How about those Yankees? They look like a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter during their first thirty-seven games. They can’t hit, especially with runners in scoring position. And their defense was never their strong point.
The Yankee pitching, with the exception of Chien-Ming Wang and Mariano Rivera is totally unreliable at best. Whenever one of the relief core steps up his game the disabled list is just around the corner.
The wheels are spinning but the hamster seems to be dead.
Although their future is bright the strongest things that the Yankees have going for them today, are their yesterdays.
Now the Yankee pitching staff has to endure the horrors of Kei Igawa. This guy has as much control as two rabbits on their first date. On the mound his appearance seems to project the luminance of a black light.
It is quite obvious New York or the major leagues are out of Igawa’s league of mental endurance. During the game, when the pressure is on, Igawa appears to be as smart as a box of hair. Sort of like our great president George W. who on occasions (like everyday) is a few clowns short of a circus under pressure. “Hey Ya’ll, the government is open seven days a week and weekends too.” “It`s tough to make predictions, especially about the future...”
Sorry for the side bar it’s that dementia thing creeping in and politics are on my mind. “ Where’s my watch?”
The Yankees invested forty-six million dollars on Igawa, this body by Nissan brains by Mattel toy. The Yankee scouting team was a few peas short of a casserole when assessing Igawa’s talent. Revoke their passports please.
Packaging Igawa in a deal to acquire a player with a pulse has certainly had to cross management’s minds. I’m sure Cashman and Hankenstien are afraid that Igawa will suddenly find his niche the minute he is dealt to another team. But even in Japan his pitch location was up in the zone. He will do no good here.
Management’s assessment of its young pitching staff was a bit premature. Patience has never been a virtue with this organization no matter what they preach. The rest of this year should be interesting if things continue to deteriorate. If the Yankees are still close to their division leaders by the end of June look for a packaged deal for pitching.
Getting A-Rod and Posada back will at least help this anemic offense. But the offense has not helped them in the playoffs. That is IF they make the playoffs. It’s all about pitching.
With a new stadium in the mix and the economy in the state of flush attendance next year could be an issue. Although corporate America seems to buy it’s share of seating in the Bronx, so maybe not.
The Yankees need some front line pitching and this off-season should produce some major changes. There is a lot of money coming off the books so look for a major free agent or two to be signed.
Well you get the idea. A man is only as old as the woman he feels. (Sorry, I just had a senior moment and that was truly uncalled for).
If I were a tree there would be more than twice as many rings in my trunk than in the Yankee organisation. So why is it that I still have not taught myself the rewards of patience?
I guess it all goes back to when I was young and I started out to try and save the world. Then I saw something shinny. A.D.D. Attention Deffisate Dissorder. Riddlin would have been the drug of choice to address that syndrom but the drug makers hadn’t formulated that yet. So for my generation our Riddlin was Catholic school. I’d prefer Ridlin.
Back to my original thought and that was my attention and attitude towards baseball. Specificially, the Yankees.
On any given game day I will treat that days game as the seventh game of a world series. I know you can’t win every game but yet that is what I expect. Years of therapy haven’t corrected that character flaw. Unlike women who won’t admit their age I refuse to act mine when it comes to watching the Yankees.
Each day I read about the team and all of the current events surrounding them. (By the way, at my age I don’t need glasses. I just drink straight from the bottle). After reading I rationalize, with great logic, the reality of this team’s place in time, talent and standings. I put all of this information into my logical storage vault somewhere in my cranium. I go about my daily business and the world goes round .
I will proceed to have daily conversations with other sports people regarding the Yankees. My comments are very rational and analytical. I never make predictions. I know better. Sometimes I am even respected… Okay, let’s not get carried away.
Then I settle down to watch the game and it’s like I fell out of the #### tree and hit every branch on the way down. I become a cynic like the guy who smells flowers and looks around for a coffin. I think every Yankee is going to hit into a double play given that game situation. A-Rod is a piece of #### and will strike out with runners in scoring position. Mariano is washed up and will blow every save opportunity. Johnny Damon throws like a girl. Well that one makes sense.
In other words my in game logic is rather sad. Sort of like a mosquito sucking on a mummy. I become the inventor of stupidity.
It is this inconsistency in my mental behavior that makes me a true sports fan. It makes me ponder my age, my self worth and my commitments. Whenever I feel all knowing and wise I look forward to watching a Yankee game. This always humbles me back to reality. Home is where you can scratch where it really itches.
Blessed are the cracked people for it is they who let in the light.
I am not a writer until I start to write. I am not an emotional guy until I get emotional. And I am not a sentimental guy until I get sentimental. So When I turned on last night’s Yankee game I realized what a sentimental curmudgeon I really am. Not that it is a bad thing to be sentimental and a guy. Remember, this is coming from a guy who has the attention span of a blonde in a room filled with shiny objects.
I wasn’t all that interested in spring training. There were no real big interests or excitements for me in the off-season besides the hiring of Joe Girardi as manager. The Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee, “he said he said,” hearings were all about political affiliation. So I filed that one under: “the more you study, the more you know. The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. So why study?” theory.
There is something about opening day (or night as in this case) at Yankee stadium. The weather is rarely accommodating. Some players are so nervous they probably feel like a pregnant nun in a confessional. After the first pitch the fans feel like the prolonged winter dreariness is coming to a screeching halt. The players feel absolved.
Even though this was the last opening day at the storied stadium in The Bronx I was not overly sentimental. After all there has been no world championship in seven years. The Boston Red Sox have two titles in the last four years. Joe Torre is gone. George Steinbrenner is no longer a present force to be recognized. Reggie Jackson threw out the first pitch. Joe Girardi is manager. The pitching staff is made up of young unproven talent.
Then the TV cameras started to take some unique shots from all over Yankee Stadium. I saw the courthouse and the subway from high above the Yankee façade. I saw angles of the playing field that I used to see as a kid roaming all around the upper decks of the stadium. I started to get sentimental. I started to get emotional. I started to write.
I heard Mel Allen and Red Barber. I heard Phil Rizzuto and Bill White. I heard Frank Messer. I heard Bob Shepard.
I had flashes of The Mick, Yogi, Whitey, Billy, Maris, Elston, Richardson, Bauer, Boyer, Kubek, Macdougal , Skowron, Tresh, Coleman, Stengel, Larsen, Sturdivant, Downing, Duren,, Reniff, Slaughter, Stafford, Terry, Turley, Blanchard, Houk. I saw a packed stadium. I saw world championships
Then there was a decade and a half of darkness.
I had another flash. I saw Munson, Guidry, Nettles, Randolph, Dent, Rivers, Pinniella, Chambliss, White, Murcer, Blair, Ellis, Figueroa, Holtzman, Tidrow, Alexander, Gullett, Dempsey, Stanley, Bloomberg, Gamble, Lyle, Hunter, Johnson, Spencer, Jackson, Lemon. I saw a packed stadium. I saw world championships.
Then there was another decade and a half of darkness.
Then there was an enormous bright flash. Like a flash not seen in decades. Like Haley’s Comet. I saw, Mattingly, Showalter, Torre, Jetter, Williams, Girardi, Posada, O’neill, Rivera, Gossage, , Pettitte, Gooden, Key, Rogers, Wetteland, Weathers, Wickman, Clemens, Cone, Hernandez, Lloyd, Mendoza, Stanton, Wells, Grimsley, Nelson, Brosius, Knoblauch, Leyritz, Martinez, Soriano, Boggs, Fielder, Duncan, Sojo, Vizcaino, Spencer, Curtis, Ledee, Strawberry, Justice, Raines, Davis. A quick flash, Canseco, Polonia, Kelly, Hill, Neagle, Lily. I saw a packed stadium. I saw world championships.
This storied stadium, The House that Ruth Built, The Great Cathedral in the Bronx, Baseballs Vatican, what ever you want to call it. Yankee Stadium, it is a baseball shrine. It makes men out of boys and it turns men back into boys. There are ghosts and there are spirits that linger there. That is if you believe in that sort of lore. I don’t usually until I think of it. Then I am a believer.
This is the first of the last go around in the Stadium. There will be a year long of first lasts progressing throughout the year. Try to embrace all of it as it is happening. It will be just a memory all too soon. Let’s hope it leads us back to the future. I see a packed stadium. I see world championships.
It is I, Hank, son of King George, from the castle of The Empire. King of All things Back Page, years the defeater of the RSN, Sovereign of all Baseball!
I move for no man. I command you, as Acting in Waiting King of the Empire, to stand aside!
You don't frighten us, RSN pig dogs. Go and boil your ####s, you sons of a silly John Henry. I blow my nose at you, so-called "World Champions," you and all your silly Baked Bean RSN Potty Bottoms.
And how'd you get that, title, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma, which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.
I #### in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster masturbator and your father smelt of dingle berries.
We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of free agents who will join me in my court at the Great Cathedral in Ye Old Bronx. We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Pigskin and Fore checks. And now we are prepared to do battle with the leather stitched corked core prostitutes of our beloved Empire.
Stand up and fight, you compilation of overachieving Empirical impostors.
Is there no one else I can talk to? I have proclaimed the land back to Lords of the Holy and deed fully keeper of the Grail. I bet you are ####.
Listen to me you parasitical ameba impostors of Diamond Green Pastures. I have come in the nick of time. Look, it's my duty as a nobleman to stride in the footsteps of our great king, King George III to sample as much peril as I can.
I am your appointed King in waiting Do you think supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony? Ha, Ha! I #### on you once again. Strange women lyin' in ponds gathering sperm is basis for a system of Hardball government. I am living proof.
I have been recently charged with believing sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes. And that I deem the earth to be banana shaped. To that I say, “What a bunch of Bleep!”
Go and tell your master that God has charged us with a sacred quest. If he will give us your hard earned pittance for the season, he can join us in our quest for the Holy Grail # 27.
All of us who consider ourselves baseball fanatics understand the unique timeless mystery of the game. Our summertime sports passion has evolved into a year round obsession of baseball. With the development of the WBC, baseball is steadily becoming an international sport of merit. With that in mind, what we are seeing in this off-season, regarding the pursuit of Japanese quality pitchers by major market MLB baseball franchises, should not be looked at as a grotesque attempt to acquire the untested foreign talent and sports tabloid headlines. This has become a huge international business strategy that can secure enormous revenue for all baseball franchises involved.
Who knows how much revenue and cash reserve these MLB franchises have secured over the last decade of baseball popularity. Until baseball franchises open their financial books to the public this will always be a speculative guess to the inquiring public.
The New York Yankees are considered the Microsoft Corporation of MLB. Generating international revenue that keeps getting larger and larger with each passing year. It is beginning to sink in with other Franchises as well. Reinvesting in your franchises pocket strategically, TV revenue, farm systems, network sports venues and signing of international players, will line the franchise pockets for years to come. Playing the international marketing game can be a financial windfall for all those willing to take the initial plunge. This is evident by the 51 million dollar bid that the Boston Red Sox submitted, and eventually won, to the Seibu Lions, of the Japanese Baseball League, for the negotiating rights for their star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. This was followed up this week by the 25 million dollar winning bid that the New York Yankees secured for the negotiating rights to Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa of the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese Baseball League.
The baseball world is all a buzz by this initial act of, what the public views as, ludicrous spending by the egotistical spoiled baseball owners of MLB. Is it egotistical pandering or shrewd business tactics?
If this was such a ludicrous tactic why hasn’t the commissioner of MLB stepped in to protect the product that has been the golden goose? The silence speaks volumes on the enormity of the financial windfall that is ascending upon this international marketing game and the future of MLB on a global scheme.
The timing of all this to coincide with the success of the WBC interest is not coincidental. This is international big business and the beginning of a world sports market. The MLB has obviously been looking at the talent displayed by the WBC and have decided that the results of interest and talent in the global market is worthy of this kind of attention and good business sense. This is serious folks.
I, for one, am truly amazed that O.J. Simpson is still walking amongst the living. Given the general attitude of the racial tension caused years ago by the spill off from the Simpson trial and it’s outcome.
I was convinced that some extremist would take matters into his own hands and squeeze the juice out of O.J.’s life. I am certainly happy that this did not happen. The fall out from that would cause all kinds of unneeded tension in this country. We have enough problems in this country concerning our involvement in a war that we are hopelessly loosing and at the cost of young American soldiers lives.
Since O.J. walks through life, as shameless as he does, it was just a matter of time before the man projected his true image out there for the whole world to see. Maybe he has a secret death wish. I seem to think that his personality, one of needing to be recognized by the media and population as some sort of celebrity, is what has driven him to this latest blunder of negative publicity and general disdain by the majority of the rational thinking public.
OJ is squeezing the life out of several issues and in turn he will eventually squeeze the life out of himself and we all will watch. Everyone stops to watch a train wreck no matter how horrible.
For all the marathon runners out there this is a very special week for your sport. The sports world will tune into the five boroughs of New York City on Sunday November 5th. The media microscope will paint a mosaic picture of thirty-five thousand pavement pounding physically tortured souls proving that endurance, to them, is a lifestyle commandment.
For those who have been through this experience almost any other task in life becomes less monumental and the inner soul becomes rewarded with a sense of strength and character. To all these individuals who participate I raise a glass and toast to you and your character.
The discipline that makes you hit the roads, tracks, trails and treadmills on a daily basis is one that will never leave you throughout your life’s quest. You are strong willed and determined and those who are in contact with you will always be respectful and in awe.
It has been twenty-eight years since I have stepped foot onto the starting line of The New York City Marathon but I can still feel the exhilaration and triumph from each and every marathon I ran. I ran in the New York City Marathon when it was run in Central Park (four plus loops) and a New York City firefighter by the name of Gary Muhrcke won the first NYC race in 2hr. 31min. and 39 secs. There were only fifty-five finishers that first year of 1970.
Sunday tens of thousands of individuals will finish this race and they will have a lifetime of rewards for their efforts. Good luck to all who participate. Through my minds eye I will remember the thrill.
The Yankees did have chemistry this year. Unfortunately it was stripped from the lineup in the last three weeks of the regular season with the return of Hedeiki Matsui and Gary Sheffield. Joe Torre’s hands were tied when it came time to play these two. He had to. This, as it turned out, was the wrong time to screw with team chemistry.
In the beginning of the year the Yankee team that played everyday lacked that chemistry also. Matsui and Sheffield were part of that starting lineup. I remember writing an article on how boring this Yankee team was in the first month to six weeks of the season. No clutch hitting, poor starting pitching and an already over worked bullpen.
There was this familiar feeling surrounding this team that things would eventually work there way to a head to head battle with the Red Sox. Then the injuries unfolded. This perhaps was the highlight of the season for the New York Yankees.
Brian Cashman and Joe Torre had their work cut out for them and the two seemed to be on the same page and that is when the chemistry started to develop. This, in part, was due to the understanding and confidence that Brian Cashman was now the true General Manager of this franchise. Now he and Joe Torre did not have to constantly look over their shoulder for every decision that they collectively agreed upon and eventually made. They would be held totally responsible for their moves and that would be fine as far as Brian and Joe were concerned.
The infusion of younger and hungrier players into the everyday lineup had an immediate impact on the field and the results were equally positive. There was a life to this team that was not present in the past three plus years.
You need a blend of confidence, energy, swagger and yes, even fire. You are not going to win without that mix for the most part. To say that you need a team of Rivera’s, Jetter’s and Williams who just go out there everyday and do their jobs sounds wonderful. It won’t happen because you could never find nine guys with that approach who play everyday. It’s a blend.
The Yankees, in their championship seasons, always had a blend. Knobloch, O’neill, Clemens, Nelson, El Duque, Tino. These guys showed emotion and brought the energy level up to a point where it needed to be, to be a champion. The Yankees had it for a good part of the season but they lost that energy this year in the final three weeks of the season. Too many All Stars and an all too familiar look that lulled them back to a false sense of “We are the best lineup in all of baseball.”
Blame it on pitching, but the pitching was not horrible, the offense was.
Lou Piniella has made a difference every place that he has managed with the exception of Tampa Bay. He can motivate talent. Tampa Bay had a class AA team for the time he managed there and a payroll to match. So it is unfair to judge him on that level. No one could win being dealt with that hand. I am glad he was not hired to manage the Yankees but if he was I’ll bet the ranch he would have been successful.
I like Cashman and I like where he is going with his approach. I’m pretty sure he has learned from his frustrating years as a three-headed GM. I am guessing that this will be the last year of a top to bottom All Star lineup for the Yankees under Cashman’s present day’s watch. He has a lot more rope as far as I’m concerned.
The St. Louis Cardinals have done what both the New York Mets and New York Yankees could not accomplish in a short series. Hit in the clutch.
It doesn’t take a team batting average of .300 to win in a short series. With the quality of good pitching each team must face in the post season, it would be highly unlikely that offense would dominate the series. Strong starting pitching and timely hitting is of the essence and go hand in hand.
What killed the Detroit Tigers was momentum. They got it after game two of the first round ALDS against the Yankees and rattled off seven straight wins. The only problems here was that the Cardinals and the Mets stretched the ALCS to seven games. Add in a rainout and that left the Tigers with a week waiting for their opponents to be determined. Now that is a momentum killer. The Tigers had the good starting pitching and timely clutch hitting down pat before their week off.
Let’s face it the best teams don’t always win in a short series. The Yankees and Mets each won ninety-seven games in their division and were the top winners in each of their leagues. The Cardinals won eighty-three games. The lowest ever win total by any World Series Champion. Tack on the eleven post season wins by the Cardinals and they still did not win as many games as the Mets or the Yankees.
The Mets get somewhat of a pass, as this is their first post season in five years. They do not have to be embarrassed by their post season showing. They swept the Dodgers in the NLDS and pushed the Cardinals to seven games in the NLCS. It happens.
The Yankees just were embarrassed once again in the post season. Loosing in the first round of the ALDS. This after a monumental breakdown against the Red Sox in 2004 and a first round knock out by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (can we shorten the name please) in 2005. This momentum has to be stopped.
Right after the disappointment of being ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the under dogged Detroit Tigers I was all over some much needed changes. I wanted to get rid of Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez. Obviously decision makers who REALLY count on the Joe Torre issue out voted me. No surprise there.
Alex Rodriguez is not going anywhere either and after rethinking, I have decided that it is a good thing for A-Rod to stay put. After all pitching did in the Yankees and…well so did hitting but that was spread out equally amongst this post-season offensively challenged Yankee team.
A-Rod did not cost the Yankees a division title and he did not single handedly cost his team a shot at the AL pennant. It was a team effort.
A-Rod plays a decent third base and we all know his numbers offensively during the regular season. He helped put the Yankees in a position to get into the playoffs every year that he has been in New York.
Rule number one: Get to the post season. After that it really is about pitching in a short series. That is where the Yankees have failed to match up with their opponents in post-season play, during this recent championship drought run.
Who cares if Derek and A-Rod don’t like each other or if A-Rod is prettier or self-proclaimed more Bi-racial and makes more money than everyone else. Actually it makes for great arguments at bars, stadiums, water coolers and message boards. It sure takes your mind off important issues like when the hell are we going to get out of Iraq and stop trying to fight two wars and bring our boys home. That’s for another article though.
It’s fun to pick on A-Rod because he always has something really scripted and eyebrow rising to say. This has been a writers dream to have the likes of Alex Rodriquez in New York. Derek gets the endorsements but A-Rod gets the press. When it comes to whether Derek gets more money for his endorsements or writers get more page exposure writing about Alex, I’ll opt for Alex every time. It makes a writer’s job easier and we get out all our frustrations to boot.
A-Rod bashing has been in Vogue, but fall fashion is history. It’s time for a new wardrobe. Something geared for spring with a little curve around the right or left arms. Something that says hard and fast and young…but always in pinstripes.
The constant doubt that plagues all major league players will be a shroud of skeptiseum as long as there is a game. Science will always be one step ahead of the bureaucratic protocol that leads to testing of performance enhancing and HGH drugs.
In Barry Bonds case there is little doubt in the mind of the general public that he did and possible still does one form of HGH. His arrogance and demeanor have not helped his cause.
Jason Giambi on the other hand, just to mention another known user, has taken a different approach in his handling of a similar career persona. He admitted to something, although nothing directly, and continued to be the good ambassador for the sport and his work ethic.. He did all of this in the toughest media market in the country and you rarely, if ever, hear a negative word about him.
While looking at Giambi and his physical appearance, one still has to question his reliance on HGH or some other type of stimuli. The fact that he has broken down so much also casts a slight shadow on these issues.
So it appears that Bonds has the arrogance and prejudice to make his life as complicated as it is. He is one of the best players to ever put on a uniform and his personality has put him deeper into the black book of sports records.
There will always be the question mark of performance enhancing drugs in sports, that will never change. Unless an athlete is found out legally or by his own admission that he used these drugs it will be the athlete and his personality that will determine his public persona.
Joe Torre is a true mentor in his ability to keep a level presence when the boiler room reaches scorching temperatures. His slow methodical demeanor has a calming effect on all who surround him.
Unfortunately, Joe is not a motivator. He has been part of three straight colossal collapses in the post season. These failures have been monumental and embarrassing to the Yankee organization and it's fan base. Unless the organization finally realizes that pitching really is the key to post season success, Joe will end his reign as manager with just four rings (not a bad number).
During his first six years and four World Championships Joe had the horses on his pitching staff to be successful. There was quality starting pitching and great middle relief leading to the best closer of all time in the post season, Mariano Rivera.
Since 2002 the Yankee management decided that All Stars at every position was the way to go. Well it got them to the post season but in a short series we all know good pitching stops good hitting.
With this year’s pool of free agent pitching talent the market for staring pitching is weak at best. Therefore trading will be the highlight of this off-season restructuring strategy for the Yankees.
This will prove to be quite difficult given the Yankee dearth of large contracts and older injury prone pitchers that will be hard to move.
Look for either a major overhaul through trades (highly unlikely) or the same looking Yankee team of the past six seasons (more than likely).
If the later is the case, then expect the same result as the last six years. Joe does not have the motivational skills to get all these all stars on the same page to play team situational baseball. To be fair, I don’t know of any manager who can pull that one off.
----------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- --------------------- This is an article I wrote last week concerning My opinions on retaining Joe Torre
The longer this debacle plays out the more secure Joe Torre’s job will be. If he is not let go now there will be more damage done next season when the Yankees go into their first management and media proclaimed slump and his head is on the block again.
I would hope, and hope is the only rational thought I have, that Joe decides to step down as manager and take on a lesser role with the organization or just hangs them up. Let him leave with dignity and as they say, his terms. He has brought class and dignity to this organization for eleven years. He gets an A+ and a paycheck to prove it.
Joe Torre is a true mentor in his ability to keep a level presence when the boiler room reaches scorching temperatures. His slow methodical demeanor has a calming effect on all who surround him. The problem here is, after so many years, the soldier becomes lulled into a false sense of comfort and the troops are not prepared for battle.
The failures in the past three years have been monumental and embarrassing to the Yankee organization and it’s fan base. A drastic change has to be made and Torre and A-Rod are the projected targets. One or the other or both have got to go.
My real choice is for both to leave, but the lesser of the two problems would be for Joe to stay and A-Rod to go. There is no telling how team chemistry would react to a roster that included a player, in A-Rod, who is so psychologically fragile that causes teammates to make statements like the one Gary Sheffield made, which states, ” Joe Torre’s decision to bat Alex Rodriguez eighth in Game 4 ended up dooming the Yankees. I think that affected the morale and psyche of the entire team, not just A-Rod. I’m not making any excuses, but everyone was wondering what was going on. It made it a real weird day. You would like to be treated with a little respect, I don’t care who you play for.” (this coming from a guy who shows no respect for anyone but himself throughout most of his career). By the way, no matter what, the Sheff has cooked his last meal in New York’s AL kitchen.
By firing Torre an hiring Piniella this means A-Rod stays and the above mentioned team chemistry is going to suffer.
By keeping Torre and trading A-Rod, the team is once again lulled back into a “Daddy will make it better” mentality and here we go again.
Is a crazed Lou Piniella making the back pages of the New York Sports pages on a weekly basis and a coddled Alex Rodriquez whining about being treated unfairly because of his Bi-racial good looks and equally good looking pay stub what Yankee management and fans want to hear and read about? If so, bring on Sweet Lou. Let the Three Ring Circus begin and put that long running Class of New York Broadway hit Joe Torre directed in his eleven years into the record books.
Both acts have played their last matinee in New York. It’s time for a change. Let us hope that it is a classy one.
When you look at this series it is the Tigers who are playing the type of ball that got them going this year and propelled them to the top of their division for 99.9% of the year. Quality starting pitching, timely hitting and a pretty good bullpen. They have recaptured the chemistry they displayed for the first half of the year and at a very opportune time.
Every team goes through slumps and the Tigers were showing the strains of a young talented ball club going through a 162 game grueling season. This is where a young, energetic, talented, well-managed ball club becomes extremely dangerous.
The National press and sports writers gave the Detroit Tigers absolutely no chance to win more than one, if any games from the powerful New York Yankees who's lineup has been assessed to be the best ever assembled in the history of post season baseball.
Chemistry is a very large part of team sports and their success. As it stands right now, the Tigers have it and the Yankees do not.
The Yankees have gone through several changes through out the year and were able to put together a scrappy and energetic squad for two thirds' of that season. Now they have put together THE TEAM that was supposed to project them to their 27th world title and it has been only a three-week experiment. This is not enough time to build chemistry through war-hardened camaraderie, among teammates, no matter how experienced and talented these individuals are.
This current Yankee team (this post season one) is just a slightly different looking package from the past three seasons. Just enough big name players who have been "THE GUY" for other teams but do not know the feeling of how to be part of a team player mindset.
The Yankees starting pitching, with the exception of Chien-Ming Wang, has been inconsistent and spotty all year. The bullpen is their Achilles heel. Not a good combination for playoff success.
Johnny Damon has been in a slump and looks as if he is a notch or two below his usual playoff twitchy edge.
Derek Jeter is playing his usual game with an average amount of throwing problems. Nonetheless, he still rises to the occasion.
Bobby Abreau has been steady and below average at the plate so far.
Jason Giambi is awful in the field and overmatched at the plate at times.
Gary Sheffield is not a first baseman and continues to struggle in the post season with New York.
A-Rod, I refuse to state my views, no sense in beating a dead horse although his play in the field has been steady.
Hideki Matsui has played better than I expected. He makes contact.
Jorge Posada has continued to hit the ball hard and his play behind the plate has been as good as ever.
Robinson Cano, has not shown up offensively in this series and has shown his impatience at the plate. His fielding has been as expected.
The Bullpen has done a fair job.
Joe Torre has been a non-factor. He continues to be unable to motivate his team at the most crucial of times. Joe is just a good handler of men, not a motivator.
There is one game left for the Yankees to start putting a stamp on their team chemistry portfolio. That is a huge task for a team who looks more tight and frustrated and has not been able to focus on their ability to play to their strengths. Even if they somehow manage to win the next two games, the Oakland A’s look like The Detroit Tigers West. The problems will continue.
Team chemistry and good pitching. Developing one and facing another. Too much, too soon.
The Detroit Tigers have shown, for the last three games, that they pitch better, hit better and are managed better than the “best team penciled into a post season lineup in major league history.”
I have been on a soapbox most of the year when it comes to promoting Posada. His off-season conditioning has really paid off in ####s. He has played through some injuries and has maintained his stamina for the entire season.
His desire and willingness to take advantage of and be tutored by an all-star catcher, first base coach Tony Pena, has improved his quickness, throwing mechanics and accuracy. This has allowed Posada to throw out base runners at a much-improved rate then at anytime in his long career with the Yankees.
His handling of the pitching staff has been remarkable. His long time personality problems with Randy Johnson are a thing of the past. You can see the respect Randy now has with Jorge every time the duo are teamed up (which now is every start for Randy) on the mound, behind the plate and in the dugout. Jorge made an all out effort to reconcile their differences the first day of spring training. No ego here. Not for Jorge. Not this year. Never.
The revolving door of starters, both through trades and call ups from the minors, has been an easy transition for all arms thanks to Jorge’s command and respect he projects on the field.
His clutch hitting has been obvious to all that follow the Yankees on a regular basis. His is driving the ball with authority. He has Had only one slump all year, which lasted eighteen at bats. Not bad for a catcher his age. When most catchers at this point in their careers are showing signs of slowing down Posada has stepped up and improved all aspects of his game. We who follow this team see it and marvel. The rest of baseball does not.
I was disappointed last Sunday evening when Jorge launched a towering fly ball to left centerfield that was clearly over the fence against the Red Sox, were it not for an amazing leaping over the fence catch by Coco Crisp it would have put the Yankees ahead in the eighth inning possibly winning the game for the Yankees. All this on a national ESPN broadcast. Jorge has been that kind of clutch all year.
He is a not an MVP by offensive numbers but his overall play is MVP quality in his performance and importance to his team. While Derek Jeter is having his MVP season so is Jorge Posada. The oh so quiet MVP
Pete Rose, O.J. Simpson and Barry Bonds,. The social and arrogant similarities between these three men are both controversial and revealing. They are athletes who have caused a national debate over very sacred and moral issues. Although murder could and never can be compared to cheating or gambling and tax evasion, I am more interested in the public perception of these athletes, these icons of sport who turned their highly successful lives into a collapsing house of cards and what led them into this spiraling descent.
Pete Rose was a hard nosed gritty in your face baseball player that was the heart and soul of any team who’s uniform he wore. He is Major League Baseball’s all time hit leader. He was a predicted first ballot Hall of Famer. He had an addiction to gambling.
O.J. Simpson had it all, a Hall of Fame College and Professional career. He was a national spokesman for major corporate enterprises. He had a Hollywood movie career and lifestyle. He had a personality that was infectious. He also was suspected of having a drug dependency.
Barry Bonds was not ever a great spokesperson for anything other than himself (Bonds on Bonds) let alone a corporate enterprise. As in all sports, Bonds was an extremely gifted player that harbors fame and fortune to anyone who puts together great athletic statistics regardless of personality and or arrogance. He is approaching baseball’s all time home run record. He too is suspected of drug abuse.
The similarities are rooted in their addictive personalities that lend them to believe that they are above moral and legal barriers because of their iconic stature. Whatever it takes to protect ones criminal and illegal type of behavior, form the truths that surround them, is perfectly acceptable in their own distorted and selfish minds.
The real problem is the support that these athletes gather from their adoring fan base even though the majority of the population is not in agreement or believe in them. Just the reassurance of the slightest magnitude will convince these self-centered egos to believe in the lies and misguidings that they spew to the general public.
Pete Rose, to this day, has enough support to give him the arrogance to pursue his quest for induction into the Hall of Fame. He pursues this even though he finally admitted that his many years of denial of gambling on his sport was a lie. A lifetime ban is a lifetime ban. When he passes on then and only then should he be considered for induction into the Hall of Fame. Those are the rules. He broke those rules time and time again. No sympathy here.
The debate will go on because the selected fan base screams for Pete Rose’s talent, ability and accomplishments to be above the moral and legal barriers and he should be recognized for his on field actions even if his actions included gambling on his sport. If the fans did not support his quest neither would Rose.
O.J. Simpson divided a nation into a racially segregated mindset. His on field, on screen and on TV likeable image was a triple icon shield that made Simpson impenetrable to a wide range of public and media scrutiny. This fueled his arrogance more than any acquittal of murder charges could fathom. He lost his civil suit for damages caused by his actions that clearly pointed to his involvement in the murder of his wife and friend. O.J. still has run-ins with the law and drugs always seem to be in the mix. His arrogance is fueled by his support from a still adoring fan base. In O.J.’s case the fan base only needs to be one or two because I believe that is the number of people that believe he is innocent.
Barry Bonds puts all the cards out on the table when defending himself. Those cards being race, ignorance and just outright lies. The baseball fan in San Francisco adores him and this is the entire ego fix that the arrogant Bonds needs to support his habit. His rise to baseball immortality was his other fix. Steroids and HGH were a conduit. His personality is one of dependency fueled by support from his fan base and fame. Money also helps. With boat loads you can buy support.
The common factor here, besides dependant personalities, is the adoring and narrow-minded fan base. We put our super athletes on pedestals and therefore a need for addictive approval by the athlete. Without the fan support there would be no fix. We are a big part of the problem and always will be. That is why we are called fanatics. fa·nat·ic (f?-nat'ik) A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm.
go into their first management and media proclaimed slump and his head is on the block again. 
