Four months until spring training

Where were you on Friday night when the Yankees' season came to an end?  I was watching the game at home, but there's no way to hide and mourn in silence when you've got Facebook.  In came the comments: a friend from San Francisco said he was disappointed that there wouldn't be a Yankees-Giants World Series, a teacher from my old school who's a Red Sox fan declared, "Texas goes hard," and--within a minute of the final strikeout--Pamela (the teacher, not the student) posted this on my wall: "Wooooooo!!!!!"  My response: "Thanks for thinking of me, Pamela."

So it goes.  Only one team wins the World Series each year and, this year, Texas deserves it more than the Yankees do.  It's painful to say, but it's true.  They were out-hit, out-pitched, and out-managed--even in the games they won.  If you read the newspapers, you know the critics are already piling on.  They say A-Rod doesn't get the big hits, Phil Hughes isn't tough enough for the postseason, Joe Girardi makes big managing mistakes in big situations.  

Yes, the critics are sometimes right.  But put the criticism on pause for a minute and remember this: we just witnessed another amazing season from the greatest baseball team in history.  That team--the New York Yankees--plays its home games only a couple miles from where we live and go to school.  Just this year, the Yankees received their 2009 World Series rings in April, Mark Teixeira hit three homers in a game in May, Andy Pettitte won his 200th game in June, Brett Gardner hit an inside-the-park home run in July, A-Rod got his 600th homer in August, and, in September, the Yankees earned a playoff spot for the 15th time in 16 years.  October didn't end with a Yankee victory in the World Series, and, in George Steinbrenner's judgment, that means that the Yankees' season was a failure.

I wouldn't dare to argue with the late Boss, but I still had a great time watching the Yankees this year.  From the games I saw in Florida when I went to spring training, to my visits to Yankee Stadium, to the days I was out of state or out of the country and had to buy a newspaper or get to an Internet cafe to find out the score, to all those hours I spent reading Yankees blogs and listening to the games on the radio or watching them on TV--I loved it.  I love baseball season.

And honestly, I think I most love baseball because it allows very different people to connect with each other.  I've struck up conversations with total strangers in the train over baseball.  Whenever I talk to my dad on the phone, we inevitably get to talking about the Yankees.  When I see 801 in the morning for advisory, there's always somebody who brings up the previous night's game.  I've made great friends and had made weaker friendships stronger with baseball.  Thank God for the Yankees.

Now, to all of you who think I'm just trying to make myself feel better because my team lost--well, the Mets and the Red Sox are garbage, and you don't see the Phillies in the World Series either, do you?  So there.  :-)

Any favorite memories, thoughts, or comments at the end of the Yankees' season?