Leave it to the Yankees.

The season isn’t even a month old and already the New York Yankees have generated more drama than most divisions generate in an entire season.

The Yankees lost their home opener 10-2 in their new $1.5 billion stadium to the Cleveland Indians.  The game wasn’t even as close as the score indicates.

Most of their pitchers have ERA’s bigger than the national unemployment rate.  The pinstripes ended April with the league’s third worst team ERA, 5.79.

In their first meeting of the season, the Yankees were swept in a three games series by their archrivals, the Boston Red Sox.  

New Yankee Stadium is disparagingly called “Coors Field East” after an inordinate amount of home runs left the ballpark via right field.  Even though the dimensions are identical to the old Yankee Stadium, critics blame the excessive home runs on “jet streams.”

In what’s an embarrassment to not only the franchise but the entire league, the Yankees lowered high-end ticket prices by as much as fifty-percent.  There were just too many empty seats showing up on television.  

Seemingly every day, a new incriminating excerpt from Selena Roberts’ new book about Alex Rodriquez is released to the media.   The book entitled “A-Rod” alleges Rodriquez took steroids in high school and had a Texas Rangers clubhouse attendant load up his toothbrushes with toothpaste after every game.   

As bad as April appeared, the Yankees finished the month 12-10.  While New York fans, and media, were expecting a 22-0 start, a lot of teams would kill to be two games over .500.

Rodriquez is set to return in mid-May, and despite being shrouded in controversy, he will help his team win.  Right handed pitcher Brian Bruney should also return to the club in May.  Bruney, one of the few bright spots in the Yanks’ bullpen, went down in late April with a strained right elbow.
 
Pitcher Chien-Ming Wang also went on the disabled list in April, but that might be a good thing.  His ERA is 34.50.  Wang's rehab in Tampa is going well but still no word on when he'll return to the club.

So far the Yankees' season can be summed up by one event.  That event happened during the final game of their series against the Red Sox.  Pitcher Andy Pettitte fell asleep on the mound and catcher Jorge Posada did the same behind the plate.  Their mental "naps" allowed Madras, Oregon’s own Jacoby Ellsbury to steal home.  

The entire team has been playing like that, lethargic, lackadaisical, and lacking focus.  If this teams wants to win anything in 2009 they need to snap out of their daze and start playing with some urgency.

Something similar is happening to New York’s other baseball team.

Before starting their first series in May, New York Mets General Manager Omar Minaya questioned whether or not his team has an “edge.”

Ouch!  Less than a month into the season and Minaya is already called his team soft?

The Mets finished April at 9-12, four and half games behind the Florida Marlins.  The stat that may have put Minaya over the top is the Mets are 1-9 when trailing after six innings.

Meanwhile their division foes, the Philadelphia Phillies, lead the major with nine comeback wins.

Yet, Minaya’s Mets are third in the National League in batting and middle of the pack in pitching.  Centerfielder Carlos Beltran is leading the league with a .391 batting average.  Ace Johan Santana is 3-1 with a league leading 1.10 ERA.  Closer Francisco Rodriguez is five for five in save opportunities.  

Those are good numbers and seem to contradict Minaya’s accusations.   So why are the Mets losing?  They’re 3-6 on the road and 4-5 in one run ball games.  Those numbers do support Minaya’s accusation.

Both New York teams have new stadiums and the same high expectations.  If these franchises want to sell a lot of Yankees-Mets tickets and win a lot of games, they each need to find a way to infuse their ballclubs with some vim and vigor.  

Sadly for these two franchises, urgency is not something they can buy.