Tuesday, August 31, 2021

As they hit the final stretch, the Yankees' greatest fear might just be Newton's Third Law

Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law of Baseball states:

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Thus, a hot streak will provoke an equal and opposite cold streak, unless it happens to an over-the-hill star, who will then either tweak something and miss six months, or struggle through with occasional glimpses of hope, while undermining the team, which really pisses me off."

We have blown three in a row, just as Newton could have predicted. With 31 games left, the chances of the Death Barge catching Tampa are up there with Britney's dad winning "Father of the Year." Even if we somehow rattled off another 13 game orgasm, the Rays would have to crumble, and they show no signs of being such a Met-like organization. 

Thus, the Yankees are now competing for Bud Selig's final revenge on us - the one-game Wild Card playoff, which will determine whether our deadline trade blitz will prove to be a brilliant move... or a blight upon this decade. For 13 wonderous games, the Yankiverse praised Brian Cashman's guts and guile, as he emptied our farm system for four players, whose previous teams were itching to move. 

Now, we confront the ultimate glitch in the 2021 Yankees: Their inability to beat Newton's Third. Thus far, every sign of hope has begotten an equally soul-crushing defeat. I'm recalling the July 11 game in Houston - last game before the all-star break - when the Yankees stood three outs from a three-game sweep, leading by five in the ninth. John and Suzyn were absolutely jubilant. John was doing the math on the AL pennant race. Life was grand! Then the Astros scored six on a walk off HR by, gulp, Jose Altuve. And the message from the juju gods was quite clear: 

Newton's Third Law has not been revoked.

I don't believe the Yankees will lose 13 in a row. All said and done, the Angels are a tomato can. But we will soon learn whether the big streak represented a new level of Yankee competence -or it was just a hot stretch, which means we'll soon start feeling chilly. 

Note: There is also Aaron Boone's management. WTF? Why, why, why... does he leave Corey Kluber for the fourth, when his rehab games in the minors only lasted three innings? Was it because Kluber had not given up a hit? Yeesh. The no-hitter may have killed Kluber this year. He threw too many pitches and hasn't been the same.

We've all seen it. When the first guy gets on, you say, "There goes the perfect game!" When the next guy gets a hit, you say, "There goes the no-hitter!" Then, "There goes the shutout!" Then, "There goes the game!" 

For the '21 Yankees, a few more doinks, and we might be saying, "There goes the season!" And then... dear god... "There goes the decade?" 

11 comments:

TheWinWarblist said...

We've already been through there goes the decade. Feels like we're at the start of doing it again.


Fuckers.

ZacharyA said...

The Yankees are a Wild Card team, but only because the Red Sox (12-18 in their last 30) and Athletics (5-11 in their last 16) started choking.

Boone is a bad tactical manager, we all know that. I like the guy, I'll always be grateful for '03, and it's clear the players like him, so that's nice. But he has no feel for in-game decisions. When Boone brought in Lance Lynn to face Mookie Betts with the bases loaded and no outs in G3 of the 2018 ALDS, that's when I realized we'd be winning no rings with him at the helm.

Gotta enjoy the regular season as much as possible and mentally prepare for a horrific postseason elimination loss. Boats against the current and all that.

Ironbow said...

The Yankees need to develop a fresh blueprint to develop into a World Series championship team. More contact hitters, more athleticism and lock down pitching top to bottom. Oh, and they have to hire a new manager. Buck Showalter?

Parson Tom said...

Boone is The Cooler. Luke Voit is hot? OK, let's sit him down for a week so we can fix that. A relief pitcher has a strong inning, let's get him out of there fast. The team won 13 games in a row, let's make sure that doesn't continue.

JM said...

Run count 8, win count 0 since the challenge.

Sometimes, you have to wonder about the juju timing of things.

At least we can't complain about the offense. Seven runs should be enough to win a game, and it would be, if Kluber didn't implode. And yes, he should've been yanked in the fourth with two men on base. Might have worked, might not have, but it was becoming very clear he didn't have any gas after a long stint on the IL.

Boone again. Why does he leave pitchers in so long when the rest of us can see they should come out? He didn't even have anyone up in the bullpen until it was too late. I'm sure my mom was complaining to St. Peter, just like she used to complain to me, when this happened, saying, "He's as bad as Girardi was."

Seven games behind with only 30-ish to play is insurmountable. Those final three games of the year are becoming more and more meaningless.

Anonymous said...

It's begun to be realized that the laws of motion can be applied more broadly than previously thought. There is a new addition to Newton's Second Law (acceleration is directly proportional to net force and inversely proportional to mass) known as the Cashman Corollary: "The longevity of a GM working for Hal Steinbrenner is directly proportional to the net profits of the Yankees and inversely proportional to the satisfaction of the readers of It is High! It is Far! It is...caught."

- Melquíades

13bit said...

Plus ca change...

Or, as Jimi Hendrix once said, "blah blah, woof woof."

Fuck Hal, Fuck Brian, Fuck Boonie and Blitzen...

ranger_lp said...

This team since Cashman has been built to make the playoffs...not win the playoffs...

Anonymous said...

Interesting that while the win streak was progressing, all the negative posts seemed to magically disappear. Wonder what up with that?

Now that the Yankees lose a few, “poof” the negatives are back, Boone sucks, Cashman sucks, blah, blah…..

Also wondering how releasing a bunch of low rated suspects becomes “emptying the farm system? What Cash pulled off at the training deadline was masterful.

HoraceClarke67 said...

Great point, ranger!

Anonymous said...

"the Cashman Corollary: "The longevity of a GM working for Hal Steinbrenner is directly proportional to the net profits of the Yankees and inversely proportional to the satisfaction of the readers of It is High! It is Far! It is...caught."

- Melquíades

That should be the new banner!

Doug K.