In 1994, I was 11-years old. I don't even think I had started to like girls yet, and it was a close competition as to whether or not NHL '93 or Madden '95 was my favorite game for the Sega Genesis.
I walked the halls of my elementary school with my L.A. Lights sneakers and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers lunch box. Saved by the Bell was still making new episodes for Saturday mornings, and Michael Keaton was the best Batman I could ever imagine.
I was still hoping Pat Kelly would turn out to be a decent ballplayer after the strike and that the Giants' quarterback, Dave Brown, could lead the G-Men to the Super Bowl (I was young and stupid).
I watched SportsCenter every morning, with the hideous brown tones and not one LCD screen behind Dan Patrick, Keith Olbermann, or Charlie Steiner.
This was the last time I would go an October without watching Yankee playoff games.
I'm 25 now and looking seriously at the possibility of a Yankee-less October. The Yanks are nine games back of the Rays and five games back of the Red Sox for the wild card.
It's not so much the numbers right now, as there is still a month and a half left in the season, but it's the way the Yankees are playing.
Despair is looking at Yankee fans right in the face.
In order to ease the potential blow, I have come up with 10 activities to keep myself (and other Yankee fans) busy during October. I didn't really even know there were other activities besides baseball...
10) Actually work a 40+ hours a week or go to all your classes.
It doesn't sound appealing, but throwing yourself into your work or studies may be just what you need to forget about the Angels, Rays, and White Sox. Besides, you need to make up for all those hours you got paid for being at a bar, or watching on the Internet, or pretending to work while using an ear bud. It's karma.
9) Watch football.
You and I both know it's not as good as Jeter going to the hole and firing to first, or a five-story homer by Giambi, but it is exciting, and the New York teams do have interesting story lines this year. The only drawback is that it only occupies Saturday and Sunday.
8) Do autumn things.
It turns out that autumn is actually a nice season when you go out of the house and get away from repeat episodes of Baseball Tonight. There's apple picking, hayrides, cider drinking, and pumpkin carving. It also turns out that girls love this sort of thing: Bonus!
7) Reorganize tool shed/house/basement/closets.
Spring cleaning is always missed due to Spring Training, so take this once-every-15-year opportunity and reorganize your dwellings. Hopefully you won't have to again for another 15 years.
6) Catch up on the wife's TO-DO LIST
I don't have a wife yet, but I have enough buddies to know that the wife's TO-DO LIST is important. So go to Home Depot, pick out that paint, buy those extra shelves, and get to work. Just because the Yankees can't move runners into scoring position doesn't mean you can't.
5) Start watching the NBA.
The Knicks...uhh nevermind. Diehards only.
4) Start watching the NHL.
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3 months ago
haha very funny to-do list and I figure that I too should start planning on what I can do to pass the time during the baseball playoffs. I cant even imagine what it would be like sitting on the outside looking in as my latest yankee memories date back to 1994 (the strike), but this terrible play makes it impossible for me to believe that this team has what it takes to make a run to the playoffs again. could that 8 game streak after the all star break be their last push??...it sure looks that way at this point...this offense really needs to wake up (they are the most under-achieving unit on all of sports this year-no excuse for this kind of performance) Getting blanked by pitchers who are barely hanging onto their rotation spot is getting annoying
3 months ago
Number 1 is awesome. A few years ago I started a list of 100 reasons Roger Clemens had to come back to the Yankees. It didnt help...
3 months ago
http://ccsabathia52.com/contact.html
3 months ago
ccsabathia52@gmail.com
3 months ago
I still think the yanks will make the playoffs. but time is running out ,and let me say this our pitching isnt at fault but arod and jeter is . both have been bad very bad in spots that we need a hit. wake up guys its getting dark early.
3 months ago
Wow, Shawn, great article and what a lucky guy you are. I'm 55 years old, my first memories of baseball with my grandfather being the Yankees of the early 60s with Mantle, Maris, Berra, Ford, Kubek, etc. And I thought they were supposed to be in the World Series every year since they had been in '60, '61. '62, 63 and '64. But I had to wait 12 years until Chris Chambliss hit the homer to beat the Royals and put the Yanks in the '76 series where we were swept by the Big Red Machine. But I can still remember what the wall paper looked like in that apartment where I saw that game. And I can remember where I was when Bucky Dent hit the homer in '78 in the playoff with the Sox and where I was when Boone hit the homer that put is back in the World Series in '03 and where I was when the Sox came back and whipped us four straight in the '04 ALCS. I'm going to put your list on my refrigerator and begin to work on it now.
from 3 months ago
I am quite lucky. I only had to put up with the Danny Tartabull/ Jesse Barfield years for a little while. I know where I was for every big game as well. Thanks for the feedback. Being a Yankees fan is great when you can really appreciate the history of the team and the moments they have provided us.
from 3 months ago
you also got to see an aging Ron Guidry and an agin Reggie Jackson too ;o)
don mattingly
chris chambliss
dave winnfield
dave righettie
3 months ago
great article, man!!
3 months ago
Oh dear lord. I'm a Phillies fan. Need I say more? I remember my Danny Tartabull year...all 4 at-bats of it. It wasn't all bad, he did hit a couple of foul balls. Unfortunatly one of them was off his foot and we never saw him again.
3 months ago
I can't see how they make it to the playoffs. Guess I will be eating chicken wings and watching football in October.
3 months ago
It must be great to be a Yanks fan and only have to worry about this every 10 friggin years. Ask a mets fan!
3 months ago
i am 19 years old so i really didnt become interested in sports until watching the 1995 ALDS and Don Mattingly, so this year could be painful with no playoffs but im not ruling them out... and even if they do miss the playoffs the Giants are still the defending Super Bowl Champs and I will be focused even more on them...
3 months ago
I'd like to make a push for Manny, CC and Sheets-
Aside from that - werent the Yankees 9 back this time, last year?
I guess I should just start writing about the Fighting Irish now -
Pat
from 3 months ago
Um I would take everyone except Manny, the Yankees can't have anymore psychological problems *cough cough* A-Rod....
3 months ago
A Yankee-less playoff year? Music to my ears
3 months ago
Sounds like you will be very bored.
3 months ago
Every year I have been alive, they have been in the playoffs, so this is pretty exciting for me being a Red Sox fan.
3 months ago
This is comedy, good look.
3 months ago
There will be no hiding of hats or jersey's and any torment and ridicule is always taken with a large grain of salt knowing the source of your hatred.
It is from envy.
Envy and hatred are traits that one shouldn't aspire to have.
“Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.” - George Bernard Shaw
So if the Yankees do fail to make the playoffs this year, you feel free to torment and ridicule people who you may know or not know due to their allegiance to the New York Yankees baseball team. I will hold my head high and applaud the team that I have loved for the last 35 years. Through their crap years and their great years I have and always will remain a fan.
Instead of channeling your energy toward ridicule, hate and tormentation, perhaps you should channel your energy towards supporting your team in the best way that you can, much like Yankee fans do towards our team.
Because you know what, we could give a sh*t about your team - our energy is spent in supporting our team, as much as that bothers you.
3 months ago
Funny article. I actually enjoyed it, although I'm a Yankees fan.
3 months ago
Wow. This was funny. Great job! I honestly do not see the Yankees making it to the playoffs. But they are the Yankees. Every time people count them out, they find a way to make it in. With the major injuries to the Tampa Bay Rays (ie. Longoria), the Yankees might have a slim chance.
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