Only Number That Adds Up for Yankees Is Boss’s Age
By DAVE ANDERSON
Sports of The Times
July 5, 2007
For more than three decades, July 4 has been a special day for the Yankees — not the holiday itself so much as it is George Steinbrenner’s birthday. At Yankee Stadium before yesterday’s game, Joe Torre, as he has throughout his 12 seasons as the manager, phoned the Boss, alias the principal owner.
“I just wished him ‘Happy Birthday,’ ” Torre said after the 6-2 loss to the Twins. “He appreciated it. He wanted us to win the game, but we couldn’t deliver it for him.”
On his 77th birthday, the Yankees’ real Yankee Doodle Dandy wasn’t feeling dandy, but this season he should be accustomed to that feeling. With the Yankees still struggling halfway through their season, with a 39-42 record, no matter how much better they play in the second half, even the wild card appears out of reach.
Do the math.
With the Indians likely to approach 100 victories and the Tigers possibly winning 95 games in the American League Central, consider that the Yankees would need a fabulous 55-26 finish for a 94-68 record. Also consider that in finishing first in the A.L. East in their best seasons under Torre, the most games the Yankees ever won in the second half was 53 — in 2005, 2002 and 1998.
When those three Yankee teams each won 53 games, they had consistent pitching and consistent hitting. To think that this inconsistent Yankee team, with its shoddy bullpen and spotty hitting, can suddenly do better than any of those three teams is simply unrealistic.
In the 11 previous seasons of the Torre era, the Yankees’ worst halfway record was 42-39 in 2005 before a 53-28 rally won the division on a tie breaker with the Red Sox.
Of those 11 teams, 8 were in first place at the halfway mark, 2 were in or tied for second place (last year and 1997), and one was in third place (2005). All were above .500, not three games under .500 on a tedious treadmill going into today’s finale with the Twins followed by the arrival of the Angels, who may be the A.L.’s best team.
Looking to the second half, Torre said simply but somewhat unconvincingly, “We need to pitch, we need to continue to swing the bats.” That’s hardly a battle cry, but he knows better than to issue a battle cry for a team that doesn’t appear capable of responding to a battle cry.
As presently constituted, the Yankees simply are what they are — a 39-42 team with starting pitchers that can’t be trusted past six innings, a bullpen that blows too many late-inning leads, and several hitters that aren’t producing statistics anywhere near their career numbers.
Against the left-hander Johan Santana, the Twins’ ace and perhaps baseball’s best pitcher, the Yankees’ batting order included four backups: third baseman Miguel Cairo, first baseman Andy Phillips, right fielder Kevin Thompson and catcher Wil Nieves, who was in the lineup because he’s Mike Mussina’s favorite receiver. Not exactly Murderers’ Row.
And until further notice, Alex Rodriguez, the best hitter in baseball this season, will be the designated hitter to protect his strained left hamstring from the contortions sometimes necessary at third base. To protect it further, Rodriguez, who is 0 for his last 19, may decide not to play in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
•
Maybe the left-handed batters Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu would not have done much better against Santana than the four backups who went 1 for 10 (Phillips’s infield single being the only hit). But without them, Santana had an easier time than Mussina did in holding the Twins to two runs over six innings, before Torii Hunter’s double and Jason Kubel’s home run knocked Mussina out in the seventh.
Mussina, with a perplexing 4-6 record and a 4.62 earned run average, did what Torre always wants his starter to do. “Give us a chance to win,” Torre likes to say. If the Yankees could play six-inning games, they wouldn’t be 39-42, but, as Mussina said, “the game’s nine innings, not six.”
Even if the Yankees win today and tomorrow, their record will be no better than 41-42 before Old-Timers’ Day on Saturday — an embarrassment not only to these Yankees, but to all those old-timers, especially those 1977 World Series champions who will be honored.
If only these Yankees could slip onto their roster some of those famous old-timers who will be on display, notably three Hall of Famers — catcher Yogi Berra, the left-hander Whitey Ford and the slugger Reggie Jackson. If only Don Mattingly, now the Yankees’ bench coach, could play first base. If only Paul O’Neill, who will be making his first appearance as an old-timer, could play right field.
And if only this Yankee team was good enough to rally for a 55-26 finish that may or may not salvage the wild card. But it’s nowhere near that good. Do the math.
Sports of The Times
July 5, 2007
For more than three decades, July 4 has been a special day for the Yankees — not the holiday itself so much as it is George Steinbrenner’s birthday. At Yankee Stadium before yesterday’s game, Joe Torre, as he has throughout his 12 seasons as the manager, phoned the Boss, alias the principal owner.
“I just wished him ‘Happy Birthday,’ ” Torre said after the 6-2 loss to the Twins. “He appreciated it. He wanted us to win the game, but we couldn’t deliver it for him.”
On his 77th birthday, the Yankees’ real Yankee Doodle Dandy wasn’t feeling dandy, but this season he should be accustomed to that feeling. With the Yankees still struggling halfway through their season, with a 39-42 record, no matter how much better they play in the second half, even the wild card appears out of reach.
Do the math.
With the Indians likely to approach 100 victories and the Tigers possibly winning 95 games in the American League Central, consider that the Yankees would need a fabulous 55-26 finish for a 94-68 record. Also consider that in finishing first in the A.L. East in their best seasons under Torre, the most games the Yankees ever won in the second half was 53 — in 2005, 2002 and 1998.
When those three Yankee teams each won 53 games, they had consistent pitching and consistent hitting. To think that this inconsistent Yankee team, with its shoddy bullpen and spotty hitting, can suddenly do better than any of those three teams is simply unrealistic.
In the 11 previous seasons of the Torre era, the Yankees’ worst halfway record was 42-39 in 2005 before a 53-28 rally won the division on a tie breaker with the Red Sox.
Of those 11 teams, 8 were in first place at the halfway mark, 2 were in or tied for second place (last year and 1997), and one was in third place (2005). All were above .500, not three games under .500 on a tedious treadmill going into today’s finale with the Twins followed by the arrival of the Angels, who may be the A.L.’s best team.
Looking to the second half, Torre said simply but somewhat unconvincingly, “We need to pitch, we need to continue to swing the bats.” That’s hardly a battle cry, but he knows better than to issue a battle cry for a team that doesn’t appear capable of responding to a battle cry.
As presently constituted, the Yankees simply are what they are — a 39-42 team with starting pitchers that can’t be trusted past six innings, a bullpen that blows too many late-inning leads, and several hitters that aren’t producing statistics anywhere near their career numbers.
Against the left-hander Johan Santana, the Twins’ ace and perhaps baseball’s best pitcher, the Yankees’ batting order included four backups: third baseman Miguel Cairo, first baseman Andy Phillips, right fielder Kevin Thompson and catcher Wil Nieves, who was in the lineup because he’s Mike Mussina’s favorite receiver. Not exactly Murderers’ Row.
And until further notice, Alex Rodriguez, the best hitter in baseball this season, will be the designated hitter to protect his strained left hamstring from the contortions sometimes necessary at third base. To protect it further, Rodriguez, who is 0 for his last 19, may decide not to play in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
•
Maybe the left-handed batters Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu would not have done much better against Santana than the four backups who went 1 for 10 (Phillips’s infield single being the only hit). But without them, Santana had an easier time than Mussina did in holding the Twins to two runs over six innings, before Torii Hunter’s double and Jason Kubel’s home run knocked Mussina out in the seventh.
Mussina, with a perplexing 4-6 record and a 4.62 earned run average, did what Torre always wants his starter to do. “Give us a chance to win,” Torre likes to say. If the Yankees could play six-inning games, they wouldn’t be 39-42, but, as Mussina said, “the game’s nine innings, not six.”
Even if the Yankees win today and tomorrow, their record will be no better than 41-42 before Old-Timers’ Day on Saturday — an embarrassment not only to these Yankees, but to all those old-timers, especially those 1977 World Series champions who will be honored.
If only these Yankees could slip onto their roster some of those famous old-timers who will be on display, notably three Hall of Famers — catcher Yogi Berra, the left-hander Whitey Ford and the slugger Reggie Jackson. If only Don Mattingly, now the Yankees’ bench coach, could play first base. If only Paul O’Neill, who will be making his first appearance as an old-timer, could play right field.
And if only this Yankee team was good enough to rally for a 55-26 finish that may or may not salvage the wild card. But it’s nowhere near that good. Do the math.
posted by greenpagan at 9:34 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home