After a travel day they face the Rays for the final home stand in Yankee Stadium history (yes, that's how close we are to the end of the season) and after Tampa comes another team truly battling for the post-season, the Chicago White Sox, before they shut the great cathedral with three games against the Orioles.

While the MLB schedulers should be embarrassed that they close Yankee Stadium on Sunday night, Sept. 21, it only means more misery for the Yanks. They will have to play out their season with three in Toronto and then may be forced to watch the Red Sox celebrate a playoff berth at Fenway, at the Yanks expense, for the final three games of the season.

This could be a very ugly final six weeks for the New Yorkers.

Not that the season to this point has been pretty. For example:

The Yankees went 17-for-80 with runners in scoring position on this most recent road trip.

The Captain, Derek Jeter is hitting .289 — a great average for a good-field/no-hit shortstop — but Jeter is far from a good fielder, and he's on his way to the lowest batting average of his career. The Yanks have clearly missed the bat of the injured Jorge Posada. While Jorge Molina and Ivan Rodriguez are strong defensively, the Yanks have generated only five homers from the catching slot this season and a .242 batting average. The loss of Hideki Matsui has been felt, and the injury and the decreased production of Alex Rodriguez means that A-Rod, with 75 RBI, may not accumulate 100 RBI for only the second time in his career. He had 156 last season.

Then there's the pitching. It's hard to believe, but the only starter able to make it through the season injury-free to this point is their oldest starter — Mike Mussina. (Moose, I hope I didn't put the whammy on you). While Mussina is having a great season, 15-7 and a 3.30 ERA, the rest of the pitching staff has been only mediocre.

The loss of Chien-Ming Wang to a fluke injury has been huge, but equally painful are the losses accrued by Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Darrell Rasner, who are a combined 5-17. Andy Pettitte has an ERA of 8.23 in his nine losses, an indication that like so many Yankee starters, he simply doesn't keep his team in a game. Manager Joe Girardi has been forced to rely on an inconsistent bullpen way too frequently. The loss of Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen hurt; the loss of Joba Chamberlain in the rotation has killed.

You certainly can't fault Girardi for the injuries that he has been forced to endure, although in this new age of baseballs sans "artificial sweeteners" when other teams are playing small ball, the Yanks have 80 stolen bases compared to the 123 they totaled in 2007. But, as my dad used to say, "you can't steal first base." And when Melky Cabrera is hitting .242 and Robinson Cano is hitting .262 you are not in a position as frequently as you would to run or play hit and run.

It's apparent that the front office may have reached the same conclusion that I have. I was shocked to see the Yanks let Paul Byrd slip to the Red Sox on waivers; maybe they just want their younger pitchers to have a chance.

Then came these words from Hank Steinbrenner: "I'm not writing off this season. They're trying hard to win. There's only so much you can do. They're not supermen. I think it's very simple, we've been devastated by injuries. No team I've ever seen in baseball has been decimated like this. It would kill any team ... It's not making excuses. It's reality. That's part of the game. That's clearly our problem. We're going to win it next year. If we need to add a top veteran pitcher, we'll do that. We'll do whatever we need to do. Next year we'll be extremely dangerous."

In other words, "Wait 'til next year."