Be honest. Last night, down by only 2, you saw an infield cornered by Jason Nix and Lyle Overbay, backed by the cast of Glee. There was Pronk and Vernon Wells. Abbott & Costello couldn't have conjured a more laughable lineup against a pitcher named Woo.
Woo is shutting us out?
That's right.
Woo is he? WOO?
Yep.
Woo-woo-woo. Down by 2 and desperate for hope, the YES team launched regular injury rehab updates. The more they assured us that reinforcements are coming - ladies and gentleman, Tommy Kahnle! - the more hopelessness they inspired.
Down by 2, we were once again an older, more financially secure version of the Scranton Railriders, barreling toward second place.
That win streak? Well, it came against the Twinkies, a team we somehow still own, and the White Sox, baseball's rustiest can of stewed tomatoes.
Down by 2, the Yankees had once again fallen, unable to stand. It's why management traded the farm for Juan Soto. It's a sense of streaky sluggers, passed their primes, who cannot adjust their swings.
Down by 2, it's why Aaron Boone's bad decisions didn't matter. This team cannot be managed. You cannot call for a bunt, when nobody knows how. You cannot tell your best base-stealer to run; it lets the opposition pitch around your best hitters. Nope. You just write out a daily lineup, dictated by numbers ninnies, and if nobody hits, you simply go on TV later and gaslight the fan base, describing how well everybody's swinging the bat - and how about those injury rehabs!
I'm sorry. I should be happy. The Yanks remain 1.5 games ahead of Baltimore, (though the O's have fewer losses.) But last night brought a system-wide debacle. Scranton lost 12-1. At Double A Somerset, which lost 10-2, the super-hyped Spencer Jones, is hitting .222, and his predecessor - the Martian, Jasson Dominguez, who moved up last night - went 0-3. Down at dirt league Tampa, first-round pick George Lombardi Jr. is hitting .202, and Roderick Arias - the millionaire known as "Rod-A" - is batting .214.
At each level across the minor leagues, break-out prospects are redefining the future. They aren't Yankees.
Damn. I get it that we can't win them all. I realize the Yankees still have two games left with Seattle, and I accept that the Mariners - leading the AL West - are a good team. But these two losses - there's something about them - they've conjured the Babadook. I look at this team. I see Kevin Youkilis and the Grandy Man. It's been more than 10 years. I still can't get them out of my head. Collapses have become the Yankee norm. And it's getting close to that certain time of year...
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We've been anticipating likely struggles when we faced good pitching, and this is them. But I don't fault the hitters anywhere near as much as I fault the lousy pitching from the lousy bullpen lugnuts that Boone trots out. Maybe he has no choice, since bullpen management blah blah blah. But why are these guys even on the team? We have better (Beeter) in the minors. What, we're using crap pitchers because of minor league options? Doesn't winning games count?
Of course, I can answer those questions as well as anyone here, I think:
1) They're on the team because the Brain got them and jettisoning them would be an admission of mistakes.
2) Options? Yes, probably.
3) Winning is not the prime directive. That would be profits.
Still, better to use the decent guys we have until their arms fall off (hey, reinforcements are on the way!) than to keep using the Santanas of the world.
“ Down by 2, it's why Aaron Boone's bad decisions didn't matter. This team cannot be managed. You cannot call for a bunt, when nobody knows how. You cannot tell your best base-stealer to run; it lets the opposition pitch around your best hitters. Nope. You just write out a daily lineup, dictated by numbers ninnies, and if nobody hits, you simply go on TV later and gaslight the fan base, describing how well everybody's swinging the bat - and how about those injury rehabs! “
Goddam right.
Ladies and Germs, these are your 2024 Yankees!
Don't forget to get the extra rat feces on the pizza slice.
The meaningless Torres home run might have been the most destructive aspect of last night's debacle. In a normal organization, it would be padding his trade value not his viability as a starter.
Duque, your instincts are correct, I believe. This team is starting their annual plunge.
@ JM, 100%. This organization has lost its way:
And I'm so tired
Tired of watching
Tired of watching you lose
I was a lonely soul
I had nobody
Til I saw you
Now you're keeping me waiting
All of the time
What can I do?
It's your club
And you can do what you want
Do what you like
But please don't keep-a me watching
Cuz I'm so tired
Tired of watching
Tired of watching you lose
Will Warren is generally thought of as “ the next man up” from Scranton we need a starter, but after a good April, he’s given up 23 earned runs in his last 3 starts, pitching to a stratospheric 14.79 ERA. There is clearly an issue here, which is not being addressed.
Beeter’s been better, but…21 walks in 32 innings won’t cut it up here.
Will Warren is the early favorite for the “Chance Adam’s award” Meanwhile Drew Thorpe has 1.50 ERA with 40IP
"I accept that the Mariners - leading the AL West - are a good team." Congratulations, you've come a long way from yesterday. Even the 2001 Mariners lost once in a while.
Hammer, you've got a KINK!
But this is why Monday's game was all the more awful.
Sure, every now and then, some guy named Woo is going to come along and pitch you woe. (How the Yankees' advanced scouting is so bad—or so thoroughly ignored—that it NEVER gives us advance warning on a new guy is indicative of the rot in the entire system, but let's not get into that now.)
In baseball, you're inevitably going to have days when you just can't win. It's why, whenever you have a chance at winning—even after a nice winning streak—you've got to grab hold of that possibility and clutch it to your chest, never let it get away as if it's the love of your life.
Monday, the win was there. Even with our closer having an inevitable off night. All we had to do is make with some smart situational hitting, and execute in the field.
We couldn't. Which is why this team is not really that good, despite the record. But hey, baseballreference tells me the Yanks now have a 92 percent chance to make the playoffs, so no doubt HAL and The Brain are already popping the champagne.
By the by, DickAllen, thanks for the kind words.
I don't believe the Atlantic club played regularly on ice, though they might have done so a time or two, as a stunt. I know that there were various open-air rinks around there in Brooklyn. At least one of them, the "Yukaton Skating Rink" became a ballfield in the summer, so probably the old Washington Park, too.
And you're very right about how the old parks used crowds to define the playing area. Usually they would be roped off, and any ball hit into them became a double, home run, or whatever the ground rules dictated.
This fact will play heavily in...Know Your Pre-Ruthian Sluggers! Part III, coming shortly to a website near you.
Hoss, I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation, unlike how I feel about this fleabag of a team. I don't care what their current record is, the last ten years have taken its toll on my faith. I'm preparing myself for the worst.
Hoss, count me in, also, as waiting semi patiently for the next pre-Ruthian power hitter. I wonder if any of them ate hot dogs during a game?
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