Glad to be of Service

So Joe Torre completed his goodwill trip to Tampa and came back satisfied enough to continue his services as Yankee manager. And of course we're glad to have him back as he is about the only thing in that organization that represents stability. Cashman is still recovering from the season and can't think straight yet. Leo Mazzone, like everyone else in the late stages of their MLB career, is looking for a final payday filled with riches sponsored by the Yankees and the Bombers never met a big name they didn't like. Maybe he can turn Jared Wright in to a major league pitcher again.

Read the novel BRONX CHEER by Chetan Davé at UltimateWriter.com

Sad to See Ya Go, Mel.

I suppose it was inevitable but Mel Stottlemyre will not be returning as the Yankees pitching coach. And though his association with the Bronx Bombers has spanned 5 decades, it seems this is the last we'll see of Mel around here. This is of course thanks to the Tampa half of the dysfunctional family which King George seems to rely heavily on. Mel deserves credit for the job he did this year in making 3 no-name pitchers into consistent major league starters seemingly out of the blue in Wang, Chacon, and Small. He delivered his parting shots at the Boss by saying he was unfairly criticized and could no longer deal with the verbal jabs Big Stein issues through his PR machine. He's been a pillar of consistensy and credibility during the Joe Torre era and now the focus is squarely on the team's manager and GM Cashman, who looks more sure every day to be leaving.

So that leaves Torre, who is masterfully leaving the media to write anti-George headlines for a few days before he gives his end of the season address. Keep it real, Joe.

Read the Novel BRONX CHEER by Chetan Davé

Winter Begins Early......Again

Alas another Yankee season has come to a bitter and disappointing end. This has been the case since 2000 so fans should be getting used to it right? Wrong. The free world knows what fans and Steinbrenner expect every year and without which the season is an outright failure. Pay Rod went to sleep after the Boston series and Gourmet Sheff was a mere shadow of his former self. When you score 3 runs 2 games in a row, you can't expect to win both games, let alone one. It's a shame how the Yanks bumbled away Game 2 and, with all due respect to the relentless Angel approach to playing baseball, then went out of their way to beat themselves during the rest of the series.

From the nuts and bolts department here are some observations from an innocuous fan. Don't swing at the first pitch every at bat! And could you please not wait until Game 5 to actually try to steal bases? The home run ball was non-existent for New York the whole series. It seemed like they all of a sudden had a different approach at the plate. You should have done what got you here, which in a batting sense was all of the above including home runs. It seemed like the Yankee hitters were tight and trying to hit that perfect single every time. And could someone please teach Giambino how to hit to the left side? That's what he should be doing all winter. Another winter must is to have Robinson Cano field a minimum 500 ground balls and 500 pop flies daily in addition to reviewing every bit of Willie Mays footage available to perfect the over the top basket catch.

So now we come to the most flammable and dangerous entity in Yankeeland. King George. Whose head will he call for? Will he make Torre a scapegoat? There is no reason to fire Torre by the way, he's not the one who couldn't hit and he guided them to the playoffs following an abysmal start, which I suppose he could be blamed for.

An interesting little tidbit came out of Pay Rod's post game comments. He observed that the Angels play a similar agressive style to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After having his quotes to listen to for the past 2 years I know that every word he says is rehearsed and measured. Hmm. A-Rod mentions Tampa Bay, the Yankees did not play aggressively enough, Sweet Lou, A-Rod's former manager, just LEFT Tampa Bay, Hmm....makes you wonder what Big Stein may end up doing. It's not out of the realm of possibility that players know what's happening in the front office. Speaking of which, Cashman should be kept. But the dice will roll in Tampa soon enough at the Yankee meetings where the Boss gathers his deputies and issues his orders. Stay tuned for yet another entertaining off-season.

Down and Up Weekend

It was a topsy turvy weekend as Randy proceeded to blow Game 3 and then the nailbiting victory in Game 4. The mood at Yankee Stadium was pretty somber Friday night after the guy brought in to specifically win in these situations wasn't even able to keep it close. There was a great deal of admiration, however, for the rally the Yankees made to actually take a brief 6-5 leaad. But after that it was all downhill again as the bullpen displayed its shortcomings. Where we were in Section 326 just under the left field foul pole, it was a lot of standing and sitting and standing back up again. The loudest cheers were for Aaron Small, who eventually ended up taking the loss.

Game 4 took Yankee fans back to the late nineties for one night as the pitching of Chacon, Rivera, and Leiter held the Angels in check while the hitting produced just enough runs to squeak out a victory. It seems Mariano is the only reliable pitcher out of that bullpen. We all held our breath as Al Leiter took the mound but he dlivered thankfully. So, it's back to Disneyland for Game 5 with a well rested Moose taking the hill against Game 1 loser Big Bart. Must see TV.

Come Rain or Randy

Yankee fans young and old are hoping that the rainy forecast for the Bronx area tonight for Game 3 against the Los Angeles-Irvine-Laguna Beach-Encinitas-Huntington Beach-Palm Springs-Orange County-Diamond Bar-we can't figure out our identity-Angels of Anaheim will not cause any disturbances in the delicate balance that is the the pitching psyche of Randy Johnson. A worst case scenario would probably involve pulling him off the mound and running him back out there through multiple rain delays. The Angels have a better middle relief so they would be less worried to face the downpours. It may be the only competitive advantage they have tonight against the Yanks.

From a fan perspective, it should prove to be a pretty challenging afternoon/evening/night with the rain slowing down the already dreadful Friday traffic, the NYC subway terror threat, and the impending rain delays that will turn the sold-out Stadium's concourses into a Niagra Falls caving experience. Don't forget to bring your deodorant and your panchos kids!

Read the novel 'BRONX CHEER' by Chetan Davé

One That Got Away

What were they thinking? After playing so well the past few weeks, it's a bit tough for fans to accept last night's 5-3 clunker loss to the Angels. Man, it would have been awesome to go up 2-0 heading into tomorrow night's game in the Bronx with the Big Unit on the mound. But hypotheticals are for us fans to ponder. I'm sure what Joe Torre is thinking is that now Shawn Chacon will be thrown into the action on Saturday. Let's just hope the Yanks don't have to take the caravan back to the left coast on Sunday.

For all the deserved praise that has been thrown towards Robinson Cano for his clutch hitting the first 2 games of this series, the guy has not held up as a fielder. It seems every game there's a key miscue which ends up haunting the team later on. I know he's a rookie but dude, we need to make those basic plays at 2B....please.

NOTES: We will be at the Stadium Friday night covering Game 3 so expect an entertaining weekend of posts.