Since the New York Yankees started winning all of those championships in 1923, the franchise has had only three droughts of 8 seasons or longer: 1979-1995 (16 seasons), 1963-1976 (14 seasons), and 2000-present (8 seasons so far). This particular drought has been the toughest of all for Yankees' fans. The team lost two World Series to teams that didn't exist prior to 1993 (Arizona and Florida). They signed one of the greatest players in the game--Alex Rodriguez--only to watch him struggle in big games. And the team that for 85 years represented the antithesis of the Yankees' success--the Boston Red Sox--has won two World Series during the drought.

As if this could be even more damaging to Yankees' fans psyches (let's not forget that the team made history by losing four straight to the Red Sox in 2004), since taking a 3-0 lead over Boston in 2004, the Yankees are 4-13 in the postseason, haven't won a playoff series, and missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 1993.

Winning championships used to be a foregone conclusion for the Yankees. 26 titles in 77 years will go to your head pretty quickly. And not just fans' heads--the players and coaches had to feel pretty close to invincible as well, especially against the Red Sox. Don Zimmer--Yankees manager Joe Torre's righthand man during the title runs in the late '90s--famously told Mariano Rivera, "Don't worry, we've been beating these guys for 86 years." Of course that was during the 2003 postseason, which ended with a Yankees loss in the World Series. And it was the last time the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the postseason.

And so here we are in potential Year 9 of the Drought. But this year the Yankees appear to have gotten their swagger back. They are the odds-on favorite to win the World Series. They have 102 wins with 3 games to play, best in the majors. After dropping the first 8 games to Boston they won 9 of the final 10 head-to-head. On July 12, they were 51-37. Since then they've gone 51-20. Is this the year the drought ends?

Unfortunately for the Yankees, recent history says no. Since the 1998 Yankees went 114-48 and won the World Series, 14 teams have won 100 or more games. None of them won the World Series, and only three of them reached the Fall Classic. And just so we're not discussing an arbitrary number such as 100, let's focus on the teams that finished with the best record in baseball. Since 1999 those teams are 12-11 in playoff series, with only the 2007 Red Sox winning the World Series.

In a short series, anything can happen. A vastly inferior team can scratch out a couple of wins and knock off a better team. It's one of the reasons I proposed adding another Wild Card team two weeks ago--to give the team with the best record more of an advantage (and an incentive to finish as the top team).

Can either Detroit or Minnesota knock off the Yankees this year? Or will New York head to the American League Championship Series for the first time since...wait for it...2004? And what if their opponent is the aforementioned Red Sox? As a Red Sox fan since before 2004, I know how Yankees' fans will feel. They will fear every rally, obsess over every lost game, and wonder when the next collapse will begin. Even a 3-0 Yankees' lead will be cause for trepidation.

You know FOX is banking on Yankees-Red Sox for the ALCS. They're also more than likely hoping that the Dodgers are waiting in the World Series to complete either the Joe Torre faces the Yankees or Manny Ramirez faces the Red Sox storyline.

But Yankees fans have to be hoping for one thing and one thing only--an end to the drought.

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NFL Week 4 Picks

Cincinnati (-6) over CLEVELAND
Tampa Bay (+7) over WASHINGTON
CHICAGO (-10) over Detroit
NEW ENGLAND (-2) over Baltimore
NY Giants (-9) over KANSAS CITY
JACKSONVILLE (+3) over Tennessee
INDIANAPOLIS (-10½) over Seattle
HOUSTON (-9) over Oakland
NEW ORLEANS (-7) over NY Jets
MIAMI (+1½) over Buffalo
SAN FRANCISCO (-9½  over St. Louis
Dallas (-3) over DENVER
San Diego (+6½) over PITTSBURGH
MINNESOTA (-3½) over Green Bay

Last week: 10-6

Season: 24-24