Number 27 Must Wait

Well that was a bummer--spanked hard by the Indians. 

Torre will be gone, who knows about Mo, Posada and A-Rod.  But since the Yankees have gone 3-14 in the play-offs the last three years, I guess its time for a change.  Yankees' fans expect to win.  With those players, with that payroll, you expect them to win.  They should win.  And they didn't.

The reality is that there's no shame in losing to the team with baseball's best record (the Indians).  No current team in baseball has gone to the play-offs even two years in a row--the Yankees have gone twelve times in a row.  But still, its not enough . . .  Steinbrenner wants that 27th world series title before he turns the reigns over to his sons.  As they say, he's the Boss.

You baseball fans know full well what's wrong with the Yankees.  Pitching, pitching and more pitching.  When your play-off starter for games one and four of a five game series has an ERA of over 18.00, you are gonna lose.  Plain and simple.

So, the season's over.  No more box scores. No more games.  I'm bummed.  I can't wait till March 2008, when pitchers and catchers report and we start all over again!  Until then, it will be one wild and woolly off-season.   

Comments

[Charles S]

A Rod is 8 for 57 in the post season....see ya.

[Jeff A.]

Too bad Torre can't fire Steinbrenner. King George is going to get rid of the best manager in baseball...after all, why would he want a decent human being hanging around an organization like the Yankees? :o)

[Charles S]

Fire Costanza instead.

[Chris Malamisuro]

While all you Yankees fans shed a tear in your beer, having gone to the post season 12 straight times (congrats), please remember, it could be worse. You could live in Pittsburgh (I do) where the Pirates have had 15 straight losing seasons! We'll take Costanza, Torre and whoever else you're discarding.

[Cheryl]

Steinbrenner is a bag of wind. He won't fire Torre. The relationship between a team and its manager is of great importance, and they love Torre. Furthermore, if Steinbrenner thinks he can improve his team by rocking the boat, it is time he stepped down and passed the reigns to his son. The Yankee boat has been rocked over the past half dozen years with retirements and trades, leading to a dearth of good pitchers. The Yanks have plenty of money. They need to stop worrying about their batters and step up to the plate to 'buy' some excellent pitchers.

[Cliff]

Joe Torre, the best manager in baseball according to Jeff A. Surely, you jest. I like Joe Torre. I liked him as a player and he seems to be a likeable fellow and a great man to play for. But I knew Joe when he managed the Braves, Mets, and Cardinals--not exactly a stellar record. Problem? He didn't have the horses. Let's face it, Kim could manage the teams the Yankees buy every year and they'd win. It's like Roger Craig (former Giants manager and MLB pitcher) said about Casey Stengel. Craig pitched for the horrible Boston Braves when Stengel managed them and later he pitched for the horrible Mets when Stengel managed them. Of course, in between Stengel managed all those great Yankee teams in the 50's. Craig said, "I knew Casey before he was a genius and I knew him after he was a genius." Same thing applies to Torre and to many others (witness Francona with the Phillies and now with the Red Sox). Sorry Kim as a Bosox fan since 1967 I do indeed feel your pain. Weird how baseball still affects the mood of grown men :0(

[Evan C. Hock]

Yankees are a great team with a major problem dogging them - Steinbrenner and his cut-throat ways. If people ask, 'What happened to baseball, it's no longer the great game it used to be, but tainted," men like Steinbrenner are to blame. I am still a quasi-Yankee fan that remembers pitchers like Ron Guitry, Tommy Johns and fielders like Greg Nettles and Thurman Munson, to name a scant few. But now the focus is turning West (and not California). The Phillies went down in flames. Beware the Colorado Rockies! Their time in the spotlight is coming if not already here. What happens to them in Arizona this week will help us to decide for whom doth the bell tolls.

[Tyler]

"Fire Costanza," haha!

You're a gentleman and a scholar, Dr. Riddlebarger. You embrace defeat gracefully. :)

[Dave]

I just read an article by Jeff Pearlman on the ESPN website that made a lot of sense to me. I have nothing against any Yankee player or coach but I, for one, enjoyed seeing a smaller-market team like the Indians beat up on the Yankees. I will also enjoy it if the Indians can do the same to the Red Sox next week. Someone needs to explain to me how there can be any joy in winning a world championship if you have to spend three, four, five, or more times the money that other teams can spend in order to do it. Part of the joy I felt when the Angels beat the Yankees in 2002 on their way to a championship was that the Angels had half the payroll but seemingly twice the heart as the Yankees. A few people speculate on the possibility of A-Rod coming to the Angels for $30 to $35 million a year. I say let someone else pay him that kind of money. The big business aspect of Major League Baseball makes me less of a fan each year.

[Tom Albrecht]

I think Steinbrenner's comments about Torre's future were meant to light a fire. Sadly, it did not work. 2008 is another year.

I've been a Yankee's fan since the days of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Joe Pepitone, and Elston Howard. I have fond memories of my aunt and uncle taking my sister and me to the Stadium for "Bat Day". My aunt is now well into her eighties but still likes to cheer her team on.

[Jeff A.]

I jest not. I can't stand the Yankees (or any other team from the North East or from California), but to have managed the biggest egos money can buy, as well as the most biggestest ego which keeps buying them...all while maintaining the respect of colleagues around the league...that is a real manager. Other mega-machine teams have been put together with various high priced parts,and few if any have been able to support their own weight. It certainly wasn't King George or the many cheating/underachieving pinstripes that kept the house together. So, yo Joey, I salute you and your mafia don face...behind that mask is a good man and a consumate baseball professional.

[PB]

Believe it or not, a substantial portion of Red Sox Nation wished for a series with NY. It just seems necessary for these two to do battle for the result to really count.
By the way, I am not part of that number, however. But I don't think Torre should be canned, either.

[Chris Coleman]

Any other team would be lucky to have Joe Torre on there bench.

I feel the same. The Angels played like girls who didn't care about how they played. None of them seemed to care two hoots (including Sciosia) about winning a game against Boston. What a sickening effort! I still love the Angels, but right now I am very disappointed in their effort this post-season. It will be a long wait till April...

[Duane]

Dr. Riddlebarger,

The Indians are not "the" team with the best record in baseball. They are "a" team tied for the best record, with none other than my beloved Boston red Sox. And since the Red Sox had a better head to head record against the Indians, The Red Sox are the #1 seed and that is why they have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. I know it's hard for a yankee fan to give the Sox their due, but please try!

[Chris Coleman]

There is an interesting article on the Yanks here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/071009&sportCat=mlb&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2

Agree? Disagree?

[GrinningDwarf]

Oh, c'mon, Kim!! Just because your team didn't make it through the post-season isn't enough of a reason to give up on baseball for the winter! If that were true, being a Giants fan, I'd have missed the best World Series I've ever seen...the '01 series and the outstanding showings by Schilling and Johnson...especially in game 7. The'02 Series WOULD have been better...if the ending were different! 8^(