I’m mad at everybody right now. Cano came up twice with two runners on base and one out, and he struck out both times. Totally lame. And how about Girardi’s decision to bring in Veras? Did it somehow escape our manager that Veras has morphed into the new Farnsworth?

But worst of all, Toronto beat Tampa Bay so the Yankees are in fourth place – fourth place! – where we haven’t been since 1992. 

Does everybody remember the Yankees of ’92? Aside from Mattingly, they were not a pretty sight. Here’s a little trip down memory lane – a trip I sincerely hope the Yankees brain trust in Tampa will take. If looking at this lineup doesn’t scare Hank and Hal into making changes in the off season, I don’t know what will.

(Imagine Bob Sheppard announcing the following and manager Buck Showalter handing the home plate umpire the lineup card….)

Matt Nokes – C

Don Mattingtly – 1B

Pat Kelly – 2B

Charlie Hayes – 3B

Andy Stankiewicz – SS

Mel Hall – LF

Roberto Kelly – CF

Danny Tartabull – RF

Kevin Maas – DH

Oh, and here’s a sample of our pitching staff that year….

Melido Perez….Scott Sanderson….Scott Kamieniecki….Greg Cadaret….Rich Monteleone….and my personal favorite Tim Leary, who got caught reaching for the emory board in his cap (or was it pine tar?) on national TV.

Pathetic! Just pathetic!

OK. I’ll calm down. So we’ll wind up in fourth place. No biggie. There are other things to celebrate than just winning divisions and wild cards. We can still count down to the end of the old Yankee Stadium. Well, we can if we’re lucky enough to have tickets for one of the final games. I live in California, so I won’t be there. I did try to enter the Yankees’ #1 Fan Contest and get free tickets to the last game. But you have to live in the Tri-State area, so I was ineligible. Did this team and its $200 million payroll not want to spring for the airfare? Or was it the thought of the hotel bill that freaked them out? The cab to and from LaGuardia? Come on, people!

Yeah, I’m mad.