"They are Yankees, so they cut their hair and shave their beards and say what they’re supposed to say and fall in line. They do not, it seems, have any fun at all. Maybe no one can alleviate the pressure that comes with playing in New York. But it does not seem Boone has been able to shield them from it. He certainly does not seem to have been able to shield himself. Whatever the reason, the Yankees finished another season trying to be better than they are, built on expectations without the weapons needed to meet them. The pinstripes, as they say, are heavy. And the Yankees, as constructed, are just not strong enough to carry them."
Savage
ReplyDeleteShe is wrong about one thing, if you saw them during the season, they were having a lot of fun. They just don't look like total buffoons like the teams with their crowns and chains and coats and shopping carts whenever someone homers.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is not that they shaved their beards and cut their hair., the issue was that it was a poorly constructed team, as those of us here fully understand.
Honestly, we don't need a hack from the Washington Post to lecture us.
I think that I didn't see her at any of the Yankees games this year. I guess she was too engrossed with those Nats.
She's a good writer. Maybe the best at the Washington Post, regardless of section.
ReplyDelete@ Arch,,,there's a lot of truth in what you say. But the WaPo writer has a very valid point. The pressure playing for the Yankees is palpable. And the upper management, the Bloated Front Office is living in the 1950's in regards to corporate rules. I imagine playing for this organization as far as outdated disciplinary enforcement would be like a college kid playing at Ohio state in football under Woody Hayes or basketball at Indiana under Bobby Knight. If real discipline is what you're after, then hold the players accountable for their on-field transgressions and their (bad) attitude.
ReplyDeleteFacial hair and jewelry restrictions will not make them better players, only anachronisms.
El Duque, as long as Hal runs the Yankees the way he chooses to do so, including the Genius GM how brings in stiffs and his go along with anything The Genius wants, the results will be the same.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of Chelsea James' press box—or, more likely, television—observations, it doesn't seem to me that this edition of the Yankees was particularly fun-deprived or pressured. If anything, all too often, the team didn't really seem to be paying much attention.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are some players such as Joey Gallo, who seemed to be traumatized by the fact that New York fans actually boo. But he went on to suck almost as much in pleasant, laid-back LA.
I also don't know if by this point that Yankees really much know or care about "The Legacy." Ballplayers are notoriously unknowledgeable about the history of their sports, and I suspect this team is no different.
I agree with Archie: the Toronto Blue Jays seemed to be having nothing but fun, all the time, and where did it get them? Spare us the laundry cart and the special home run jacket, please.
Yeah gang, I may have been a bit cranky towards on our resident baseball expert who went to Yale and got a History degree, but like a bad wine, I turn to vinegar with age.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as Carl pointed out, the true transgression is that their lack of hustle, etc., never resulted in a penalty.
So, let them grow their hair, but discreetly make there be a consequences for lack of attention.
Sit a game or get yanked, something like that
A dead fish rots from the head on down.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with the hair rules. Facial hair and shoulder length hair slow you down when you run. There was a play in the World Series where a fully bearded Tampon player tried to steal home and got thrown out by, literally, a quarter inch. Think he makes it without the beard? Yeah, he would've!
ReplyDeleteAll kidding aside, it's not the hair policy, the jewelry policy, lack of fun, too much fun, or anything like that. The problem is ownership that only cares about finances. Ownership doesn't really want to win. The consequences filter down to the players and coaches.