When the New York Yankees were winning World Series championships during the late 90's and 2000, they never made excuses. If a player went down, they simply brought up another one from the farm system, or made a trade that actually made sense. Fast-forward to the present, and the excuses are a plenty.

There has been so much talk over the last two years about whether to make Joba Chamberlain a starter or a reliever, and while I have already written a piece about that, that's not even the issue. The issue is why is it such a big deal if he goes back and forth? Why does he have to be one or the other? Why can't he be a reliever now since the team needs him there, and then maybe be a starter in the future? Why is Joba so much more valuable to the Yankees than Justin Masterson is to the Red Sox? Masterson is a young, hard-throwing right-hander who has potential, yet you don't hear the Red Sox and their fans and media debating whether or not he should be a starter or a reliever. Instead, he does whatever the team needs him to do, and that helps leads to wins.

And before we get off this Joba talk, let me say a couple of more things. Why do people constantly say Chamberlain can be the Yankees version of Josh Beckett? Is that really what they want? Has anybody ever looked at Beckett's career numbers? Granted he is an incredible post-season pitcher, but he has had one good regular season...ONE! He has a lifetime ERA of 3.86, and a history of being on the disabled list. I don't know about you, but if I'm touting Chamberlain to be the next coming of somebody, I want him to be better and more consistent than Beckett.

Also, in regards to Joba, he has to stop listening to the media about how he's supposed to pitch. I can't tell you how many times people have said he needs to have three or four pitches in order to dominate as a starter, or how he has to pace himself. Really? Why? Did Sandy Koufax have three or four pitches? Does Justin Verlander tire in the 9th inning?

When Joba pitches, you can almost see how he's trying to prove to everyone that he has four good pitches, instead of going with his best stuff, fastball and slider, and mix in a couple of curves or changeups to keep hitters honest. He's like Phil Mickelson in a golf tournament. Instead of bringing the normal allotment of clubs, Mickelson will sometimes bring two drivers, or six wedges. He out-thinks himself as opposed to just going out there and playing golf. Joba needs to go out there and throw his fastball and slider until someone proves they can hit it. Once they prove that they can, then he can adjust, not the other way around.

A quick follow up with Beckett. I will say this right now...unless he agrees to a contract between $10-12 (maybe 13) million a year, the Red Sox are going to let him walk as a free agent. He's no longer their best pitcher, they have Jon Lester and Dice-K locked up, some young pitchers on the rise, and may very well make a run at Jake Peavy. If I'm Theo Epstein and the Red Sox, I let Beckett walk.

Now, back to the Yankees and their excuses. Why is it that the cold weather is such a factor for their pitchers but not the other teams? How come CC Sabathia has had trouble getting his velocity up to 97mph, but Lester, Verlander, and many others haven't? Heck, A.J. Burnett, a Yankee, hasn't even had trouble! So why then, should it take the weather changing for Sabathia and others to "heat" up?

And what's the excuse for Joe Girardi? When the Yankees were looking to replace Joe Torre, I thought Girardi was a great fit. He had experience managing in the National League, he could handle a bullpen, and he had an aggressive style. Well, so much for all of those thoughts. Rarely do you see a hit and run or small ball, and his use of the bullpen this year has been virtually inexplicable. It seems as if no one is ever held accountable, and the excuses for poor performances fly out of his mouth about as often as balls do out of the new Stadium.

If a team is struggling as much as the Yankees are to hit with runners on base, let alone with runners in scoring position, then it would only seem logical to try an take the pressure off of them. How do you do that? Well, how about a hit and run? This way the player has to swing, and is only thinking about putting the ball in play on the ground, as opposed to trying to crush it. Or maybe even a safety squeeze if a runner is on third with less than two outs? You know, something that teams do in the NATIONAL LEAGUE.

Watching the Yankees the past couple of years has been like watching beer-league softball. One night they'll win with a complete-game shutout, and the next they'll serve up batting practice to the opposition. There's been no consistency, except for being consistently inconsistent.

The root of the problem is starting pitching, yet the team spent $243.5 million on Sabathia and Burnett during the offseason to solve that problem. So what's the excuse now?

Amendment To Previous Entry

In the previous entry, I wrote about the new Yankee Stadium, and how much I disliked it. While I still support everything I said, I would like to add a positive that I noticed when I went to the game on Wednesday. With the concourses being so big and open, there is actually a TON of space to grab some food, and stand around to watch the game with a great view. So if you have upper deck seats, you can actually head down to field level, and watch the game from there as long as you don't mind standing.  So far, that to me is the best part of the new ballpark.