The Yankees return from the West Coast bruised and battered, and not just on the big league level. The crescendo from fans to replace Headly at third with Torres now is silenced since the top level prospect will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of this season and possibly some of next.

Combine that with injuries to Sabathia and Hicks, plus Bird and Ellsbury hurting and you have a full fledged crisis for the Bombers. Their bullpen is stressed, placing young arms in spots they are not quite ready for as Tanaka and others continue to scuffle. The Angels should provide some relief, plus the off day should help cleanse their palate. I’m sure Girardi and company will right the ship and they’ll be playing meaningful games in September.

Meanwhile, there is a phony outcry in the press over Mike Francesa using an outdated term. Language is rapidly evolving and we’re expected to keep up with every nuance, every previously acceptable word now deemed verboten. It’s one thing to be aware that a word is insensitive and use it anyway, but that is not the case here. Of course, with the N-word, it is clearly offensive to the vast majority regardless of background and every sentient being should be aware of that, no excuses.

The courts have ruled that entities may use “offensive” terms to describe themselves, only the court of public opinion can remove them from common usage. Are we at a point where we need to poll every group and ask if certain terms bother them? And then, what would constitute a rational human from abstaining from using such language. If it offends five percent? Ten? Fifty? One?

This is where political correctness, which does have a purpose and good intent, has run amok. It almost seems that some people are looking to be offended when there is no intent to do so. Let’s reserve our outrage for clear cases of insult, not innocent slips from those not 100% up to date with the PC dictionary.        6/20/17