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Can Yankee Fans Accept The Idea Of Probability If They Collapse?

By Greg Kirkland
"I really need to play more Mario Kart." -thinks a depressed Robinson Cano.
"I really need to play more Mario Kart." -thinks a depressed Robinson Cano.

Mood Music - Mario Kart 64 Losing Results by Nintendo. (For the record, Mario Kart 64 is my 2nd favorite video game of all time. This fact will probably interest people more than my article!)

After taking a look at the game last night, and ONLY the game last night, Greg Kirkland has come to the inevitable conclusion that the Yankees are indeed doomed. The New York Yankees, and we as Yankee fans, are looking at a monumental September collapse that will rival the monumental September collapses, or collapsi if you will, of the Braves and Red Sox in 2011. The 2012 New York Yankees will be looked upon with disgust, shame, humiliation, anger, and confusion. Think about it for a moment. Use your Yankee fan brain. How could a team that was really destined to fail from the Ibanez signing ever be a contender in this, our steadfastly strong American League East?

Could just simple chance be a reason? Luck? Good fortune? Bad fortune? Or could it be terrible management from Hellraiser 15: The Binder Has A Spiky Face? Perhaps awful Cashman decisions propelled the Yankees to their inevitability, a word that should always be spoken in a Hugo Weaving voice. These are the questions we are likely to hear. You've probably heard them before. In fact, you probably heard them last year when the Yankees made the playoffs and didn't get past the always and infallibly prediction five game ALDS series.

This is honestly what I find so funny about the whole doom and gloom scenario that fans have painted in their head. By the way, Greg Kirkland does not believe that the Yankees are doomed. I just wanted to be clear on the fact that it was sarcasm. I was using this sarcasm to depict the usual Yankee fans in our game threads and on twitter lately. Back to why this makes me laugh. Playoffs or not, the same silly questions seem to arise all the time. Like Zombies or horrible Final Fantasy games. Do I believe that asking questions like this mean that people should not be concerned? Of course not. Your emotions are you own. For now. What it means is that no matter how far we get or don't get, fans are never satisfied. Some have called this "passion." I call it silly.

There's nothing wrong with asking questions. There's something wrong with asking the same questions all the time and pretty much getting back the same exact answers. The. Same. Exact. Answers. Here, allow me to demonstrate...

  1. Q: Did you like Star Trek: The Next Generation? A: Yes.
  2. Q: Did you like Star Trek: The Next Generation? A: Yes.
  3. Q: Did you like Star Trek: The Next Generation? A: Yes.
  4. Q: Did you like Star Trek: The Next Generation? A: Yes.
  5. Q: Did you like Star Trek: The Next Generation? A: Yes.
Notice how the question and answer are the same five times? Put that into years the Yankees have had to answer the same questions every year. Annoying, isn't it? Except they have to answer this crap unless the result of their season is a World Series victory. This is the price of success I suppose. You can never fail.

I just supposed something else. Greg Kirkland is wrong and a tad stupid. The answers to the questions are not always the same exact answers. Usually their are multiple answers which usually reference the same questions asked over and over again. The issue I have is that the answer really should be the same all the time to the majority of those loser questions: Chance. The same answer to why any team can win a five game series is the same reason why the Yankees could win or lose the division. A huge portion of it is chance.

Girardi makes an awful bullpen decision. It works. It doesn't work. Math is awesome for predicting certain things, but probability still plays a factor. Could anyone predict the White Sox or Orioles would have the seasons they are having? Could anyone predict the Yankees, and the majority of the AL East, would be plagued with more injuries than Nordberg in the opening of The Naked Gun? Seriously, that clip almost perfectly represents the Yankees' injuries this season. In Spanish, no less. This season has been unpredictable because every season is unpredictable. Every series is unpredictable. Every game is unpredictable. I miss Brett Gardner.

Having typed all of this, I still haven't answered the first headline question; What would a collapse mean for the Yankees' fanbase? This is unknown territory for a lot of them. Sure, they've lost playoff series and they didn't make it in 2008, but this is different. In 2008, it was clear around this time that they were most likely not making the playoffs. This is different. This is the Yankees blowing a first place lead they've held throughout the year, with little to no competition from the usual rivals who now are in the gutter where they belong. We're potentially losing first place to the Orioles, the usual AL East gutter team. New Yankee fans have no real concept of this.

Perhaps they'll accept the idea of probability and the fact that the Yankees cannot possibly win every year. Perhaps they'll abandon their Yankees fandom like frontrunners usually do. Nevertheless, the questions will be asked and the usual excuse answers will be given. The Greg Kirkland that loves studying emotional reaction will love the results of this regular season whether they win or lose. No matter what, it's baseball and I love it! Fan reaction and all!

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