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.
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.”
