Jetting back to the East Coast
The Yankees actually finished Interleague play with a winning record, faring 10-8 against National League clubs,
but take away the designated hitter and the story has been completely different. Sunday’s 7-2 loss to the Giants
dropped the Yankees to 1-5 on this trip to Denver and San Francisco, and when you throw in the weekend at
Shea Stadium in May, the Bombers were a disappointing 2-7 when the pitcher bats.
Alex Rodriguez had an idea: "It’s an attack-mode game. Our league is basically stationary softball. We’re not used
to bunting and there’s not much running that goes on, with the exception of a few teams. It’s a different approach."
The Yankees are looking forward to getting back to the East Coast and to an off-day Monday to let this all sink in,
then flush it out with a series against the Orioles. Joe Torre said that the team’s mindset was a little better after
Friday’s win – the club had a different, sour personality after putting up just five runs in Colorado – but any good
feelings got ****** out by the 13-inning loss Saturday. That gave the Yankees no momentum to work off when
they fell behind early on Sunday.
"We just really couldn’t put a dent into it," Torre said. "It made their job easier."
As for The Rocket, Roger Clemens now owns the longest gap between relief appearances in Major League history at 22 years and 341 days. The previous record holder was Steve Carlton, with 15 years and 343 days. Clemens threw one inning, allowing an earned run on one hit, walking one and striking out one.
Bryan Hoch
more excuses! come on, everybody, it’s time to own up to the *******
the only frustration i saw was by kyle farnsworth of all people, breaking his bat
Bryan, what do you hear in the clubhouse? because i’m sick and tired of the explanations and everybody saying how much fight is in this team
i care as much about “fight” as i do about paris hilton’s jail term
this isn’t kansas city or st louis or atlanta…results are the only thing that matter
i waived the white flag on the division after the rockies sweep…today, i wave the white flag on the playoffs at all…it’s just not happening
this team doesn’t have the attitude to win games and play at a certain level…it’s embarrassing, despicable, and they deserve to be showered with a monsoon of boos at yankee stadium…what a shame
let’s see, only 75 days until football starts!
What I hear in the clubhouse is about what you’d imagine. There’s a lot of frustration, confusion, disappointment. Some of these guys haven’t been through anything this extended for a long time, if ever. Others aren’t quite sure what to make of it. More than anything, if you want to talk about “fight,” the Yankees haven’t given up on the season. That’s what I sense. They’re just looking for one big spark that turns everything around. Most of them thought the big streak was it; turns out it wasn’t.
I find A Rod’s comments disturbing. Not because of any ill feeling I have with him, but because what he said is probably true.
And if that is the case, this team is showing itself to be undeserving of playing in the post season. This team has really fallen a long way since the days of the dynasty.
If the Yankees can’t figure out how to win against a team that plays aggressively, they will continue to find themselves out of the race by double digits for the rest of the season.
If I’m associated with the Orioles, I’m taking these comments down to the clubhouse today and saying ‘OK boys, here’s how you beat these guys!’.
i would sure hope they haven’t given up on the season…i guess i take it as a given attribute of professionals that they won’t quit
but you say “they’re just looking for one big spark”…that’s the problem! what, is the spark just going to flash out of the sky and sprinkle invincible dust over them? instead of waiting for it to happen, they have to MAKE it happen
the playoffs aren’t guaranteed just by stepping on the field…you have to go out there and actually win the games!
they may be confused, but i’d like to see some anger, some accountability, and some admission that this level of play isn’t acceptable
all i see is passiveness and an inability to play up to our capabilities
appreciate the response, though, Bryan
(gloomily)–Go Yankees
I restrain myself from posting here , but today I had to . I ain’t going to say much , but if you go back to June 12 in this blog and read my post , I was brimming with optimiosm given the fact that we were on a win streak . And I pointed out the next games included the Mets , Rockies , Giants , and now the Orioles. I also pointed out that as long as Joe was managing the team ( God forbid he still is) and Brian Cash were to remain as our GM , we could never win it all this season . people , our chance to get close to the Red Sox has all but vanished , ok? If there was a stretch of the season for the Yankees to get hot , this was it fellas. After we deal with the Orioles ( needing pretty much a sweep) , we get Oakland , Minnesota , and the Angels(our daddies!) . The Yankees are an awful 3 and 6 against this teams this season . We could be looking at a 15 + divisional deficit at the All star break . I said I expected them to be at least 6 back at the break . What a ***** . But I did point out in one of those posts that the win streak (9games , not really that HOT HOT) came against underachieving team , and alot of idiots here ,including mattsaikirolemodel767 , wrote that the streak was more about how the Yankees were playing , rather than the teams they were playing . I insisted it was the teams they played, and now you see how right I was ( although I admit I was so naive for believing this yankees could make it as close as 6 back by the A.S ). Now you see how bad of a manager Joe Torre has become , he is no longer capable if doing it in New York . The only thing good about being 15 or more at the All Star Break ( GOD forbid!!!) is that Finally , Finally , Joe and Cashman will go . I’ll miss Joe , but I won’t give a second thought to Clueless Cashspender , he’s at fault for the Yankees not having a base and fundament solid BASEBALL team , not a Harlem Globetrotters of a team . In the cleanup , keep A-Rod , Melky , Jorge , Jeter , , Proctor , henn , Cano , matsui , Mo , . Bring up the young kids we’ve seen this season and get rid of all the other old hags . Nice job putting Phelps on waivers . We could have gotten some nobody in AA or something for him , instead we got nothing .
Will forever say , first thing in the morning : go Yanks!
P.S. Nice job Bryan . Since you got everybody to ‘cleanup” here in the blog , and clueless teenage bloggers abound here , your blog is averaging an astounding 6.something comments per article the last 10 articles , way to go !
The lack of clutch hitting is maddening. Abreu, who looks overweight and uncaring is back to bailing out on every pitch. Matsui looks lost at the plate. Ditto Cano.
Cairo is only a part time infielder and here he is playing every day.
Damon is breaking down on a daily basis. The Red Sox knew what they were doing when they refused to give him that mega contract that the Yanks gave him. Ditto Mr. Steroids Giambi.
Personally I would ditch as many of these overpaid bums at the trading deadline and try to retool.
Cashman and Torre should be given the boot too. Enough already. They are the Knicks of MLB. Most expensive and underachieving team that money can bye.
yeah, the sox have a better blog than we do…they actually have regular posters and prolonged, intelligent conversations over there
sentinel, i’m not sure what to think about cashman (because up until now he hasn’t operated with full authority, and even now, i wonder how much influence the tampa faction still has)…but anyway, i don’t see how you blame joe torre for this team being 36-37
this team is 36-37 because the players can’t get the job done, plain and simple
goffcg25 says this team is 36-37 because the players can’t get the job done,which is true. However, Joe Torre is as much to blame as these players. A good manager would light a fire under them, chew on them a bit, motivate them, instead of making comments like “Things just didn’t go our way today”. The Yanks should of gotten Piniella when he was available!!! I just went to New York to see a game at Yankee Stadium in the middle of the 9 game win streak. But even during the streak, Torre made stupid moves just as always. Even the game I went to, Pettite is cruising thru 8 innings against the Diamondbacks with a 7 to 1 lead and doesn’t get to finish. The bullpen could have gotten a much needed rest that day, but no!!!! Yeah, sure Scott Proctor came in and did a great job, but are we going to pitch these until their arms fall off? It makes no sense!!! And then this week, Andy Phillips finally gets recalled from the minors, but for what? To sit on the bench and watch the utility specialist play at first base. At least in the minors, Phillips could play everyday and stay sharp. Torre needs to go!!!!
Dude , you are way wrong about Piniella (look at the Cubs). Maybe girardi . And goff , this past week we spent in national league parks ( were we won only 1 of 5) , you could see how outmanaged this team was . The managers can’t play of course . But the players can’t manage either . He couldn’t give us a national league counter attack , and both sfco and colo made Joe look real bad.
joe torre didn’t blow the bases-loaded, one out opportunity in the 11th on saturday
he didn’t fail to drive home runs or allow that bloop game winner to fall in by playing too deep or make the errors
guys, i don’t agree with everything he does either, but it’s not like he forgot how to win overnight…just last year, we had 101 wins, tied with the mets for the best record in MLB
what’s the difference now? torre may be a problem to a degree, but you can’t go there first with the blame…don’t let the players off that easy for this ****
baseball is the sport in which the coach (manager) has the least effect on team performance
in basketball/football, coaches can change strategies and substitution patterns, make a QB change, go to a backup or reserve…in baseball, there’s only so much a manager can do…that’s why he “manages” instead of “coaches”
sentinel’s right, piniella would be a disaster waiting to happen…piniella is not going to be an ideal fit with a really bad team or a really good team (best with a mediocre team striving to reach that playoff level, like toronto or philadelphia)…sweet lou would do way too much prodding of our veteran players and his blowups wouldn’t go over well in the media…he’d draw too much attention to himself, and can you imagine what he’d have been like earlier this year? we as fans may get upset, but i like torre’s steady attitude as a manager most of the time rather than piniella’s calling people out/alarm-ringing style
and as far as torre lighting a fire under these guys, if this yankee team needs to have a fire lit under them, if they can’t motivate themselves to do better than this, if they need to be yelled at for their play, if they don’t have any more pride than this, i don’t know what to say
unfortunately, that might be the case; they continue to find ways to lose…but that message needs to come via the fans, i can’t blame torre for diverging from his style and what made him the manager he is
i definitely have a problem with his public statements (and those of the whole team, for that matter), but i can understand where he’s coming from…he’s trying to quell the negativity in the media
all in all, i’d be surprised if joe torre is back next year, and i think you’ll see either joe girardi or don mattingly at the helm going into 2008
Another dismal series come, and gone. These were the Yanks’ best chance to close the gap on the Red Sox considerably. Instead they have completely regressed back to the early days of the season when the starting pitching was mediocre and couldn’t get deep into games ( only Pettitte, and Wang pitched went longer than 6 innings although they looked very so-so in doing it ) an overworked bullpen with mediocre results, shaky defense, and an inconsistent offense which didn’t show up at all in Colorado, and failed to come through in the second game of the Giants series which they could have and should have won easily. This team definitely needs to make big changes soon, but unfortunately, this team doesn’t have the depth to do it. First base has definitely been a major trouble spot all season long, and needs to be addressed, as well as the DH position. The Yanks haven’t gotten any type of significant offensive contribution from first base all season, and haven’t gotten any since Giambi went down. Unfortunately, all they can do is use band-aid solutions for both problems, truly pathetic. It’s also obvious this team can’t afford torest more than one player at a time for a game, not to mention, lose any more starters to injuries, since the depth on this team is pathetic. The bench has been horrible all season with next to no offense at all from them. The ptiching itself definitely needs to be made a priority with another young arm. If Boston gets that arm it’s pretty much over for this team. In short this team is back to where it started before that 9 game win streak.
Another thing, it looks like it’s time for Cashman to go. He has done a terrible job of putting this club together this season, not to mention the past few seasons. They just can’t get over the hump with him as a G.M. Haven’t made up my mind if Torre should go either, but it has become obvious that he doesn’t provide any spark or any life into this team, he just isn’t capable of that. Sentinel of fools, one again you have completely gotten it wrong ( what a surprise ), I never said anything like that. I commented ( and I will try to go as slow as I possibly can just for you sentinel of fools ) that the Yankees were playing better, but it was against mediocre teams, and that they couldn’t compete with the better teams in the league and that we shouldn’t get too excited yet. I have never been too hot on this Yankee team or how they have played all season, so get it right, but seeing that it’s you I doubt you can. If any one has been an idiot this season it has been you for making all the stupid comments you have made about the Yanks which have all been obviously wrong. Do you know anything about baseball? I just thank God you aren’t the G.M. of this team or it would have been in the crapper a long time ago.
I agree with most everyone regarding the state of the Yankees this year. There is little to be optomistic about this year. I agree that Torre can’t be held responsible for everything that hasn’t worked out but he’s the manager, he sets the tone, makes the line up, etc. The buck stops with him. I also agree Cashman did a lousy job during the off season, our pitching staff is thin and the bench is weak. I also don’t believe we can make it into the post season this year without huge changes which would most likely gut the farm system and hurt us worse in the years to come. If it were only that one bat or arm we needed to get over the top I’d be all for making a deal but it’s going to take more than that. This team needs an attitude adjustment, which comes from the manager. I’d prefer Girardi, I think he’d be more aggressive. You can’t say Torre’s managing style hasn’t changed because in the past the Yankees were great at manufacturing runs, not now. They seem content to sit back and wait for the big hit or inning that doesn’t come. I’m also tired, as everyone else is, with the usual “we’ll try to do better tomorrow” line. They don’t have any tomorrow’s left this year. It just frustrates me to no end to look at this group of zombies on the field just going through the motions with no fire. Just my two cents, I’m through venting now.
I like what arod said about the yankees being like a softball team. He hit the nail right on the head. Yankees have a **** of a softball team. They probaly could win in my mens softball league. But then again it would require them to get the pitching and hitting to work together. On paper you wouldnt think that the yanks **** as bad as they do. I guess having an all star team isnt what its cracked up to be. Fire cashmen, love you but good-bye Torre, sorry a-rod that the yankee fans boed the best player in baseball and now your going to leave and hit homeruns against the yanks cause we all know he is going to get out of dodge, jeter sometimes being perfect has its negetive effects. Abreu u ****, Damon u ****, Matsui freakin smile already, melky you are doing a good job, Jorge your doing your job, who the **** plays first, cano we all know who put the time in on the off season i think 342 went to your head just like everything you swing at now, pitching staff wang you are not a number 1 but a 2 at best, mussina u ****, pettite sorry you signed up to play with the astros with pinstripes, clemens you are old and its not so easy pitching in the american league is it, Kei Igawa is a perfect point why cashman should be fired cause he let Dice K go and picked Igawa. The money he spent on Igawa and clemens he could have spent on a young pitcher. Now we are left with old egotistical over paid athletes with the execption of arod, jeter, and Posada. Well I usaully have confindence in the yanks but after seeing guys get older and older and the team getting worse and wores while making more and more I find myself not watching the games but checking out the score the next morning. Which ***** cause i really love watching baseball. I hope you yankee fans learn something from all this. Dont fN boo the best player in baseball!!! He is trieing to win!!! I never understood that whole thing last year!!!
I agree that the buck stops with the manager, but the manager can’t hit,field, pitch run the bases, etc. Most of what has transpired isn’t Torre’s fault, however, as a manager he is not capable of providing any spark to this team. It’s not part of his personality. Sentinel, you’re wrong once again, Matt only commented about how mediocre the teams the Yanks played were, and that we shouldn’t get too excited at that time. Ieven rember some idiot fool, maybe it was you, who commented about the strength of schedule and how that makes a difference in how they do or something like that. If anyone has been wrong, it’s you with your dumb comments. Have you been staying away from those kids you seem to enjoy obsessing about?
huh , what?
That is exactly whatI SAID , pgarrett . I was the one pointing out that we shouldn’t get too excited bacause the streak was against teams with a bad record . I was a fool to think the Yankees could keep the momentum , but I am shocked went 1-5 against the Giants and Rockies , both mediocre teams , even though the Rockies are apparently hot. It will please me to read an interesting post from you , pgarrett , because I have never read any . And no I haven’t, those 17 yr. old hotties are more addictive than cigarretes .
sentineloffools, you either have a defective moemory or a faulty one. It was Matt and a few others who were saying not to get too excited about the 9 game winning streak since theyonly played mediocre teams. I even remember a few fools who were mentioning something about strength of schedule or something like that to contradict Matt, so don’t act like you can predict anything you dope. Who cares how many people do or don’t post just as long as you’re not one of the who does post any of your garbage. If you don’t like it post somewhere else rather than subjecting everyone else to your obvious retarded stupidity, *****.
This offense is pathetic!!!!!! The Yanks really need to upgrade it, not just for this season, but for at least a few years to come. The first base situation is an absolute joke, period. Anyone who says it doesn’t need to be fixed is an idiot or a fool. It was a mistake to start the season with a pathetic platoon system rather than a legit first baseman. The fact they have used five different players at the position, one of whom isn’t even with the team, bears out what I’m saying. The situation is intolerable. The organization deserves better than what it has gotten from this pathetic situation. It’s garbage.
This team now needs a DH now that it has lost Giambi., maybe try Abreu as the DH so he can focus on his offensive problems and have Kevin Thompson start in his place, a situation very unsettling to every Yankee fan, but Johnny Damon isn’t a legit DH and has yetto show that he is.
Another area of offense that has been horrible is the bench. The results from the bench players has been more mediocre than what they have gotten from first base. Nieves has literally no bat, just a glove. Cairo has a decent glove and is flexible enough to play several different positions but isn’t capable of producing significant offense. This lack of production just shows a lack of depth at the major& minor league levels for the Yanks. The Yanks can’t even give more than one player at a time a day off because the current depth isn’t good enough to contribute to a win. Yanks better pray none of their starters on offense suffer any serious injuries or their chances are definitely over.
The priority, however, is pitching.I think we all know the problems with that so I won’t get into that, but with those holes have led to the current situation the Yanks are in right now.
Just wondering what the Yanks could get if they traded guys like Mussina,Myers, Farnsworth, and Vizcaino to teams who are really desperae for pitching. I know, not much!!!!
sentineloffools, we can only thank God you aren’t the G.M. of this Yankee team, the only good thing about this season!!!!
still trying to figure out the difference between “defective” and “faulty”…you sure got him there, pgarrett
but pgarrett and glewis, i have nothing but praise for you today…i am so proud of you guys stepping outside your comfort zone and actually writing a post about baseball, instead of the usual fawning and posterior-kissing of matt saiki
and not just one, but both of you on the same day! there must be a full moon or something that can explain this…good work, though
but i’d love to see you guys as a GM…you rattle off this team’s problems like they can just go to the corner drugstore and get a 2 for 1 special in the Productive Bats off the Bench department
is it a great bench? nah, it’s sure not…but 1-25, is this not one of the most talented teams in baseball? yes it is…anyone who says otherwise, in the words of glewis, is “an idiot or a fool”…at some point, the TALENT HAS TO PERFORM
guys, one more thing; they didn’t win 14 out of 17 by a gift of the schedule…think about it: as inept as this team has looked at times, do you think they could just walk into a stretch like that by accident? no, they actually came to play for 2 weeks…arizona is a 1st place team that we swept, and then we took 2 out of 3 from the mets, who are a near playoff lock…and we’ve won the last 2 series against boston, who still has the majors’ best record
no the pirates and white sox are not good teams, but if we can lose to the giants and blue jays and devil rays and orioles, why couldn’t we have lost those games against pittsburgh and chicago too?
(begrudgingly) Go Yankees
(74 days till football)
The one person who can enlighten all of us about the Yankee travails this year is Don Mattingly. He played on teams like this for his entire Yankee career. Of course, since he’s on the payroll it’s more likely that it will snow in July than that he will reveal the truth to us.
When you get past all of the false hopes, disappointments and frustrations of this season (not yet over) one fact will stand out in the end: this team could never win anything in any year in any league or any division, superstars and and future hall-of-famers nothwithstanding.
Just in case I never comment on this blog again there’s one thing I’ve been dying to say for many years to all Yankee fans: LETTING ANDY PETITE GO TO HOUSTON WAS THE MOST IDIOTIC AND BANEFUL MISTAKE THE ***** WHO DECIDED TO LET HIM GO EVER MADE! Until, of course, this year’s team came along. I hate to think where the Yanks would be today without Arod, Jeter, Posada, and Wong. Soon we’ll be grabbing hot dog vendors out of the stands to provide relief pitching for one batter. This team and this year will be remembered for the wrong reasons – if at all!
Oh my God!!!! There must be a full moon tonight. Instead of saying something mean, ignorant, stupid or disrespectful like you always do, you almost sounded nice. Are you really goff?
Neither of us mentioned anything about how easy it will be. I don’t know about pgarrett, but it will be difficult and very timely to find talent to fill holes in this lineup, but something must be done to change the direction of this team. Letting things stay status quo obviously isn’t the answer and making excuses for not making moves isn’t the answer either. If the manager can’t light a fire to motivate this team, then changes are going to have to be made to shake things up whether it’s underperforming or a lack of talent in the line which is the problem. As to the schedule issue, you completely missed the point. The schedule is what it is there’s no arguing with it, but lets face it the only tgood team this team has been competitive with is Boston, the Mets were struggling the last time the Yanks played them. The first time the Yanks lost two out of three, just like we lost two out three to the first time we played them but took three out of four when they’re struggling mightily. The Devil Rays have been giving the Yanks fits lately so it wasn’t a surprise they swept the last series with the Yanks. The Blue Jays are better than a lot of people think and are very familiar with the Yanks. They should have taken two of three from the Giants like I said but the failed to take advantage of their chances in the second game. I’m really not surprised the Giants took two of three from the Yanks considering they have the type of pitching staff that can shut down the Yanks. The point, being this team has yet to show it can be competitive with good teams ( something it has not done unless the team’s name happens to be Boston )not just the bad or struggling teams. If you expect to make the playoffs you’re going to have to show you can do that. One last thing, it’s easy to say “Talent has to perform”, the hard part is figuring a way to get that talent to perform up to the levels you think it can whether it be making the hard moves like trading key players that aren’t performing or cutting them.
yeah, i agree with you as far as change…it’s going to have to be more of an offseason project, i think, though
yeah, the mets were struggling, but if the yankees then were playing like the yankees now, then we should’ve been the cure for the mets’ ills…with this year’s team, that’s been the only stretch where they’ve played like they should
over those 17 games, didn’t you think the yanks deserved their wins? didn’t they feel crisp and leave you feeling optimistic? trust your eyes–they looked a lot different then than they do now because during that stretch they were actually doing something right for once
anyhow, it doesn’t mean a **** of a lot…they can’t get their act together so it’s not going to matter
as far as tampa bay, it seems like they alternate years where one year they give the yanks fits and then the next boston can’t beat them
plen–totally agree with you about andy pettitte…andy made the decision to leave, but management didn’t treat it as they should have (although, if memory serves, cashman was told by the doctors that the elbow was a significant concern…you have to trust the doctors, and i’m sure that played a role in the level of ardor with which they tried to resign andy)
I agree with you, goff ( wow!! I can’t believe I just said that ) a lot of changes are going to happen in the offseason, but don’t be surprised to see quite afew changes during the season as well, this team will be sellers if things continue to go as badly as they are (which is most likely going to happen). As far as the Mets go, they were playing worse than the Yankees were at that time so can’t agree with you there, but yes they did deserve those wins and they did play very well during that time, I’m not saying they didn’t, but you can’t trust your eyes all the time based on the season as a whole I would have to say it was nothing more than an aberration, unfortunately.