THE SKY IS FALLING! (Hyperbolic Yankees Overreactions)

Tuesday night, during the Yankees-Orioles game, Yankees play-by-play man (and shameless Yankee homer) John Sterling pulled out his best Chicken Little impression and proclaimed, "the sky is falling! The sky is falling!" for nine straight innings on the radio. Tuesday night, the season was declared dead and buried when Derek Jeter took a Daniel Cabrera fastball on the wrist. And on Tuesday night, those claims seemed legitimate as the Yanks looked downright terrible en route to a 12-2 loss to the Orioles.

There was legitimate cause for alarm. Mike Mussina, who had pitched well as of late, lasted only through two outs of the top of the first before getting the old Vaudeville hook in favor of Ross Ohlendorf. The Yankee bats might as well have been those Noodle things you played with in the pool as a kid, because, as with the entire week before, nobody could find a hit and the Yanks mustered only two runs. There was also a report before the game that Chien-Ming Wang had an MRI done on his legs before the game.

So, was it really the end of the world Tuesday night?

You wouldn't think so if you listened to Sterling on Wednesday night, where Darrell Rasner once again pitched a gem, the Yankee offense got hot quickly, and it was morning in America again. Mark Feinsand joined the booth for the "Daily News Fifth" inning, and Sterling's only words were a sighing, almost fawning utterance: "Darrell Rasner."

Two nights, two games, two completely different moods on the Yankees radio broadcast. What gets me fired up here is the fact that nothing has really changed after one night. Even with last night's win, the Yanks are still four games under .500. This is terribly cliched, but it really is a long season. The Yankees are 46 games into a 162-game season. They've started terribly, and it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have been pretty disappointing. A-Rod and Jorge Posada have missed significant time. Robinson Cano still probably couldn't hit a beach ball with a 2x4 at this point.

In the end, however, things tend to regress toward the mean and unfold as they should. All told, A-Rod will probably end up hitting 40 HR and OBPing near .400 again. Cano will find his stroke. Hughes or Kennedy, or both, will likely pull a Stella and get his groove back and end up with a respectable year. And if Joba is nearly as effective in the rotation as he has been in the bullpen, the Yanks could make a playoff push after all -- or at least finish over .500.

Realistically speaking, is it a team of aging stars? Yes. Is it the best team in the AL East? No. But, given their lineup, will there likely be a stretch this season where the Yankees play out of their minds and win 18 of 21 or something? If the pitching settles down, sure. Could they make a playoff push? Yeah. The Yankees were in a bigger hole last year and still managed to win the Wild Card. In other words: John Sterling, Sal in Brooklyn on line two on Mike and the Maddog, and Yankee fans in general: relax. There are too many games to declare the season over after one game and then saved after the next. I'm as passionate a Yankee fan as there is, but restraint and order rule the day.

If the Yankees continue to play like garbage, well, people will be frustrated and disappointed, but save the apocalyptic tone for when Hank Steinbrenner, in a drunken stupor, orders that the Yankees trade their entire starting rotation and bullpen to the Cubs for reliever Carlos Marmol and a prospect to be named later. Or, maybe when the Yanks lose a few key games in September to another Wild Card contender. Or something seriously catastrophic. Until then, level a bit. As bad as things look when the score's 12-2, morning will indeed dawn in America again when the Yanks lead 8-0.