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I'm not much of a fan of roller coasters. Dropping myself from a ridiculous height strapped in by a metal bar inside of a screaming death machine is not exactly my idea of a good time. And as such, the Yankees 2013 season was not my idea of a fun ride, either. Every time it seemed that the team was ascending to the point of making a run at the playoffs, a stretch of incredibly poor play seemed to follow. When the pitching was good, there was no hitting, and when the hitting turned around the pitching labored. They just couldn't put it all together, save for a stretch to begin the season which was completely unsustainable. So let's look back of the peaks and valleys of this crazy trip we've all been on.
| Month | W | L | RS | RA | W% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 16 | 10 | 120 | 110 | .615 |
Ah, April. Wonderful, absurdly successful April. Back in the days when Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner carried the offense and the home run was not just some mythical concept never to be seen again. This is the apex of the roller coaster, things never got higher than this point. You know the drop is coming, you just hope it's not too steep.
| May | 15 | 13 | 102 | 94 | .536 |
A little bit of a dip into May, but not too bad. The team reached 12 games over .500, their best mark of the season. Considering that it occurred in May is a bad sign. As the bats cooled, the pitching maintained. And look, still a positive run differential!
| June | 11 | 16 | 88 | 122 | .407 |
And there's the drop. The heart-stopping, terrifying descent into mediocrity. The month that torpedoed the Yankees' season and dropped them well behind Boston. 88 runs in 27 games, a 3.2 per game average. Outscored by 34 runs. From this point on, it was playing catchup the rest of the way.
| July | 14 | 12 | 102 | 92 | .538 |
The reinforcements arrive! This was the month in which Alfonso Soriano first made his presence known as illustrated by the team actually managing to cross the hundred runs scored mark. The coaster was back on track and in another steady ascent!
| August | 16 | 12 | 127 | 122 | .571 |
Second best month of the season! The offense comes alive thanks to Alex Rodriguez and his band of merry men! The pitching, er, starts imploding but the team is back within striking distance of the playoffs. Everyone is enjoying the ride and looking towards to final curve of the track.
| September | 13 | 14 | 111 | 131 | .462 |
The coaster catches fire and explodes. The Yankees go 1-10 against the Red Sox and Rays. The pitching is absolutely terrible. The coaster eases back into the station with a meaningless sweep of the Houston Astros. Everyone's depressed and/or in traction.
So, in a way, this season was the ultimate rollercoaster ride. There were some exhilarating highs, some shocking lows and enough Joba Chamberlain appearances to scare even the most veteran of riders. Just when it seemed you were on top of the world, you plummeted to the point of screaming yourself deaf. In the end, the 2013 season will be considered a disappointment, but it certainly wasn't boring.