It is coming dangerously close to calling the season for the Yankees. In fact, pretty soon, the only reason to buy Yankees tickets will be to pay homage to Yankee Stadium. Being in third place is not too detrimental in most years, but the Rays and the Red Sox are still playing strong. Some would say that crying about the end of the season before the All Star break is crazy unless you’re a Royals fan, but the numbers do not look good.

The batting is average for a team filled with potential All Stars and Hall of Famers at just about every position and the pitching is juts sad. Every year it seems like more and more of the payroll is going toward covering the real problem with more bats.

Mike Mussina has pitched well, 39 or not. Andy Pettitte is doing alright, but is getting too many of those wins because of the lineup on the other half of the inning. Chien-Ming Wang has struggled before going on the disabled list and might not be the same for the rest of the season.

Joba Chamberlain is a reliever filling in for a depleted farm system. He has pitched well, but cannot be counted on to go more than six innings. Sidney Ponson is temporary help from a minor trade, but can be counted on to return to the form that made the Rangers trade him away. The Rangers are just happy to have a body on the mound most nights, so what does that tell you.

Yankee Stadium deserves more than just another Bronx Bomber show for its last season. It is nice to be able to see ARod and Jason Giambi belt out a few for old times sake, but a meaningful run at the World Series would be nice too. Matsui and Damon are carrying their load, but Bobby Abreu is turning up lame and Derek Jeter is not having nearly the season he normally does.

New York cannot even turn to the Mets for some hope. It seems like the only thing left to do is wait for Giants tickets and prove the league wrong again.