May 30th, 2007 → 5:09 pm @ Seth Mnookin // No Comments
There’ve been a couple of things going on:
1. I moved this weekend.
2. The place I moved into came with all of the previous owner’s crap.
3. I can be superstitious. (Look what happened to Wake in his next two starts after I posted this piece.)
That said, not even I am so self-centered to think that the Sox’s 14.5 lead over the Yankees could be affected by little ol’ me. (Think about this: the Sox could lose eight straight games, and the Yankees could win eight straight cames, and the lead would still be 6.5 games. Yes, that is definitely incredible.)
I’m also not sure what to add about this recent run. I fully expect the Sox to return back to earth, but even then I think their place in this world will be pretty lofty. It could be a very fun year.
I am, however, willing to weigh in on the Yankees. The last five games have shown a number of good reasons why the Yankees, while undoubtedly playing below their true talent level at the moment, may be in for a world of pain from here on out. Without further ado:
1. Joe Torre’s stupefyingly stupid bullpen management has finally come crashing down on his shoulders. I’m on record as saying that Torre, along with Schill and Papi, deserves credit for the 2004 ALCS: if Torre hadn’t ridden Tom Gordon into the ground, he might have been able to do something besides throw batting practice when the season was on the line. This year, with everything going to hell, Torre’s been even worse than usual. (Anyone wonder what would happen if you combined Dusty Baker and Torre? Just asking.) He very likely cost the Yankees two games this past weekend alone: when he yanked a cruising Mike Mussina in favor of a tanked Scott Proctor, who proceeded to cough up a double and three consecutive walks…two of which brought in a run; and when when he yanked Tyler Clippard after 76 pitches, a move which simultaneously continued to drive the bullpen into the ground and moved the game quickly out of reach.
2. The team’s reaction to said bullpen management is bubbling up. After Clippard (who looks like he’s, at most, a sophomore in high school) was pulled, even he thought it okay to knock Torre to the press: “I never really had a terrible inning. I never got in a bad rut. I was very, very surprised. You’re a starter and your team is in the game. Yeah, I want the ball.” Mr. Clippard, welcome to the Bronx. And this is just a couple of week’s after Proctor joked that his four-game suspension was the only way he was going to get any rest. “They can wear me out pretty heavy before that,” he said, while waiting for his appeal to go through. Indeed they can. Just look at last weekend for the results.
3. The impending arrival of Roger “Mercenary” Clemens. Several weeks back — when the Yankees looked like they were scuffling as opposed to imploding — Kyle Farnsworth got all uppity about Clemens’ “family” clause. I’m with Farnsworth on this one: when you’re paying a guy more than any player in the history of the game, it’s not too much to ask that he actually, you know, show up. Before the Clemens signing, most everyone on the team gave lip service to the notion that whatever Clemens did wasn’t going to bother them. That might have even been true…if the team had been winning. That’s no longer the case. And if Clemens has a shitty start (or three), you can bet sure as Manny will end the year with somewhere between 30 and 40 HRs that something is going to go down in that clubhouse.
Anyway, there you have it. Now don’t blame me if the Sox don’t win every game for the rest of the season…
Post Categories: 2007 Season & Joe Torre & Red Sox & Yankees
gary
17 years ago
Clippard looks like Clay Aiken. Just sayin’…
kinshane
17 years ago
If the Sox play .500 ball for the remainder of the season, they will still have 92 wins. Dogs and cats, living together…mass hysteria.
Mr. Furious
17 years ago
Um, think Clemens would have picked NY if he new they’d be 14 out when he came back?
Me neither.
djarm18
17 years ago
The Yanks win last night in Toronto was interesting. People will jump on A Rod for another “bush league” tactic but it happens all the time. The Yanks showed some life in that game.
That said, the bullpen is garbage, Torre’s game management and leadership during this period is suspect and the team has a host of distractions (Clemens, Giambi, Stray-Rod). Not pitching Clemens at Fenway seems like the organization doesn’t have the courage of its convictions.
Yes, the Yanks will get to beat up on the American League West and the Sox may start losing a few. But that’s what a 14 game lead allows for, right?
I’ve said it before, this team has a swagger and confidence similar to the Sox ballclub in August of ’04 and throughout that storied fall run. I am looking forward to them maintaining this intensity and winning play.
rln2433
17 years ago
djarm18:
Yankees are not going to be beating up on the AL West. They just got swept at home by the Angels and didn’t dominate Mariners either. Oakland’s pitching gives them problems as well.
By the time their staff is in place they will be into late July/early August. The Sox will have made adjustments to their roster with some trades or Lester being called up. The WC contenders will be active as well.
Juice Boy is now on the DL with a significant foot injury…
HFXBOB
17 years ago
I won’t be surprised if the Yankees give us a hard time this weekend. No matter how badly they’re going, when they play the Red Sox the intensity level is so high that they it can temporarily make them forget how much chaos they’re in. But that aside when you look at how the two teams are made up right now it’s clear that Theo has really been kicking Cashman’s butt. And I hope that Theo has abandoned any thoughts, if he ever really had them, of going after a certain shortstop turned third baseman who might be opting out of his contract at the end of the year. In spite of the numbers that guy puts up, it becomes more and more obvious that there is SOMETHING REALLY WRONG with him. He might even be having a nervous breakdown or something like that. The circus in pinstripes in getting weirder by the day, and Roger isn’t even there yet.
schiraldi
17 years ago
Hey, what a surprise! It’s early June and Wakefield’s ERA is at 4.24, almost exactly his 4.28 career ERA. And he’s 5-6, slightly worse than his fifteen year slightly better than .500 record. Yeah, Jayson Stark was totally wrong in not naming him one of his pitchers you’d pay to watch. Perhaps there’s a reason he’s 40 and never made an all-star team: He’s not that good. Maybe Wakefield is the one who should ‘suck it.’
HFXBOB
17 years ago
schiraldi, I understand why you’re feeling a little nasty about Wakefield this morning. One thing is clear: his knuckler presents no puzzle whatsoever to the Yankees. And there’s something else that’s been haunting me about Wakefield. It’s the theory that reader MSGiro put forth in response to the same May 11 ‘Jayson Stark’ post. MSGiro has noticed that Wakefield seems to be lights out in Spring and Fall, but gets shelled in the Summer. MSGiro thinks that it may all be due to the effect of water vapor on the knuckler. The more humidity, the less it dances. Sure enough, last night the temperature was 82 degrees and it was obviously humid after a rain delay. So I checked back a bit through Wakefield’s games this year and the first one where he really stunk was May 15 against the Tigers in Fenway. The temperature was 80 degrees. When you consider how the knuckler works, dipping and darting on air currents, doesn’t this seem very possible?
I like Tim Wakefield, but I don’t like the idea of relying a pitcher who’s at the mercy of the elements and whose worst games come against the Yankees.
rog
17 years ago
Thanks for jinxing the team, Seth.
The Feeding the Monster Blog — In which the author discusses Boston, the Red Sox, the media, and very occasionally popular music. » When it rains, it pours…diarrhea
17 years ago
[…] Yup – I’m still trying to recover from my move, but I’m glad yesterday’s game at least showed that I didn’t jinx the Sox with this post. (I know: as I write this it’s 4-0 Yankees in the top of the fifth. But let’s not forget about yesterday.) […]