You never know much "change" can do for you until it’s seen. As of right now, that “change” is looking like a lot of the same.
The last three seasons of watching the Yankees have been unfulfilling, but never lacking for drama. When we weren't seeing a 200 million roster filled with more holes than that of Swiss cheese, it became a near daily soap opera as fans would criticize former manager Joe Torre for making managerial moves and pitching decisions that seemed to escalate the fact the man, in his own mind, was fighting to keep his job. It appeared to be a fight Torre was battling yearly, monthly, and sometimes nightly. Every game being scrutinized to the point of exhaustion. Almost as if people were trying to squeeze more juice out of a lemon than would be possible.
You would hear the refrain on a nightly basis in different forums:
"(Fill in relief pitcher) again? WTF? He's already pitched 3 times this week! You are going to ruin him!"
"Why is he resting (fill in starting player)? We need to win TODAY!"
"Clueless Joe! J4R (Joey Four Rings) gets a pass for everything. We need a new voice. Something."
After Game 4 of last year's Division Series, a segment of the fans, media, and some in the organization got their wish. Torre's time would be over. The Yankees would offer him a pay cut and an incentive based contract that was made public in an effort to portray him as greedy when he would reject it. Torre kept his dignity and chose to end his tenure.
The fans were clamoring for a better tactician. Someone who was younger. A manager that would rally the troops as if it was football, thinking a full head of steam was somehow needed to jumpstart a predominantly stagnant veteran team.
Settling on Joe Girardi, who's only previous managerial experience was one season with the Florida Marlins, met all the requirements on the “checklist” with a large percentage of the fan base. Girardi was young, exuberant and with the mind of superior baseball expertise. Surely, he was going to press the right buttons that Torre did not and lead the Yankees back to another world championship.
What was promised was a different type of Yankee team. A team that would be more "aggressive". One can infer that he meant taking more chances on the base paths as opposed to the prevailing theory that the offense had become too plodding and dormant. Waiting too much for the ball to go out of the park after drawing a base on balls as opposed to more hitting and running. Taking the approach that along with that was a better “managerialization” of the team’s bullpen leading up to Mariano Rivera. Either relievers were used to frequently, or they were used too infrequently, thus leading to subpar performance under Torre.
The proverbial "Bill of Goods" had been sold to the Yankee public. Now it was time to see if it could be put into action.
Just over half way into the season, consider me unimpressed.
Over the first 25 games of the year, when the team lost, it was decisive. The wins in that time followed a very simple formula:
Great start by a pitcher for six or seven innings.
Joba for the eighth.
Mo for the ninth.
Not very difficult, right? Any manager with a wired brain that has played MLB for XBOX probably could have managed the team on those nights.
Suddenly, Joe began to realize that the same problems that "The Other Joe" had with the Yankees:
-The roster would be as inflexible as it looked on paper.
-The starting pitching was not consistent.
-The offense would turn off and on like a light bulb.
-All the conditioning drills in the world still cannot prevent injuries.
New manager. Same old problems. It was not as if they were going to go away with a magic wand. There was some (ridiculous) belief that he was going to cure most, if not all of these ills.
The other thing that has surfaced is his tenseness when being pressed by the media on certain topics. Trying to get answers from Girardi on is like trying to outrun a car on foot. His media relations have a work in progress and tenuous at best.
It is not the fact that he is being evasive when answering questions; it is his combativeness in doing so when the questions become repetitive. He sounds frustrated that the media is simply not believing his answers when he giving them. This is exacerbated by the fact that Girardi has been less then truthful when explaining his answers, which in turn has led to more intrusive questioning.
One of Torre’s strengths was portraying a sense on control in dire moments in an effort not to project weakness. Girardi, by his own nature, carries every loss on his sleeve and it is bleeding into his press conferences.
The most glaring evidence came after Thursday’s loss to the Red Sox. Losing 7-0 and yielding a complete game shutout to left-hander Jon Lester, Girardi closed the clubhouse for 30 minutes and team held a private meeting. When asked by New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman on the details of the meeting, Girardi stated the meeting was private and the information would be kept between him and the team. Smelling blood, Sherman pressed further and finally Joe cracked publicly.
Girardi is finding out this is not the Miami media. Staging a battle against the press in New York on a day-to-day basis is not going to yield positive results. While his lack of communication skills may not get much attention down South, it does play well against the horde of the New York press that covers the Yankees daily. The problem is that he is under the impression that he could “Belichick” the press by treating the media like peasants and eluding questions. Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs is very similar. What is the difference between them and Girardi? Those coaches have won multiple championships, which allow them to act ornery when questioned and dismissive when answering.
No track record of success on that level as a manager is and was listed on Girardi’s resume. Thus, it is his job to not make us skeptical. When he makes a move that may be deemed as questionable, it is incumbent on him to give his paying consumers confidence that what he is doing is correct. To this point, three games the Yankees have lost based on decisions he chose to make ended up playing a role in defeat.
April 12 at BOS – With the Yankees leading 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning and runners on 2nd and 3rd base, Girardi allowed Mike Mussina to pitch to Manny Ramirez with first base open. Ramirez in his prior at bat had parked a pitch out of Fenway Park on to the street. This time, Ramirez would drill the first pitch into right center field for a two-run double. Boston would go on to win the game 4-3. After the game, Girardi would say that Mussina asked him to pitch to Manny as opposed to on deck hitter Kevin Youkilis. This should not have been Mussina’s decision to make consider the recent history #24 has against the Yankees.
June 29 at NYM – After defeating Johan Santana the previous day, Girardi elected to start a lineup against nemesis Oliver Perez that did not include Robinson Cano, Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi. He would rest them all in exchange for lesser right-handed hitters who are pedestrian at best. Granted, left handers were hitting only .167 against Perez. But did he have to sit all of them? In essence, he would start a four-man lineup despite having nine men in the order (factoring in the pitcher). The Yankees would lose the game 3-1.
July 1 vs. TEX – After a leadoff walk to Wilson Betemit, the Yankees had Melky Cabrera at the plate who had been struggling the most in the lineup (0 for 17). Rather than bunting the runner into scoring position with one out, Girardi allowed Cabrera to swing away. A double play groundout ensued, effectively ending the game. He would not give his team two chances to either tie or win the game against a closer who was not above average. The explanation given was that he was concerned about a “lefty-lefty” matchup with the closer and Johnny Damon, thus electing to have his worst hitter swing away.
Perhaps Girardi really believes that he is smarter than the rest of us watching these games. Maybe he is under the impression that there is information that only he knows that everyone else is blind to. Who knows? At this point, he is not fooling many in the Yankee public. Each game that passes by puts more of a microscope on the manager. As the days pass and the losses continue to mount, it becomes clearer that Girardi is not Einstein. No secret potion exists to make players hit better or pitchers pitch better. All the statistics in the world at your disposal do not make you smarter than the next manager. In the end, the talent still wins out.
Many people wanted “Life without Torre” and they have it now. It turns out that new “Life” isn’t bringing any newfound success.
I guess things weren’t so bad before. At least people know now where the real blame lies.
This is where it should have been all along. Girardi though is not helping his own cause.
The last three seasons of watching the Yankees have been unfulfilling, but never lacking for drama. When we weren't seeing a 200 million roster filled with more holes than that of Swiss cheese, it became a near daily soap opera as fans would criticize former manager Joe Torre for making managerial moves and pitching decisions that seemed to escalate the fact the man, in his own mind, was fighting to keep his job. It appeared to be a fight Torre was battling yearly, monthly, and sometimes nightly. Every game being scrutinized to the point of exhaustion. Almost as if people were trying to squeeze more juice out of a lemon than would be possible.
You would hear the refrain on a nightly basis in different forums:
"(Fill in relief pitcher) again? WTF? He's already pitched 3 times this week! You are going to ruin him!"
"Why is he resting (fill in starting player)? We need to win TODAY!"
"Clueless Joe! J4R (Joey Four Rings) gets a pass for everything. We need a new voice. Something."
After Game 4 of last year's Division Series, a segment of the fans, media, and some in the organization got their wish. Torre's time would be over. The Yankees would offer him a pay cut and an incentive based contract that was made public in an effort to portray him as greedy when he would reject it. Torre kept his dignity and chose to end his tenure.
The fans were clamoring for a better tactician. Someone who was younger. A manager that would rally the troops as if it was football, thinking a full head of steam was somehow needed to jumpstart a predominantly stagnant veteran team.
Settling on Joe Girardi, who's only previous managerial experience was one season with the Florida Marlins, met all the requirements on the “checklist” with a large percentage of the fan base. Girardi was young, exuberant and with the mind of superior baseball expertise. Surely, he was going to press the right buttons that Torre did not and lead the Yankees back to another world championship.
What was promised was a different type of Yankee team. A team that would be more "aggressive". One can infer that he meant taking more chances on the base paths as opposed to the prevailing theory that the offense had become too plodding and dormant. Waiting too much for the ball to go out of the park after drawing a base on balls as opposed to more hitting and running. Taking the approach that along with that was a better “managerialization” of the team’s bullpen leading up to Mariano Rivera. Either relievers were used to frequently, or they were used too infrequently, thus leading to subpar performance under Torre.
The proverbial "Bill of Goods" had been sold to the Yankee public. Now it was time to see if it could be put into action.
Just over half way into the season, consider me unimpressed.
Over the first 25 games of the year, when the team lost, it was decisive. The wins in that time followed a very simple formula:
Great start by a pitcher for six or seven innings.
Joba for the eighth.
Mo for the ninth.
Not very difficult, right? Any manager with a wired brain that has played MLB for XBOX probably could have managed the team on those nights.
Suddenly, Joe began to realize that the same problems that "The Other Joe" had with the Yankees:
-The roster would be as inflexible as it looked on paper.
-The starting pitching was not consistent.
-The offense would turn off and on like a light bulb.
-All the conditioning drills in the world still cannot prevent injuries.
New manager. Same old problems. It was not as if they were going to go away with a magic wand. There was some (ridiculous) belief that he was going to cure most, if not all of these ills.
The other thing that has surfaced is his tenseness when being pressed by the media on certain topics. Trying to get answers from Girardi on is like trying to outrun a car on foot. His media relations have a work in progress and tenuous at best.
It is not the fact that he is being evasive when answering questions; it is his combativeness in doing so when the questions become repetitive. He sounds frustrated that the media is simply not believing his answers when he giving them. This is exacerbated by the fact that Girardi has been less then truthful when explaining his answers, which in turn has led to more intrusive questioning.
One of Torre’s strengths was portraying a sense on control in dire moments in an effort not to project weakness. Girardi, by his own nature, carries every loss on his sleeve and it is bleeding into his press conferences.
The most glaring evidence came after Thursday’s loss to the Red Sox. Losing 7-0 and yielding a complete game shutout to left-hander Jon Lester, Girardi closed the clubhouse for 30 minutes and team held a private meeting. When asked by New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman on the details of the meeting, Girardi stated the meeting was private and the information would be kept between him and the team. Smelling blood, Sherman pressed further and finally Joe cracked publicly.
Girardi is finding out this is not the Miami media. Staging a battle against the press in New York on a day-to-day basis is not going to yield positive results. While his lack of communication skills may not get much attention down South, it does play well against the horde of the New York press that covers the Yankees daily. The problem is that he is under the impression that he could “Belichick” the press by treating the media like peasants and eluding questions. Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs is very similar. What is the difference between them and Girardi? Those coaches have won multiple championships, which allow them to act ornery when questioned and dismissive when answering.
No track record of success on that level as a manager is and was listed on Girardi’s resume. Thus, it is his job to not make us skeptical. When he makes a move that may be deemed as questionable, it is incumbent on him to give his paying consumers confidence that what he is doing is correct. To this point, three games the Yankees have lost based on decisions he chose to make ended up playing a role in defeat.
April 12 at BOS – With the Yankees leading 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning and runners on 2nd and 3rd base, Girardi allowed Mike Mussina to pitch to Manny Ramirez with first base open. Ramirez in his prior at bat had parked a pitch out of Fenway Park on to the street. This time, Ramirez would drill the first pitch into right center field for a two-run double. Boston would go on to win the game 4-3. After the game, Girardi would say that Mussina asked him to pitch to Manny as opposed to on deck hitter Kevin Youkilis. This should not have been Mussina’s decision to make consider the recent history #24 has against the Yankees.
June 29 at NYM – After defeating Johan Santana the previous day, Girardi elected to start a lineup against nemesis Oliver Perez that did not include Robinson Cano, Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi. He would rest them all in exchange for lesser right-handed hitters who are pedestrian at best. Granted, left handers were hitting only .167 against Perez. But did he have to sit all of them? In essence, he would start a four-man lineup despite having nine men in the order (factoring in the pitcher). The Yankees would lose the game 3-1.
July 1 vs. TEX – After a leadoff walk to Wilson Betemit, the Yankees had Melky Cabrera at the plate who had been struggling the most in the lineup (0 for 17). Rather than bunting the runner into scoring position with one out, Girardi allowed Cabrera to swing away. A double play groundout ensued, effectively ending the game. He would not give his team two chances to either tie or win the game against a closer who was not above average. The explanation given was that he was concerned about a “lefty-lefty” matchup with the closer and Johnny Damon, thus electing to have his worst hitter swing away.
Perhaps Girardi really believes that he is smarter than the rest of us watching these games. Maybe he is under the impression that there is information that only he knows that everyone else is blind to. Who knows? At this point, he is not fooling many in the Yankee public. Each game that passes by puts more of a microscope on the manager. As the days pass and the losses continue to mount, it becomes clearer that Girardi is not Einstein. No secret potion exists to make players hit better or pitchers pitch better. All the statistics in the world at your disposal do not make you smarter than the next manager. In the end, the talent still wins out.
Many people wanted “Life without Torre” and they have it now. It turns out that new “Life” isn’t bringing any newfound success.
I guess things weren’t so bad before. At least people know now where the real blame lies.
This is where it should have been all along. Girardi though is not helping his own cause.
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