Headed into the All-Star break, the Yanks trail the BoSox by 2 1/2 games…

It’s been a crazy half-season for the Yankees so far, and they could well collapse again after the All-Star game.

But if you’d told me, after some of the losing streaks the Yankees have endured this season, that they’d be 2.5 down at the halfway mark with a four-game series against Boston coming up, I’d take that in a heartbeat.

Over the weekend, I chatted with one of my relatives who’s a loyal employee of the Baltimore Orioles. (Thanks for the t-shirt! Your book is on the way.)

One thing he and I could agree on: It’s wonderful to have a competitive race in the AL East. Of course, we both hope our teams will win the division, but three good teams within 2 1/2 games of each other…pretty great.

* Named after the Boston Globe columnist who predicted the Red Sox would win the division by a landslide.