The Great Mistake

As fa as I know, no one has yet taken responsibility for the error in judgement that may well have cost this team a shot at the championship.

Boone, of course, is paid to take bullets like this.  But this idea did not seem like a Boonism. 

Here is why the " Great Deception" was, in fact, the " Great Mistake:"

1.  It conceded the mental advantage that the Yankees had earned the previous night.  When the Yankees exploded for 5 runs in the ninth inning, and turned a 4-3 "squeaker" into a rout, it gave the team a kind of momentum, or confidence.  

It said, " we know you handled us easily in the season ( 8 wins to 2 ), but now you have seen the weight and danger of our full line-up. "  The train cannot be stopped.

2.  Only the train got derailed. The Yankees threw the wrong switch, on themselves. The Yankees decided not to use their heretofore most effective playoff pitcher ( Tanaka...who was fully rested ) and go with " the great deception."

3.  This not only wasted two starting pitchers, but it told Tampa, " we are afraid of your lefty line-up and don't think we can beat them without guile. "  

4.  Deivi was " used" and, in the process, dis-respected.  A blow to his confidence no doubt. He was a pawn, not a starting pitcher in the playoffs.  The Yankees showed that they do not trust him. And, to me, it looked like he was aware of that. 

5.  Happ was a mess. He got abused and forced the Yankees to use much of their bullpen, except the sweaty one, because we never came close to a save situation. 

6.  Tampa pitchers created a record-setting 18 Yankee strikeouts in the process, including three each for Frazier and Sanchez.

This game was like when a player makes a critical error at a critical time, costing the Yankees the game and the "upper hand" mentally.  But for that miscue, the Yankees might have prevailed.  But it opened the " floodgates" with two out and no one on,  and the water overflowed the banks....flooding the entire village.

A great team will have the back of the player who fucked up.  They will make it forgettable and forgivable, by winning today and tomorrow. They will get the train re-centered and rolling. 

We'll see.  But I believe the air is out of the tank.

What genius thought this stupidity ?   

 The biggest mistake of this fucked up year.