Clip and save: Brian McCann says he plans to hit to the opposite field this year

How Yankees tried to beat the over-shift last year.

For the record: The disease of the 2014 Yankees was not pitching, fielding or charging too low for tickets. The Bronx Bombers simply had nobody who knew how to drive in a run. The team RBI leader was Brian McCann. He had 75.

That's no misprint. The Yankee team leader had 75 - seventyfukkinfive - RBIs.

In other words, we created a new definition for anemia. What a disgrace. What a paltry, bed-crapping disgrace. No wonder if the Yankees were down by three run, we were turning the channel.

And get this: If McCann played on the 2009 Yankees - our last team to win anything - he would have placed 8th - eighth! - in RBIs, ahead of only Melky Cabrera (68), who didn't play the whole season, and Derek Jeter (66), who batted lead-off. Seventy-five RBIs. Whoopie. And they're all returning? Yahoo! He and Hal Steinbrenner should buy matching sailor suits and blow all their money on heroin. Whoopie!

All right. Must get a grip. And let's give McCann a little respect, because at least he shows an awareness of the problem, which seems to elude others. Last year, when faced with defensive over-shifts, our big "boppers" usually just swung harder, trying to drive the ball down the fielders' throats. But you know what happened? They caught the balls.

McCann recently told the Murdoch Daily Mush that he'll change his ways in '15. (Emphasis mine.)

“Now that the shifting’s involved, it’s time for me to take a step back and figure out. Now I’ve got to beat the shift. I’ve hit a certain way for nine years. The shift obviously is more advanced. So hits that I’ve always had in the past are now outs. I hit .290, .280, now you’re hitting .240, .230. It’s time for me to make that adjustment, and I went into this offseason, and that’s where I’m at.”

First, I'll believe this when I see it.

Second, let's give him credit for one thing: He knows he sucked. Since Jeter's retirement, nobody has talked about naming another Yankee captain. It would be like getting a new puppy on the ride home from putting Old Yeller to sleep. Good grief, it's too soon to go sleeping around.

But if McCann had been a Yankee for longer than one miserable year, he seems like a decent hard-ass. And - hey - at least he knows he sucked. Does Tex?