F*&! Joe Torre: A Ten Run Eighth Against the Royals

F*&! Joe Torre

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.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

A Ten Run Eighth Against the Royals

is nothing to pooh-pooh. The Royals have won series recently against the Red Sox (before the sick-out), against the Twins and against the White Sox. To be down 5-1 late and turn it on like that can onlky mean that the Yankees are finally beginnining to play with a focus and an intensity that does justice to their talent. To be sure they made another young no-name, no-future hurler look like Cy Young again (to echo BGW's entirely justified complaint), but they didn't shrink back into their shell, even though this game was probably as close to meaningless as you can get before anything is clinched. I think you have to give them credit for this explosion, particularly coming off the successful home stand. And Giambi isn't even nhitting at the moment! If you think of DH Hideki Matsui hitting seventh, just behind future batting champion Robby Cano and before Posada and Cabrera, this lineup could be the scariest the Yankees have possessed since DiMaggio, Gehrig, Bill Dickey, Tony Lazzeri and Frank Crosetti shared the same field. If only they could pitch, field and execute better.

1 Comments:

joe valente said...: I think it's more than anti-NY bias; I think it's anti-Jeter bias. You simply don't hear other Yankee stars get dismissed as overrated, not even AROD, whom the scribes all rush to defend.

BGW-
Enjoy yourself. To be honest with you, I think this is the night the residual hopes of the Red Sox (which seem to be an entirely objective phenomenon; they don't seem to experience any hope at all) run aground on the arm of Gabbard. We'll see, but I think the error of trading Wells manifests itself tonight, when they go with a starter they otherwise wouldn't. Tavaras gave them a great performance last night--I saw the game as well--precisely because of the prevailing assumption that the season is over. He's a total head case who can't handle pressure at all. Should the Sox make it close, and should they continue to rely on him, they won't be close for long.

If they had only one team to catch, I could see them pulling something off, even without a starting rotation worthy of the name. But I don't see them catching 2 teams now (they only picked up 1/2 a game last night)with their pitching, and 11 of their 26 games still on the road.; 1:23 PM