You mean this isn't the bottom?

They say you can't turn around a dysfunctional condition until you hit rock bottom. I hoped that had happened to the Yankees last night. They finally I thought hit the bottom. Not when Matsui got hurt, but when slow Joe failed to have Posada bunt in the eighth despite the fact that they were down a)1 run at home b) with a man on second nobody out and c) a left handed hitter on deck whose natural tendency would be to hit the ball to the right side (which he did) thus manufacturing a necessary run. I thought when someone in that ship of fools they call a baseball organization reviewed the game today they might wake up to the fact that they haven't been even trying to play sound strategic baseball for a long time and that the kind of performance they got from Bubba Crosby last night indicates what is needed in the immediate future. As always, the more right I am about what the Yankees should do, the more wrong I am in imagining, however fleetingly, that they will. Tonight's lineup, unbelievably, has Bernie back in right field, even though his bumbling blooper reel in the eighth last night proved he should no longer be entrusted with a baseball glove--ever. What's more, Bubba, after a triple, a single, brilliance in the field, brilliance on the bases, is sitting yet again. What the fuck does this guy have to do before the entire mass of Yankee fans forget about Bernie and his glorious but distant past and start berating Torre every time Bubba isn't out there.


This is such a crossroads in the season I feel compelled to tell slow Joe what he and Cashman would do if they had an ounce of brains. As unfortunate as the dual injuries of Sheffield and Matsui are, they gave you mooks a chance to reinvent this team, something you badly needed to do in any event. You can make this team a contact, speed, hustle, defense team, with just enough pop in the lineup to carry you. You can make this team Jeter's team again instead of AROD's, a team that win or lose would be more fun to watch, more likable to root for and better able to play the game of baseball in the round--instead of being a sack of aging sluggers sitting on their duffs waiting for the next ball to leave the park and stumbling around the field like they have vertigo(yes Bernie I mean you).

In case it hasn't been noticed the pitching this year has been pretty good, and if players unable to catch and run in the field were kept off the field, the pitching would be a lot better. Start Bubba in center cause he's your best outfielder, move Damon to left-he can cover that alley and his arm is less of a liabilty there. Play Cabrera in right. He's supposed to be able to play the field; perhaps he will--you all know (except Joe) that bernie can't. Move Cano up in the batting order and bury your slow, old guys like Posada and Williams. Move Crosby up in the order as well. When Sheffield comes back DH him and sit williams down for good.

Damon Damon
Jeter Jeter
Cano Cano
Arod AROD
Giambi Sheffield
Crosby Giambi
Cabrera Cabrera
Posada Posada
Williams Crosby

Steal, hit and run, bunt. Look to get 4-5 runs a game and give away none. This team could be like the 96 team which had exactly 2 long ball guys, a couple of slashers and a few single hitters. What have you got to lose? If you continue to play Earl Weaver ball, with Posada in the role of Sheffield and Williams in the role of Matsui, you're gonna get smoked right out of the playoffs. And if you do look to trade, look for someone like Torii hunter, not Soriano, someone, that is, who can actually play the game. You know, like Bubba.