162 Preseason Games Leading Us To This

Brethren: When I moved to New York a scant four months ago, I had only known a handful of Yankees fans in my life. They were all displaced fans who all had excuses like, "My Granddad lives in Tampa where they play preseason ball" or "I lived in New York until I was 8." So with very limited interaction with this breed of human, I assumed most were the straight-of-the-assembly-line, root-for-the-house-in-blackjack kind of bile that most media I consumed had told me they were. And upon my arrival in the city (you could feel something change in the air, really), I was in no mood to believe anything else.

But here we are, at the beginning of October and I've met some real live Yankees fans who are Yankees fans because they truly grew up in a Yankees environment and they know the game. And since I don't yet have that homegrown connection to any baseball team, I'd figure I'd enlist some help to get the perspective of a Yankees fan as they had into their 38th* consecutive postseason -- without a World Series title since that fateful year 2000.

Your writer is Joe McHeffey, the designer and developer of the coolest new website out there: myfruitrollups.com. He made the red FRUdude on the site in his image. His words:

So here we are on opening day of the real Yankees season, the post-season. Only this time there's something missing. Let's see...we have the air getting cooler, the bunting up at the stadium, all the kind words from Sox fans up north, the constant badgering from ruthless Mets fans. Wait, that's it! At long last I may be able to relax and enjoy a Yankee's post-season without defending every piece of the game. I'm sorry, but had to get this in here. If you're a Yankee fan watching a game this post-season and you're being harassed by a Met fan, you know the drill. Just bring up the end of their season and you can continue watching the game in peace.

Joe's real baseball break down, desde:

The Red FRUdude: 1. As usual there are questions being asked about the age and effectiveness of the Yankees starting rotation. I'll admit that the past few years I had no clue what was going to happen with the rotation, however this year feels different. I can easily see Wang going 7 innings and giving up 3 runs for a 5-3 win. Following that Pettite pitches a gem sending the yankees home up 2-0. Now nobody knows what The Rocket will bring, but I don't think it will be enough for the win. However, in game 4 Moose continues his recent success and goes 6 innings for the clinching win.

2. Joba dominates. Enough said.

3. Damon, Abreu and Mientkiewicz play big supporting roles. Jeter and Posada continue the consistent play, each hitting around .400 for the series. Jeter comes up once again with clutch hitting. A-Rod doesn't fully break out of his post-season slump but he comes through with 2-3 key hits and really helps the team defensively.

4. Mariano is his old self leaving no doubt he is the best post-season closer of all time.

5. Joe Torre cries, which is a good thing.

Yanks in 4, MVP - Jeter.

Of course let's hope this is what happens otherwise the peace and quiet could turn to loud and obnoxious real quick.

Brethren: And I was wrong, all Yankees fans are off-the-assembly-line, root-for-the-house-in-blackjack bile. Sorry.