I've actually brought something similar to this up before I officially became a writer incoherent word typist on our beloved Pinstripe Alley. Ironically enough, I believe it was my ramblings about why I believe the Michael Pineda trade was made in the first place. Yet, here I am again wondering a somewhat similar question regarding a post fellow PSA writer Frank made last night regarding worrying about Michael Pineda's velocity. I don't know what it is about Michael Pineda that just seems to inspire these types of questions into the mindset of the Yankees fan from me, but it's really just something I find compelling to study, especially when I have such a diverse and unique set of Yankees fans here on Pinstripe Alley to pose these questions to. If you're wondering if this means I'm studying you and your psyche, then I can promise you that the answer is a resounding yes and that I'mGivingYouARaise is always studying you and your psyche, because that's just what I do. It's okay if I'mGivingYouACreepyFeeling, because I'd probably be a little disturbed by me as well. At the very least this knowledge is giving you a laugh.
Anyway, this post will feature a series of situations and questions that are meant to judge what kind of Yankees fan you are when it comes to worrying or not caring, to stats or no stats, and basically try to gauge your type of fandom. To be fair and to let it be known that I am never above not describing how I feel about certain situations and answering my own questions, I will indeed answer my own questions after the jump about how I feel. If you know me by now than you should pretty much already know my answers to a bunch of these questions. Feel free to answer in any which way you like but as detailed an answer as you can give would be much appreciated.
Here we go after the jump...
Situation #1. The Yankees have made the playoffs seventeen times in the past eighteen years. Are you worried about the Yankees not making the playoffs? If so, why? Does it now have to do with something else like Selig's new Wild Card elimination death match. Are you worried about them not winning the division after the new Wild Card structure was put in place? If not, is it because you believe the Yankees know what they are doing or because the system is unfair?
Situation #2. Is there anything specific that you, as a Yankees fan, are concerned with year after year? Something like pitching, hitting, current managerial status, or something like that? Could it be injuries perhaps? Perhaps it deals with players you like getting traded and players you think are bad being allowed to stick around for whatever reason?
Situation #3. As mentioned in Situation #1, the Yankees have made the playoffs seventeen times in the past eighteen years. With that kind of unbelievable track record for that long, would it actually really bother you if the Yankees did not make the playoffs for whatever reason, be it injury or simply being outplayed by the other teams in the division? Would not making the division series due to the Wild Card one game death match bother you, especially if the Yankees finished with a much, much better record?
Situation #4. When the Yankees do make the playoffs and do not win the World Series, do you go into analysis mode to try to figure out why or do you just shrug it off and say something cliche like "better luck next year" or something like that? While trying to figure out why they didn't quite make it, do you listen to the talking heads of the New York Sports Media tell you why they didn't win or do you simply make your own assessment?
Situation #5. It's a long season. When do you really start to get interested in how the Yankees are doing in terms of team cohesion and how certain players are doing? The offseason? Spring Training? April? May? The All-Star Break? Do you not really care at all and just enjoy the ride because it's just a sport to you? Furthermore, do you heavily study statistics & analysis, whether older or newer stats, or just go with what you see, or also what you hear from the talking heads around the New York Sports Media? How does this or doesn't it play into when you start to get interested in how the Yankees are doing?
That's it. I hope these are easy enough questions to understand as I do tend to ramble for a bit, but I really do find these type of psychological fan studies fun and interesting. Even though these questions pretty much apply mainly to Yankees fans, other fans can feel free to answer as well to the best of their ability or with their own teams. I do hope people participate, but I totally understand if they don't want me studying them!
IGYAR's Answers.
#1. At this point I am honestly never concerned with the Yankees not making the playoffs. Even with the new Wild Card system that Selig vomited in place, I still really have no concern that they won't make it and in fact think that the new structure makes it easier for the Yankees to make that playoffs every year. I think at this point not only do they know what they are doing but since they are baseball's most profitable team, the system is somewhat rigged so that they make it in all the time. Despite the 2010 Yankees thing, I think the new Wild Card system just goes further to prove that baseball is much more of a business then people really realize and that since the Yankees are the most profitable franchise, they always want the Yankees in.
#2. My prime concern are definitely injuries, as I never want to see players get hurt. First and foremost, this is just a sport and I hate to see people that love playing the sport I love to watch get injured. Plus, injuries can really destroy a team's chances and they are almost impossible to predict.
#3. Honestly, with as much success as I've seen with the Yankees for a long time now, it really wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I'll admit though, the Wild Card death match would bother me for the simple reason that I really hate the rule and think it's as anti-baseball as they come.
#4. Despite my attitude towards not really caring if the Yankees win in the playoffs due to the same reason of success as #3., I still do like to analyze the series they lost in to make my own assessment as to why I think they didn't go further.
#5. I probably start focusing in on it more around May, as I feel Spring Training is to primarily get the kinks out and in April I'm just so excited and happy that regular season baseball is back on again. I am definitely not a stats guy and I primarily go by what I see. However, I am definitely not about stats proving me wrong if what I see simply isn't true, because the seeing-eye analysis is definitely not without fault or bias. I fully admit I was wrong about Jones last year.