The Yanks and Cards played a reasonably crisp game yesterday. St. Louis came up with the big hits against the Yankee bullpen, good enough for a 5-3 victory. The Bombers went 3-9 on the road trip, and have lost 11 of 14. Remarkably, they are still only six games behind the first place Orioles.
The team has the day off today. Next, Pittsburgh is in town for three, followed by a fun match-up with the Cubs this weekend. Anyone got anything interesting to say about any of this? Right now, I’ve got nuthin for ya man.
1. Cubs-Yankees is sure to draw someone who only pays attention when the rest of the country does. He or she will be engrossed in the game, watching eagerly for another corked-bat incident.
2. Reasonably crisp sounds about right. Another loss stinks, but this one didn't feel like a crushing embarassment, just a loss to a good team.
3. Well, Lou Piniella made a blistering attack on Tampa ownership yesterday (not quite "one's a liar and one's convicted," but pretty harsh nonetheless). Is Lou the next Yankee manager (hired after the season)?
Also, I think that Torre made a terrible error not pinch hitting for Pavano in the top of the 6th yesterday when they had two runners on with two outs. One thing that a manager has some control over is his bullpen usage and I think that Torre can be blamed for the lack of confidence he has in his bullpen at this point in the season. Yesterday, it forced him to stick with Pavano when the Yankees had a clear opportunity to take a two-run lead.
4. and yet he takes him out after six with 7-8-9(pinch hitter)up. Torre just plain and simple...panics. No other way to describe it. He couldn't manage a team with so many issues 10 years ago. What makes one think he can now?
5. Who can the Yanks trade Womack to? Apparently he isn't too happy in the outfield.
6. Until Womack can prove that he can serve any useful purpose on this team, I don't think it really matters if he's "happy"
I think that Piniella would make a great manager for this team. When you have a team full of all-stars, you need a manager who isn't afraid to rip into anybody, no matter what their status is.
7. Until anyone on that team can do something as fundamental as lay a bunt down, crip is the last word I would use to describe the way they're playing.
8. Combining comments 5 & 6, howzabout Womack for Sweet Lou?
We can retire Joe's number on July 4th weekend and send him off into the sunset, where he can spend the rest of this summer riding that golfcart/Mustang and tearing down the 'games left at Busch' numbers.
9. I don't think that firing Torre is going to help this season; it strikes me as being one of "those years" where the organizational philosophies of "buy now, sell later" causes the team to temporarily free-fall.
The problem with the Yankees? Playing baseball, for goodness' sake. How many times do we need to see a player gack a bunt attempt? Throw to the wrong base? MISS a routine play? Turn the wrong way / get a bad jump on a ball? Steal a base at the WORST time? Ground into a double play or strike out with the bases loaded? Hang a breaking ball when the bases are loaded and two out?
Hopefully, some of the $50 mil coming off the salaries at the end of the year can be used to make the team younger and better.
10. Chucksax is right. You look at all the dumb plays and collective baseball amnesia that these veteran players are suffering from this season, and I'm sure Joe is as mystified as the rest of us. With that said, he is responsible for Womack. Bernie in left, Godzilla in CF.
Do you think Bernie actually thinks that he can play a solid CF? Does he know that he can't really pull his weight there anymore, or what would be his reasoning as to why he shouldn't push to be in LF? I fail to see why a guy like BW would not know that he can't do it anymore in CF.
11. Moving Woe-is-me-mack to CF is the death of any potential of Bernie being our everyday LF. You have to think the odds are good that sometime soon management will get something right, even if by accident (like bringing up Wang because of Wrong-Wright's injury).
I simply can't believe what this multi-million dollar brain trust that is Yankee management is doing. It's as if the boys from the Bad New Bears are running this organization. We have nobody to trade, but we should be able to find at least an average (overpaid) OF that is being dumped. Alex Sanchez (who the Rays let go) is almost free. Phillips could probably play OF as well as Womack.
Does anyone want Stanton or Quantril? Certainly we can trade (crap) players, pay their salaries and get someone we could use.
Bring up Bean and/or Coulter and Phillips. How much worse can we be doing? Womacks OPS now tips the scales at .566. He must have dirty pictures of Cashman to still be in the lineup.
Alex and CC... Help me. I don't like to be critical of guys who are paid millions to manage this team and have years of experience.... but HOW CAN THEY BE DOING SUCH A SHIT JOB????
12. good SI article on WoEmack
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/tom_verducci/06/14/womack.yankees/index.html