It's Now or Never for Girardi's Yankees

TAMPA - The New York Yankees are cruising into yet another October this season like always, right?  That couldn't be any further from the truth.

The Yankees (73-64) just flew over my head to head down to Tampa and face the AL East leading Rays (84-51).  The AL East leading Rays, still can't get used to saying that.

Speaking of flying over my head, this entire season has flown right over my head.  Most Yankee fans are going to be left feeling deprived this season; an October without the Yankees is hard to imagine.

It isn't like the Yankees have done much in October lately anyways. They have been eliminated in the ALDS the past three years in a row.

This is the Yankees we are talking about though, a team that spends more money than any other team, a team that thrives to be the best at what they do.  We are talking about the team with the 26 championships, the most championships in modern sports history.

None the less, times have definitely changed, but you gotta have faith.  Until it is the last week of the season and our magic number had dwindled down to zero, only then will I throw in my white towel.

Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano and Darrell Rasner will be sent out this week to face Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and Scott Kazmir at Tropicana Field.

All three pitchers the Rays are sending out to the mound can strike out a lot of hitters. That could spell trouble for the Yankees who are going to have a tough time being patient when they are seven games out of the Wild Card in September.

Strange things can happen though. It's easy to count out a team who doesn't have the potential to win, but the Yankees can still get hot.  They still play six huge games against the Rays and also finish off the season with three games against the Boston Red Sox.

It is very likely that with the way this season is going, the Yankees will roll into Bean town only two or three games out of the playoffs, to set off another highly intense battle with their arch rivals.

The Yankees have had plenty of opportunities to turn around their season, but haven't been able to cash in on those opportunities. 

I still believe that Joe Girardi and the Yankees can make a successful season out of all this. And because I haven't give up hope I will be watching every game with the hope that the Yankees can get it right in enough time to make their scheduled appearance in October.