Much like convenience-store lackey Dante Hicks in Kevin Smith's seminal 1994 film Clerks, the New York Yankees weren't even supposed to be here.
They sold their veteran assets at the August 1 trade deadline and fixed their gaze on the future. They surrendered.
Then, a funny thing happened. They started winning—and kept winning. On Sept. 8, yours truly wrote a rosy, they're-in-this-thing column.
It's not over, not mathematically anyway. But after a crushing 7-5 defeat against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, the Yankees' playoff hopes are fading fast.