A not-so-funny thing happened to the Yankees on their way to 1998 Yankees history. 

They turned into the 2022 Detroit Tigers. 

Being a Yankees fan usually has its rewards, and carries very little risk. They never have a losing record and miss the playoffs maybe once or twice every generation. (I estimate, but you get the idea.) 

Anyway, their fans aren’t used to incompetence, especially on such a grand scale. 

A few have already shut down, presumed to return to action once the playoffs start — assuming they are in, of course. 

“I don’t read the papers. I don’t read Heyman, I don’t read [Joel] Sherman. I don’t watch TV. I don’t watch ‘SportsCenter’,” says my friend Bruno (last name withheld to protect the temporarily unhappy Yankee fan) from Clearwater Beach Club in Atlantic Beach.

Of course, you can’t get away. Nowadays, there’s that phone, that pesky phone. 

“I turn the phone to vibrate,” says Bruno, who has a tattoo of the Yankee emblem on one arm and a tattoo of The Mick’s number in pinstripes on the other. 

It’s understandable why some Yankees fans have shut off. They aren’t used to this and can’t take it. Unless they’re of a certain age, they certainly have never seen anything like this. The Yankees haven’t had a losing rookie record since current Mets manager Buck Showalter was their rookie manager, in 1992. They hadn’t lost six straight series since Showalter’s last year in pinstripes, either. 

In truth, the Yankees haven’t played like this since 1990 (my first year on the Yankees beat for Newsday; I was in my 20s, so you know it’s awhile ago.) But what’s so shocking is that they are doing it after a historically great start. The 1977 Cubs started 51-30 and did the opposite in the second half, finishing 81-81 (hat tip, Corey from MLB Network). But no one has ever played like an all-time great team for a half, then played like a last-place team for more than month. So this is new. 

Yankees fans can’t believe what happened to this team. It’s like a car accident though, so not everyone can be like Bruno and look away. 

Most fans still read the papers (thankfully) and many still go to games. The ones that went to see the retiring of Paul O’Neill’s uniform No. 21 expressed their displeasure when the owner of the team, the reclusive Hal Steinbrenner, stepped onto the field to honor the man his dad dubbed “The Warrior.” 

Hal should get combat points just for venturing onto the field at just such a time. 

The team that started 61-23, a 122-win pace, went on to go 13-25 in its next 38 games. The Yankees are still on a pace to win 98 games, but at the moment it feels like 58. No surprise here, but no other team started winning at a .726 clip for more than half the season, then played at a .342 clip for nearly a quarter of the season. There have been some great collapses. But if they don’t turn it around, this will rank high. 

“I’m concerned,” said Eric Ritzer, a diehard Yankees fan and athletic director at Curtis High School in Staten Island, before Monday’s game against the Mets in The Bronx. “Tonight and tomorrow are going to be telling. They’re not playing well. If they don’t win Aaron Boone will be gone.” 

Many Yankees fans are sticking with the team. But their expectations have been lowered. And they have suggestions, if not solutions. 

“If Boone doesn’t win it or get to the World Series, I think he’ll be fired,” said Yankees fan Skyler Marvin, of Eatontown, N.J. “I’m a realist. They don’t have it right now. It doesn’t look good, for sure. It reminds me of the 2007 Mets. … I think it’ll be Astros and Mets. It’s time for Buck to get a ring. Tell Mark DeRosa, New Jersey guy. That’s the guy we want here.” 

The Yankees sure aren’t scaring anyone lately. Jays starter Kevin Gausman announced on his way into town that the Jays were looking forward to “kicking the crap” out of the Yankees. Then, at least in the game he pitched, they did just that. 

For those fans who haven’t tuned back in yet, they did salvage one victory over those Jays the day after Boone slammed his fist on the table in anger, beating Jays ace Alek Manoah. Things didn’t get easier, though, as the Yankees faced Max Scherzer on Monday and are scheduled to see Taijuan Walker in the two games of the Subway Series. 

But of course, Yankees fans know almost only success. So they feel hope. 

“They’ve crashed but they haven’t burned,” Bruno says, hopefully. 

No, I said. But there’s still time to paint over that Yankees tattoo with one for the Mets. 

No chance, Bruno said. 

“I’m from Brooklyn,” Bruno said. “We go down with the ship.”