First there's Boomer and Moose getting screwed out of winning their 200th career games. They would have been #99 and #100 on the all-time 200-game winners. Or 100th and 101st, depending on whose records you believe. That's another story, though. Pre-1900 baseball history is a tad fuzzy. Anyway, so Boomer gets screwed out of his 200th by the Yankees not being able to get a frickin' hit with a man on base even though the pitcher they were facing has lost more games than he's won this year. They're the Orioles, for pete's sake. They've been out of the pennant race for ages. They should be able to hit the crap out of their pitching staff, but they can't buy a frickin' hit. Then there's poor, brilliant Moose, who was made to pitch on the day the hurricane hit Maryland. The game was a 1-1 tie when they had to cancel due to inclement weather. No shit, inclement weather. They'd closed the schools, the federal government, the trains, but they just had to make these guys play a ball game? Plus, why, why can't the current Yankees hit these lousy pitchers? What the heck is going on?
Even worse is the rumor that Joe Torre, my dad's hero, possibly my favorite man in the Yankees uniform, will walk come the off-season. If he isn't fired first. Steinbrenner has not hit one good note with his bitching, whining and complaining this season. Giambi's not been half the player we'd been sold when he bought him off of the A's. Weaver was a horrible trade acqusition from the beginning. The bullpen has been dead all season long. Aaron Boone, while a good player, hasn't hit a lick; I really can't see how his being on the team is an improvement, especially when he's barely hitting over 220.
Steinbrenner has been a whiny, interfering bitch since before the season started, blaming people who've done their best to help the team. I can't blame Torre for wanting to leave. It's amazing he's withstood that mock-turtleneck bastard as long as he has. But at least Steinbrenner had the decency to keep his fat mouth shut the previous years (for the most part). He just couldn't shut up this season. And it's most definitely not having the effect he wanted. Yeah, that's right, Steinbrenner, demoralize your team and coaching staff. That'll definitely lead to the World Series.
I understand the impetus behind the complaints. The team has not been what it was in the past. But that's because the team is not composed of the players it had in the past. Sure, you have Posada, Jeter and Williams up the middle, and Matsui has been one hell of a player, but the rest of the field has been more miss than hit. Except for Nick Johnson, who might have had a year to blow baseball away if it hadn't been for that broken hand. Giambi has sucked more often than not. Same to for that platoon in right, where we'd once had the rock-solid O'Neill. Third has been a question mark, though Robin Ventura obviously did a lot for the clubhouse attitude. And Soriano. Oh, lord, Soriano. Apparently he has swallowed every bit of hype printed about him in the past couple of years. Yeah, sure, he's 30-30, but his fielding is piss-poor and his bat is dead more often than not. He is the Yankee in best need of a bitch-slap. Or an entire bitch-slap therapy session.
There seems to be an element missing, the fire in thebelly, the need to win. While there is a core of hard-working players, the rest seem to be lost on the field, dozing, content simply to wear the pinstripes instead of earning them. It's beyond infuriating. I hate them for what they're doing to the team on the whole, the lackidasical players. They could do with another angry O'Neill, someone to smash the water cooler after every strikeout, someone with a visible passion for the game, someone with a temper aimed only at himself because he expects perfection every time out there. For a moment, when Boone nearly blew his top at a botched call a few weeks back, I thought he might be O'Neill's heir, the fire in the Yankee belly, the burning heart of the team. But he isn't. Close, but no O'Neill, just like Giambi doesn't have half the presence of a Tino, even though he has the better bat. There's no real team, though the core pitching, Boomer, Rocket, Pettitte and Moose, appear to have bonded through this rough season of spotty swinging and erruptions from the bullpen and their own inexplicable occasionally faltering arms. There are cliques instead of the well-oiled team of the late 90's. Few of the players then had banner years, but they played so well together as a team that it didn't matter. Their whole was greater than the sum of its parts, even with the future-hall-of-fame Jeters.
The fact that Torre has been able to get this mismatched collection to hold onto the top of the AL East is a tribute to his managing skills. The fact that Torre has not quit already in spite of Steinbrenner's behavior is another tribute to his managing skills. The man has had to manage management, team and coaches. It blows my mind what he must go through. I'd definitely say he's been worth every penny of that $5 mil. And I'm sure I won't be alone in missing him greatly if the rumors are true and Torre isn't sitting next to Zim on the bench in Tampa next year.
Even worse is the rumor that Joe Torre, my dad's hero, possibly my favorite man in the Yankees uniform, will walk come the off-season. If he isn't fired first. Steinbrenner has not hit one good note with his bitching, whining and complaining this season. Giambi's not been half the player we'd been sold when he bought him off of the A's. Weaver was a horrible trade acqusition from the beginning. The bullpen has been dead all season long. Aaron Boone, while a good player, hasn't hit a lick; I really can't see how his being on the team is an improvement, especially when he's barely hitting over 220.
Steinbrenner has been a whiny, interfering bitch since before the season started, blaming people who've done their best to help the team. I can't blame Torre for wanting to leave. It's amazing he's withstood that mock-turtleneck bastard as long as he has. But at least Steinbrenner had the decency to keep his fat mouth shut the previous years (for the most part). He just couldn't shut up this season. And it's most definitely not having the effect he wanted. Yeah, that's right, Steinbrenner, demoralize your team and coaching staff. That'll definitely lead to the World Series.
I understand the impetus behind the complaints. The team has not been what it was in the past. But that's because the team is not composed of the players it had in the past. Sure, you have Posada, Jeter and Williams up the middle, and Matsui has been one hell of a player, but the rest of the field has been more miss than hit. Except for Nick Johnson, who might have had a year to blow baseball away if it hadn't been for that broken hand. Giambi has sucked more often than not. Same to for that platoon in right, where we'd once had the rock-solid O'Neill. Third has been a question mark, though Robin Ventura obviously did a lot for the clubhouse attitude. And Soriano. Oh, lord, Soriano. Apparently he has swallowed every bit of hype printed about him in the past couple of years. Yeah, sure, he's 30-30, but his fielding is piss-poor and his bat is dead more often than not. He is the Yankee in best need of a bitch-slap. Or an entire bitch-slap therapy session.
There seems to be an element missing, the fire in thebelly, the need to win. While there is a core of hard-working players, the rest seem to be lost on the field, dozing, content simply to wear the pinstripes instead of earning them. It's beyond infuriating. I hate them for what they're doing to the team on the whole, the lackidasical players. They could do with another angry O'Neill, someone to smash the water cooler after every strikeout, someone with a visible passion for the game, someone with a temper aimed only at himself because he expects perfection every time out there. For a moment, when Boone nearly blew his top at a botched call a few weeks back, I thought he might be O'Neill's heir, the fire in the Yankee belly, the burning heart of the team. But he isn't. Close, but no O'Neill, just like Giambi doesn't have half the presence of a Tino, even though he has the better bat. There's no real team, though the core pitching, Boomer, Rocket, Pettitte and Moose, appear to have bonded through this rough season of spotty swinging and erruptions from the bullpen and their own inexplicable occasionally faltering arms. There are cliques instead of the well-oiled team of the late 90's. Few of the players then had banner years, but they played so well together as a team that it didn't matter. Their whole was greater than the sum of its parts, even with the future-hall-of-fame Jeters.
The fact that Torre has been able to get this mismatched collection to hold onto the top of the AL East is a tribute to his managing skills. The fact that Torre has not quit already in spite of Steinbrenner's behavior is another tribute to his managing skills. The man has had to manage management, team and coaches. It blows my mind what he must go through. I'd definitely say he's been worth every penny of that $5 mil. And I'm sure I won't be alone in missing him greatly if the rumors are true and Torre isn't sitting next to Zim on the bench in Tampa next year.
