You Are What Your Record Says You Are

So here we are at the All-Star Break, with 11 weeks left in a 26-week season, and the Yankees are at .500, 47-47.

Bill Parcells, who coached in New York (well, New Jersey) with the Giants and Jets, likes to say, "You are what your record says you are." And the Yankees' record says they're a .500 team.

This includes the Yankees' loss in their series finale in Baltimore last night, a game shortened by rain to the minimum amount to count, 5 innings.

Really, that sums up the Yankees' season: Like the game, the season has effectively been cut short by things beyond their control.

Brett Gardner led off the game with a home run, his 9th of the season. Think how much money you could have made betting that, at the All-Star Break, Brett Gardner would have more home runs than Robinson Cano.

But that was it. Chase Whitley, who started off so well for us, allowed 3 runs in the 4th inning, and had to be relieved. David Huff cut off the Oriole attack, but it was too late. The umpires called the game after 4 1/2 innings with the home team ahead. If the visiting team is ahead, or it's tied, the "official game" cutoff is 5 full innings.

Orioles 3, Yankees 1. WP: Kevin Gausman (4-2). No save (nor would there be in a game where the starter went the distance and the distance turned out to be only 5 innings). LP: Whitley (3-2).

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Here's the American League Eastern Division standings:

Baltimore Orioles 52-42
Toronto Blue Jays 49-47, 4 back, 5 in the loss column
New York Yankees 47-47, 5 back
Tampa Bay Rays, 44-53, 9 1/2 back, 11 in the loss column
Boston Red Sox, 43-52, 9 1/2 back, 10 in the loss column

Elimination numbers: Rays 57, Sox 59, Jays 63, Yanks 64. In other words, any number of O's wins and Yanks losses the rest of the way, adding up to 64, and the Yanks can't win the Division.

The Yankees trail the Seattle Mariners -- Cano's new team -- by 3 1/2 games, 3 in the loss column, for the 2nd AL Wild Card berth.

If the current MLB standings hold to the end of the season, this is how the Playoffs will go down:

Seattle Mariners in one-game Playoff at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, winner faces Oakland Athletics, with A's having home-field advantage in Games 1, 2 & 5 of the Division Series.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Detroit Tigers, with Tigers having HFA.

Atlanta Braves in one-game Playoff at San Francisco Giants, winner faces Los Angeles Dodgers, with Dodgers having HFA. (This would be the 3rd genuine Giant-Dodger Playoff, following 1951 in New York and 1962 in California, although there have been season-ending series where either team had to win to advance, and had to face the other in the process.)

Washington Nationals vs. Milwaukee Brewers, with Brewers having HFA.

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"You are what your record says you are." What the Yankees' record says is, "I'm not going to lie to you, it doesn't look good."

I will watch the All-Star Game opening ceremonies. I may even watch the game, after Derek Jeter takes his leadoff at-bat in his 14th and final ASG.

However, I will not watch the Home Run Derby tonight. A one-dimensional, made-for-TV thing that advances baseball not at all. It's a bigger joke than the NBA All-Star Weekend Slam-Dunk Contest has ever been.