Ol’ Yankee Faithful

I fully believe that the New York Yankees will make the 2008 MLB postseason. The Yankees have made the playoffs every single year since 1995 and in that time have won four World Series titles. As of September 2, 2008 the Yankees are twelve games behind the first place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League east and seven games behind the second place Boston Red Sox. They are also seven games out of the Wild Card. (Espn.com, MLB Standings) Despite these troubled times for most Yankee fans, my faith drives me to believe that the Yankees will make a playoff run.

In the past two seasons, the Yankees have made late season runs to overcome similar (but not as large) deficits to make the playoffs. Despite their valiant efforts in those instances, they failed to do any major damage in the postseason. Also, the Yankees have had the highest payroll in major league baseball for years now. With the big-name players and high level of talent on the current New York Yankees team, it’d be hard to not see them in the playoffs this season. Also, you can’t forget about their extremely rich history and the importance of this year. 2008 marks the final season that the Yankees will play in the historic Yankee Stadium, where they have been playing since 1923. Considering all of the magic and amazing feats that have occurred in the Yankees’ past, it’s difficult to completely count them out of the current play-off race, regardless of their tough position. A true Yankee fan can and will possess an undeniable faith in their team until they are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

The Yankees are probably the most recognized sports team in the entire world. Their apparel sells all across the globe and their logo may very well be the most recognized of any sports logo. They have arguably the largest fan base of any athletic franchise on earth; and if there’s one thing all of these fans have in common, it’s their undeniable faith in their team. I can stand here and firmly state that I am not the only person in the world or maybe even in this room that shares my belief. Hopefully, my fellow fans and my faith is enough to drive this troubled baseball team into a prominent position.

Faith is something that every human on earth possesses in some way or another. Whether it is faith in a sports team, faith in religion or God, or faith in government and democracy, everyone has faith in something. For most people, this faith is a driving factor in their life and can lead to extreme happiness or sadness. These different emotions brought upon by faith can have major effects on people’s entire lives. For example, a die-hard Yankee fan can experience extreme happiness if the team were to win the World Series and maybe his productivity at his job goes up because of it and he gets a raise; or maybe a man with tremendous faith in religion lets it completely consume his life and although he may believe he has G-d on his side, he may be out of a job. No matter what the situation, resilient faith in one thing can have everlasting effects on one’s life.

This faith that people experience is very important in life because it can teach life lessons and change lives for the better or the worse. The experiences that occur because of this faith can lead to the learning of other life lessons such as being willing to give second chances, understanding that bad things can happen to good people, and that all emotions, good or bad, are vital to life and are good to experience. All of these major lessons and aspects of life can be achieved just through faith, which is really a wonderful thing. Think of how ignorant, oblivious, and uncultured people would be without faith in their lives. It is truly necessary to any human life.

Only time will tell if my Yankees will indeed turn things around. However, with a stroke of luck, some good coaching and execution, and the faith of millions of fans around the world, they just might be able to do it. Hopefully my faith in the Yankee’s won’t be damaged at season’s end, and it will indeed lead to positive emotions and motivating factors in my life. However, that is hope, which is very different from faith, and right now; all I can do is have faith and believe that the New York Yankees will make the 2008 postseason.