It all comes down to this.
Well, not really, but the Yankees are about to embark upon their biggest nine-game stretch of the season.
Nine games against three teams -- Kansas City, Toronto and Baltimore. Three teams that are a combined 15 games under .500 (174-189). That's the good news. The bad news is the Yanks are a combined 13-15 against those teams this year.
A lot of people are ready to bury this team and really I can't blame them. The Yanks are playing like a mediocre club these days -- poor pitching, sloppy defense, horrible situational hitting and questionable baserunning. These guys are maddeningly inconsistent! One day the pitching is sold and the bats are silent. The next, it's the pitching that fails and the offense gets some hits.
But some people want to make excuses. Yes, injuries have been a killer this year, but blaming them for the team's subpar play is loser talk. But
Hank Steinbrenner seems very comfortable using them as a crutch. This news is a few days old, but here's a little snippet from the Marlboro Man in case you missed it:
"I think it's very simple: We've been devastated by
injuries. No team I've ever seen in baseball has been decimated like
this. It would kill any team. Imagine the Red Sox
without [Josh] Beckett and [Jon] Lester. Pitching is 70 percent of the
game. Wang won 19 games two straight years. Chamberlain became the most
dominating pitcher in baseball. You can't lose two guys like that.
"It's not making excuses. It's reality."
I don't want to hear it. Tyler Clippard, Matt DeSalvo, Kei Igawa, Chase Wright and Jeff Karstens all made appearances in the rotation last season. Mike Mussina had an awful season and Carl Pavano made a quick cameo. They overcame it.
Maybe Hank is covering for Joe Girardi. After all, Hank said he thought
G.I. Joe was going to turn into "one of the greatest managers in the history of the game."
I doubt that Hank would be this unforgiving if Joe Torre was still at the helm. And I'm tired of Boy George comparing everything to Boston. We're not on the playground here, Hank.
Anyway, the season isn't over (last time I checked) and even though the Yanks find themselves 9.5 games behind the Rays in the AL East and 6.5 games in back of the Red Sox for the wild card, they still have a chance to pull themselves back into the race. The Yankees have six games remaining with both the Rays and the Red Sox and a 7-2 stretch (minimum) against these three teams could make those contests meaningful.
Maybe I have my head in the clouds. Maybe I don't see the handwriting on the wall. And even though my shovel is ready and waiting, I'm not ready to bury this team.
But the time to act is now.
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You got me going. Get the Rocky music started and let's play some ball!