The Yankees have a chance to be something they almost never have been for almost a hundred years: a team that drops out of the sky, find itself, surprises people, and becomes — surprise! — a team you root for even if you don’t root for them.

It’s funny: We tend to think of New York City and the Yankees as interchangeable. The old saying about rooting for the Yankees — “It’s like rooting for U.S. Steel” — is often transferred to the city itself. And it’s true: In a lot of ways, there never is a reason to feel sorry for New York — and if you don’t believe us, we’ll gladly tell you why.

But just about every team in this market actually has spent some time as an underdog, sometimes more than once. Consider:

The Mets, who in 1969 essentially crafted the template for the impossible-to-hate underdog, who rose from ninth place to first place in a year then stormed to the most improbable championship ever. Similar runs in 2000 and 2015 helped solidify the Mets’ reputation as whatever the opposite of U.S. Steel might be.

The Jets, who earlier in 1969 became the first team out of the upstart AFL to win a Super Bowl, who flummoxed the Colts and Jimmy the Greek and Establishment stalwarts everywhere. And let’s be honest, whenever they do win their second title — at this point, sometime in your great-grandchildren’s lifetime — they probably will be looked at the same way.

The Giants, who are about as Establishment as you can be, yet in both 2007 and 2011 managed to transform into the Hickory High of pro football because they went up against the big, bad Belichicks and won both times. And let’s face it: Eli even looks a little bit like Jimmy Chitwood.

The Knicks, who in 1999 were an eighth seed and topped Pat Riley’s top-seeded Heat and managed to make it all the way to the Finals, even after Patrick Ewing snapped his Achilles tendon.

The Rangers, who spent 54 years wandering aimlessly through the NHL forest, enduring a title-free drought that in retrospect is even more amazing given that the first 25 of those years was played in a six-team NHL, meaning sheer mathematics and probability alone should have yielded something greener and greater.

The Islanders, Devils and Nets, who by sheer second-citizen status forever are underdogs even in their home market.

Anyway, the Yankees never have had that kind of fun. They came close in 1996, thanks in part to the presence of affable Joe Torre, but the truth is the Yankees also had the best record in the American League before the strike hit in 1994 and were in the playoffs in 1995. Maybe they weren’t as hate-able as some Yankees teams, but that is a category in which Yankee Haters definitely grade on a curve.

Beyond that? Maybe 1921, since that was the first year the Yankees ever won anything. Maybe 1976, because it had been 12 years since the Yankees had been in the postseason and it looked like the Yankees’ mystique might be dead. Still, the ’21 team had Babe Ruth and the ’76 team won 97 games and led the AL almost from Day 1.

These Yankees?

On their most cynical day, Yankees fans can spend hours fretting about what the rotation looks like after Masahiro Tanaka and wonder if anyone actually can get anyone out. And they can fret about all the kids who will be expected to step up. And they can fret about the fact the AL East produced three playoff teams last year.

But there also are days when CC Sabathia turns back the clock and Michael Pineda is more than a tease. There are times that Greg Bird and Gary Sanchez can make you believe that a new core of future champions is arriving quickly. There are no guarantees, of course. But the best stories never have guarantees, do they?

Vac’s Whacks

Can Phil Jackson be suspended for the same 20 games Joakim Noah is? That would be, as they say, a good start.

When Long Island University is a place that fires a basketball coach who has just won 20 games — as it did this week with Jack Perri — then Long Island University is a place that has seriously lost its way.

The dynamic duo of Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw will be leading the Sports Broadcasting Camp at the Yogi Berra Museum this July 24-28. Get details at sportsbroadcastingcamp.com. Believe me, I’d sign up if they’d let me.

I have to admit, “Homeland” has done it again: It’s sucked me back in just when I was ready to bid Carrie, Quinn, Saul and Dar goodbye forever, and mean it this time.

Whack Back at Vac

Jay Cummings: There is a website, gofundme.com, which does a lot of good. How much do we have to raise to get Carmelo Anthony and CC Sabathia out of town?

Vac: In the old days, guys just used to get booed.

Alan Hirschberg: I am among those Jets fans rooting for 1-15 and savior Sam Darnold. But it’s worth noting that since the year the Colts sucked for Luck, they have been to the exact same number of Super Bowls as the Jets.

Vac: Exactly. It’s funny how the Patriots manage to be great every year without taking a sabbatical to rebuild, isn’t it?

@ziggyisadog: Regarding the end of regulation of Wisconsin-Florida: Can somebody please show me an example of when fouling while up by three didn’t work?

@MikeVacc: Coaches cite stats all the time. All I know is I watch a lot of basketball, and I’ve never seen it not work.

Robert Rosenbloom: I have read all about the problem of resting healthy players, but no one talks about the gambling issue. If someone has inside info on players being rested on a given night, it could impact on the betting line. Doesn’t the integrity of the game come into play here?

Vac: You would think people would be smart about killing the golden goose; but you’d also think they’d have been smart enough to know how much resting multiple stars in a game would hack people off.