Damn Yankees

This is the season of the New York Yankees' discontent. The team, which began to look past its prime in last year's playoff struggles, distinctly looks old this season. A number of its marquee players are either washed up or in decline. The good, younger players can't quite carry the full load that comes with being on a Yankee team.

The biggest issue for the Yankees is the team's pitching. Mariano Rivera, the relief closer who is arguably the team's most important player, has barely worked up a sweat this year. The Yanks are relying on two very old, retread starters to give them innings. Ironically, they might be the team's most consistent arms. That's not a good sign, as baseball's season is a long one.

While the Yankees will snap out of their current, dreadful slump (as did their principal AL East competitors), los Yanquis may not have enough gas in their tanks to win more than 90 games. That means the team of Ruth, DiMaggio, and Mantle will be third in the AL East race. That means New York will be out of the playoff money, something of a fate worse than death in demanding Gotham.

The photograph shows the Mickey Mantle monument in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park.