You may hate them, but you gotta' respect them!

Currently, the New York Yankees are 67-43 and leading the second-place Boston Red Sox by 4-1/2 games in the A.L. East.

That's nothing new for the Yankees? This is almost getting monotonous. The Yankees seem to win and win, year after year. Cheering for the Yankees is like cheering for Donald Trump or Bill Gates. Haven't they had enough good fortune? Does that fit the Yankees? Is there anyone that can end their reign as baseball's best? Maybe there is. We'll see in just a minute.

The New York Yankees are doing everything under their power to win another division title and earn another trip to the World Series. The Yankees have won more World Series titles than anyone else in history. They have 26 World Championships as a matter of fact, 37 pennants and 40 playoff appearances since they became the New York Yankees in 1913. They do wield a lot of power, or money I should say. It's old news, but the Yankees have won the last three World Series titles. Can they make it four in a row?

Last year's World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, dubbed "The Subway Series" was one of the lowest rated World Series ever shown on TV. The Yankees and Mets may be popular teams, but their fans are mainly in the northeast part of the country. The rest of the country just didn't have much interest in seeing two New York teams play each other. I can't really blame them. I didn't even watch it -- and I am a sports fanatic. I'm tired of seeing the Yankees win. But there is one man in New York City who will never grow weary of winning.

I'm talking about, none other than, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. He will do anything to make sure his team wins. Embarrass them in the press or buy better players. Nobody is off-limits to him. Now that's my kind of owner. I like his style and his money.

The New York Yankees have the highest payroll in all of baseball. Their payroll is $109,791,893.00. That's a bundle. A very large bundle. Shortstop Derek Jeter is the highest paid player on the team. He makes around $12,600,000.00 per year. Outfielder Bernie Williams is right behind him making $12,357,143.00 per year.

The Yankees have just one problem this year though. The Seattle Mariners.

Seattle has the best record in all of baseball. They are an amazing 80-30. That's 50 games above .500. They have a 20 game lead over the defending A.L. West Champs of 2000, the Oakland Athletics. They are led by ex-Yankee Lou Pinella. He's a very good manager. He was a very good player. What a year they are having in Seattle.

Last year, Seattle was the wild card team and they defeated the A.L. Central Champs, the Chicago White Sox, three games to none in the postseason. Then Seattle played New York and that was a different story. The Yankees won that series four games to two. Seattle pitcher Freddy Garcia won both games for his team. He's still with Seattle. Seattle is not the team they were last year. They have improved by leaps and bounds. Their starting pitching and relief pitchers deserve a lot of credit, but another big reason for their success this year is an acquisition they made during the off-season. Do you know who I'm talking about?

Second baseman Bret Boone. He is having the best year of his entire career. This is his first year back with Seattle since he began his career with them several years ago. He has 102 RBI's already. He leads the A.L. in that department. He has never had a 100 RBI season. He has already hit 25 homeruns and is batting .329. He's definitely having a MVP year.

Bret Boone is not doing it all by himself though. First baseman John Olerud is having a great year, along with outfielder Mike Cameron. Olerud is batting .310 with 14 homeruns and 67 runs batted in. Cameron has 17 homeruns with 69 RBI's. Cameron only hit 19 homeruns all of last year and drove in 78 runs. He's definitely going to improve on those numbers of a year ago.

The biggest surprise, besides Bret Boone, has been rookie outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. I will talk more about him in a minute.

So can the New York Yankees hold their own against such a team? If anyone can, they can. New York is not intimidated by anyone, and hasn't been for several years now. This team has no real superstars, much like the Seattle Mariners.

Seattle got rid of all their superstars, like Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alex Rodriquez. They are actually a better team without those players.

The closest players to superstar status on the Yankees are popular shortstop Derek Jeter, and pitcher Roger Clemons. Jeter is close to his stats of a year ago. He had 15 homers and 73 RBI's in 2000. He batted .339 in 2000. So far this year he has 12 homeruns and 53 runs driven in. He is batting .311. Clemons is having a marvelous year also. He leads the majors with a record of 15-1. His ERA is 3.55. Clemons may be on his way to an unprecedented sixth Cy Young Award.

Since the Yankees won their first World Series of the '90's back in 1996, the team has not had any real superstars to speak of. They have won mainly with determination, team work, good managing and good talent. Manager Joe Torre deserves a lot of credit for bringing this team together. He is a player's manager. He really communicates with his players and lets them know exactly what he expects of them. He expects a lot. He will also play whoever he thinks is best for that particular day or for the opposing pitcher.

During the off-season the Yankees picked up Baltimore's Mike Mussina to shore up their starting pitching and to help them return to the World Series again. He is one of baseball's greatest pitchers. He had a tough year last year with Baltimore, winning 11 and losing 15, but he didn't get much run support from his team. Mike Mussina is 11-9 with an ERA of 3.92. He ranks second in strikeouts on the team with 135.

Pitcher Andy Pettitte is having another good year. He is 12-6 with an ERA of 3.38. He's so dependable in the big games.

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez has been on the DL most of the year, so the Yankees have used some young pitchers by the name of Ted Lilly and Randy Keisler. Neither has had much success, but give them time and they will blossom. Also, the Yankees recently acquired Sterling Hitchcock from the San Diego Padres. He used to pitch for the Yankees in the early 90's. The Yankees rank fifth in the A.L. in pitching with a team ERA of 4.02.

As for the offense, first baseman Tino Martinez is having a superb year. Last year he only had 16 homeruns and 81 RBI's, but so far this year he has 26 homeruns with 86 runs driven in. He's already surpassed last year's totals. Catcher Jorge Posada hit 28 homeruns last year with 86 RBI's. This year he has hit 19 homeruns with 75 RBI's. So he's on pace to improve on his numbers from a year ago.

The biggest surprise for the Yankees this year has been rookie second baseman Alfonso Soriano. If it wasn't for Seattle's rookie outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, Soriano would be a sure bet for A.L. Rookie of the Year. Ichiro is having a fantastic year with Seattle. He is batting .332 and leads the A.L. in hits with 160. He also has 38 stolen bases. He is very fast. Soriano is batting just .274, but he has provided some key hits for the Yankees this year. He has 12 homeruns with 52 RBI's.

Ex-second baseman Chuck Knoblauch has been moved to left field because of his throwing problems. He has done a good job out there. He has surpassed his stats from a year ago. He only had five homeruns and 26 RBI's last year. So far this year he has six homeruns and 36 runs batted in. He share left field duties with 29-year-old Shane Spencer.

Designated hitter and outfielder David Justice has spent a lot of time on the DL this year. That is normal for him. Very much injury prone. Outfielder Paul O'Neill is close to his stats of a year ago. He had 18 homeruns and 100 RBI's last year and this year he has 16 homeruns with 56 RBI's. Outfielder Bernie Williams has 18 homeruns and 69 RBI's. He's having a decent year. He hit 30 homeruns last year with 121 RBI's. He batted .307 last year. Currently, he's batting .303.

Third baseman Scott Brosius is currently on the DL. He's expected to miss three to four weeks due to a hairline fracture on his hand.

So, will the New York Yankees be able to handle the 2001 Seattle Mariners if they play each other in the playoffs? Like I stated earlier, if anyone can tame the hot Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees can.

Seattle ranks first in pitching and in hitting in the A.L., but the New York Yankees rank first in experience and they rank first in winning the big games. It will be interesting to see how things turn out in the postseason. Of course, there's no guarantee the Yankees will even be in the playoffs with two months to go in the regular season. But if I was a betting man, I would bet my house on them making the playoffs. Please don't try that at home. Just a figure of speech.

Enjoy the last two months of the regular season. See you at the game.