The Yankees' Calm Before the Storm: Championship No. 27 Awaits

The stadium is still and silent; the grass and infield dirt lie nearly untouched.  The only sounds heard are an occasional thump of a construction workers' hammer or the sound of a torch on hot steel.

All of that will change in three months, as the Chicago Cubs come to the Bronx on April 3 in an exhibition game to open up the stadium.

With a new stadium comes a new team.  Fresh off one of the biggest offseasons in recent memory, the Yankees added pitching and power to their roster.

The 25-man roster and the staff behind them will walk into this stadium next season with one thing in mind, and one thing only: a 27th World Championship.

After dumping nearly $88 million with the departures of Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, and Carl Pavano, the Yankees spent every dime of it plus more in building another winner.

The offseason began in a hurry as the Yankees went out and got the best player available in CC Sabathia, giving the pitcher a huge $161 million dollar deal.

They didn't stop there, adding free agent pitcher and last year's strikeout leader, A.J. Burnett, with an $82.5 million dollar deal.

Then came Christmas week.  Just when you thought the Yankees were done spending big bucks, they struck a deal with the devil, Scott Boras, and signed free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira in a huge $185 million dollar contract.

A few players still remain in the air.  Andy Pettitte has yet to return, and a few other free agents remain on the Yankees radar.  Orlando Hudson and Manny Ramirez have been rumored.

Regardless, the team is an improvement over last season already, and they are poised to win and are the early favorite.

It has been quite some time since the Yankees have won it all—nearly nine years to be exact.  Not since the year 2000 during the Subway Series, when the Yankees beat the Mets to win their 26th Championship.

It's been a little too long for this Yankees fan. 

Growing up in Atlanta, GA is not the average Yankees fan hometown.  Baseball was a big part of my life at such an early age, and all eyes were on one man named Derek Jeter, my Mickey Mantle so to speak.  He brought baseball to life for me.

In 2000, I began working my first full-time job, which I still have today, and there I met my best friend, who became a brother to me, Michael Wills.

Michael is from New York and of course is an avid Yankees fan.  After watching game after game with him, I began to learn a lot more and appreciate the organization more and more each passing day. 

I learned that every pinstripe on that jersey represented respect, pride, and love for the game of baseball, just as I have always carried with me in my life.

All of their fans share the same love for baseball that I had.  They were like a big family, a family that I would soon become a part of.

Nine years later, my phone book is filled with Yankees fans who are as close as family as it gets to me.

After all of the rebuilding and the fresh start that the Yankees are getting this year, it makes you start thinking about when it will happen again.

One Yankees executive said, "It will be fun to watch. All the Yankee lovers will love them even more because they're really good. The Yankee haters will hate them even more for just buying all the best players. I'd have done the same thing if I were them. We'll see if it works."

I know I will get my shot.  I will get my day when I collapse and fall to my hands and knees in true happiness when it does happen.

I will get to see some of this season firsthand without having to travel down to Tampa and up to New York like I normally do.  In June, the Bronx Bombers take their show on the road to my backyard in Turner Field.  I will be at all three games, of course.

I don't know if this is the year, but it sure does feel like it.  One thing is for sure though: I will never stop loving this team.

Let's play ball.