NITPICKING

I am about to nitpick.  The Yankees have won ten out of twelve, finishing a highly successful homestand within reach of first place.  No Yankee fan should be complaining.

But complain I will.  My sons tell me I am obsessed with Joe Girardi’s inadequacies, and that I should give it a rest, but I can’t help myself.  Today’s loss to the Phillies featured yet another example of Girardi’s incessant need to overmanage.

In order to appreciate what happened today, we must flashback to yesterday’s come from behind victory.  It was the ninth inning.  The Yankees were down by two, but Damon singled, and after Teixeira went out, Arod tied the game with a dramatic home run.

That brought up Cano.  Cano singled, and promptly stole second on Brad Lidge.  I emphasize that Cano stole on Lidge.  Chris Coste made a perfect throw to second, but Cano had gotten such a great jump on Lidge that Coste had no chance.  Melky followed with a single, and the Yanks went home happy.

Fast forward to the ninth inning of today’s game.  With the Yanks one run down, again Cano singled, but this time Girardi decided to show he was in control of the game.  He just had to make one more move, so he sent Ramiero Pena in to run for Cano.  Pena promptly stole second.  This time Carlos Ruiz was behind the plate, and Ruiz is a better catcher than Coste, but once again, it was the jump Pena got on Lidge that made the difference, the same jump Cano got the day before.  Melky then stroked his customary clutch hit, tying the game.

All this was well and good, but now Cano was out of the game, and the light hitting Pena was batting fifth behind Arod.  In the tenth inning, Jeter and Damon singled, and Teixeira hit into a double play, putting Jeter at third with two out and Arod up, to be followed not by Cano, but by Pena.  Well, that was a no brainer for Charlie Manuel.  He ordered Arod walked intentionally.  Pena then popped up, and the Phils went on to win the game in the 11th.

We will never know if Cano could have stolen that base in the ninth, or whether he would have brought in Jeter in the tenth, but he has good speed, and is a veteran currently batting over .300.  Pena is a weak hitting rookie.  Cano certainly would have had a better chance of winning the game in the tenth, but Girardi’s move in the ninth inning eliminated that possibility.

You can argue that Pena is faster than Cano, and that without Pena’s stolen base, the Yanks would have lost in nine.  But Cano is not exactly Jose Molina on the basepaths, and he had stolen successfully off Lidge the day before.  Maybe Joe Torre would have made the same move, but I doubt it.  Torre believed in letting his guys play; Girardi always has to make his managerial moves the key to the game.  In doing so, he once again made one move too many.

In the past, I have blamed Girardi for loses resulting from his overmanaging.  I can’t do so in this case.  But his action removing Cano once again demonstrates his fundamental insecurity, an insecurity that leads to his incessant meddling.  If he fouls up enough games, the Yanks may once again miss out on the playoffs.

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