last week, the Giants dropped a pair at home to the Reds and came back to sweep a trio of road games to advance to the NLCS. It can happen.
New York remains the best team still standing, wobbly though they've been. That lineup can't remain unhinged forever. Abandon hope all ye who enter here? Okay, unless they win Tuesday.
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