I stand by my remark that this team lacks leadership. Witness the 2004 ALCS debacle or the 2003 WS.
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2003: Marlins got hot pitching

2004: Sox shut down bats, Yankee pitching (Brown/Vazquez) collapsed

“Leadership” had nothing to do with it. Anything can happen in a short series, and is magnified as such. You think 2003 was the first time Manuel left Pedro in too long? Last year, the Sox beat the Yanks when they had a healthy Brown and Vazquez.

Chuck, I have no idea what you’re ranting about. My remark was a take off on Jonathan Bradford Sterling’s use of ‘gutty, gritty Yankees’, which this team has certainly not been since the 1996-2001 group was basically broken up due to age, etc.

I stand by my remark that this team lacks leadership. Witness the 2004 ALCS debacle or the 2003 WS.

“Gutty, gritty Yankees”? Give me a break. Check their record against Anaheim / LAAAAAAA – it isn’t much better than this. The Angels have beaten the tar out of the Yankees for the past bunch of years – even when the Yankees were the “gutty, gritty” Yankees. It has nothing to do with leadership, and everything to do with two major facts: 1) the Yankee pitching, at its best, is mediocre and frequently worse than that; and 2) the Yankee defense is the worst defense I have ever seen in baseball above the American Legion-league ball. Give the ’98 Yanks the current pitching staff, have them play defense the way they do now, and they wouldn’t win 95 games, much less 114.

Some stats: 22nd in WHIP, 25th in BAA, 23rd in OPS against, 22nd in ERA. How is being “gutty & gritty” and playing with “leadership” going to help that? Bring O’Neal back. Maybe he can pitch. Boggs has a mean knuckler – does Brosius? I will agree with Aaron Small, Kevin Brown and Al Leiter are no Andy Pettitte, David Cone & Roger Clemens – that’s our problem.

“Gutty, gritty.” I’m tired of hearing that. “Lacks leadership.” That’s even worse. This team is OLD, plays no defense and can’t pitch. The Angels can pitch and can play defense. That’s why they are winning. This year’s Yankee team is not going to fare well against teams that can pitch well and play defense – Anaheim / LAAAAAAA, Minnesota, Chicago, etc.

The only thing going right on a regular basis is the hitting. Even with Bernie in the lineup, the Yankees are #1 in runs scored, #2 in home runs, #2 in OBP, #4 in slugging, #1 in OPS and #2 in RC. Bernie has ALWAYS hit into a lot of DPs – he’s also been one of the worst baserunners of the Yankees’ modern era. He’s still better than Tony Womack, Bubba Crosby and Melky Cabrera (although the jury’s still out on Cabrera).

Sorry to come on strong – I didn’t mean for this to be a 20-minute post attack on Don. I just hate reading “gutty, gritty” Yankees stories about teams who “lack leadership.”

And a team with serious starting p[b]itching problems.

As well, this isn’t the gutty, gritty Yankees of the O’Neill era. Until they show some guts, against an Angels bullpen as one example, rather than moaning about it, what we saw the past several seasons is what we have. Not enough leadership amongst the players.

And Bernie has killed many potential rallies. Its not just his CF play that’s a problem any more.

the ebb and flow of a baseball season