A Biased Look at the New York Yankees, the Greatest Franchise in the History of Sports
[powered by WordPress.]
It’s funny how Joe Girardi has this golden reputation because he had one good year for the Marlins organization. I’m not knocked the choice because I think out of the three guys the Yankees looked, Girardi was probably the best guy but you also don’t want to latch onto a guy who blows his wad in his first a la Lou Piniella. I love Lou too and he’s a Yankee but he’s been riding that 1990 Reds championship (and Pete Rose actually built that team) and while he’s been successful, he hasn’t taken a team to the promised land since.
A-Rod is gone too so that’ll be one less distraction to deal with. It also frees up some money to get Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada back into the fold. Yeah, they’re up there in years but they were all there when the Yankees were winning. It’ll just be interesting to see how Girardi, who couldn’t get along with ownership in Florida, copes with George Steinbrenner.
I’m also going to do something I don’t normally do and that’s give the Red Sox props. They’ve won two World Series in a time where the Yankees haven’t even played in one and this Red Sox team looks like it’s going to be good for quite some time. That just makes Girardi’s job that much tougher and will put him under the spotlight a bit more.
And it looks like Joe Torre already has found a home. Former Red Sox manager and now former Dodgers manager Grady Little stepped down as the team’s manager and the rumor is that Torre is the number one target. It also looks like Don Mattingly is going to follow him there. Good luck to Joe because he’s a class act. That is, I wish him luck up until we face him.
Well, it’s begun. Joe Girardi was in for an interview and I like him, but I could see the relationship being a little Billy Martinesque. Girardi got in trouble for running his mouth (in a good way) for the Marlins and they showed him the door so you wonder how George would deal with that. Of course if he puts the Yankees back on a playoff series winning track, I’m sure he’d be able to tolerate him.
Tony LaRussa took himself out of the running as he’ll return to the Cardinals while Don Mattingly gave himself a vote of no confidence. Tony Pena would be an interesting choice and he’s put in his time the past couple of years with the Yankees.
The manager can only do so much though and the Yankees will have to have a solid offseason to get back to the promised land. Alex Rodriguez should be a priority as should getting another pitcher or two. And you also wonder why Brian Cashman hasn’t taken more heat with his expanded role this year. Maybe he gets a free pass this year but if he can’t get it done in 2008, it could be a GM search next year.
Well, the Yankees are done and like the last several years, we look back and try to find answers. The players were there, they just didn’t get it done. I’m usually on George’s side but blaming Torre is a little comical. This is the kind of team that should coach itself and the fact that he brought the Yanks back from the grave should warrant something but I think Steinbrenner wants a fresh start. He’s been right before, I just hate to see Torre go because he’s been so good for so long.
Brian Cashman also has to share some of the blame although the big offseason move this year, Andy Pettitte, turned out to be a good one. The Roger Clemens one was a deal that had to be done even though it looks foolish now. There’s no way we could have let the Red Sox get their hands on Clemens and the only way to guarantee that was to sign him ourselves.
I don’t even know if I’ll watch any of the remaining series. I’d like to see the Red Sox get squashed but it’s hard to root for the Indians when they knocked your team out. As far as the Diamondbacks and Rockies, who cares. Sigh, Fox has to be scrambling because just about any matchup that doesn’t involve the Red Sox will be a ratings disaster.
Well, we paid Roger Clemens all of that money to get us to the promised land and he fell on his face last night. Fortunately, the hitters and the pen didn’t and Yankees managed an easy win to turn a near hopeless situation into a more realistic one. Clemens gave up three runs and he left in the third with the Yankees down 3-0.
Johnny Damon put the Yankees on the board in the bottom of the third. He singled home Hideki Matsui before the Yankees exploded for four runs in the fifth to open the game up. Melky Cabrera singled home Matsui to make it 3-2 before Damon struck again with a three run blast to give the Yankees their first, only and last lead of the of the game. The Yankees scored three more in the sixth on a Robinson Cano single/error but those runs turned out to be unnecessary.
Give some props to the rookie Phil Hughes. He relieved Clemens and got the Yankees back on track with 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief. Joba Chamberlain gave up a run in the eighth but by that point, the game was set. It just made the game the 8-4 final that it was. Mariano Rivera continued his post season dominance with a perfect ninth and two strikeouts.
Game four is tonight. It’ll be Chien-Ming Wang going on short rest against the Indians Paul Byrd. At stake is the 2007 season.
I love Joba just like every other Yankees fan and I think he’s going to go on to great things but that eighth inning was just a train wreck. Walk, wild pitch, bunt, wild pitch is how the Indians scored their tying run. I can’t blame Torre for bringing in Mariano Rivera either because it was the right move. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t keep pitching.
You also have to feel for Andy Pettitte because he pitched his heart out. And where are you Alex Rodriguez? We need you.
It’s all up to the Rocket on Sunday. If he doesn’t earn his money, the season is over.
Well, I really hope this isn’t happening again. Chien-Ming Wang was blasted and the offense picked up all of five hits. Hopefully Andy Pettitte can do a better job this afternoon. Sigh.
[powered by WordPress.]
11 queries. 0.315 seconds