A FINE MESS

Call em’ what you like: listless, careless (nice tag, Soriano), even hapless (Godzilla). One thing is for sure, the Yankees are a slumping mess. My girlfriend Emily has been saying for over a month now that Hideki Matsui looks depressed. Maybe it’s an epidemic.

Mike Mussina was cruising for the first four innings against the Reds, but then they tagged him for four homers, and the Yanks fell to the Reds, 6-2. The Bombers offense didn’t put up much of a fight, and made Paul Wilson look like the ace he’s not. In fact Wilson is the first Reds starter in 17 games to notch a victory. How do you think they are going to look against the likes of Kerry Woods?

Oy fuggin vey.

The Red Sox took two from the Pirates yesterday, and the Yanks find themselves in second place this morning.

But wait, it gets worse. The Yankees are now 0-18 when trailing after six innings this year. This is not your older brother’s Yankees.

According to The Daily News:

Torre felt that the Yanks looked listless once the Reds’ barrage was over.

“We certainly look that way,” he said. “That shouldn’t happen. We should be professional enough to go out and play nine innings. Not that we’re not working hard. We’re pressing.

“It just doesn’t look like we’re comfortable right now.”

“This is more than a stretch now,” Mussina said, referring to the Yanks’ 10-19 stumble since May 3. “We just haven’t played consistently good since we got out of April. We haven’t gotten hot offensively or pitched consistently well.

“We’re just not the same team. It’s in there somewhere.”

…”We’re putting a lot of pressure on Contreras,” Torre said. “Welcome to the starting rotation, right?”

It won’t be long now before the Yanks go out and get some reinforcements. The Post reports that they have their eyes on Kenny Lofton. I’ve never been a Kenny Lofton fan, but I’d welcome him in place of a hacker like Juan Rivera in a New York minute.

I wish I had something wise or even funny to say (I’ll leave the comedy to Boomski Wells). But I’m afraid I’ve been lulled into a depressed state myself. OK, I do have one positive piece of news to report: Jason Giambi appears to be coming around. He hit another homer last night (his fourth of the road trip), and has put together some very solid at bats recently. They need him now more than ever.

PUT A CORK IN IT

For the lowdown on the Sammy Sosa situation, look no further than Christain Ruzich’s great blog, The Cub Reporter.

YOUR AVERAGE JOE

David Pinto, over at Baseball Musings has some interesting comments about Yankee manager Joe Torre:

I remember a few years ago asking a fan who they thought was the best manager in the game. They said Joe Torre. (At the time, Davey Johnson was still in the game.) I asked why, and this fan said because he had won big with the Yankees. I then asked if he thought this before Torre was with the Yankees, and the answer was no. And I think that’s the right answer.

Joe Torre has managerial skills that work great when he has talented, intelligent, self motivated players. In that case, all he has to manage is their personalities. But when he has players who actually need to be coached, who need strategy laid out for them, who need a field general, he’s not very good. So Steinbrenner is calling him on it. Good for Steinbrenner for not being fooled by the reasons for success. As usual, George isn’t going about it very nicely and he’s going to alienate all the Torre fans, but in the end, Torre has to keep the Yankees winning to keep his job. He’s lasted longer than anyone else, but it very well might be time for a change.

Torre sure looked like a better manager when he had guys Paul O’Neill, Rock Raines, Chili Davis and Mike Stanton running his clubhouse, that’s for sure. Who is running the Kangaroo court for the Yanks these days anyhow? Captain Jeter? Robin Ventura? Giambi? How much money in fines have Lil’ Sori and Mondesi forked over lately?

CORKY

Sammy Sosa’s bat split in the first inning of the Cubs-D-Rays game last night, and it turns out the bat was corked. Let the scandal begin. I don’t have much of a negative reaction to this sort of thing. In fact, my first instinct is to feel badly that Sosa’s reputation will take a a big hit here, even if it’s deserved. I have one question: Is a batter corking a bat any worse than a pitcher scuffing a baseball? I have already read that Sosa corking his bat is worse than when Graig Nettles or Albert Belle corked theirs, because he is a greater player. But have Gaylord Perry or Whitey Ford’s reputations been sullied significantly by the fact that they threw illegal pitches? And will this hurt Sosa more because he is a Black Latin player?

BIG CRUD MACHINE

Derek Jeter was named the 11th captain in Yankees history before the game last night. Jeter who is famous for his heady play, is looking a lot dumber these days because of the sloppy play of his teammates.

Watching the Yankees play another careless game last night, it occured to me that they simply aren’t a very smart team right now. Baseball smart that is. It doesn’t mean they aren’t likable, or that they aren’t talented—or that they won’t eventaully be able to cover their mistakes—it just means they don’t play smart, sound baseball. The Reds were less than bright as well, but they had enough to notch another 9th inning victory, beating the Yanks 4-3. Anotonio Osuna-or-later took the loss.

The game is what Whitey Herzog would call horseshit baseball, and there was plenty to go around. Both teams made mistakes on the bases and in the field. Felipe Lopez couldn’t lay down a sacrifice bunt, and then down 0-2 took 3 straight balls before swinging and missing at ball 4; Junior Griffey forgot to advance a base on a wild pitch. The Reds scored their first run because Alfonso Soriano could not turn a double play; they tied the game with two more runs due to two wild pitches and a throwing error from Andy Pettitte, who otherwise pitched a good game.

The most frustrating inning for the Yankees was the 6th. After Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada walked to open the inning, Robin Ventura swung at a 3-0 pitch and popped out to the catcher. Horseshit. Raul Mondesi followed with a single to center, scoring Giambi. Juan Rivera was walked to load the bases for Andy Pettite, who remarkably slapped a breaking pitch into shallow center for a single. Posada scored, but Mondesi inexplicably over ran third base and was picked off for the second out (he had his head down all the way and didn’t even look at third base coach Willie Randolph). Horseshit. Derek Jeter grounded out to end the frame. Pettitte gave both runs back in the bottom of the inning.

Yankee fans have been spoiled by a series of championship teams who always seemed to do ‘the little things.’ It was the other teams that made stupid mistakes, and it was the Yankees who made them pay for it. This is not the same Yankee team. They are more talented—and they may even be more likable, depending on your taste—but they are dumber too. No wonder Boss George is pulling out all the PR stunts he can muster to make the Yankees still look like their old selves. If they don’t smarten up soon, the bellowing from the Boss could threaten to sap out all the fun from the 2003 Yankee season.

The best part of watching the game last night was getting to hear part-time YES announcer Paul O’Neill bust Michael Kay’s chops all night. Keep em coming Paul.

CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

According to ESPN news, the Yankees will hold a press conference today at 4 pm to announce that Derek Jeter will be named team captain. He will be the 11th captain in Yankee history, the first since Don Mattingly. I guess the next logical question is: Do captains play third? (Of course they do, just ask Craig Nettles.)

This is classic George, trying everything he can do to boost the spirit of his sluggish Bombers. Jeter deserves it too. (It would have been nice for Bernie to be named as co-captain, but I don’t think Williams really cares for that kind of thing.) As much as I’ve harped on Jeter’s fielding this year, I’d hate to give the impression that I don’t love the guy. (I just don’t love Yankee fans’ misconceptions about his talents.) He’s been the leader of the Yanks for several years so this announcement has been a long time coming. Of course being captain of the Yankees comes with added pressure, but that won’t phase Jeter. Especially now that he and George star in commercials together.

MR. GAMMONS, I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP

The irrepressible Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus will be featured on ESPN’s “Outside The Lines Nightly” tonight (check local listings). This is most likely the begining of a beautiful career for Will, and I’d like to wish him all the best. As hard as he’s worked, he deserves the spotlight. Kudos, baby.

JETER IS GOOD, BUT HE’S NO TANNER

With the highest payroll in the sport, it’s no wonder the Yankees owner, the New York media, and Yankee fans act like Chicken Little everytime something doesn’t break their way. But one thing has been obvious all season: the Yanks have a lousy bullpen, and lousy team defense, particularly up the middle.

Here is Mike C’s take on Sunday’s meltdown inning:

Jeter and Soriano had consecutive errors. Soriano had another on the day and Jeter could have been called for a ball he missed to re-start the Tigers’ rally in the fifth. This was a ball maybe two steps to Jeter’s right that even Tanner from The Bad News Bears could have gotten to but was scored a hit by a liberal, homer scorer. Maybe the Yankees don’t need relief pitchers but rather relief middle infielders to cover for Jeter and Soriano. In fact on the Eric Munson ball that Soriano threw away in the fifth it appeared that Clemens (correctly) dove for the ball as it went by him rather than allow his infielders to touch the ball.

David Pinto had an interesting post over at Baseball Musings regarding the Yankees defense:

As I’ve spent a lot of time listening to Yankee games with my dad over the last few weeks, I’m more convinced than ever that the Yankees can’t win with the defense they have in the middle of the infield. I don’t know how many times I heard, “Slow roller up the middle, through for a base hit.”

What’s the solution? You certainly don’t want to lose Jeter’s bat. And I don’t think you can move both Jeter and Soriano. I think the best solution would be to find a defensive wizard at SS, and move Jeter to third. Ventura is good, but he’s old. It’s possible that he could be traded to a contender for such a SS, or a three way deal with Cleveland where the Yankees end up with Vizquel. I really think Jeter’s future is at third, not a SS.

Makes sense to me. Perhaps they could even keep Ventura and use him as the extra lefty-bat they are seeking. But do you really think Joe Torre is going to up and move Derek Jeter to third in the middle of the season? That is highly unlikely.

Here is what reader Dan Mulvihill thinks:

I’d love to see it happen, if only to see how Jeter would react to it. He always comes across as a “team first” guy, but that would be a real test of his sincerity. Plus, he’d probably be insulted. He likes to think of himself as a great defensive guy – remember that puff piece in the Times last summer about his fielding?
Jeter can’t move to his right anymore, so the sooner he gets to third the better. They’re not gonna win the Series (or get there) with this defense, so I’d do that trade to get Vizquel. And yeah, I think Ventura would make a great PH/DH.

I too, am interested in how Jeter would handle such a move. After all, he is famous for being a team player, who will do anything it takes to win. When will the Yankees see what has already become painfully clear to many observers? And what will it take for them to change their minds? A terrible post-season error? I don’t think Jeter will lose any star appeal or sex appeal shifting to third. Part of me thinks the only reason Jeter is at short is because he ‘looks’ good as a shortstop. Hey Jete, are you really a shortstop? “No,” he might say. “But I play one on TV.”

RIGHT ON

Allen Barra had an excellent column on two of New York’s best—yet somehow underappreciated—players, Mike Piazza and Bernie Williams, in the Times on Sunday. I’ve argued with Yankee fans for years about the merits of Bernie Williams, the team’s quiet star. If Derek Jeter is overrated by the casual fan, then Bernie Williams is clearly underrated:

The strongest argument for Williams’s value, though, might not be found in his personal statistics. “How many guys,” said David Cone, who owes several of his victories to Williams’s bat and glove, “have made so substantial a contribution to a dynasty as Bernie Williams and not made it to the Hall of Fame?”

Certainly not many. If Derek Jeter is considered on track for Cooperstown, why not Williams, whose contributions to seven consecutive Yankees playoff teams and five World Series teams have been neck and neck with those of Jeter?

The Yankees’ rise to prominence in 1995 coincided with Williams’s emergence as a star; the dynasty began to sputter a few weeks ago, close to when Williams hurt his knee. If the Yankees’ rise and fall with Williams is a coincidence, it’s the kind of coincidence Yankees fans will be hoping for again when, with luck, Williams returns in July and picks up his Hall of Fame bid.

Some Mets fans seem to want to blame all of the teams problems on their catcher’s weak throwing arm. As if his lousy arm outweighs his tremendous offensive contributions, and completely obscures his other talents as a reciever (calling a good game, blocking the plate). Hey, when was the last time you didn’t see Piazza bust his tail down the first base line?

This is the greatest offensive player at his position in the history of the game, but many Mets fans ask: what have you done for me lately? Again, I think this is a product of their overall frustration, but it is a shame, because although Piazza didn’t have his peak years in New York, he did lead them to a World Serious, and has been the best hitter in team history:

The only question is how far Piazza is ahead of everyone else. Most baseball analysts agree that what a player hits on the road is much more indicative of his overall ability than what he hits in his home park. In Piazza’s case, he has had the spectacular misfortune of spending most of his career playing his home games in perhaps the two worst hitters’ parks in the National League – or for that matter, in all of baseball – Dodger Stadium (1992-98) and Shea Stadium (1998-present) with a five-game stint in Florida before coming to the Mets. The difference is almost heartbreaking. While most players tend to have slightly better numbers playing at home, Piazza’s career batting average in his home parks (including this season) is .302 and his career average in other parks is .338, according to Stats Inc.

The gaps between home and road in his other stats are equally eye-opening. His career on-base percentage on the road is .405, 34 points higher than his home mark, and his career road slugging percentage is 72 points higher.

WHAT ME WORRY?

The Yankees played poorly in Detriot over the weekend, but escaped with two wins. Still, the New York media is all over the team, and George Steinbrenner has chosen the opportunity to take center stage (a shocker, huh?). When not bitching about the inter-league schedule his team has been handed, George is telling his team to hurry up and relax (or else).

Jeff Weaver, who has looked about as lively as Lurch of late, has been yanked from the starting rotation in favor of Jose Contreras. Weaver committed the cardinal sin of calling out his teammates on Saturday afternoon, after another frustrating performance, making it easy for manager Joe Torre to make the switch.

The Yanks play three against the Reds tonight before they move to Chicago for three against the Cubbies this weekend (Christian Ruzich gets his wish as Clemens will go for win number 300 this weekend vs. Kerry Wood). Quite frankly, I don’t know how the Yankees will fare this week. I’m not down on them, but realistically, they haven’t played crisp ball lately. They seem to play up or down to the competition. Will they bust out the whooping stick against the Reds in their homer-happy stadium, or will the Reds pound them?

We shall soon see.

VACAY DAY

I took the day off from work today, on the count of it was my 32nd birthday yesterday, and hell, I just needed one more day to celebrate. The Yanks looked sketchy taking two of three from the Tigers over the weekend, but Toronto pounded the Sox, and the Bombers find themselves a game and a half up on Boston.

The sun is shinning today, and I’m off to Van Cortlandt park to chill. I’ll be back to blogging tomorrow. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Alex

GOOD NIGHT SWEET PRINCE

More from Lee:

Baseball Prospectus’s Will Carroll has just informed me that David Cone has scheduled a press conference for this afternoon, to announce his retirement.

With John Franco being activated, I guess Cone thought this would be the right time to step away. I’m sure he’ll give a hell of a press conference later today—honest and heartfelt.

Roger Angell has another chapter to write. I just wonder if George will take Cone back this year, or if he’ll make him wait til’ next year.

SHEA HEY

Lee Sinins thinks that the Red Sox made a great move dealing Mr. Hillenbrand for Mr. Kim. Here is his take:

This is an excellent trade for the Redsox.

After 2.94 ERA/18 RSAA and 2.04 ERA/23 RSAA seasons as a reliever, Kim’s off to a 3.56 ERA/9 RSAA start in his first 7 starts. He has a 3.26 career
ERA, compared to his league average of 4.37, and 52 RSAA in 243 games.

After starting his career with -20 RCAA/.682 OPS and 5 RCAA/.789 OPS seasons, Hillenbrand’s off to a .443 SLG, .335 OBA, .778 OPS, 0 RCAA start
in his first 49 games.

Despite fooling people into thinking he’s a good hitter due to his .293 AVG in 2002 and .303 in 2003, Hillenbrand is bad at getting on base. His OBA ranks among the top 10 worst figures in the AL since he’s come into the majors in 2001.

…Hillenbrand does represent an improvement over Matt Williams. After having a negative RCAA 5 times in the past 6 years, Williams is off to a .391 SLG, .323 OBA, .714 OPS, -8 RCAA start in his first 43 games. And while Hillenbrand is a fraud when it comes to being labeled as a good player, at least he’s a league average one–so long as he’s able to keep his AVG high (the moment that goes down, his value plummets). But, instead of trading an asset like Kim for someone like Hillenbrand, the Diamondbacks screwed up in figuring out how to revive their bad offense.

…Meanwhile, Kevin Youkilis [“the Greek God of Walks”], the Redsox probable 3B of the future, has a .460
OBA down in AA (and no, that’s not a typo).

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

When I’m not watching baseball—or reading about it, or talking about it, I spend most of my leisure time cooking food and buying records (that is, when I’m not chillin with my beautiful goilfriend, Emily). Even when I’m watching a game, I am likely to have my head in a Marcella Hazan cookbook, while listening to the latest release from Stones Throw records. I also am known to listen to the comedy stylings of George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Cos, Albert Brooks, or Steve Martin when I fall asleep at night.

On that random note, the great Jazz critic, Nat Hentoff had a piece on Lenny Bruce yesterday, and there is a fun article on Patti LaBelle in the Cooking section of the Times this week that is also worth reading—not to mention a review of fine Philly cuisine (how is that for diversity?).

Pass the hot sauce, baby.

Let’s hope the Yanks can have a little feast of their own in the Motor City over the weekend. I’m excited to see what Jose Contreras will give the Bombers tonight, though I’m not certain that he’ll be great, even against the lowly Tigers.

Oh yeah, and not for nuthing, but my favorite blog entry of the week comes from John Bonnes, who wrote a very touching article yesterday. Just goes to show you, the quality of writing that people like John, Ed Cossette, Christian Ruzich, Jon Wiesman, Jay Jaffe and countless others bring to their blogs goes well beyond the game of baseball.

NERDSVILLE

Tom Boswell weighs in on Michael Lewis’ book “Moneyball.” Homeboy even snagged my “Revenge of the Nerds” line. Needless to say, he loves the book:

Pretty soon, thanks to “Moneyball,” the whole sport will catch up to the curve – the learning curve, that is. And it’s about time

Dr. Manhattan also wrote a terrific review of the book that is well worth reading.

The New York Times Book Review section last Sunday was devoted to the recent crop of baseball books. Check it out.

SHEA, WE HARDLY KNEW YE

After months of speculation, the Red Sox finally traded third baseman Shea Hillenbrand, who simply did not fit into Boston’s high-on base percentage offensive philosophy. Hillenbrand goes to the Arizona Diamondbacks for the versatile pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim. While the move won’t inspire fear in Yankee fans, we shouldn’t be so quick to lick our chops; this is a solid move, as Kim is a proven closer, and a decent starting pitcher as well. He is also only 24 years old. Anytime you can move a decent starting player for a good pitcher, you do it, right?

According to Gordon Edes:

Epstein deserves credit for being able to get what he did in this deal. Rookie Freddy Sanchez, who has had an outstanding spring in Triple A, can spell Todd Walker at second, and Bill Mueller’s other-worldly slugging has earned him the right to play every day at third. David Ortiz and Kevin Millar will platoon at first, and if Jeremy Giambi doesn’t start hitting, the Sox will add another bat.

”I think the Sox did well,” the NL scout said. ”The team is in the place in the standings where they want to be, and if I’m in your place, I’d do the same thing.”

Ed Cossette likes the sound of Mr. Kim too.

BUSTA MOVE

According to Sridhar Pappu in latest edition of The New York Observer, Buster Olney will be leaving the Times to join ESPN:

In an interview with Off the Record on May 27, Mr. Olney said his new gig would include appearing on television as well as writing for the Web site and ESPN the Magazine.

“I had other chances to leave The Times, but this is an incredible opportunity,” Mr. Olney told Off the Record.

…According to sources, Mr. Olney, 39, was increasingly unhappy with how the department was being run from above. They said he’d been distraught over the treatment of former sports editor Neil Amdur, and over the management decision to spike two columns by Dave Anderson and Harvey Araton on the Augusta National controversy. (The Times covered the controversy vigorously and editorialized against Augusta’s policy on women.)

Asked how much internal Times politics played a role in his decision, Mr. Olney would only say: “I love the paper and had a great time at the paper. Neil was great to work for. [New sports editor] Tom Jolly is a great editor. I wouldn’t leave if this wasn’t a terrific opportunity.”

GERBIL TO BOSS: WHO YOU CALLIN A MOUSE?

Somebody was going to throw a fit eventually, and who better to go nutzo than Popeye Zimmer? Yankee bench coach, and manager Joe Torre’s right hand man, Don Zimmer blasted his old pal George Steinbrenner yesterday. According to the Post:

“I hate to read the paper for 21/2 days that Torre is on the hot seat, that Torre is this and Torre is that and then for [Steinbrenner] to say that this is Torre’s team and I have gotten him everything he wanted,” Zimmer said in the dugout.

“What did Torre know about [Hideki] Matsui or [Jose] Contreras? I know Torre was probably instrumental in getting Todd Zeile here and he will be a good player. But now that we fail, it’s Joe Torre’s team. I think that’s unfair.

“I don’t care who knows it. We are struggling, and it’s Joe Torre’s team. For seven years it was [Tampa’s] team. I would think we were all in this together, but you know that’s not the way it is. He is the boss, but I ain’t in prison.

“I never understood the split. I thought we were all fighting for the same thing. He is a big man but I was asked a question and I ain’t going to duck it. I get tired of hearing it. I get fed up with the talk about the manager. He won four World Series in seven years. To me, that’s a joke. But [Steinbrenner] calls the shots. We are struggling for two weeks and all of a sudden it’s Joe Torre’s team. For seven years it was their team.”

…”We all know who the boss is, the world knows who the boss is. But what does that mean? That somebody can’t say something,” Zimmer said. “You are supposed to clam up like a mouse because he is rapping everybody?”

…”If he wants to talk to me I have been here [in the clubhouse]. If he wants to talk about that, we will talk about that,” Zimmer said. “I respect him as the boss but does that mean we have to back off?”

…”He put the heat on the hitting coach, but this guy is here every day at noon and works his [butt] off,” Zimmer said. “I don’t know if he is a great hitting coach or not but he ain’t going to cheat anybody.”

Bill Madden, who collaborated on Zimmer’s autobiography, reports that the rift between Popeye and Boss George has been brewing since early this year:

“I don’t know what happened,” Zimmer told me recently. “I’ve been friends with the man for 25 years. We live in the same town, I’ve worked for him three times. We’ve been on trips together and we’ve been at the track together hundreds of times. Then, all of a sudden, I see him at the track last winter and he walks right past me, refusing to speak to me.”

Then when Zimmer got to spring training, he was informed he was not going to be issued a car as was the standard for all the coaches. A day later, that order was rescinded, but Zimmer had gotten the message and told Yankee officials what they could do with the car. Being equally stubborn, neither Zimmer nor Steinbrenner saw fit to seek the other out and mend their friendship, making it inevitable that it would come to this.

Ah, just another day of modern maturity in the Bronx. Still, since Torre isn’t about to go after the Boss in such a blunt tirade, it proves that Zim does more for the Yanks than sit on his ass and whisper in the managers’ ear. After all, what does he have to lose? He’s too old to care. Madden concludes:

In the past, when Steinbrenner has sought to get at his manager by firing one of his coaches, the deed was done without much protest, and everyone moved on until Steinbrenner got the manager as well. I can’t say with certainty that Torre would walk if Zimmer were fired, but I do know the loyalty and, yes, love that exists between these two men, and that’s not something anyone should ever take lightly.

NAIL-BITER IN THE BX

Mike Mussina pitched brilliantly for the Yankees for eight innings last night, and entered the ninth with a 5-1 lead. Mussina was economical, and masterly, and while his counterpart Derek Lowe wasn’t terrible, the Yankees got to him early, and it appeared as if the Yanks would cruise to their second straight victory over Boston. Mussina came out to pitch the ninth, promptly walked Jason Varitek, and gave up a single to Johnny Damon. Enter Mariano Rivera and pass the Malox. These are the same Red Sox who have made a habit of late-inning comebacks, and they lived up to their reputation. Before you know it, the game was tied, and if not for a broken play—which resulted in Alfonso Soriano throwing out Shea Hillenbrand at home, the Sox would have snagged the lead. Instead the score was now tied at five.

I had a bad feeling after Nomar slapped a single right under Derek Jeter’s glove—how did he miss that? It is still May, and this is the time of year when the Red Sox win these kinds of games. I paced around my apartment, and thought of that somewhere Ed Cossette was sharing my pain: the same, but different.

With one out in the bottom the ninth, HI-deki Matsui laced a double to left field off of Brandon Lyon, and he advanced to third on a throwing error by Manny Ramirez. The Sox the intentionally walked Soriano and Jason Giambi to load the bases for Jorgie Posada. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who had a flashback to last July when Posada faced Ugie Urbina in the same situation.

I was sure he would hit into a double play. (Oh, ye of little faith.) The 2-2 pitch from Lyon was called a ball, and the Red Sox were understandably steamed about the call after the game:

”It’s on tape,” [Sox manager, Grady] Little said, ”just like a countryful of people saw it on ESPN.”

It sure looked close enough to be a strike to me. Of course, Posada walked on the next pitch and the Yankees escaped with a 6-5 win. How could I not think back on what Allen Barra said a few days ago:

I would not be surprised to see the Yankees beat them two out of three, or even sweep the Sox. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, I’m saying it wouldn’t surprise me. The Red Sox are the only team right now, who are capable of turning themselves into a worse team than the Yankees.

WATCH OUT NOW

I thought I’d share some of the letters I’ve received from readers regarding the Allen Barra interview.

Here is what Bronx Banter correspondent Chris DeRosa had to say:

That Allan Barra interview was rich. I do think he’s caught something about Jeter. I don’t see the joy in him this season. I’m not talking about anything that’s gonna change Ws to Ls, but it saddens me, and I blame George.
For all the defensive woes of last season, we ranked 8th in defensive efficiency. This year, we rank 13th, ahead of only Texas. Nevertheless, in the second half, we’re gonna have two big bats back, Matsui adjusted, and a lot of shitty teams on the schedule. So I ain’t getting too bummed out about this horrible month.

Tom Fratamico, a Red Sox fan, has his own team to worry about:

Good point today on the Yankees schedule. They have already had their home and away series with Seattle and Oakland. These games do not come up for the Sox until August and will probably make or break their postseason chances. My head says this is a good thing. Theo and company have the time and resources to get reinforcements. My heart and history tells me to get ready for another summer flop. Yankee fans should be more optimistic than the Sox fans. We haven’t played the best teams out West, no pen, Pedro is hurt, defense is awful, Lowe’s ERA is around 5 and have won too many one-run games with the bats.

One of my first readers, Harley, a Yankee fan living in California, agreed:

…When is the last time the Yankees DIDN’T trail the Red Sox this time of year? And why should we care if they do? …The Jeter Backlash isn’t new or unexpected, but for the life of me, I’ll never understand the Move Him To Third idea given his power numbers, and for all his defensive faults — I’m guessing they begin and end with Range — he manages, time and time again, to be the player in the middle of the Big Play. (Fun Research Project: Compare Nomar
and Jeter’s fielding numbers in recent Yankee/Red Sox games, or just go back and look at the last time they met in the post season).

Here is Brian McMahon’s take on the Yankee offense. Dig his take on what should be done with Jetes:

The way I see it, all their starting hitters are doing as well as you could possibly expect, with the exception of Mondesi–who’s doing far better than we could have hoped, Giambi–who’s been fighting an eye infection, and Hideki, who may become the Yanks’ second expensive flop with that name.
The main enemy of the Yankee offense thus far has been injuries. In addition to Giambi’s pinkeye or whatever, 6 weeks each from Jeter, Bernie and Nick the Stick would be tough for any offense. Sucks . . . but you can’t blame anybody for that. If they were all healthy, they might score 1000 runs this year. But they’re not, and they won’t.

…Allen raises a great point about Soriano in the batting order. For God’s sake, why is he leadoff? I’ve been saying all year Bernie and Sori should swap places–it’s pretty obvious that Bernie’s better at getting on base and Sori’s got more power. Here’s my ideal batting order, with their 2003 OBPs and HRs (assuming no injuries):
Bernie Williams .397 / 7
Nick Johnson .455 / 5
Jason Giambi .345 / 9
Alfonso Soriano .376 / 15
Jorge Posada .366 / 12
Raul Mondesi .379 / 9
Robin Ventura .382 / 8
Hideki Matsui .308 / 3
Derek Jeter .343 / 2
Of course, the quality of this arrangement depends somewhat on Giambi’s BA coming around (thereby raising his OBP).
Yes, you heard right. DJ last. That means, of course, that it’ll never happen, but he’s just not a top-of-the-lineup guy anymore (on this team anyway), and I’d rather not have the complete sinkhole that is Hideki Matsui batting in front of Bernie.
Torre is a great manager in a lot of ways, but he’s never been an innovative one, and I think he’s too married to the idea that middle infielders are leadoff guys and outfielders are cleanup hitters. This is one team where it should be the opposite.

Thanks for all the e-mails, guys. They sure help keep the banter lively. Since I’m certainly no expert, it’s great to read and share of all your opinions. Whether I agree with them or not, I can safely say, I’m learning more each day.

Thanks.

JUST WHAT THE OWNER ORDERED

Jay Jaffe, The Futility Infielder, invited me to the game last night, and we had a great time as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 11-3. Jay and I were at the last game the Yanks had won at the home—a few weeks back against Aaron Sele and the World Champs. Hey, there is nothing like a streak, even if it is a figment of our grandiosity.

The Yankees got a solid performance from Andy Pettitte, who survived a couple of long foul balls in the middle innings (Shea Hillenbrand, Big Manny), and pitched 7 2/3 innings of effective ball against the Red Sox. The Yankee bats also came alive, led by Robin Zeile and Todd Ventura. Derek Jeter lead off the game with a home run, and Jason Giambi added three hits. What was encouraging about Giambi’s performance is that he drove two doubles to left field.

George was in the house and he continued to talk. He’s in full military-football mode now, as the Yankee brass will meet over the next two days to address the state of the team. Who will be fired? The easy mark is hitting coach Rick Down, who has been canned by George before. Who will be traded? Who will be shook up? (George wants his boy Contreras to replace Jeff Weaver in the rotation.) Joe Torre is taking it all in stride:

“But I’m never a good loser,” Torre said. “I never have been. I don’t yell at my wife, because all she’d do is yell back. I’m still lousy at it, after all these years. But at the same time, I feel a responsibility not to go overboard. Because if I lose it and start making wholesale changes, that sends the wrong message to the only people I’m concerned about – the people out there in that clubhouse.”

Two days ago, Joe Torre said that somebody was eventually going to take a beating at the hands of his slumbering offense. Welcome to the Major Leagues, Matt White. Making his big league debut, White entered the game in the 8th and allowed six runs on four hits in 2/3rds of an inning.

Nomar Garciaparra’s hitting streak was halted at 26 games.

There were some great duels between Sox and Yankee fans in the upper deck during the game. “Let’s Go Red Sox,” “1918.” As we were leaving I heard one Sox fan offer, “Who’s in first place?” I told Jay, “Who ain’t won shit?” I usually bristle at the nasty chants, but when you are at the game, they somehow seem more playful than mean-spirited (still, I get can’t with chanting that anybody sucks).

Oh, not for nothing but Godzilla Matsui gets points for selecting “Get Back,” and “Day Tripper” as he theme music.

I want to thank all the readers who sent in e-mails regarding my “two-guys-in-a-bar” bitch session with Allen Barra. A lot of readers felt that we went overboard in bashing the Yanks. You mean we sounded rash, and panicked? Say it ain’t so. New Yorkers acting a tad histrionic? Get outta here. I don’t think the Yankees were as good as they showed early, or as bad as they’ve played recently. They haven’t faced Baltimore yet, and their schedule gets easier in the second half of the season so they should be alright. But the doubts will continue until the Yankees make the playoffs and play well in the post-season. That’s just the nature of the beast.

I try to be as even-handed as possible living in a manic city, following a self-important team, which is covered by a carnivorous press. If I succumb to the Sturm und Drang of the Yankees, well then I guess I’m no different from your average New York Yankee fan. And there is nothing more I’d ever want to be.