Move On With Dignity

A GUEST POSTING BY BIG V:

The Yankees have lost and many feel sad. The fans would have loved for them to have gone all the way. But a close look reveals that this Yankees team was always playing to a survival mode. There is no doubt that every game in the Cleveland series reflected that truth.

The Yankees needed to lose this series to move on from the World Series Dynasty nostalgia of the late 1990's. No longer can they expect to use Andy Petite, Roger Clemens, and Mariano Rivera to dominate the new baseball league that is emerging in cities like Denver, Phoenix and Cleveland. A best-of-5 series favors the pitchers. And even when the Yankees had their pitching on track, they couldn't put together the hitting side of their game. Johnny Damon had a great series. He is the lead off guy, the one you look to get things started. Although when he caught on fire, no one else did. His four RBIs were the difference in game 3. No one else on the team was a difference maker in any other game. The last inning of the series we saw why this Yankee team is to be feared with Bobby Abreu hitting a home run and Jorge Posada almost finding the same spot Abreu did. But it was too little too late and the Yankees lost. Even nature was out to make sure that the Yankees faced reality (or did you forget those nasty bugs?).

George Steinbrenner doesn't realize that he can make a great show out of this defeat. He showed little class to Joe Torre by sending Torre a warning message through the media. He could have congratulated the great Yankee core that has been there for all these seasons and send off guys like Torre, Posada, Rivera, and Clemens with dignity. These guys brought home rings and they won the division time and time again. Even this year with such an odd team, they overcame and made it to the playoffs as the Wild Card. Now it's time for some of them to move on to other places as they leave behind a legacy and standard of greatness. Don Mattingly now knows what is expected of him because of Joe Torre...but is it fair for Mattingly to expect to win with Torre's team?

The Yankees have new blood in their pitching, a true ace in Wang, a true leader in Jeter and now they have a new stadium being built for a new era of Yankee baseball. The torch must be passed because the Yankees can no longer live in the past.

From Night to Morning

What if sports teams decided to have midnight specials to attract the attention of the twenty somethings? Well an experiment at Detroit's Comerica Park could put this concept into reality. A four hour rain delay on Friday night caused the Tigers-Yankees game to begin at 11:06 eastern (Detroit) time. The eleven inning affair did not end until well past three in the morning Saturday. A surprisingly competitive game ensued and much of the sell out crowd stayed around to make the decision to play the game worthwhile. The visitors did enough stumbling in the late innings to allow the hardy fans to go home happy as the home team prevailed 9 to 6. No doubt sports marketers are going to look closely at this event. In addition, television schedulers (i.e. ESPN) hungry for live events might want to include some late night/early morning contests to expand their programming. Actually with college football being played all the way to Hawaii, games can be seen from as early as eight in the morning (pacific time) on to the wee hours of the next day. But the idea of having live baseball, basketball, and hockey games starting at ten or later might be catchy with young people who populate restaurants, clubs, and cinemas during those very same hours. What of the players and their own need for rest? Who cares-they are paid well to entertain us.

Little Things Matter For the Yankees

Yes, the Yankee pitching has been poor the past two days. Young Phil Hughes had a mediocre start against the Angels on Monday while veteran Mike Mussina was pathetic Tuesday night as he did not get out of the second inning. Obviously pitching is a major factor in winning and losing games. However one play in each game reveals the difference between victory and defeat. Late in Monday's game with the score tied at six, a foul pop was hit and drifted near the end of the Angels dugout next to the photographers' well. All world Alex Rodriguez came over to the stands and became preoccupied with his own safety. He visibly reached for the railing that surrounded the photographers, and with that as his base, half heartedly reached for the very playable ball and let it drop right just outside his grasp. Of course no one wants to see A-Rod get injured but if he had given at least some of his attention to the ball, he could have gone around the railing and caught the ball against the front row of the stands. The Angels got a rally going because of the misplay and even though the Yankees got out of the inning, the momentum of the game had shifted. The Yankees seemed to be just hanging in there and the Angels went full speed ahead to win in the tenth inning. If the Yankees are going to claim a playoff spot they are going to have to give up their cautious spirit and go all out. It is worthy to note that on many occasions, Derek Jeter is just as quick as Rodriguez to get to foul balls.

Tuesday night's game was a real mess but an early turning point was Melky Cabrerra, the young center fielder, who called off veteran right fielder Bobby Abreu, and made a catch going away from the runners on first and second. By catching the ball on a dead run heading towards the first base side of the field, Cabrerra had no chance to get the ball back towards third base and keep the Angels from moving up. Of course, with the runners now on second and third, the next bbatter drove a ball into the outfield plating the now advanced runners and taking the Angels to an early lead. Here it was inexperience that doomed the New Yorkers. Devastating to Yankee fans, these two little plays show the brilliance and beauty of baseball. Just in life, it is the mundane execution of tasks that add up to accomplishment or failure.

Baseball As God Intended

Baseball under the sun; God providing natural energy as our nation's heroes battle during the duel heat of August and a maddening pennant race. With all of the money tied into maximizing television ratings by playing as many games as possible at night it was heartwarming to see the two most popular teams hosting Wednesday afternoon games. With the aid of cable's Extra Innings package, those of us who could not soak in the live sun could follow the Yankees and Red Sox's games on TV. Even though both home teams lost, the intensity was felt as the Yanks tied their game with the Orioles with a last chance ninth inning home run (only to give back the runs in the tenth inning in a losing effort) and the Sox kept clawing at the lowly Tampa Bay nine (and also losing by coming up one run short). Announcers from New York and Boston continually kept their viewers abreast of the happenings at the enemy parks. And how amazing that even in midweek both stadiums were packed. In the 1940's and 1950's many teams started their games around 3 pm to take advantage of the beauty of the sun's rays glistening upon the manicured green field that the home boys in crisp whites and the visitors in gray competed upon. (Well we are getting a bit poetic here as there were probably economic reasons for the schedule.) Unfortunately the Wednesday afternoon game and Sunday doubleheader has become a vanishing occurrence. When those in the eastern time zone begin to nod out as playoff and world series games march past 11 pm later this fall, I hope that the those who attended or watched yesterday's games will be thankful that just for a moment money and greed were put aside as baseball titan's played the pastoral game in the environment it was meant to be played in.

Here Come The Yankees

George Steinbrenner is rumored to be ill or too tired to oversee the daily operations of his baseball team. Without his menacing (and often caring) presence, the Yankees seem to have been allowed to run pretty much free this season. There were some early season meetings and threats, but Joe Torre and company were given free rein to dig themselves a hole or find a path to glory. With injuries multiplying and high priced stars such as Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu not earning their keep, things looked bleak for the one hallowed Bronx Bombers. But a stubborn desire to get it right by not purchasing anymore high priced free agents and holding on to top notch young talent like Phil Hughes, Andy Phillips, and Melky Cabrera has paid dividends. The Yanks have been on a tear. They are winning series after series and have just completed a five out of six win road trip against Chicago and Cleveland. With all the hoopla and hysteria over Barry Bonds, the New Yorkers have been able to actually accomplish this all under the media's radar. One has to marvel at the machine the Yankees are. They have an amazing coaching staff, a pitching corps that is starting to become hard to beat, and star players like A-Rod, Jeter, Posada, and Matsui that work in precision type manner. When you see that the team is slowly transitioning to younger talent while maintaining such a high level of success, one must wonder if this Broadway show is ever going to have its lights turned off.