The End

The New York Yankees were eliminated from the postseason last night. It was awful. The Yankee Dynasty is offically over...the door on the Joe Torre era has closed. This is...a shock. Words still cannot describe.

Goodbye, Torre.
Goodbye, Jorge (maybe).
Goodbye, Mo (maybe).
Goodbye, Andy (maybe).
Goodbye, Alex (maybe...god I hope not).
Goodbye, old face of the New York Yankees...

There's a lot I want to say, but I don't know how to say it, so I'll probably be leaving a lot out. But first:

The Joe Torre Era (1996 - 2007)

• 1996 - World Champs
• 1997 - Wild Card
• 1998 - Best team ever (114-48); World Champs
• 1999 - World Champs
• 2000 - World Champs
• 2001 - American League Champs
• 2002 - AL East Champs
• 2003 - American League Champs
• 2004 - AL East Champs
• 2005 - AL East Champs
• 2006 - AL East Champs
• 2007 - Wild Card

Let no one think that I have any disrespect for Torre. That run...what he did...is simply amazing. But that's even more reason why we respectfully salute him on his way out. You will be missed, but all good things must come to an end eventually.

And don't think I'm judging this entire season on this past series. Here's a brief list of all of the amazing things that happened to the Yankees in 2007:

- Above all, Hughes, Joba, and Kennedy (more on them later)
- Sticking it to Boston once again
- "HA!"
- The return of Andy
- Chase Wright vs. the Red Sox (hell, I laughed about it even then)
- Jorge and Alex's outstanding years
- For me, getting to see Rocket pitch in person 3 times, twice for a win

But now...now we turn the page to a new chapter in Yankee lore. Although we may lose staples like Posada, Rivera, Pettitte, and Arod, we must pick up our heads and look forward. The future is bright: a starting rotation of Wang, Pettitte (hopefully), Hughes, Chamberlain, and Kennedy will be a force to be reckoned with--one that will be the most stable starting rotation this team has seen in years. A new manager (Girardi?) will spice things up, and the offense will continue to pound out runs. All of these together should give birth to a new dynasty, also worthy of baseball legend.

But only time will tell...

For now, there is rest. Until April, baseball. Until April.