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The Indians have taken a page out of the book of the Yankees of the late 90's. Pitching, defense, and a well-rounded offense is what wins pennants and it shouldn't be too hard to figure that out in the Yankee dugout and front office. Remember Don Mattingly, our beloved Captain and now Yankees bench coach? Yea, the same guy that saw just one postseason because it took too long into his career to figure out those three components are what carries you through the dog days of August and the stretch run of September all the way into the Playoffs of October.
The All-Star lineup that is the Bronx Bombers has been in a Playoff slump since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. From that point forward, the team is hitting a mere .223. That stat covers the last 15 postseason games for the Yankees and if you want a more recent sample, how about a pitiful .166 in their last five ALDS games. That five game stretch begins with an 8-hit outburst against Detroit in the 2006 ALDS and also includes eight combined hits against Cleveland so far this playoffs.
When's the last time you remember back-to-back hits by the Yankees in a postseason game? Yea, me neither. How about this crazy statistic: The Yankees have only had back-to-back hits twice in the last five postseason games. Both times, who else but "The Captain" Derek Jeter was involved in both of those short "rallies".
Now it seems as they rely on the homerun as their source of offense or they're shutdown. There's no manufacturing or clawing out a couple of runs, not with this club. I applaud Joe Torre, even though I haven't been a fan of his since 2004, for trying to hit-and-run once today when Garko made a nice play to keep Jeter at second and get Abreau at first. If that ball gets through, you have runners on the corners and threating to open up a three or four run lead.
But when you can only muster three hits like today (one being a homer), situations to try and manufacture runs are minimal. The Yankees can't even get that bloop single down the right field line anymore, but it seems every team that takes on the Yankees can do it.
Back when the Yankees were winning four World Championships in five seasons, they had guys that hit for average and handled the bat well. Chuck Knoblauch seemed to put wood on the ball more times than not and Scotty Brosius was able to do his job when it was his turn. It's a cliche you hear many times in this game as a hitter. "Do your job" and "You have a job to do everytime at the plate." Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill knew their jobs as well. Your job is not to get the big hit all the time. It's finding anyway to get on base to leadoff an inning, it's moving runners over when you have an opportunity, and driving a ball to the outfield when there's a runner on third and less than two outs.
Sometimes just a lazy flyball to the outfield is good enough to get your job done. In Game One, Jorge Posada had jobs to do when he came to the plate in the first and fifth innings and runners in scoring position with less than two outs. Result: Jorge didn't even put the ball in play.
Matsui hasn't hit a ball well in the playoffs since Pedro went to the National League. A-Rod, yes he is struggling again in October, but come on, everyone with the N-Y on their hat looks awful at the plate right now so you can't place all the blame on him.
These aren't the days when you felt confident anyone in the lineup will deliver the clutch hit to start a rally, continue a rally, or cap a rally. No longer can you be counting on the Yankees lineup to embrace "their job" each and every plate appearance.
As for pitching, no longer does the Yankees rotation consist of more than one guy you'd feel good about giving the ball to in a deciding Game Seven (or Game Five in the ALDS). Andy Pettitte and that's about it. Wang is showing very little mental toughness the last month and a half where his sinker had no bite as he leaves nearly every pitch up and over the plate. Of course, we know Clemens is aging and inconsistent, and the Moose, well he has been rather ineffective for much of the season. Don't even get me started on this bullpen because outside of Joba and Mo, there's no one that you can trust to give the ball in a hold situation.
It's a recipe for disappointment in the playoffs. These are not the typical Yankees teams we fell in love with in Joe Torre's first seven years on the job. Sitting back and waiting for the big homerun is no way to win games in October. With their backs against the wall, it's time for the players to play one inning at a time, one at-bat at a time, and one pitch at a time. They've got a day off to clear their heads, shake off the rust, and refocus themselves. Hopefully it's not too late as they return to The Stadium on Sunday in a must-win situation.
The All-Star lineup that is the Bronx Bombers has been in a Playoff slump since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. From that point forward, the team is hitting a mere .223. That stat covers the last 15 postseason games for the Yankees and if you want a more recent sample, how about a pitiful .166 in their last five ALDS games. That five game stretch begins with an 8-hit outburst against Detroit in the 2006 ALDS and also includes eight combined hits against Cleveland so far this playoffs.
When's the last time you remember back-to-back hits by the Yankees in a postseason game? Yea, me neither. How about this crazy statistic: The Yankees have only had back-to-back hits twice in the last five postseason games. Both times, who else but "The Captain" Derek Jeter was involved in both of those short "rallies".
Now it seems as they rely on the homerun as their source of offense or they're shutdown. There's no manufacturing or clawing out a couple of runs, not with this club. I applaud Joe Torre, even though I haven't been a fan of his since 2004, for trying to hit-and-run once today when Garko made a nice play to keep Jeter at second and get Abreau at first. If that ball gets through, you have runners on the corners and threating to open up a three or four run lead.
But when you can only muster three hits like today (one being a homer), situations to try and manufacture runs are minimal. The Yankees can't even get that bloop single down the right field line anymore, but it seems every team that takes on the Yankees can do it.
Back when the Yankees were winning four World Championships in five seasons, they had guys that hit for average and handled the bat well. Chuck Knoblauch seemed to put wood on the ball more times than not and Scotty Brosius was able to do his job when it was his turn. It's a cliche you hear many times in this game as a hitter. "Do your job" and "You have a job to do everytime at the plate." Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill knew their jobs as well. Your job is not to get the big hit all the time. It's finding anyway to get on base to leadoff an inning, it's moving runners over when you have an opportunity, and driving a ball to the outfield when there's a runner on third and less than two outs.
Sometimes just a lazy flyball to the outfield is good enough to get your job done. In Game One, Jorge Posada had jobs to do when he came to the plate in the first and fifth innings and runners in scoring position with less than two outs. Result: Jorge didn't even put the ball in play.
Matsui hasn't hit a ball well in the playoffs since Pedro went to the National League. A-Rod, yes he is struggling again in October, but come on, everyone with the N-Y on their hat looks awful at the plate right now so you can't place all the blame on him.
These aren't the days when you felt confident anyone in the lineup will deliver the clutch hit to start a rally, continue a rally, or cap a rally. No longer can you be counting on the Yankees lineup to embrace "their job" each and every plate appearance.
As for pitching, no longer does the Yankees rotation consist of more than one guy you'd feel good about giving the ball to in a deciding Game Seven (or Game Five in the ALDS). Andy Pettitte and that's about it. Wang is showing very little mental toughness the last month and a half where his sinker had no bite as he leaves nearly every pitch up and over the plate. Of course, we know Clemens is aging and inconsistent, and the Moose, well he has been rather ineffective for much of the season. Don't even get me started on this bullpen because outside of Joba and Mo, there's no one that you can trust to give the ball in a hold situation.
It's a recipe for disappointment in the playoffs. These are not the typical Yankees teams we fell in love with in Joe Torre's first seven years on the job. Sitting back and waiting for the big homerun is no way to win games in October. With their backs against the wall, it's time for the players to play one inning at a time, one at-bat at a time, and one pitch at a time. They've got a day off to clear their heads, shake off the rust, and refocus themselves. Hopefully it's not too late as they return to The Stadium on Sunday in a must-win situation.
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