SNY.tv: Online Home of All Things Sports

What I found interesting was Waldman's comment, which was, in essence, "You guys took advantage of mistakes, just like the old-time Yankees."

Now, I assume Waldman wasn't referring to Red Ruffing, Tony Lazzeri or Happy Jack Chesbro, who actually created his own mistakes in high-profile games. Instead, she was referring to Posada's own 1996-2000 Yankees, the Yankees back when men were men and Clinton was president.

Those Yankees were gritty. Those Yankees knew how to win in big spots, work at-bats and exploit the weaknesses of other teams.

Yet somehow, the 2001-2008 Yankees simply lacked that capacity. Speculation ranged from the idea that higher-priced players weren't capable of such heroics -- a difficult notion for anyone who has a rough idea of the Yankees payroll to swallow -- to the more simple point that the Yankees would never win again. Not without more homegrown talent. Not without Scott Brosius.

Still, this discussion for the past decade about why the Yankees don't win the World Series anymore reminds me of the famous (and somewhat apocryphal) exchange between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, in which Fitzgerald says, "The rich are different than you and me." Hemingway responds, "Yes. They have more money." Somehow, it was never appropriate to simply conclude about the 1996-2000 Yankees that they differed from subsequent Yankee teams. They had more talent.

So it is fascinating to me to watch the revisionism going on yet again this October. Suddenly, Alex Rodriguez is not the player too rich and mercenary to truly win The Yankee Way. Now, Alex Rodriguez is an unstoppable force, with a .455 average and two huge home runs in the victory over Minnesota. He's figured out the postseason, or he's more mature, or Kate Hudson is more powerful than steroids.

I'm also pretty certain Mark Teixeira and his eight-year, $180 million contract didn't get called up from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

If we're being honest about it, even Scott Brosius was signed as a free agent.

And it took high-priced free agents to address the biggest flaw in those New York Yankee teams that merely achieved seven postseason berths and two American League pennants from 2001-2008. C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett combined for two of the three victories in the ALDS, along with $243 million in contracts.

Still, there is an undeniable difference in the feeling of this postseason. Who among us could see the call by left field umpire Phil Cuzzi, ruling a ball foul that was clearly fair off the bat of Joe Mauer in the 11th inning of Game 2, and fail to hear echoes of Jeffrey Maier's robbing of Tony Tarasco? After all, in magical postseasons, Yankees or otherwise, there are usually a few breaks along the way. And those home runs into the night by Rodriguez and Teixeira had to bring to mind some of the dramatic home runs by Brosius, Tino Martinez and Derek Jeter in the 2001 World Series.

If we're being honest about it, the Rodriguez performance seemed a lot like his 2004 batting line in the ALDS against Minnesota, too.

But omens are only retroactive in baseball, it seems, much as we are certain they are harbingers of success at the time. No doubt in anyone's mind back in 2001 that Derek Jeter's turn as Mr. November was presaging a Yankees parade down the Canyon of Heroes just weeks after the horrors of 9/11. And any Mets fan who saw Endy Chavez's miracle catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS would tell you it was the moment that season seemed ready to take its place along with 1969 and 1986, instead of 1973, 1988 and 2000.

I also don't recall the 2004 postseason turning out all that well for the Yankees.

The real omen that speaks well of the Yankees' chances is that they are pretty clearly the most talented team in baseball. They've displayed this superiority all year, and don't show any signs of letting up now. In fact, they seem to be playing as well as anyone in October, which usually counts even more than dominance from April through September.

Talent doesn't always guarantee postseason victory, of course. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are pretty good, too, and are also playing well. Ask the Red Sox how easy it will be to eliminate the Angels.

But as Richard Dreyfus sings creepily in The American President, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." Just remember that when Christmas comes for the Yankees, it isn't because the 2009 Yankees are different than you, me, or the Jeff Weaver/Kevin Brown Yankees.

They just have more talent.