Ivan Nova was cruising along. Then he made a mistake, followed by another. An inning later he made another one. All told, those three mistakes cost him 4 runs, which these days is an unreasonable sum to ask his mates to match never mind top.
The Yanks are like a ballon that has slowly been leaking air for the past 2 months. Tonight saw another lifeless performance by the hitters as the Red Sox skipped to a 5-1 win at the Stadium. Jackie Bradley Jr. had a homer and made a couple of nice plays in the field.
The Yanks need to win 2 of their final 6 games in order to qualify for the Wildcard but let’s get right to it–have you ever had less confidence in a playoff-bound Yankee team?
It’s hard to be mad at them, we didn’t expect this at the start of the year. We sure would have taken where they are at now. But the way this has played out, death by a thousand cuts, has been dispiriting. While there is plenty of excitement to go around for all the playoff hopefuls there is something missing here in the Bronx. Call it the residue of a generation spoiled by success (the Yanks of the early Sixties ran into this as well). It’s almost as if the Yanks would have to be bad for a good stretch before the excitement returned to the Bronx. Or a player under 50 with some star power.
Part of it is the team on the field, part of it is the fans.
As Walt Kelly famously wrote, “We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us.”
Yeah - kinda agree. They have lost a lot of close games in the past couple months and it seems like teams with playoff magic find ways to win those games. The leaking balloon analogy is apt - and it feels their nearly deflated now. The last series w/ the Jays was the final pin prick.
But - it ain't over till it's over, right Yogi?
The team is employing the always effective "rope-a-dope" strategy originated by The Greatest, Ali.
Wait until the playoffs start to see the Yankees spring into action.
2) Pretty sneaky, Sis.
I think there are some exciting young players on the team, but they don't have large personalities. Aside from Bird getting excited with his big homer that lifted the Yanks, he keeps his emotions in check. Severino is also very even, and this is one of the nice things of their makeup as players, but doesn't make for a lot of press. Didi, Headley and most of the players at 2nd are fairly ho hum guys. Look at the outfield of Gardner, Beltran and Ellsbury. (sometimes they make big plays that are exciting, but none are flashy players. Bettances, Pineda and McCann probably are the most outgoing of the bunch and you have ARod, who usually provides off the field antics that this year, thankfully are not so visible.
2) I hope the team gets hot and a one day playoff could be just the trick.
0)Perhaps from a fan perspective it is that we were spoiled with the dynasty teams, but I also think that lately we are more accepting of this team failing. They get injured and it doesn't surprise us and I agree 1) They should be winning a lot more close games. Look at Toronto and the excitement from their players. The Yanks tend to look pretty joyless this year, and perhaps that is trying to find out who their team is?
I think they can get hot and be a force to reckon with, and that pen is as good as anybody's after the 7th. It is just getting to the 7th and having a lead that is trouble. Everyone's record goes to 0-0 in the playoffs, but we still have to finish strong and home field would be nice too.