Nice piece in TNR. One more thing: they did it to themselves, just as Americans, or at least the Bush Administration, is doing it to America. They made the choices to sign or trade for Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield and Bobby Abreu and Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon. All the choices they made were, to their eyes, empire building, and no amount of common sense protected them from the horrid truth, known by everyone else even as they were making them: These choices will be the death of the Yankees. As a Sox fan, realize it took seven years for the wheels to fall off the Yankee machine, but they still nearly beat the Sox in the end. A fantastic run in September, but the Sox were almost playing for the wild card for awhile, just like always. You’re right, they were lovable in the 90′s. Professional, talented and, for the Yankees, humble. Not since. I won’t gloat. But sometime this fall I will find my favorite Yankee fan and suggest we watch Game 3 of the 2004 LCS again. It seemed so inevitable back then.