Little buzz around contenders in The Bronx

THIS is the type of team New Yorkers traditionally wrap their arms around, one that overachieves by wringing every ounce out of its personnel, by being even greater than the sum of its parts.

Yet the Yankees have not been embraced even as they go stride for stride at the top of the stretch of a pretty dandy race for the AL East title with the colossus from Toronto, which has taken on an almost mythological status since acquiring Troy Tulowitzki and David Price leading up to the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline.

The Yankees no longer own the city they essentially turned into a Company Town for the better part of two decades beginning in 1996, when they established as high a bar as has ever been set in pro sports with as many marquee players as you could fit into a clubhouse.

But those days are gone, even though the Yankees are one of the most pleasant surprises in the big leagues. All anyone would have to have done in order to recognize the new reality was to look around the Stadium on Monday, when it appeared halfempty for the Labor Day matinee against the Orioles.

The announced attendance was a tad over 31,000. It didn’t seem as if that many were in the ballpark. Prior to this, the Yankees had been home for five games on Labor Day — including a daynight doubleheader — since the move across the street in 2009. They drew crowds of 47,436; 45,953; 46,103; 45,069 and 40,125 for those games. And the Stadium always looked as full as advertised.

The Yankees are averaging just fewer than 40,300, so there’s no need to send out search parties for fans. But that’s about 6,000 under the average for 2010 and a couple of thousand below last year. As Yogi might say, when they stop coming, you can’t stop them.

This was a gorgeous day on which the Yankees clubbed three home runs en route to an 86 victory that pulled the team within a halfgame of the Jays, who were battered in Boston. Despite the perception Toronto is simply unbeatable and thus uncatchable, the fact is the Yankees have gone 137 to the Jays’ 135 since the teams last hooked up in Toronto on Aug. 16, with seven games remaining between the contenders, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

“I don’t necessarily think that’s our perception in the room,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Our perception is to go out and win, to go out and win series’, and things will take care of themselves. “That’s what we talk about.” We can talk about ticket prices finally turning off a segment of the population. We can talk about the departures, one after another, of the charismatic and beloved Core Four. We can talk about the absence of charisma on this team in which lowkey seems to be the favored octave of the organization. Maybe even about Yankeefatigue.

The fact is there’s essentially no buzz around this team that — still far from being a little engine that could at a payroll in excess of $200 million — goes out and gets its hands and pants dirty one day after another.

Maybe that will change when the Jays show up Thursday for a fourgame series. Maybe Toronto will bring electricity to The Bronx along with the thunder in its bats. Maybe the Yankees will be frontandcenter on the stage that, this weekend, will include the Mets in Atlanta; the opening of the NFL season; and the possibility of Serena Williams winning the Grand Slam on Saturday in Flushing.

The Mets energized their base and Baseball New York by acquiring Yoenis Cespedes at the deadline while the Yankees were all but mum. But GM Brian Cashman instead added differencemakers from within by promoting Luis Severino and Greg Bird from Scranton/WilkesBarre after accelerated trips through the system.

Though not greeted with the same acclaim as the Mets’ promotions of Steven Mats and Michael Conforto, these moves have been every bit as essential for the Yankees as for the Mets. Case in point: the leftyswinging Bird, now the everyday firstbaseman in the absence of the ailing Mark Teixeira, turning on a slider in going deep against lefty Brian Matusz with two on in the seventh inning to break a 55 tie.

Severino, doing as a rookie in the rotation in a pennant race for the Yankees what Mel Stottlemyre last did in 1964, is currently lined up to open the series against the Blue Jays on Thursday. By this time next week, the Yankees could be in first place.

Maybe that will catch New York’s attention.