It's a sad day for Yankee fans as Joe Torre turned down a pathetic 1 year contract offer by the New York Yankees. Apparently the old boss and the "new blood" of Hank and Hal didn't see Torre's impact. However, the fans did. Torre turned the team around from a dismal early 90's team to be a power house in the AL East. With 12 straight postseason appearances, he led the team with pride and dignity. Now, because the players can't hit (or pitch) in October (except for the homegrown talent), he's at fault? How about the Steinbrenner's decision's to bring back Clemens (waste), bring in Carl Pavano (waste), bring in Giambi (started off ok, but he's been a waste), etc. In my opinion, he should have been offered a 3 or 4 year contract with incentives. Not a 1 year. What a slap in the face.

 

Although I'm a Yankees fan and Mattingly will likely be the coach next year, I wish the team would tank just to show the young boys their bad decision. It's great that Mattingly will get his chance (I'm probably the biggest Donnie Baseball fan), but it could of waited a few years. Now he's going to be under unneeded pressure.

 

Hank, Hal, and the rest of the Yankee front office, I hope you're happy. I hope you realize that you screwed up and instead of next year's focus on the All Star Game and it being the last year at Yankee Stadium, it's going to be about your completely, ridiculous decision.

Well, last night the New York Yankees lost and are out of the playoffs early losing in the Divisional Series for the third year in a row. The big question now facing the Yankees is around Joe Torre's future. But is that fair? Let's evaluate a few things:

 

So no, it is not fair. Joe Torre prepared the Yankees for the playoffs but ultimately it's the players that need to deliver. The reason they lost was because of the veteran players. With the exception of Damon and Pettite, the rest of the team failed. The young guys were the ones that delivered. Look at Cano -- he had 2 home runs and batted .333. Shelly Duncan, in limited play, went 2 for 4. Duncan had almost as many hits as Jeter and Matsui and had only 4 at bats. Joba Chamberlain pitched pretty well despite giving up 1 run in Game 3 and 1 in Game 2 while battling bugs. Phil Hughes came up in relief of Roger Clemens and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings keeping the Yankees in the game and allowing them to win that Game 3. Cashman and Torre both pushed these young guys. These guys were the ones jumping around, giving high fives, and providing clutch performances down the stretch. So, Torre and Cashman, your jobs would be safe if I had the money the Boss-man does. George, please do the right thing and resign Torre and keep Cashman. If you do, you will be rewarded. Remember back to the stretch of series victories you had. The young guys won it for you (Jeter, Pettite, Rivera, etc).

It's been awhile since I've posted to my blogs. I've been very busy lately with numerous projects and haven't had the time. Since last I've posted, the SWB Yankees made it to the postseason and lost. The NY Yankees made it to the postseason as the wildcard. And, the Miami Dolphins started out 0-4. But, putting that all aside, nothing matters in the next month+ but the MLB playoffs. Here are my first round predictions:

 

My early prediction for the World Series is that the winner will come from the American League and will most likely be the winner of the Yankees/Indians series.

Well, the NY Yankees called up Phil Hughes early and what happens? He injures himself as he was in the middle of pitching a no-hitter in the seventh. What a joke! Who's getting called up next?

It's official. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons are no more. The team, now affiliated with the New York Yankees will be called the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The official announcement can be read at http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061212&content_id=148360&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp. Visit http://www.swbyankees.com today for more information about the team.

It's difficult to lose anyone. It's especially difficult to lose a "goodwill embasador" like Cory Lidle. At approximately 2:30pm today, a plane that Cory Lidle was piloting crashed into a 50 story building in New York City. It's a complete shock when a tragedy like this occurs. It's really shocking because of the circumstance. How often do we see anyone crash into a building in NYC. Terrorism came to mind. And yet, it had nothing to do with terrorism. Really, there's not much more anyone can say except for prayers for the family of Cory Lidle.

 

For more information, visit NBC at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15223650/?GT1=8618

Although the papers and early reports give every indication that Joe Torre will be fired or forced to resign, I personally think he should stay -- and so do the other Yankee fans I've talked to in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, the new location for the Yankees AAA baseball team. Critics are playing too big a part in the Yankees failure lately putting the pressure on the team that makes "over 200 million dollars." Guarenteed if Alex Rodriguez made 5 million a year instead of 25 million, everyone would say that he's playing excellent. However, they expect that if you make 25 million that every year you need to hit .340, 150 RBIs, and 50+ home runs. Question is, how many teams out there wouldn't mind having A-Rod's .290 average, 120 RBIs, and 35 home runs he hit this year? It's just different because its the Yankees. The Yankees that haven't shown any let up during this post season included Derek Jeter who hit over .500, Jorge Posada who has been unbelievable this year, and Bobby Abreu who has shown that even though he's playing in New York and making a decent paycheck that he can still deliver.

On any day its tough to lose, but in the playoffs, it's even worse. Today the Yankees blew the series and lost 8 to 3 to the Detroit Tigers as the Tigers move on to play Oakland. The Yankees hit horrible all series. Hopefully Joe Torre and the rest of the Yankees will regroup, build up the pitching core, and prepare for next season. For the complete analysis on today's game, visit http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=261007106.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers last night 4-0. Marc Andre Fleury had saved 40 shots on goal to become the #1 star of the night. Next up is the Red Wings on Saturday.

Yankees will now play Game 3 tonight in Detroit tied 1 game a piece. Tonight Randy Johnson will face Kenny Rogers in a decisive game 3. Who ever wins this game will definately have the advantage tomorrow when Bonderman (DET) faces Jaret Wright (NYY).

Wednesday night was a big night for the Yankees. While in Toronto, the Yankees lost their final game of a 3 game set to the Blue Jays by a score of 3-2. Despite their loss, the Red Sox failed to overcome an 8-2 deficit against the Twins and allowed the Yankees to become the AL East division champions for the 9th straight time.

 

While this celebration was going on, executives in New York were also celebrating. No one new why until 9:15am this morning when the New York Yankees announced they have ended their 28 year relationship with Columbus and have moved the Yankees AAA affiliate to the Lackawanna County Stadium in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. The official announcement on our local television statement can be read here: http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=5438202.

Well, after losing 3 out of 4 from Boston this weekend, the Yankees failed to clinch a playoff birth before the New York Mets. I guess we'll have to see how this week plays out as the Mets magic number remains at 1 and the Yankees is 4. Also, Jeter went 0 for 4 last night and was in the on deck circle when Melky flied out to end the game. That snaps his consecutive hit streak at 25.

It's not official yet, but it looks like the Yankees farm team, the former Columbus Clippers, will be coming to Scranton PA.

 

 

How cool is that?

A-Rod has now broke out of his slump. After going 1 for 24, he now has 5 homers in 4 days. Way to go Alex. We keep catching the Detroit Tigers for the best record!

The New York Yankees AAA club, the Columbus Clippers, failed to make the playoffs again. The Yankees will probably expand their roster and bring up some of these guys. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Red Barons, in their final year at Lackawanna County Stadium, have made the playoffs and will play Rochester in the best of 5 beginning Tuesday. Good luck Barons!

Does anyone hear the noise? ESPN says it best: "It's been 55 years since the Yankees swept the Red Sox in a five-game series. The last time the pinstripes pulled off the feat at Fenway? 1943. That was before Monday's capper to the Boston Massacre." Here's their breakdown of the series and more: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260821102

 

So, what do you think? Many of you probably don't care. Others really hate the Yankees. So, go ahead and sound off.

Before I begin, let me just add that I've been a New York Yankee fan before Steinbrenner had the deepest pockets and largest payroll in the bigs. I was with them when I used to cheer on guys like Don Mattingly, Matt Nokes, Jesse Barfield, Roberto Kelly, Paul O'Neil, Jim Abbott, etc.

 

Anyway, how 'bout them Yankees? I must say, its been a true Boston Masacre lately. Reading some of the comments by Theo Epstein, I somehow don't buy into "their team is right where they want to be." I will say, however, that in the future, they'd better hope that Jon Papelbon is moved to the starter role because he is pitching like the Mariano of old. What do you think?