THE CURSE REVERSED

I don't believe in curses, Bamino or otherwise, but that doesn't stop me from thinking that those who do ought to at least respect the logic of the curse when speculating as to its origins.



There seems to be a view in Chowderville and its propaganda machine (ESPN) that the Red Sox reversed the curse of the Bambino in 2004, when they won 4 straight to take the ALCS. But if the curse were still in effect to that point, it stands to reason, then the feast itself would mhave been rendered impossible from the start. To suggest otherwise is to confuse cause and effect, the lifting of the curse with the proof of its having been lifted.



Others have pointed to the acquisition of AROD as the point of reversal and I think this is closer to the truth. AROD is after all as giant a disappointment ans the Babe was an unqualified boon. The Babe held the record for World series homers for 35 years until the Mick broke it in 1964 (interestingly, a Series that spelled the true end of the Yankees dynasty circa 1924-1964 (or Babe to Gehrig to Dimaggio to Berra to Mantle to Maris). AROD of course is the very reversal of that clutch proficiency--the incredible shrinking postseason performer. But still the logic isn't quite right. After all the curse started with the Yankees taking a star from the Sox; it should be reversed with the Sox taking one form the Yanks, or the Yanks not taking one from the Sox, i. e. failing to capitalize on the kind of opportunity that got the curse rolling.



And now we can see exactly where the curse got reversed. In 2002, the Red Sox grew fed up with the one modern day ballplayer who rivals Babe Ruth in hitting for average, hitting with power, hitting in the clutch combined with being a clown, being colorful, and being beloved for both. I refer of course to Manny Ramirez, whose signature epithet, it's Manny being Manny, could just as easily read it's Manny channeling the Babe. Now the Red Sox did something arguably as stupid as selling the Babe to finance No No Nanette. They put Manny on waivers with absolutely no intention of pulling him off if they could get someone to pick up his 18mil per year salary. It was widely understood at that point that only the Yankees would be willing to throw that kind of money around and Manny made his willingness to go to the Yankees no secret. For mere money, albeit a lot of money, the Yankees secured the Babe and became the most successful franchise in sports history. Fro mere money, albeit a lot of money, they could have secured Manny Ramirez and extended that 29th century success story into the new millenium. But they failed to secure the man who, more than Mantle or Dimaggio or Gehrig or Jackson is the heir to Babe Ruth as the premiere idiot savant hitter of his time, a man who doesn't know enough or care enough to feel pressure and so doesn't know enough or care enough to let his prodigious talents down. The Yankees let the Red Sox, no made the Red Sox keep the new Babe and made possible the reverse of the curse. As invincibly stupid as they had become, the Red Sox still looked to dump Manny for AROD and insead of letting them do it, the Yankees redoubled their error by swooping in and snatching up a man whose all around abilities as a ballplayers are exceeded only by his all around debilities as a loser. Of course had the Yankees taken the original gift, or rather the Ruthian sequel, the Red Sox would have had nothing to barter for AROD, the Yankees would have felt no need to pursue him, and he would still be putting up outrageous numbers in Arlington or some other backwater where nobody expects you to win or blames you for losing.



The Yankees reversed the curse themselves by failing to recognize in the Ranirez salary/attitude dump the second coming of the Ruth sale and all that went with it. Since then, it has been the Red Sox who get the decent players that just seem to fit in so well, the Orlando Cabreras, the Mike Lowells, the Bill Muellers. These are the modern day equivalents of a
Scott Brosius, Oscar Gamble, Bucky Dent, Mariano Duncan, the effects of a charmed baseball life.
Or they would be if curses really existed.

WITH APOLOGIES TO ALANIS MORRISETTE

Everyone is still talking about the Yankees weakness in the starting rotation, which the huge injury to Wang has so magnified. but if you look at the times the bats let down the starters just this month, you are looking at the difference between a first place club, believe it or not, and what they are (i.e. bums). Giese should have won one he lost, Rasner two, and Mussina tonight. They are currently 5 games over 500. Switch those games and they are 13 over and tied with the Sox if not the Rays. In the game they lost for 'rasner in cincy, they put 18 men on base and brought not a single one home, thereby confirming themselves as world class gag-meisters. They just lost two games in a row, in which they only got 1 run and 4 hits in each against 2 of the crappiest pitchers in baseball. The Red sox are way overrated this year, but at least they eat guys like Feldman and Perez for breakfast, instead of choking on the opportunity. And once again you hear nothing from the new Joe but the same old. "well, we had our chances..." You know, I don't expect him to rip the likes of Geise or Ponson or even Moilina or Betemit. But when you let your stars let the team down in the clutch night after night, I expect him to light a fire under them, the burning sensation of shame. Right now, he's acting as torpid as the old Joe in his last days.
Here's the weird thing: if the Yankees' bats were as good as advertised, they could probably make it to the playoffs in a year when parity reigns in the AL. And if they made it to the playoffs, they'd be in a better position to win it all than at any time since at least 2004, maybe 2002. They would at last have a power number 1 (Joba), a battle tested and suddenly rejuvenated number 2 (Pettite) and a fully rested number 3 (Wang). On the other hand, as things currently stand, no improvement in their supposedly awful starting pitching would make much difference. Santana would probably be 7-7 just as he is with the Mets, and I don't think sabathia would fare all that much better. This is lppking more and more like the lost season it was always cracked up to be, but the names on the futility are Cano and Jeter, Posada and Abreu, Molina and, most of all AROD, who has quietly continued his penchant for getting the hits when they need them least and, as the reigning superstar, has cast the entire team in that mold.

THIS IS JUST SICKENING

The Yankees split a 4 game series at home against the single worst road team in baseball. and once again, it came down to the fact that these are the anti-Yankees, a team that is at its worst when things are on the line. After another miraculous performance by a man with literally no stuff at all, the Yankees had a chance to win in the 8th and again in the 9th and failed to bring anyone home. Two lousy runs against mediocre Royal pitching is just plain unacceptable. And look Matsui is near the top of the baatting table, so is Damon, so is AROD, Giambi is on fire etc and still they don't score whe n they need to. And now a sad and intractable contradiction has become all too clear. I've been saying the Yankees need to play small ball for years, but now that they have a manager willing to do it--Giardi sacrificed at the perfect time in the eighth, they have a team so overtaken by therir own gag reflex that they can't cash the opportunites that brand of baseball survives. After the game, Giardi said, with a futility that recalled that other Joe, "We had our chances and we just kept battling." Translation: we just kept creating opportunites for ourselves to fail, and fail we did.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW,

this team really is that bad. Despite Giambi improving his batting average by 100 points and Canoeimproving his by 65, despite Damon going from 250 to 320, and despite the return of AROD and Posada, this team still can't reach the 500 mark. Why is that? Two reasons.



1.There is no clutch in this team. The RISP number continues dreadful. They got 15 hits in a 6-5 loss to Minnesota and it took them 12 hits to get 5 runs the other night. No team does less with more than the Yankees offensively. A comparative sabremetric can pretty reliably tell you how clutch your team it is. It is the reverse of what we called the "differential" in past years. Take your BA, OBP and OPS with no RISP and with RISP and compare the numbers. This is the everday equivalent of hitting in May vs. hitting in September, or hitting in the regular season vs. hitting in the playoffs. When you look at how poorly the Yankees have fared in this comparison over the past three years, it is no wonder they can't advance in the playoffs. I used to think this was a function of having too few contact hitters. But at least 2/3 of this lineup would qualify. Tasking their cue, as teams usually do, from their reigning "MVP", they are simply awful clutch performers. It is interesting to note that the heart of this lineup has four stars and 2 sometime superstars (Abreu, Matsui, AROD, Giambi),who are all veterans past thirty, who have not a single ring among them, who are all likely to retire ringless in fact. That says something about the temper of this lineup. So when you hear the Yankee players interviewed after a loss, saying as they alway do, that they had their opportunities, please believe them. They did. And then do the necessary translation. "We choked--again."

Update proving my point. Last night the Yankees got 9 hits, three of them doubles and scored just one run, wasting a great outing from Rasner. They don't make productive outs, they don't move runners, they don't come through. Simple as that. They are talented, but they suck!



2. This team has perhaps the worst GM in baseball. The only time the Yanks look at all hopeful this year is when they are playing the Mariners at the Stadium, where the visitors are even more hapless than usual. the last time this happened the Yanks had a legitmate chance to build around that homestand and fashion a ten game winning streak, the kind of run that can't really kindle a season. They didn't, of course, and one man was the reason. That man was the latest addition to the Yankees bullpen, the latest free agent RP signing-disaster. I bring you, in the tradition of Felix Heredia, Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Proctor, the other guy from the Reds whose name I have repressed he was so fucking bad, Cris Britton, Luis Vizcaino, even Tom Gordon...yes its Latroy Hawkins. Rasner goes to the seventh giving up one run, Hawkins gives up three in one inning and they blow game one to the Orioles. The next night, Hawkins enters in the tenth with a one run lead, gives up to in a third of an inning, and they blow game 2 to the Orioles. Now allergic to Hawkins, Giardi leaves Pettite in an inng too long and he gives up the tying run to Minnesota, the 8th is now Farnsworth's and he gives up the winning run. This is the bullpen that the Cashboy built. This is his legacy.

Update proving my point. Giardi now has so little faith in his bullpen that in the 7th inning of a 6-6 game, with the bases loaded and Guillen, who has already homered at the plate, he leaves in Pettite, even though he's already thrown 110 pitches and hasn't been sharp at all. The 111th is a grand slam to make it a 10-6 game. The Yankees are about to lose their second in a row to the Royals at the Stadium--the Royals, mind you, who just finished losing 11 in a row on the road, including being swept at Fenway.

This team is fucking pathetic, and Giardi shouldn't wait for Hank to say so. He should rip them publically for the overproiced underachievers they are, he and do it now. He should make it clear we're not dealing with your father's Joe anymore.

And since Hank is making noise about re-signing Cashboy, Giardi should make it clear he won't stay on under the current General Managership. There's no reason he should have to fight his own pitching staff for the next three years. As a former catcher, I'm certain he recognizes just how inept Cashboy has always been in evaluating pitching talent.