Letters: Yankee fans' agony has ended

CONGRATULATIONS, Yankee fans. After nine long seasons since your team's last championship, you're back on top.

Finally.

And you've earned it.

Through thick and thick, you've endured nine winning seasons, eight playoff appearances and more than a billion dollars in salaries. You've sat through lethargic lineups featuring Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Gary Sheffield. During the dog days of summer, you've watched as Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens labored over at-bat-after-four-pitch-at-bat - oh, the brutality! And you've spent night after night praying for one more - just one more! - victory, biting your fingernails down to the cuticles every time Mariano Rivera was called to protect a three-run lead.

How many near-heart attacks can one group of fans be asked to suffer?

Indeed, until Wednesday night's championship, you had no fond baseball memories to share with your children. So, much like those sorrowful Cubs and Indians fans, you were going to have to pass on your fan-survival stories.

Yes, you were going to tell your offspring about those awful 2007 Yankees, who went a meager 94-68 and - oh, the horror! - failed to win the World Series for the seventh straight year. Of course, you were going to spin it a bit. "They were pathetic," you might have said, "But, boy, were they lovable! Especially that Hideki Matsui - I've never seen a ballplayer look like he was having so much fun!"

Never mind that this would have been a total lie - you'd have had no choice. After all, if you're going to root for a team that doesn't go all the way every year, you'd better have an alibi.

Well, thankfully, you no longer need an alibi - those lean years are history. Instead, you can tell your children about the great Yankee general manager Brian Cashman, who - a year after his team didn't even make the playoffs (shudder!) - signed a record $400 million worth of new contracts.

Yes, in the era of "Money Ball" pseudoscience, Cashman discovered that adding players like C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixiera and A.J. Burnett to a roster that was already chock-full of highly paid all-stars could, indeed, win a championship. You might as well call him the Christopher Columbus of baseball.

Or perhaps you'll tell them about the great Johnny Damon, who proved that you can shave your face, sell your soul and still play for a winner.

Or maybe you'll tell them about how this bold Yankee team improbably overcame a one-game deficit on July 19 with barely 70 games remaining in the season - what a thrilling run!

Or you could always reminisce about the remarkable A-Rod, who went from a shaky steroids confession to a flaky tabloid obsession (is Kate Hudson showing a baby bump?) in a matter of months - a comeback for the ages!

Of course, dear Yankee fans, whichever of these heroic tales you share, this championship is for you. But as you make plans to attend the ticker-tape parade - it is, after all, the reward for your suffering - please take some advice to heart.

First, try not to be blinded by Rudy Giuliani's ear-to-ear smile. It can be deadly. (Ask Florida voters.)

Second, find a way to cope with the likelihood that your next championship is at least 365 days away. (Thank goodness it's not another blasted leap year!)

AND, FINALLY, be thankful that those miserable seasons of winning-without-winning-it-all - if only Royals fans could understand your pain! - are long gone.

In short, savor this most rare (only 27 times in history!) world championship. You deserve it. Or, at the very least, you believe you deserve it - that's why you root for Yankees in the first place.

And that's why, on this blessed day, you've awoken to a winner.

Eric Trager is a Ph.D. student in political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Mets fan, but rooted for the Phillies in the World Series.