Forgive me if someone has already covered this ground, but...
Did you ever stop and wonder if this Yankees mess is a generational thing? That the Yankees are built of "nice guys" who are supportive and trained since birth to be "correct" in their behavior? Don't get angry. Don't be too aggressive. Don't be critical, because that's so negative. (And if you do try to be aggressive, you'll do it at inopportune times, because you're so awkward at it.) Even the love for Boone is because he's a "nice guy."
There's something very Millennial going on here, even in the game itself. No brush-backs. No hard slides to break up a double play. Bigger bases. The Manfred man. It's all so..."nice."
I don't think we should go back to the Pete Rose vs. Ray Fosse annihilation approach or the apocryphal spike sharpening of Ty Cobb. But the Yankees have become the poster boys for the other extreme. Yes, we need Gardy hammering the dugout roof with his bat. Yes, we need O'Neill (who is terrible in the booth, I agree) drop-kicking water coolers. We need Yankee veterans who pounce on rookie mistakes because they want their World Series share and will be damned if some stupid kid fucks that up. We need a manager who benches guys because they suck, or don't pay attention, or jog to first. Not a manager who benches guys because they had a great game or three and need to "rest."
Something is very wrong systemically. All the players we complain about, and Boone, and Cashman, are all of a piece.
The Yankees used to be seen as a merciless machine that played every game to win, and took no prisoners. That was the culture, the Yankee Way.
What we have now is more like a Milky Way. Soft, gooey, and melts too easily.
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8 comments:
Nail on the head, JM.
Bravo.
(I hear that the Yankees players also give each other foot massages in the clubhouse)
You're up mighty early, AA. What gives?
ahem...uh......ah...I cann't help but agree with you, JM. but that raises the question of where we find the rough-and-tumble guys who used to play the game? the guys who used to beat up the other kids and pull the wings off butterflies? are they all going into private equity? these are the big questions.
Animal issues…..
JM -- +115% I give it extra points because everyone gets an extra 15% because I'm nice.
There can be no doubt, absolutely no doubt, that this is a systemic organizational issue and the owner refuses to make a sea change,
Great question, JM! But then why are there other teams, such as the Dodgers, who seem full of consummate professionals?
I think in part it is the money. The other day, talking with a friend about Devers, I had to admit that it frightened me to think of what I would do for $350 mill. Once you got it, how much fire can you have about anything?
Beyond that, though, it's how this team is constructed. Always just well enough to contend, no more. And with no coaches or managers who can straighten guys up, correct what they're doing wrong, etc.
Finally, it's the whole, algorithmic philosophy. If you're always told to do the same thing the same way, every time, how much interest are you going to have in your work?
"Finally, it's the whole, algorithmic philosophy. If you're always told to do the same thing the same way, every time, how much interest are you going to have in your work?"
Very interesting and a not considered enough take.
Sort of removes the fun and the challenge and therefore the focus and the caring.
You should post it again to make sure people read it.
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