Out beyond the right-field wall in Section 203, the Bleacher Creatures at Yankee Stadium believe they know the difference between a proper title contender and a mere placeholder.

They have seen the real thing. This home team was more of an expensive knockoff.

While the Yankees were losing a sloppy 5-3 game to the Houston Astros on opening day, one fan wondered: Where are the stars, the heartthrobs?

“I don’t have a favorite Yankee for the first time in my life,” said Tina Lewis, the designated queen of the bleachers. “That says it all.”

The days when the Yankees built champions around their famous outfield (Mantle-Maris-Berra, in 1961) or their infield (Teixeira-Cano-Jeter-Rodriguez, in 2009) have been replaced by a less shimmering era when the team’s greatest strength is its bullpen. Go write romantic poetry about middle relievers, particularly after Dellin Betances throws away the baseball and the game.