Torre Blows Another One

Tonight's loss was tough and one is tempted to acknowledge that it is always a challenge beating a good team 4 times in a row at their place, that it is that much more unlikely when your team is so depleted, that you add the loss of Mo to all the others and there is very little a manager like Torre can do. Certainly one can't blame Torr for bringing in Farnsworth. That was clearly the play under the circumstances. One can blame Farnsworth himself of course, and more than that one can blame the pitch selection, which does return us toTorre. With one out and noone on, Marcus Thames was making it crystal clear that he could neither hit nor layoff the high fastball. Farnsworth starts getting it down, and then getting cute, and pretty soon he's walked the guy. He then gets Pudge in a 0-2 hole and instead of changing the velocity and eye angle, he comes back with another breaking pitch down and away, and he loses him too. And that was really the game.

But I would argue that the game shouldn't have and likely wouldn't have been that close in the 9th were it not for Miguel Cairo's absence of any hitting ability whatever. Which begs the question, why was he out there? When Jeter sat the night before, against his will, Torre made it clear it was just for one night; he further made it clear that Jeter was indeed ready to go tonight. When you are already missing two-thirds of your starting outfield and your indispensable closer, why in the world wouldn't you play your best position guy when you have the chance. The answer, pardon my bluntness, is that Torre is a fuckin old woman. He likes to baby his boys, to blow their little boo-boos up out of all proportion, and when he can't do that anymore, he relies on the playing it safe mantra. My God, he's not a baseball manager, he's the world's highest paid nanny. If the Yankees are going to be playing baseball in October, they've got to win the games they have a chance to win. When Cairo came up with the bases loaded and 2 outs, the move was clear, it was unmistakeable, it was mandatory. Pinch hit Jeter. Give yourself a chance to break the game open. On the road you need to put them away, especially when you are lacking the closer who can.


Sidenote: I have written in the past of Yankee softness, which we have thankfully seen less of lately (except for mother Joe of course). But I have to say that Wang is really a squishball. When he's going good he's amazing, but everytime he gets into trouble, he just goes to pieces. The fourth inning tonight was really inexcusable.

Which brings us back to what the Yankees really need, even with the loss of Matsui and now probably Sheffield for the season: a starting pitcher. They might be able to reach the playoffs with what they have--the West stinks and Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and even Minnesota look like they're going to beat up on one another--but they'll never go past the first round. Instead of "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain," their slogan will be "Moose, and then we lose and lose and lose."