THE SWEEP

THE BASEBALL SEASON IS OVER!  THIS AFTERNOON BUD SELIG ANNOUNCED THAT THE BALANCE OF THE SEASON WAS UNNECESSARY!  AFTER THEIR STUNNING SWEEP OF THE MORIBUND RED SOX THIS WEEKEND, THE YANKEES HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!  NO WORLD SERIES WILL BE NECESSARY AFTER THE YANKEES DEVASTATING PUMMELLING OF THEIR LOWLY RIVAL!

Or so the bleating has gone in the Yankee Universe.  And not without reason.  Yankee fans have every cause to beat their chests with pride.  The team showed its moxie with four gritty victories over their hated rivals.  The eight Red Sox victories earlier this year are now a thing of the past, and Boston must now struggle simply to win the Wild Card.

My friend and fellow Yankee fan Xword says I am never satisfied, and my younger son says if I don’t stop with the gloom, he will no longer watch games with me.  But I feel compelled to point out that, although this weekend marks a watershed in the 2009 season, the Yankees cannot yet declare themselves world champions.

1.  THE RED SOX STARTERS

The Yankees pummelled Boston starters for 11 runs in 23.1 innings, a rate of nearly one run every two innings.  Very impressive.  Unfortunately, 8 of those runs were scored in 3.1 innings off John Smoltz, who has since been designated for assignment.  Against Beckett, Lester, and Bucholtz, the three guys the Yanks are likely to see in the playoffs, they managed only 3 runs in 20 innings.  Yuck.  The Yankees won all three games because AJ, CC, and Andy came up huge.  But any weakening by our starters could have turned those three wins into three loses.  The Red Sox starters will be very dangerous in the playoffs.  Everybody should root hard for the Rangers to win the Wild Card.

2. JOBA

Joba stunk.  There is no other way to put it.  He walked 7 and couldn’t hold a 6 run lead.  His performance raises significant questions about his ability to contribute in the playoffs.  He has yet to prove he can come up big in a key situation.

3. THE VILLAGE IDIOT STILL REIGNS

Unfortunately, Joe Girardi still manages the Yankees.  And once again, he proved that he cannot handle the pressure of the late innings.  Girardi tried hard to give game four away.  With a 1 run lead going into the 8th inning, he inexplicably brought in Coke instead of Phil Hughes.  Now Hughes has been lights out, and has been the big reason the Yankee bullpen has turned around, so naturally, Girardi left him on the bench.  His excuse was that Hughes had pitched two days in a row, and he did not want to strain him.  Two days in a row?  Hughes faced one batter Friday night and one batter Saturday.  I fail to see how his career would have been jeopardized by one more inning, especially in a game against the Red Sox with a sweep on the line.  The bottom line is, Girardi is a panic manager.  He does not trust his players, and always has to make one more move.  Invariably, it is the wrong move.  So long as he is the manager, the Yankees are no lock to win.

All that aside, this was a great weekend.  If the Yankees can play this way in October, they will be unstoppable.

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