Saturday in St Louie – The GameThread – Featuring Fried √s Gray √s Our Patience

 

After eight innings of what seemed to be another formulaic loss, the Yankees somehow win a squeaker. Could it turn things around?

Last night, as the innings gathered like mourners at a funeral, Yank fans everywhere had to be thinking the same dismal thought:

Here we #@$%# go again.

The game offered all the earmarks of the Unfettered 2025 Yankee Disappointment Experience.

Early lead, followed by complete offensive shutdown. CHECK.

Bullpen collapse because a pitcher cannot throw strikes. CHECK.

Nobody capable of driving in runs. CHECK.

Yep. From our ICE checkpoints and YES communication links, we were tuned into the standard '25 Yankee meltdown: 

A three run lead into the seventh, where everything would surely go POOF. Inning after inning, the Death Barge put runners on base, then left them to rot. The Captain, all by himself, seemed to strand the entire cast of Glee. In his last AB, Aaron Judge just stood there, smiling like Vladimir Putin on the tarmac, killing another rally. And one of Cashman's prized Aug. 1 pick ups - Camilo Doval, the banished former Giants closer - nearly opened the zombie gates to Hell. How many times can Boone go to Luke Weaver, the Slender Man, in yet another  crisis, before the guy's arm falls off? 

What's amazing - and disturbing - is how, with one shake of the Magic 8-Ball, the Yankee lineup can go from formidable to fractured. It's the vast metaphysical  difference in RF between Aaron Judge (and/or Giancarlo Stanton) and Boone's newest toy, Joey Caballero, a banjo-hitting shortstop who is struggling to reach .230, and who looks terrified of his shadow in the outfield.   

I understand why the Yankees last night rested Stanton: The St. Louse OF is large enough for a zip code. With Giancarlo's statue in right, opposing singles could become doubles, or worse. But if the Yankees keep stranding runners, or failing to move them (see Grisham's frustrating bunt attempt), this season will not end well.

So, a squeaker win last night. Could it break the spell? We'll see. But vultures are still circling overhead. Boone needs a winning streak, and there has to be more than simply the last-available AL wild card berth. There has to be more.

Cashman is a fool defending an idiot

You might have seen the article in The Athletic with quotes from Cashman concerning Boone.

Suffice it to say, he does not get it.

He talks about how, in New York and maybe a couple of other cities, mental and other mistakes by the players are made to be a big deal. And that Boone handles them well, like the New Age managers of today. Cashman says that yelling and screaming isn't something he wants from his manager.

He did not address how terrible Boone is at managing/using the bullpen. He did not address how terrible Boone is at putting the best lineup out there every day. (I realize there's a strong suspicion that Cashman sends the lineups down, but that's still not definitely confirmed, and I still think Boone has some leeway in lineup decisions.)

He did not address how Boone is simply a bad manager. He may have great "people skills" like Cashman says. Making moves that directly lose games is not worth those skills.

Maybe the funniest part of the interview was Cashman talking about how great Boone is at the daily pre- and post-game pressers, and how hard it is to stay level and not ever lose your temper. That part is a real yuckfest.

Cashman still doesn't understand--or will not admit to understanding--that the fans do not want Boone gone because he doesn't come down hard on brainless or bad plays. Well, maybe a little. It's that he's a terrible manager who makes it harder for the team to win.

That's the problem, Brain, old boy. But then, so many of the moves you've made have done the same thing, so maybe you can't see it.

gamethreadaugustfifteenthtwentytwentyfive

the future is CLEARLY right in front of us

Dear Mr. Steinbrenner: We've reached the point where the Yankees either win, or they need a new manager

Dear Hal (May I call you Hal...?)

Look, I get it: 

Nobody wants a bossy boss. Speaking on behalf of  the Yankiverse, we appreciate your gentlemanly, good sport, kindliness. We love how you make so much money. That's why we buy the swag. We recognize you making money is good for the team. So... GOUGE AWAY! 

That said, I have a bit of business regarding the 2025 season. 

We have reached a crisis moment. You've waited long enough on a decision that must be made.

I'm talking about Aaron Boone, a fundamentally decent human being, who has become the push-pinned, voodoo, Hellraiser doll/whipping mule for the Yankiverse. 

It's time to draw the line. 

Either the Yankees win this series - a sweep would be nice, but two wins are mandatory - or it's time to let Boone go.

I'm not saying "Fire him!" Just - well - let him go. Bid him adieu. Thank him for his effort. Give him air fare home and a cardboard box for his keepsakes, maybe a $50 handshake tip? and let him silently disappear into the Missouri night.

Make it clear - today: 

If the Yankees don't beat the Cards this weekend, Boone's gotta go. 

There is still time to save this season, which became an all-or-nothing quest when Mr. Cashman - the one with the photographs of you - traded away the farm system. The problem, though, is that Boone is not managing a championship team. With runners on base, a championship team rises to the occasion. But Boone's hitters simply get nervous. Even when he's thrown out of games - he leads the league - the Yankees fail to ignite. 

If the threat of disappearing Boone does not rally these Yankees, then they deserve a complete asshole with a confrontational style, because the "nice guy" approach did not work.

Some people say the days of Billy Martin and Tony LaRussa have ended, that modern manages must be friends, not antagonists. Honestly? I dunno. 

But if the Yankees don't win in St. Louis, it's time for a screaming, conniving, bellowing wild man. And it's on you to make the move. 

A grim reality is becoming clear: This is not a cold spell. This is the '25 New York Yankees

A plan to save the '25 Yankees: 

Reject last night's outcome as "fake sports," fire the scorekeeper, and simply claim first place in the AL East. 

Fill stadiums with troops from the National Guard, slap 50-percent tariffs on games vs Toronto, and demand to see the papers of every opposing batter, as he steps to the plate: If he hits a home run, send him and his family to Alligator Alcatraz. Replace Dave & Suzyn with Vlad Putin & Laura Loomer, and gaslight the hell out of every broadcast. And give Aaron Boone the measles.

Of course, it won't work. We suffer from more than the rising price of beef. The bottom of our order doesn't hit, and our bullpen is an unpinned grenade. 

Somewhere, in the unwritten rule book of human behavior, it says that you cannot trot out five pitchers per night without at least one crapping the bed. Last night, it was Yerry de los Santos - a generally decent lug nut - who gave up three runs, killing the vibes of a tiresome, dismal, rain-soaked, nothing burger. Amazon Prime should demand its money back. If last night were a package, I'd return it.

Beyond the loss, the Death Barge had a chance to sweep a team they've owned - at least, until last night. Who cannot sense that, along with a game in the measly wild card race, they just relinquished whatever mastery they once held over Minnesota, a young team that seemed to start backpedaling as soon as they reached the Bronx - a team that now realizes that the mighty Yankees are made of butter. Next month, we'll play three games in Minnesota. This time, the Twins won't be quaking in their cleats.

Every night, we watch the Yankees systematically surrender a winnable game. It's amazing to think that, barely two months ago, they were challenging for the best record in baseball. What followed is one of the worst stretches in modern Yankee history. And it's time to start labeling it as such.

People: This is not a cold spell. This is the '25 Yankees.

The Dodgers spend even more money than we do and they suck, too

When LA signed Ohtani to that insane long-term contract--featuring some very dubious financial figure juggling--a lot of us thought that the Dodgers had supplanted the Yankees as the big-spending, star-studded juggernaut of a team. Especially after they also signed Yamamoto.

In a weird twist of fate, they really have done so, and in spades.

LA had a 9-game lead on San Diego on July 3, cruising to yet another NL West title and seemingly headed for the World Series. Today, they're one game behind the Padres, and are playing their new baseball overlords this weekend in a key series.

Sound familiar? Not an exact replica of our own months-long swoon, but wow, they've really been stinking up the joint.

Injuries to the starting rotation? Check. Bullpen meltdowns? Double check. Taking early leads then not doing much of anything thereafter? Checkerino.

To be fair, LA is 68-53, four games better than the Yankees. But since the fourth of July, they're 12-21. According to the LA Times, the Dodgers had the worst offense in the majors for most of July, too. Which I found surprising, since I thought we probably had the worst offense in the majors last month.

They've been swept by the Angels, twice, losing all six games they played.

Yesterday, Ohtani said, "We just have to do a better job." 

Dave Roberts said, "That's baseball," commenting on a non-play by reliever Henriquez.

Mookie Betts, our old Boston buddy, said, "It is what it is. Can't change it right now."

It all sounds strangely familiar. They HAVE become the new Yankees.

Game Thread - SCHLITTLER √s RAIN ! ("uhm, like, uh, I meant to, you know, say") RYAN !

 DEFEAT THIS MAN !!!

SHOW HIM YOUR

YOU'RE

SCHLITTLER !!!

Swingamis Missamiss

The AAA Sacramento River Cats held a Harry Potter Night at Sutter Health Park last week and despite the late afternoon's unholy temperature I figured it would cool off by game time. It didn't. 

Quick disclaimer:  I’m not really a huge Harry Potter fan but I did read all the books and saw a couple of the movies on television. They’re good. I think my favorite thing about them is that they got a lot of kids to read.

As far as magic schools go I prefer Lev Grossman’s “The Magicians”. Solid trilogy and a good TV show as well that lasted five seasons.

But I Digressimus Maximus….

Harry Potter Night was a truly magical evening starting with Sutter Health Park’s astonishing transformation from the home of the Athletics and one of the worst ballparks in MLB, into the home of the Sacramento River Cats and one of the nicest minor league parks in the country. 

Although to be fair, it was less about wizardry and more about disappearing any signage that said A’s.

They also used the "Reducto!" spell to knock about 20% of what the A’s charge for food.

Sorting Hat

Before finding my seat I subjected myself to the indignities of the Sorting Hat. 

For the uninitiated, the Sorting Hat is a talking hat that takes the measure of your soul and tells incoming students what house they belong to.

Most people want Harry’s house, Gryfindor. It values bravery, courage, nerve, and chivalry. The other houses are Ravenclaw, Slitherin (Kind of like the Omegas in Animal House), and Hufflepuff, which is as lame as it sounds.

I got the International House of Pancakes. 

Attire

Many of the attendees wore themed clothing.

The fans in this photo were wearing The Cloak of Invisibility.

They tried to theme as best they could with what was apparently a very small budget, by replacing player photos with characters from the film...

and letting River Cats mascot, "Dinger" wear his high school graduation robe while waiving a stick...

and pretending a beach ball was the "Snitch" from the game of Quidditch... 

All of the above said, mostly it was just a minor league baseball game.  

The River Cats were playing the Houston Astros AAA team, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys and, in what does not bode well for the Yankees, they have relief pitchers that were scarier than, "He Who Will Not Be Named."  

They had fastballs in the mid to high nineties with eighty-two MPH change ups. 

Swingamiss Missamis! 

--

I did see one legitimately wonderous sight. One that I have never seen before...

In the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at 4-4 , the River Cats had one out and a man on third. I turned to my friend and said, “All he needs to do is put it in the air.” And he replied, “Squeeze bunt.” 

Being a Yankee fan I had no idea what he was talking about.

Lo and Behold, apparently there is a play in baseball where the runner on third breaks for the plate and all the batter has to do is make limited contact with the ball by doing something called “bunting”.  

It made no sense because the exit velocity is miniscule and throws the whole algorithm off, but they executed it perfectly and the River Cats won the game.

Magic! 

The Master speaks!

I know, he said it on his show last Saturday, but I just saw this. Glad to see he's weighing in.

Now if only he would add "Cashman, you have to fire Boone!" on his upcoming show...

No cavalry is coming to save the Yankees. Maybe that's a good thing.

Last year, right around now, Yank fans burned candles of desperation for the return of DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo - two former all-stars who would lead the franchise through September and beyond. We also harbored some early onset dementia toward Jasson Dominguez, who could rescue LF from Faceplant Verdugo and maybe grease the Second Coming of Juan Soto. 

High hopes.

None of which came true.

Of course, we were luxuriating in the modern tradition of The Yankee Wait - anxious days, weeks and months - for someone, anyone, with a big contract and a cracked ceiling, to fly in from the horizon and save us from the misery that Boone, Cashman and Food Stamps Hal had conjured. 

In this pathetic millennium, Yank fans have regularly fixed on an August savior -  Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, Domingo German, you name it, we've had it - who would come off the IL and re-energize this team. Traditionally, it's been Giancarlo Stanton, though Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole also joined in. It's always somebody big and expensive, and it bestows upon the YES Network meat puppets a ridiculous hubris that other fans privately mock. Won't be long before Gary Sanchez and Tyler Austin get back! Yeah, right.

Well, this year, it's sorta strange, but... well... we got nothing. 

Nobody returning. Nobody ascending. Nada. Nothing.

Check the Injury List or the Scranton box scores, and unless you've an unhealthy love for Amed Rosario, nobody is healing - at least enough to rescue this team. What we see is what we've got. Here's the lineup... 

c: Right now, Ben Rice. We traded a farm system full of catchers, only to watch Austin Wells crumble. Nobody left in Scranton. Nobody on the IL. It's Rice.

1b: Right now, it's - gulp, umm - Ben Rice. A youthful Paul Goldschmidt won't magically reappear. It's - um - Rice. Good luck, sir!

2b: Jazz. (DJ is a memory.)

ss: Volpe. George Lombard Jr. is next year.

3b: Ryan McMahon. Whatever he does, that's what we've got.

lf: Bellinger. The Martian seems to have woven himself a ceiling from the iron threads in his glove. 

cf: Trent Grisham. Spencer Jones is next spring.

rf: Giancarlo, until he's hurt. (Spoiler alert: He'll get hurt.)

dh: Judge. Of course. Or - gulp, umm -Ben Rice.

Same with pitching. Last year, we awaited Marcus Stroman and Clay Holmes. (And we told ourselves that Gerrit Cole would pitch himself into his 2023 Cy Young form.) This year, nobody's coming from Scranton. 

If you don't like this team, you're outa luck.

But here's the thing: I'm okay with that. 

How many years did we wait on Setback Sevy, only to watch him doink a gallbladder, or simply get pounded? This year, if there is no cavalry - at least there is no false sense of confidence. The Yankees are in a dogfight for the last measly wild card berth. If they fail, they miss the postseason, where October looks mighty dark and bleak. 

Nobody is coming, and I say, that's fine. 

If they fail, a shitstorm needs to happen. I'm good with that. At least it keeps me from having to monitor TJ Rumfield in Scranton. (.309 with 14 HRs!) 

Game Thread - The Twelfth of August - RODO'N–ARAMA TIME !

An Above Average Haiku Tuesday - ITS FIRE BOONE DAY IN THE BRONX !

 TIME TO FIRE BOONE !

DISCHARGE, OUST, SACK, TERMINATE !

TOSS HIM OUT THE DOOR !

The Yankees get serviced by their personal tomato can. Will the Twinkies make them whole again?

To root for the Yankees is to be keenly aware of an invisible switch that comes with every streak, be it molten hot or arctic cold. 

At any time, in any town, at the tweak of any elbow, the mighty Yankees can go from powerhouse to shithouse, from tape- measure HRs to tape-worm Ks, from barrel blasts to bowel blasts, and that's one pungent load of analogy crapola. 

Nobody can explain this, especially Aaron Boone, with his "good swings" theory of groveling Yankee hope. (Giancarlo, despite four Ks, showed "good swings" tonight.) But the transformation can happen instantly. 

Last night, against their personal cupcakes, the Twinkies, you could almost imagine the click. Will Warren pitching into the seventh. Four Yankee HRs, of course, solos. A first-game-of-the-series win... McBroom?    

Six losses separate the Yankees from 1st in the AL East. They'll play three with Toronto and seven against their Boston overlords.  

There is time to flick that switch. But it sorta has to happen now. 

Here's what's left on the Yankee schedule: 

Cupcakes (23 games)
Twins (5)
Rays (2)
Nats (3)
White Sox (7)
Orioles (7)

Maybe Cupcakes
Cardinals (3)

Contenders (16 games)
Tigers (3)
Astros (3)
Blue Jays (3)
Redsocks (7)

By my unofficial count, Toronto has 31 games remaining against cupcakes. Boston has 27. Not only do both have better records, but their schedules are more tomato cannish. 

Let's be honest: The Yankees show no sign of being able to beat solid teams. They'll be lucky to go 8-8 against the contenders. 

But if they go on a binge against the tomato cans - say,  16-7 - they can take the remaining wild card berth. Basically, that's all Food Stamp Hal Steinbrenner demands. This year - with Steve Cohen as the new Old George, splurging on Juan Soto - the Mets were supposed to force our hand. It hasn't happened. They might actually be worse than the Yankees. 

But if the Yankees are going to do anything in the month of October, it has to start tonight with their old friends from Minnesota. It's not too late. It's just later than you think.     

Game Thread - Minnesota Monday - 8/11/25

 

The More Things Change...

El Duque has spot on identified the worst (now perhaps second worst) team of the quarter century.

As chance would have it I was leafing through a copy of the October 1982 Life Magazine yesterday that my ex found in an old trunk and came across two articles of interest. 

The first was on the proliferation of "Cop and Stops" in NYC. 

For the uninitiated... the cop and stops were local stores where you could buy weed. Mine was on Queens Blvd. when I lived in Astoria. The store had no clerk. It was just a window with one way glass and a slot, like a food slot for a prisoner. 

There was a small bowl.  I would place a five dollar bill in the bowl and slide it through the slot. Ten seconds later a nickel bag would take its place.   

Good times. 

Compare this experience to last month's California State Fair where, I kid you not. the California Cannabis Experience was an entire zone and had taken over the footprint of the former Raging Waters. 

Click on the map to get a sense of just how big this place was. 

 

The second article of note, and the reason I'm writing, was the lengthy article on the 1982 Yankees. That team, if you recall, had just lost to the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series in humiliating fashion. 

I'm pretty sure that was the series where George Stienbrenner got into that fight in the elevator with some Dodger fans. 

The 1982 team was so disappointing that Goose Gossage said, among other things, that it  was not fun to play for.  

I tried to find the article on-line but no such luck.  

Here is the cover.

--

I did however find an article from a month earlier in the New York Times that covered the same ground. I bolded some of the salient points that were worth noting (along with my comments in parenthesis) 

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/19/sports/the-yankees-anatomy-of-a-team-s-decline.html

THE YANKEES: ANATOMY OF A TEAM'S DECLINE by Murray Chass

"On the day after the sixth and final game of the 1981 World Series, George Steinbrenner sat at the large round table in his Yankee Stadium office and said, ''We've studied it pretty darn carefully, and I think we know where we have to go.'' 

Steinbrenner meant he knew the direction in which he had to go to make sure the Yankees wouldn't do anything so embarrassing as to lose the World Series after being the best team in the American League and after leading the Dodgers by two games to none. 

However, the direction the Yankees have traveled in the standings is down - down far enough to where they might not even be a .500 team, down so far that Friday night they were eliminated from the East Division race by a 14-0 loss to Milwaukee with two weeks of the season still remaining. Embarrassing?

''It's embarrassing for us, as players who have played on good Yankee teams, to go through what we have gone through this year,'' Lou Piniella said recently. ''I empathize with George; he takes a lot of heat. But we take a lot of heat, too. It's hard to accept what's happened.''

Rich Gossage, another Yankee veteran, who has been outspoken during the season, didn't even want to think about what has happened. ''I don't feel like dwelling on the subject,'' Gossage said. ''There are too many things. It's mind boggling.'' 

Steinbrenner Takes Full Blame

George Steinbrenner does not disagree that many things have happened to the Yankees this year. In a telephone interview Friday, he cited various factors that contributed to the team's fall from contending status. But, he said, ''I will take the full blame for the decisions that were made because I had the ultimate say.'' 

In the previous six years, the Yankees were divisional champions five times, league champions four times and major league champions twice. This year they never were a serious contender. Their longest winning streak was six games, which they achieved once; they made it to five games over .500 for the first time last Sunday, but then lost five straight to Baltimore; they haven't been closer than six games from first place since June 2, and since the first week of the season they have been higher than fourth place for only 12 days - and that was when they were in third place in late May and early June.

What happened to the team that Steinbrenner, in spring training, said was the most balanced squad he had put together in his 10 years as principal owner, the one that had a chance to be ''awesome?''

That characterization in itself says much about what happened. As developments have proved, Steinbrenner and his advisers badly misjudged the talent they had gathered for their 1982 World Series photograph. Not only that, but they also made bad decisions when they realized their original decisions were not so good.

As they tried to correct their winter mistakes in the spring and summer, the Yankee brain trust made a seemingly ceaseless series of trades and roster changes that created instability and kept the players in an unsettled mood for much of the season.

Nothing epitomizes the unsettled nature of the situation better than the roll call of managers, pitching coaches and hitting coaches the Yankees employed this season. They have had three managers, four hitting coaches and five pitching coaches.

''Has that happened anywhere else?'' one player asked not long ago. ''Am I lucky to be on a club that sets that kind of record?'' The player, like some others, did not want to be identified. The players know that Lou Piniella, Bobby Murcer and Ron Guidry, among others, have been reprimanded by Steinbrenner this year for having made remarks he didn't like. And, as one player said, sounding like a high school student talking about a harsh principal, ''I don't want to go up to the office.''

But there was more, much more, than managing and coaching changes and reprimands and verbal attacks by the owner. For example, the Yankees made a flurry of trades early in the season that kept subtracting players from and adding players to the lineup, creating an unsettled atmosphere.

In addition, injuries decimated the Yankees in the first half of the season, although as one man in the upper echelon of the organization said, ''You have to be deep enough to overcome injuries and still win.''

Nevertheless, the first problem Steinbrenner mentioned in discussing the team's failure was injuries. ''We had major-type injuries, breakdown-type injuries,'' the owner said. ''They played a large part in our demise.'' Wrong Assessment

The Yankees' problems began long before the siege of injuries. They began when the management decided to let Reggie Jackson leave and substituted speed for the power that Jackson took with him to the California Angels. Speed, Steinbrenner and his staff concluded, was what would win games for them in the future.

Earl Weaver, for one, was happy to see the Yankees reach that conclusion. ''I'd much rather see them sliding into second,'' the Baltimore manager said, ''than trotting around the bases with one swing.''

But the Yankees didn't even slide into second with stolen bases very often, or race around the bases on singles and doubles. For instance, Dave Collins, who was signed as a free agent primarily for his speed - he stole 79 bases in 1980 for Cincinnati -has only 12 stolen bases this season.

''We definitely didn't emphasize speed when we played our game,'' said Dave Winfield. ''When we hit the field, that didn't seem to be the plan.''

The plan, as it appeared on the planning board, wasn't a bad idea, Piniella said. ''The problem was we were near the bottom of the league in stolen bases,'' he said. ''I think they gave it a chance, but when it didn't materialize early in the season. there was a change of thought in midstream and justifiably so because I don't think the team was going anywhere.''

The Yankees weren't out of spring training when they realized they lacked power. Steinbrenner had decided not to re-sign Jackson because, he said, his advisers told him Jackson had perhaps only one productive season remaining. It would not, the owner decided, be a good business decision to sign Jackson to a lucrative long-term contract. So there went the power.

The decision, Rick Cerone said, ''hurt an awful lot, especially in light of the year he's having.'' Wrong the First Year

Steinbrenner readily acknowledged that Jackson has had a great year in California. ''It's something I would have expected,'' he said. ''He has a flair for that. But as I said before, the judgment of my baseball people was that he could not do it for four years. We have missed him this year, but you can't judge it on this year. You have to wait four years to evaluate it.''

Instead of giving Jackson, say, a million dollars or so per year for three or four years, the Yankees gave Ken Griffey and Collins contracts worth close to a total of two million dollars a year. While Jackson has flourished in his advancing age in southern California, with 34 home runs on a team contending for a division title, Griffey and Collins have spent the season being largely unproductive and unhappy. Both want to be traded.

(George got cheap! A first.)

Actually, Steinbrenner had a replacement for Jackson in mind - Al Oliver, then with Texas. But a trade for the first baseman fell through when Oscar Gamble refused to go to the Rangers. Oliver ended up being traded to Montreal and is leading the National League in batting. ''He is the take-charge hitter that we needed on this team that we didn't have,'' Steinbrenner said.

The Yankees, though, have felt Jackson's absence in another way. Not only did he take his bat with him, but he also took his lightning rod.

When Jackson wore pinstripes, most of Steinbrenner's wrath was directed at him. ''Reggie took a lot of the heat,'' Rudy May said. ''He thrived on that stuff.'' With Jackson gone, the streaks of Steinbrenner lightning struck just about every player on the team at one time or another. There was no evidence that any of the players, like Jackson, thrived ''on that stuff.''

Only Winfield among the hitters picked up the run production that had been Jackson's responsibility. But last year the Yankees had Winfield and Jackson. In their efforts to find someone to help Winfield, the Yankees turned to Toronto in May and lured John Mayberry south of the border for a hefty package that included a $200,000 enticement for Mayberry and sending two of their best minor league prospects to the Blue Jays.

The only problem was that the Yankees might have been the only team in the majors not to believe that Mayberry's productive days were past. Gene Michael, when he was the manager, kept playing Mayberry, hoping he would return to his power-hitting role of yesteryear. But Clyde King, now that he is the manager, has used the first baseman in only five games in the last five weeks. Dent Deal Backfires

(Old star fails to play to the back of his baseball card because...old.)

About four weeks before they acquired Mayberry, on the day before the season opened, the Yankees obtained Roy Smalley from the Minnesota Twins for Ron Davis. The trade was puzzling because the Yankees already had Bucky Dent at shortstop, but they felt that Dent couldn't contribute punch and that Smalley could. In past seasons, Dent never was needed for punch; but it was different in 1982. So the man who was their shortstop for five years, four of them division winning years, became another unhappy member of the club.

That trade, though, not only disrupted the infield, but it also sorely affected the relief corps. Davis had done a superb job last year in spelling Gossage on days that the No. 1 reliever couldn't pitch, and in innings leading up to the eighth and ninth - Gossage's prime time.

(Too many guys at one position and weakened the bullpen to make the trade.)

Steinbrenner didn't mention Davis, but he said that the bullpen definitely lacked effectiveness. ''We didn't get the performance out of the bullpen we needed. Without Goose we're in tough shape out there.''

The Yankees thought they had a replacement for Davis in Shane Rawley, whom they earlier had acquired from Seattle. But Rawley failed in that role and eventually was put in the starting rotation, where he has had greater success.

The Rawley and Smalley trades were parts of the wholesale changes the Yankees made from late spring training to the end of the first month of the season, a time when most teams try to have a settled situation.

Piniella didn't see the trades as all that detrimental, when viewed as part of a larger picture, because, he said, ''Our club was becoming an older club.''

''There's no greater danger in sports,'' he added, ''than having a team get old on you at once. I think that's what they were concerned about and they did what they felt they had to to eradicate that possibility.''

Such a flurry of trading, though, could benefit a team better if it were done in the offseason. Then the players would have a chance to get to know each other before the season began.

''You can't keep filtering players in and out,'' said May, who has pitched for five teams in his 15 years in the majors. ''You have to develop a closeness, a relationship that fosters winning. I don't know a lot of these guys. I haven't had time to really get to know them.'' Playing in New York

As the season nears the end, the Yankees have on their roster only nine players who helped win 103 games in 1980. Many of the players who have joined those nine have come from losing teams.

''There's certainly a correlation between talent and being a winning ballplayer,'' Piniella remarked. ''You have to have talent to be a winning ballplayer. But you also have to know how to win.''

And, May added, you have to learn how to win in New York. ''Some of the new guys,'' the pitcher said, ''found out it isn't as easy as they thought to play in New York.''

Steinbrenner acknowledged the trades could have had unsettling effects on the team. And he agreed on the necessity of having winning players on a team. ''You have to understand what it is to be a winner,'' Steinbrenner said, ''When you come off a club that isn't a winner, that takes a while to sink in.''

It was not easy for many players to play for the Yankees this season. Collins never learned his role. Reluctant to sign as a free agent because he didn't see a place for himself on the Yankees, Collins was assured by Steinbrenner that, indeed, there was a spot. Collins has learned that his first instinct was correct.

Besides choosing speed over power, the Yankees made other decisions on personnel that were contrary to past judgments. In past years, the Yankees were content to have what baseball people call ''role players.'' Fred Stanley and Larry Milbourne were good examples. They were on the team as utility infielders and they understood and accepted their roles.

Players such as Collins and Dent were not utility players and were not prepared to accept that role. Nor could the two catchers, Cerone and Butch Wynegar, have accepted it if both had been healthy at the same time.

''You need utility players,'' said one man involved in the operation of the team. ''You can't have all starters. It takes a while to convince these guys and it happened this year.''

Perhaps when Steinbrenner and his staff draw their 1983 World Series blueprint, they will pay closer attention to some of the moves that have brought pennants in the past. Piniella, for one, doesn't think the team is as far away from returning to contending status as some people believe.

''There's a lot of talent on this club,'' Piniella said, ''and if it's properly orchestrated over the winter, in trades and with free agents, this club could be right in the thick of it next season.''

(They didn't win the pennant for another 14 years!) 

Based on his previous offseason record, Steinbrenner figures to be a busy man in October, November and December. There are those among his advisers who don't view the present talent as optimistically as Piniella. There are indications that Steinbrenner himself doesn't.

As a result, some surprising changes could occur before the start of next season. ''We're already making plans for next year,'' Steinbrenner said. ''Don't count us out.'' Anything Possible

The Yankees need power and they need pitching. To get it, they may trade such players as Willie Randolph, their second baseman, and Jerry Mumphrey, their center fielder. Smalley, whose range at shortstop has disappointed the Yankees, could become the third baseman if they decide Graig Nettles must be replaced, or if not, Smalley could become the first baseman. He has, in recent weeks, shown the kind of punch a team needs at those two positions. Then again, if the Yankees sign a Steve Garvey or a Jason Thompson as a free agent, Smalley could become an everyday designated hitter.

As for free agency, the Yankees already have indicated their interest in Don Baylor, and they appear ready to allow Cerone to become a free agent and make Wynegar their regular catcher.

Those are some of the decisions they must make in the next few weeks. Until the last offseason, Steinbrenner and staff seemed to make mostly correct decisions in preparing for the next season's race. How well they rebound from their decision-making slump could determine if, at this time next year, the Yankees will be playing in someone else's pennant race or their own."

--

Ironically, the headline from today's Athletic (The NY Times Sports Website) is 

"The Yankees ‘wholeheartedly believe’ they can turn their season around. Do you?"

(OK, so maybe having three managers was a bad idea. At least George cared. Hal does not. So let's compromise... If only there was a number in-between three managers and one manager.  

Pass the bong and Fire Boone! )

This Tankees team might just be the worst in this millennium

Now and then, in pursuit of a mental Calgon Bath Oil Beads experience, I like to ponder what I consider to be the greatest Yankee failure of this millennium, a team of baked-in, shock-and-awe mediocrity: 

The Yankees of 2013.

The season of Lyle Overbay, Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner; of Ichiro on his last legs and Joggie Cano, on his carefully preserved first ones.

That zombie team led the AL East on May 26, when everybody believed the cavalry was coming. Kevin Youkilus would surely heal. (He eventually hit .219.) We awaited the returns of A-Rod (he ended the season with 19 RBIs), Jeet (7 RBIs) and Mark Teixeira (12 RBIs), knowing that Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain would blossom as stars, because - well - the courtiers of YES told us so.

For me, the 2013 season still stands as the Fools' Gold Standard for Yankee mediocrity. It even extended into the following summer, when we selected Jacob Lindgren, at #55, having forfeited our first-round pick for the free agents who made the previous season possible. 

In a flawed world, the 2013 Yankees nearly achieved perfection, melting down in every phase of play, then punctuating the collapse by keeping all those who were responsible. Joe Girardi returned in 2014 (2nd place) and Cooperstown Cashman never even lost his preferred parking place. 

On August 11, 2013, the Yankees stood at two games above .500, with a final run of mediocrity still in store. In September, they would go 13-14 and - to salt our wounds - they would win their last three inconsequential games, while humanity laughed at them.  

A masterpiece of disaster, 2013.  

This team could be worse. 

I don't believe we fully appreciate how magnificently this 2025 team has collapsed. 

This team could be worse. 

It's hard to pinpoint what makes a truly great Yankee fiasco. Certainly, you need injuries. (Check.) You need old age. (Check). You need underachieving veterans (Check), a terrible defense (Check, Check, Check) and a broken bullpen. (Check, Check, Check.)

This Yankee team has it all, plus Aaron Boone. 

When Will Warren is your #3 starter, and your ace is lucky to reach the 5th, when the big question is a journeyman opponent is going to throw a no-hitter, you have reached the pantheon of great Yankee failures.

It's hard to be this awful - to susain this level of mediocrity. But have faith. 

This team could be the worst.

Gee Thread º8/1º/2º25 – According to Yankees (Thrombosed) Analytics . . .

Guess who's due for an EEEEEE today !

RUNK BLOg ends: Say it aint so, Mariano

 Scattered... 

Yanks so embarrassing, so sad, that the juju gods got mad and took it out on Mariano Rivera. Surgery on his ankle. Fortunately, he has a year to heal. He'll be back.

Yanks blathering about how impressed they are with Giancarlo Stanton in the field. Sure  they are. 

Redsock fan assuring me that a) Yanks will make a final run and b) Roman Anthony is the next big thing. 

Head hurts. Going to see a band today. 

Tomorrow, return to sweet reality.

Gil time

 

RUNK BLOGG contunied... BOONE DERANGEMENT SYNDROME is a thing.

 Moment that happy-go-lucky Yank fan greets Field Marshall Boone.

RUNK GLOBG Continues: RESTORE THE YANKEE BEARD BAN!

 

Screw dis. Sick and tired. Last night, did anybody NOT think the Death Barge was gonna lose? Didn't matter that they tied the game. Not a whit. Once into overtime, it was over. Devin Williams, first pitch, straight to the backstop, letting the ghost runner take third - it was over. OVER! You knew. I knew. The Yankees knew. EVERYBODY KNEW...

Williams. Can't believe this guy. One of the most disappointing Yanks in modern history. 

We ditched Sonny Gray for less. 

For this guy, we dropped the Beard Ban? 

RESTORE THE YANKEE BEARD BAN, SHAVE HIM, THEN RELEASE HIM. 

We are on the verge of passing Cleveland, Texas, Cincy, and San Francisco in the Tankathon. One five game loss streak - and this team collects them like Beany Babies - and we could draft 13th (assuming we haven't lost our first pick due to the de facto payroll cap, so nothing matters, which about sums up the only world view we can adopt, right now, because the Yankees absolutely suck.)

The best the Yankees might do, in terms of tanking, is to overtake the Marlins and Cardinals, maybe in late September. They'll never break the top 10, even if our second half-record is among the worst. 

They won't fire Boone. They won't clip Cashman. They won't even take off his daughter's show. It's a family operation, and they're making money, reams of it, and it doesn't matter if the team loses, as long as it is competitive, and in an era of expanded playoffs, everybody can compete for the wild card, so here we are, watching games that we know we're gonna lose, and calling on a guy to give up another HR, somebody, shoot me, i kneed a drink...