The Reeling Yankees, the Surging Orioles, and a Panic-Free Derek Jeter
By Tim Ryan
With 28 games to go before October dramatics and an obscene helping of Bruce Springsteen, the Yanks could very well be looking at a third place finish — the Rays are currently just 2.5 games back — to cap off what would be a hilarious meltdown to everyone on the outside looking in. The most thunderous laughter will of course emanate from the city of Boston, mostly because heaping misery prefers to weep with fellow losers.
So what are Derek Jeter’s thoughts on the manic panic sweeping the streets of Manhattan?
“Who’s panicking? You?” Jeter replied to a reporter. “Are you panicking? How do you deal with panic? I don’t panic, so I don’t have to deal with it.”
Just a perfect response from the Yankee captain to an all-too familiar question destined to go nowhere.
Has there ever been a professional athlete who actually replied to such a query with, “yes, I’m panicking, so much in fact that I’ve been sleeping inside my Jeter gift basket“? It’s asinine, but this is the kind of open flesh wound where the New York media prefers to toss its Junior Mints.
The reality is, the core of this Yankees roster has been through similar situations multiple times, it just so happens that the unexpected Orioles are the latest to play the role of noisemaker. However, until Baltimore, a team with 11 wins over their last 15, actually overtakes New York, the appropriate behavior for Yankee fans is to remain calm and pull the “Gary? Who’s Gary?” routine until further notice.
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