Ah, summer — a joyous time of the year. The NBA playoffs are almost over; thank God, since I happen to be partial to the show “Law and Order.” TNT is nice enough to show several episodes a night, but not when the NBA is on.

In the summer, scantily clad girls fill my vision everywhere I look and baseball, the best sport known to man, is in full progress.

I am so happy with the way things have been progressing so far this season, especially when I look at the AL East, which my favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, is leading. Right off the bat, I will say I am not jumping on the bandwagon after seeing the Orioles’ success. I have been a faithful fan since middle school. So there.

Anyway, the Yankees are finally seeing what it feels like to be on the losing side as they flounder in fourth place. Obviously, George Steinbrenner won’t be buying himself another pennant again this year. You can’t throw money at your problems and expect them to magically work themselves out, which is what he’s been doing for the past several years. He has gone out and bought the best players he can in an attempt to corner the league. I swore before the beginning of the season, after Randy Johnson put on his first set of pinstripes, that I would boycott baseball if the All-Star Game featured the National League All-Stars vs. the New York Yankees. Thankfully, I don’t see that happening this year.

ESPN has been telling everyone how great the Yankees are, even though they’re not. Why, ESPN, the all-knowing god of sports broadcasting, are you filling the minds of sports fans across the globe with this crap? The Yankees spent millions of dollars during the off-season in a complete overhaul of their starting rotation. Where did it get them? Fourth place and among the worst in the league in pitching. Mike Mussina, a traitor after leaving my Orioles a few years ago, and Kevin Brown were the only two starters held over from last season. Veterans like Johnson and Jaret Wright were brought in along with young ace Carl Pavano thinking they were going to turn their pathetic pitching staff around. As of Tuesday night, the five starters were a combined 20-22 with an average ERA of 5.47. Not only that, Wright has been on the disabled list since April 24 with a shoulder injury.

Now, here’s what’s going to happen. Baltimore is going to continue its hold on the East. They are 25-13 with an average ERA of 4.05 so far and that will only get better as the young aces gain confidence. The Yankees’ struggles will also continue. With their pitching as bad as it is and their offense unable to come through, the Yankees will continue to drown, battling with Toronto for third place in the division. Come September, they sure as hell won’t be battling with Baltimore for first place or even Boston for second.