WHICH IS MORE SICKENING?
The Yankees play or Torre's reaction.
Everything that make this Yankees squad such a disgrace to the franchise was on display today. They left 50 some runners on base, the bullpen imploded, walking three batters in a single inning to give away the lead, they failed to come up with the big hit time and again, including a pathetic strikeout from Jeter, Torre refused to play small ball when he had the chance, passing up at least two squeeze opportunities that would have won the game (Lou won a game today with the squeeze in Chicago), Torre failed to take out Bruney (who clearly couldn't find the plate) until after maximum damage was done--in sum the Yankees blow a four to one lead against an awful team then fail to rally behind AROD's 9th inning home run or, more significantly, his 11th inning double, and lose the game in 13. They should have won easy in nine, should have won hard in 11 and they lost altogether. They scored four in four and then went a full game scoring only one more despite hit after hit after hit. It's the kind of game only losers can manage to lose, particularly when they are playing against a bunch of losers like the Giants. The entire Rockies series did not disgust me as completely as this one game, as watching Cano blow chance after chance to win the game, as watching Matsui strike out in the 11th, against a shitty pitcher, when almost any kind of contact would have won the game, as watching Jeter swing and miss at an obvious ball four to kill a likely rally, as watching Meyers and Bruney throw ball after ball, none of which were even close (Bruney walked in the go ahead run, despite the fact that Bonds swung at 2 pitches out of the zone; in other words with the bases loaded and the game tied late, Bruney threw 6 straight balls). Seriously, at various points in this game I felt physically ill.
But what about that other Joe, you know the one getting paid a king's ransom to extract the highest caliber of play from his similarly well-compensated charges? What was his state of mind, having witnessed this debacle up close? What were his sentiments as the easiest road trip possible just went to 1-4, ensuring that the west coast portion can at best aspire to a 333 winning percentage? How unacceptable does he find the fact that the Yankees season is going down the drain (now 6.5 out of the wild card) against such seemingly unworthy competition? How enraged is he by the team wide epidemic of choking from which ironically only AROD, the erstwhile choker in chief, seems immune?
Well Joe said, a) "I guess it wasn't our day" (it wasn't the day that gagged, it was you and your team), b) "I have no complaints other than the final score" (how'ja like that limosine ride, Mrs. Kennedy) and c) my person favorite, "You can't blame the bats today" Why not? "We got 17 hits" (the object of the game is not to get hits but to score runs, and when you have a lot of the former and few of the latter, the bats are to blame). How does the greatest franchise in sports come to be managed by a clown who doesn't appreciate the significance of situational hitting. If you're leaving a ton of men on base ( and the Yankees outdid themselves in this sorry regard), then you are not hitting in any meaningful sense--by definition.
How can Torre remain comparatively satisfied with his team when thery are falliong further and further behind by letting games they have in hand slip away? And how, short of the Alzheimer's explanation, can George remain satisified with a manager unfazed not just with losing but with losing pathetically, as they've done this entire trip.
For myself, I am finally coming to realize that no amount of calculation can explain why this team will not play in October or justify any residual hope that they will. All you have to do is look at the production of Matsui, Cano, Abreu, Cairo, and Damon in innings 1-5 vs innings 6-9 in close games. Look at the Whip of the bullpen pitchers once they have at least one man on base. Look at the deplorable record in 1 run games, among the worst in the majors. The numbers tell you the kind of thing numbers ordinarily don't: that this is a team without much heart. Until Torre calls them on this lack, and stops praising their "effort," he will be worth even less than usual.
So the answer is....BOTH.
Everything that make this Yankees squad such a disgrace to the franchise was on display today. They left 50 some runners on base, the bullpen imploded, walking three batters in a single inning to give away the lead, they failed to come up with the big hit time and again, including a pathetic strikeout from Jeter, Torre refused to play small ball when he had the chance, passing up at least two squeeze opportunities that would have won the game (Lou won a game today with the squeeze in Chicago), Torre failed to take out Bruney (who clearly couldn't find the plate) until after maximum damage was done--in sum the Yankees blow a four to one lead against an awful team then fail to rally behind AROD's 9th inning home run or, more significantly, his 11th inning double, and lose the game in 13. They should have won easy in nine, should have won hard in 11 and they lost altogether. They scored four in four and then went a full game scoring only one more despite hit after hit after hit. It's the kind of game only losers can manage to lose, particularly when they are playing against a bunch of losers like the Giants. The entire Rockies series did not disgust me as completely as this one game, as watching Cano blow chance after chance to win the game, as watching Matsui strike out in the 11th, against a shitty pitcher, when almost any kind of contact would have won the game, as watching Jeter swing and miss at an obvious ball four to kill a likely rally, as watching Meyers and Bruney throw ball after ball, none of which were even close (Bruney walked in the go ahead run, despite the fact that Bonds swung at 2 pitches out of the zone; in other words with the bases loaded and the game tied late, Bruney threw 6 straight balls). Seriously, at various points in this game I felt physically ill.
But what about that other Joe, you know the one getting paid a king's ransom to extract the highest caliber of play from his similarly well-compensated charges? What was his state of mind, having witnessed this debacle up close? What were his sentiments as the easiest road trip possible just went to 1-4, ensuring that the west coast portion can at best aspire to a 333 winning percentage? How unacceptable does he find the fact that the Yankees season is going down the drain (now 6.5 out of the wild card) against such seemingly unworthy competition? How enraged is he by the team wide epidemic of choking from which ironically only AROD, the erstwhile choker in chief, seems immune?
Well Joe said, a) "I guess it wasn't our day" (it wasn't the day that gagged, it was you and your team), b) "I have no complaints other than the final score" (how'ja like that limosine ride, Mrs. Kennedy) and c) my person favorite, "You can't blame the bats today" Why not? "We got 17 hits" (the object of the game is not to get hits but to score runs, and when you have a lot of the former and few of the latter, the bats are to blame). How does the greatest franchise in sports come to be managed by a clown who doesn't appreciate the significance of situational hitting. If you're leaving a ton of men on base ( and the Yankees outdid themselves in this sorry regard), then you are not hitting in any meaningful sense--by definition.
How can Torre remain comparatively satisfied with his team when thery are falliong further and further behind by letting games they have in hand slip away? And how, short of the Alzheimer's explanation, can George remain satisified with a manager unfazed not just with losing but with losing pathetically, as they've done this entire trip.
For myself, I am finally coming to realize that no amount of calculation can explain why this team will not play in October or justify any residual hope that they will. All you have to do is look at the production of Matsui, Cano, Abreu, Cairo, and Damon in innings 1-5 vs innings 6-9 in close games. Look at the Whip of the bullpen pitchers once they have at least one man on base. Look at the deplorable record in 1 run games, among the worst in the majors. The numbers tell you the kind of thing numbers ordinarily don't: that this is a team without much heart. Until Torre calls them on this lack, and stops praising their "effort," he will be worth even less than usual.
So the answer is....BOTH.
posted by joe valente | 11:31 PM
1 Comments:
Thankfully I had to miss the game after it went 5-5, and was spared the frustration of witnessing the failed chances in extras.
But it should be added that Wang just wasn't sharp today; he was veering toward coughing up the whole 4-1 lead himself when he got pulled. But that's what bullpens are supposed to be there for....he looked like himself for about 4 toal innings, and looked awful in his other 2. Of course, he should be able to be less than stupendous and get a win, and especially given the way the team was putting the ball in play all game, as Joe V has said, it's a disgrace they couldn't get an insurance run within the first 9, much less close the deal. If only Joe Torre had been watching the Fox telecast--he could have seen the clips of the squeeze play Lou called.
Post a Comment
<< Home