Since Joe Torre breaks our hearts, this blog will break his balls. Every day of the season I will detail the errors, misjudgements, and omissions that make him the most overrated manger in the history of the game (even more than Tommy Lasorda!). But Joe Torre is not just one bum in hero's clothing (i.e. the pinstripes); he is the quintessential counterfeit of excellence, a figure who embodies the triumph of the ersatz that pervades every aspect of our culture. No organization in sport, nay in civilization generally, has manifested a committment to continuing greatness like the New York Yankees, a beacon to all, in every field of endeavor, that the best is always possible. How intolerable is it then that the Yankees should be managed by a mediocrity on stilts, a figure with a reputation for greatness without any of the attributes thereof. Beginning with Torre and ending with Torre, this blog will look to smash idols we create out of inadvertence, ignorance, and complacency.
posted by joe valente | 6:05 PM
3 Comments:
In defense of Bruney he had the best pitching line of the night at 2.1 IP and 1 ER. But that was a solo shot to a guy who only had 1 hr on the entire season.
Torre is turning Villione into the Scott Proctor of May and June.
Good thing Boston is really terrible now. I mean really terrible.
Well, I will concede your point that Wells looks like he's back for real, if you concede mine, that Keith foulke still sucks and will likely continue to do so. He gave up three dingers tonight against the A's. Maybe the Yankees are fooled by that 85 mph fastball but noone else is. Wells' return matters less now that Jon Lester has been put on the DL. The Red Sox still have no no. 4 starter until wakefield gets back and no no. 5 starter anywhere on the horizon. A smart team can still get Wells out in 6 innings leaving perhaps the worst bullpen of any contending team (perhaps becasue the Yankees' is so bad) to fritter the game away like they did Saturday night. With Manny out for the last 2 in Oakland, Ortiz back in Boston to get his heartbeat re-checked (I'm not backing off my HGH suspicions), Varitek and Nixon still 4-7 days away, Gonzalez and Pena both out, it really does look over for the pride of Boston. They'll be lucky to split the remaining games with Oakland, which will probably put them 8 games back in the loss column with just 28-30 to play. And they still will have chicago and Minnesota to deal with.
I'd love to see the Red Sox acquire a new stadium, even with the revenue stream it would bring, for much the same reason that I dread the new stadium the Yankees will have. for different reasons, the present ballparks of both northeastern behemoths give them a unusually pronounced home field advantage, particualrly at playoff time. With Revenue sharing and luxury taxes, no amount of added income will compensate for the loss of that advantage.
I hate it when you guys make me defend Torre. As the blog description clearly indicates, that's not my job. But I don't think mere stubborness was involved in his decision, dismally stupid as it was, to bat AROD second. I think he was going with history; AROd's batting average in the 2 hole is much higher than his career average. And I think he was trying to get AROD to focus on making contact, the main function of a 2 hitter, rather than driving the ball. What makes slow Joe's decision a rally killing mistake lies in his failure to estimate just how bad AROD is right now. When somebody thismired there is a kind of managerial version of the hippocratic oath in play, first let him do no harm, just get him out of the way, only then do you worry about fixing what ails him.
Post a Comment
<< Home