Last Gasp for Yanks' AL East Hopes

So: With 4 games left in the regular season, the Yankees are 3 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division.

The Yankees have wrapped up home-field advantage in the American League Wild Card Game, which will be played at Yankee Stadium, next Tuesday, October 3, against the Minnesota Twins.

That is not good enough. I cannot trust Joe Girardi to win a win-or-go-home game. He does not know how to manage a pitching staff.

The same would be true if the Yankees and the Red Sox finished tied for 1st place in the Division, because the result would be the same: A 1-game playoff at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees need to finish ahead of the Red Sox to give themselves any margin for error in the postseason.

The Red Sox' last 4 games are against the Houston Astros. Along with the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros have been 1 of the 3 best teams in baseball all season long. Lately, they have been playing well, and the Red Sox have been a bit shaky.

I am hoping the Astros can do the business for the Yankees, but even that is not enough. The Yankees have to do their own business, and that means winning all 4 of their remaining games.

* Tonight, the Yankees close out a series with the Tampa Bay Rays. Sonny Gray starts against Jacob Faria. And the Red Sox begin their series with the Astros, with Eduardo Rodriguez starting against Brad Peacock.

* Tomorrow afternoon -- why it's a 1:05 start, I don't know -- the Yankees start their final series, at home to, of course, those pesky Toronto Blue Jays. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Joe Biagini. That night, Doug Fister goes for Boston, Charlie Morton for Houston.

* On Saturday at 1:05, Jaime Garcia starts for the Yanks, against Marcus Stroman. At the same time, Drew Pomerantz starts for the Sox, against Lance McCullers Jr.

* And on Sunday, all MLB games start at 3:05 PM. Jordan Montgomery is scheduled to make -- if the Division is still possible at that point -- the biggest start of his career, against Brett Anderson. For Boston, their ace, Chris Sale, goes against Collin McHugh. In other words, the Astros' ace. Dallas Kuechel, who shut the Yankees out in the 2015 Wild Card Game, will not appear.

* If there is a 1-game playoff with the Sox, CC Sabathia will start it, on Monday, his regular day. The Red Sox starter would likely be Rick Porcello.

* Presuming, as now seems likely, the Yankees are in the Wild Card Game, Luis Severino would start, as he'd be on full rest. The Twins' starter would be Ervin Santana. That would be a little awkward for me, as he was the first MLB player to follow me on Twitter. I would have to root against him.

The only way the Yankees avoid a 1-game playoff, either with the Red Sox or the Twins -- or, God save our nerves, both -- is by winning 4 straight, while the Sox lose 4 straight. Granted, given the histories of these teams, we can't rule it out completely. But the odds are really long.

If either of those things happens, but not both -- if the Red Sox get swept but the Yankees only win 3 out of 4, or the Yanks sweep while the Sox only lose 3 out of 4 -- then it's a Yanks-Sox Playoff on Monday. Any other series of events, and it's a Yanks-Twins playoff on Tuesday.

To think, if we just had Andrew Miller for 4 games that Tyler Clippard blew, the Yankees would now be in the driver's seat. But Brian Cashman traded Miller for Clint Frazier. I don't give a damn what Clint Frazier in the future: Cashman threw away 2016, and the odds are better than 50-50 that he's thrown away 2017 as well.

When you have a chance to win the World Series, even if it's a 10-1 chance that you even win the Division (as was the case in 2016), you don't surrender, like Cashman did. You go for it.

"Prospects"? The Yankees have the money to get the job done every season, and to worry about the future when it comes.

Unless, of course, Donald Trump ends the world.

That's not the only reason I want the Yankees to win the World Series this year.

And they can. Right now, they're playing as well as Boston, as Cleveland, as Houston, as L.A., as the Washington Nationals, as anybody.

But if they don't win that 1-game Playoff, then the season, if not a waste (the coming seasons will determine if it was that), is a failure.

Enough is enough. If the Yankees don't at least make the AL Division Series, Girardi and Cashman need to go.

*

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 2, this Saturday night at 7:00, away to Toronto FC. They lost the MLS Cup Final away to Sporting Kansas City, and, this past Saturday night, despite coming from 2-1 down, blew a 3-2 lead in stoppage time and escaped with a 3-3 draw against their most hated rivals, D.C. United.


Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 2, this Saturday night at 7:30 PM, home to Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights blew a very good chance at an attention-getting win, away to Nebraska, last week, and are now 1-3. And now, they have to play the Buckeyes, ranked Number 11 in the country by the Associated Press (the AP is the sportswriters' poll), and Number 9 by United Press International (UPI is the coaches' poll, which is better-informed). Ohio State won last year's game 58-0. The year before, they won 49-7. Help...

Days until The Arsenal play again: 3, on Sunday, 7:00 AM our time, home to Sussex club Brighton & Hove Albion. This afternoon, in UEFA Europa League play, they traveled to the Eastern Bloc, and beat BATE Borisov of the Ukraine 4-2. "BATE" is an acronym of "Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics, as, like all former Soviet teams, they began as an industry team, what the English called a works side and America called a company team.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 8, a week from tomorrow night, at 7:00 PM, in a Greater Middlesex Conference/Shore Conference crossover game, home to Marlboro. Da Bears lost to Monroe last Saturday, falling to 0-3 against a team that had also started 0-2. An 0-10 season is a distinct possibility for Bob Molarz' Green-White Army.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 8, a week from tomorrow night, at 7:35 PM, against Panama, at Orlando City Stadium. This game will probably decide which of these teams qualifies for next year's World Cup, and which has to go to a tiebreaker to get in. There's 1 more qualifying match after this, away to Trinidad & Tobago, which is the last-place team in the group. If the U.S. wins both matches, they're in. If they lose to Panama, then they're in trouble. A draw, and it likely depends on what Panama does at home to Costa Rica, which has already qualified.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 9, a week from this Saturday night, home to the Colorado Avalanche.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 16, on Saturday night, October 14, against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. Their 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Sunday, January 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times by then. Their 1st game against the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times and the Islanders once by then. This is a weird schedule.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 24, on Sunday, October 22, against the D.C. Scum, at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Depending on when the new Audi Field opens next year (right now, they're talking about a June 2018 opening), this could be Metro's last trip to RFK. This is the last derby of the regular season. They could play New York City FC in the Playoffs, but the New England Revolution and the Philadelphia Union won't be faced again until next season.

Days until the Alex Rodriguez Contract From Hell officially runs out, and the Yankees can spend his salary on new players: 33, on October 31. A little over a month.

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 40, on Tuesday, November 7. A little under 6 weeks until we elect Phil Murphy, defeat Kim Guadagno, end Christieism forever, and send the Republicans and their illegitimate leader Donald Trump a message that their time has come and gone. But only if you vote!

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 44, on Saturday, November 11, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next North London Derby: 51, on Saturday, November 18, at the Emirates Stadium. A little over 9 weeks. This game was moved back to 5:30 PM London Time, 12:30 PM New York time, for TV purposes, but was not, as I thought it might be, moved to Sunday afternoon (morning, our time) or Monday night (afternoon).

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game: 56, on Thursday, November 23, at 10:00 AM. Exactly 8 weeks, and thank God it's at home, at Jay Doyle's Green Grove, rather than at that purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 134, on February 9, 2018. Under 5 months.

Days until Opening Day of the 2018 Major League Baseball season: 182, on Thursday night, March 29, as the Yankees open away to the Toronto Blue Jays. Just 6 months. Yes, the 2018 MLB schedule has been released.

Days until the Yankees' 2018 home opener: 186, on Monday afternoon, April 2, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 194, on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, at Fenway Park. Theoretically, they could play each other in the American League Championship Series (as happened in 1999, 2003 and 2004), which would begin on October 13 -- a Friday the 13th, so, take note, you superstitious Sox fans. That would be 15 days.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 259, on June 14, 2018. A little under 9 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Maybe. Or maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Vladimir Putin will tell his bitch Donald Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe only if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. If he doesn't, I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin has had people killed for defying him.

Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing most of these wonderful "prospects" for whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman threw away a chance at the 2016 Playoffs, and possibly the 2017 AL East title as well: 338. Now under 1 year, or a little over 11 months. Of course, Clint Frazier is already up, but the bubble has already burst on him, and we've hardly benefited enough to offset the cost of Andrew Miller. We could end up seeing another of them sooner than that, but since most of them are at Double-A Trenton now, if that, who's kidding who?

Days until the next Congressional election, when we can elect a Democratic Congress that can impeach and remove Donald Trump from the Presidency: 404, on November 6, 2018. A little over a year, or a little over 13 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 468, on January 9, 2019. A little under a year and a half, or a little over 15 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 833, on January 8, 2020. A little under 2 1/2 years, or a little over 27 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,031, on July 24, 2020. Under 3 years, or a little under 34 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 1,133, on November 3, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or a little over 37 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,111, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little under 3 1/2 years, or a little under 40 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.