But think about this. I believe the Indians were a better team. Their top two starters did what they were supposed to do, and their clutch hitting was remarkable. Still, if the bugs had never come, Joba the Hutt gets through the eighth with ease, the Yankees win the game 1-0, and the series, in all likelihood, goes to the Yankees. The inferior Yankees.
This is only possible due to the insane nature of baseball's first round. In a sport where 162 games provides two games difference between division winner and second place, are we supposed to believe that a 5 game series is an adequate sample? Its like having me play Phil Hellmuth in poker, and only playing ten hands, and seeing who wins. I have a decent chance to win if I go all in every time. That is basically the idea behind MLB's five game series.
Anyway, Torre sucks, Jeter sucks, gnats suck, and the Indians are playing the Rockies in the World Series. That howling is coming from whoever loses the most money due to this TV tragedy.
Speaking of the Rockies... well, nevermind, there is nothing to say about them. No one knows who they are, they refuse to lose--ever--and now they are in the World Series. They are from Colorado. They play baseball there?
But then, University of South Florida didn't even have a football team 11 years ago, and they are the second best (sure, whatever) team in the nation. They define "by default".
For those who doubted Randy Moss:
His numbers are too good to type, his team is unbeatable in large part thanks to his very presence, and his supposed cancerous personality has yet to metastatize. Or even show itself. Or even exist.
heh
heh
yeah you get it by now.
To those who root for the Titans:
CURSE MADDEN! CURSE MADDEN! DANG IT ALL!
To those who root for the Yankees:
Torre is gone. It is almost unfathomable. in a weird way, this worked out as well as it could have. The Yankees offered him a contract, he turned it down. Some cantankerous nitwits are going to complain about how the Yankees treated him badly or, abused his paralyzed aunt, or somethign equally inane, but the fact is, this saves some face for the Yankees in front of their relatively misguided fans (usually Yanks fans are great--when it comes to Torre and A-Rod, no one has a freaking clue), and the Yankees get the change they have needed for so long.
Torre was the perfect fit for the Yankees in the mid to late nineties. Back then, the Yanks had a bunch of role players, good starters, and a copious wealth of relievers. Torre could yank his good but not great starters after seven innings, use two relievers every night, three or four when necessary, and not worry about blowing Scott Proctor's arm to the moon. His hitters were basically duplicates of each other, and he could mix and match to his heart's content. Torre is the ultimate meddler in-game.
Also, there were no superstars, there were no lazy veterans, there were no cranky old pitchers who needed to stop pitching but who lived beyond their utility in Torre's senescent loyalty. There were young hitters, young pitchers, guys who needed to be calmed down if anything.
Now, the Yanks have starting pitchers who on any given day could go for six innings or nine, and he is never sure when to pull the plug, so he compromises by always taking them out an inning earlier than one could possibly make an argument for, where his modern bullpen--much thinner than in previous years--procedes to die a long, slow, torturous death. Meanwhile, his lineup of laid back superstars falls asleep for various stretches because Torre is not the kind of guy who gets the adrenaline going.
Torre is a great manager for a certain type of team--just not THIS team. Why does no ever talk about this regarding managers/coaches?
I mean, you wouldn't send Randy Moss out onto the field on defense, nor would you play Tim Duncan at point guard. Steve Nash doesn't work well in a plodding offensive scheme, and Peyton Manning can't win the game for you if he hands it off every time. Why do people pretend that a good manager will simply always be a good fit, and a bad one will simply always be bad? Clearly, this is sometimes possible. Norv Turner is an atrocious head coach, and he always will be. But Bill Belichick was once the proud head coach for the always awful Cleveland Browns. He did well elsewhere, because he fit better elsewhere.
You wouldn't hire Don Nelson to coach a team full of powerful, slow big men, and you wouldn't hire Torre to make terrific in-game decisions or to rev up his players.
He is a fantastic calming presence, and he dealt with NY well. But he simply is not the best manager for this team.
Unfortunately, neither is Don Mattingly, aka Torre 2.0. If Yankee fans get stuck with a Torre clone... I need to find out what kind of pet Brian Cashman owns, buy a large knife, and et acquainted with his bedroom.
If you were totally creeped out by that last statement, pray the Yankees get a real manager, and not a statue.
~The Sports Maunderer~
