Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The Yankees did their best Chico's Bail Bonds impression last night, kicking the ball around, and playing themselves out of the game early, in a pathetic 8-1 loss to the Cardinals. It was such a depressing performance that I uncharacteristically found myself flipping through the channels by the middle innings because I simply couldn't watch anymore. It's not a matter of jumping ship, but if they aren't going to show up, why should we?
Derek Jeter was visibly livid on the bench during the game, and Joe Torre lit into the team once again when it was over:
"It was an embarrassing game," Torre said after emerging from yet another team meeting. "This is the worst. This one stands on its own."... "It's not the pitching coach's fault, it's not the hitting coach's fault," Torre said. "It's my fault. Ultimately it falls on me. I'm in charge of this team."
(N.Y. Daily News)
Luis Sojo said it was the angriest he's ever seen Torre; Bernie Williams said he's seen him more upset, but nevertheless, Torre got his point across. Alex Rodriguez summed it up well:
"This is certainly rock bottom for this team," he said. "Not just because we lost, but because of the fashion we lost in. It was just very embarrassing to be out there."
(N.Y. Times)
The Yanks are saying all the right things. But talk is cheap. They need to get their collective head out of their ass on the field. At some point, you have to imagine that heads are going to roll.
And that's what I really don't understand. In the middle of last night's mockery I kept asking myself why I couldn't just turn off the TV. Yes, I know that fans never give up hope, but my mood for the rest of the evening definitely would've benefitted had I not suffered through the last few innings.
I think this stems from being out here on the west coast. It used to be I could only see the Yanks live once a week or so, so I would do my best to watch every pitch. Even if they were down big, I'd want to keep watching for, say, Jeter's AB in the ninth. But now with the blessing of DirecTV's Extra Innings package -- which is quickly becoming a $200 curse -- I get 80-90% of the games -- and still I watch. (Sometimes I'll even record a game.) It's an illness that not even last night's game can cure.
As for that game, at least there was a little emotion coming out of the dugout. I miss Paul O'Neil.
I'm not saying Wang pitched great, he still gave up seven hits in those four innings and threw just 54 percent strikes, but I think it would be more accurrate to say he struggled rather than he was bombed. Also, though it's sort of a break-even thing, one of those seven hits came when Giambi couldn't glove a throw from Jeter on one of his classic jump-throw-from-the-hole plays.
And yes, I did just rag on Dan Graziano from the Star-Ledger for picking on Giambi's defense on Thursday. I apologize to Mr. Graziano for that. Giambi's play in the field was directly responsible for two runs yesterday and indirectly responsible for three others. With Tino at first, there's a solid chance that Posada and Cano don't get the opportunity to make their errors (well, a passed ball and an error), that the game is merely 2-0 after three, and that Wang throws 16 or more fewer pitches in the third and settles down, as he has a habit of doing.
That's a lot of ifs, but I'm just saying, don't sour on Chien-Ming because of what happened last night.
Something has to happen, and it has to happen today.
As for yesterday's game, I agree with Hank in that it is good to see some emotion. In the last game against the Brewers and last night's game the Yanks showed the most emotion I've seen from them in a while, so hopefully that is an encouraging sign.
RJ has to come up big today with lots of strike outs. He is the Yankees only hope at this point. The pitching has step up and stop the bleeding because the offense and defense simply can't right now.
You could see Jeter fuming, and I'm sure he was not doing it for the cameras.
I feel your pain. I live in Mexico and of course I don't have DirecTV Extra Innings so I got MLB.TV and paid for the season. Now I can't stop watching every night, every pitch.
It it an illness (or an addiction) that even a 2 for the last 12 strech can't cure, it will probably last the whole season, even when we are mathematically eliminated... At least I will consider not getting MLB.TV for next season (although after the winter I'll most probably get it).
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