Their fans.
Their city.
Their teammates.
The front office of major league baseball.
The wild card losers.
The TV announcers.
The radio announcers.
The networks.
The advertisers.
So today will be a true " getaway day." The Yankees all played as though they are totally ready for this;
And we shall get the opportunity to watch the real baseball teams. Those who care. Those who are clutch and gritty. Those who surprise to the upside.
I had a lousy feeling about this team from day one. From the Stanton trade, in particular.
And now I know why.
They are not of this league.
Please don't say "clutch and gritty" again. It make me want to punch David Eckstein in the nose.
ReplyDeleteOur starting pitcher, our ACE, showed up late for game 3.
ReplyDeletenow, being late isn't terrible per se. being late can happen to normals, the ones who drift through life. but it doesn't happen if you take your responsibilities seriously. if you do that, ALL contingencies are considered when calculating your departure time. things like traffic, mechanical failures, police activity, even a damn bridge being out. the result of taking the game seriously is that one arrives EARLY almost ALL the time. if you're on time, in fact you're actually late.
I think it was Sherlock Holms that said always being early was a consequence of being punctual. I don't care if he was fictional. He was right!!
I offer the following for your consideration:
ReplyDelete“Who is he?” Severino asked when told of (Ron) Darling’s report. “He’s not the pitching coach, he’s not here all the time. Whatever he said, he’s not always in our bullpen. How does he know when I came out? I came out for the game like I usually do,” Severino said. - NY Daily News
Who is Ron Darling? Regardless of what you may think about his broadcasting skills, he's a well-regarded 13-year former pitcher with a career 136-116 record, a career 3.87 ERA, a career 1.335 WHIP, a career 19.7 WAR, and oh yeah, he has a World Series Championship ring on his finger. He is a PROVEN winner on the mound.
This, in a nutshell, is the core problem with the current crop of NY Yankees. Not talent; talent is not the problem. The problem is attitude. This quote from Severino tells you all you need to know about this group of players. They have an innate inability to take responsibility for their failures, and they have no one at all to set them right (Larry Rothchild actually backed up Sevey!). They win only because their talent at times manages to trump their attitude. They are officially spoiled, and unfortunately it is management that has spoiled them all along by failing to instill in them a sense of hustle or respect for the game's fundamentals. They seem to believe that showing up is all that is necessary to win, and we have showered them with too much praise before they have won a single damn thing. They Baby Bombers have shown that they are exactly that - spoiled babies.
The current mix of talent, with the possible exception of CC Sabathia, has created a leadership void among the players. The rented talent has not been around long enough to exercise leadership (most of them will move on as it is), and most of them are really middling players themselves who were never leaders on their own teams (McCutchen the possible exception). The young homegrown kids simply don't have enough experience to be leaders. I think the big three of Judge, Torres and Andujar have their heads screwed on straight, but just not enough experience or credentials to be team leaders, take guys aside, and get them right.
This all boils down to the biggest problem with these Yankees: inconsistency. You cannot play consistently winning baseball with this kind of situation, regardless of how your team is built. Mental discipline and focus need to be flawlessly consistent. Physical errors or mistakes or failures can be overcome and corrected, but mental attitude or lack of focus will always lead to disaster. You cannot depend on these Yankees to be consistent in their approach to playing the game.
I was very hopeful yesterday, but I am afraid my unmitigated paean of optimism was displeasing to the baseball juju gods (pass me a pineapple, please). I have no prediction for tonight; I will merely watch what transpires and see how it adds up with all the other data about this team. Management is the biggest culprit in this scenario, and I don't believe they have the capacity to turn their own coddling attitude around anytime soon. Just like Sevy, they will not take responsibility for their actions or decisions, a position which has clearly rubbed off on the players. Fortunately, I am still a huge baseball fan, and there remains plenty of good baseball to watch. I look forward to a Brewers/Astros World Series.
Where, I wonder, would we be now if Cashman had nabbed Christian Yellich instead of Giancarlo Stanton?
For your amusement on this dreary day in Yankeeland I thought I’d share this glowing tribute to Cash and his analytics team:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pinstripealley.com/platform/amp/2018/9/29/17916098/yankees-brian-cashman-analytics-video-judge-mccutchen
Batting average is indeed overrated. Why on earth would you want a guy at the plate with bases loaded with a .300 average who makes contact more than he whiffs? No, what you really want is a .245 hitter with a .340+ OBA and .450 Slg. Who cares that the guy with the lower batting average is less likely to make contact? It’s what happens IF he makes contact that counts!
Btw, anybody got a used DeLorean for sale? All I want is a trip back to 1998. Is that too much too ask?
The fish rots from the head down. I don't blame the players at all. Lest you forget, we are owned and run by one of the most privileged people on the planet, born to the purple.
ReplyDeleteAs for last night, Eovaldi was likely going to beat us. The Sox got him because he pitches up, which destroys our upswinging lineup. Or anyone else's.
The wholesale breakdown of our manager and pitching was unexpected. It was horrible, but it's not the first time that kind of thing has happened. No longer having Rocky Colavito on the roster, though, we brought in Romine. That was the best move of the night, I think.
Tanaka and CC have played the role of stopper a number of times this year.
We shall see. They only have one Eovaldi.
Brilliantly put, APP. That is the whole gist of the problem, in many fewer words than I would have used!
ReplyDeleteIf 13bit has said it once, he's said it a thousand times: scrotum.
ReplyDeleteThe only one who can step into the leadership role is Judge. We shall see how he responds to this postseason.
ReplyDeleteIf, by some miracle of miracles, the Yankees win tonight AND in Boston, it will be like Xmas in October for me. I don't remotely expect this to happen, but hell, you can't predict baseball Suzyn.
ReplyDeleteExcept, you CAN predict that there will be actual repercussions from all of the problems expertly diagnosed in apoorplayer's post above. I was on cloud 9 Sunday morning, then, thrown into the depths of hell Monday night, that has been the story of this team throughout the entire 2018 season.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm beyond grateful to have the IIHIIFIIC community to turn to for humor, advice and solace throughout this brutal brutal season. Thanks again, it's deeply appreciated.
Thank you, Ken. And we appreciate everyone who joins with us.
ReplyDeleteLaughter, pain, anguish, frustration, joy, fear, panic, anger, disappointment, expectation....Duque can provide the rest.
Or the infamous...now becoming famous...MUSTANG.
Or others.
My point is; the party is over. Turn out the lights. Pack the car. And drive to New England for the leaves.
Just avoid eastern Massachusetts.
Bring NY bagels.
When the Yanks were down 10 to 1 Boston was stealing bases and swinging for the fences on 3 and O pitches and no one on the Yankees even raised an eyebrow. They were blatantly rubbing our noses in it in our home ballpark and.... nothing. Boone looked so dazed I don’t even think he noticed. Can you imagine how Billy Martin would have reacted? Or Lou Pinella, or Sparky Anderson or Earl Weaver or any other real baseball manager?
ReplyDeleteWe could throw at them and get half the lineup out of the game. It would be a terrible thing to do, but, you know, what the hell.
ReplyDelete
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