1996-2000: Four American League pennants, four World Championships, including a rare three-peat.
1998 -125 wins
2001-2003: Two American League pennants, zero world championships and an embarrasing ALDS loss to Anaheim.
2001 - Steroids helped Luis Gonzalez to 57 home runs (26 more than his second best season) but a bloop single over a drawn-in infield sealed the Diamondbacks Cindarella season.
2004-2006: Zero American League pennants, zero world championships, zero playoff series wins.
2004 - A normal and sanitary person would change the sock, but Red Sox starting pitcher/drama queen didn't and helped the Sox overcome a 3-0 deficit and advance to the world series, where they'd sweep the Cardinals.
Joe Torre is a Hall of Fame manager, of that, there's no doubt. If there's one rip against Torre, it's his inability to micromanage. He's one of the best managing over the course of an entire season, keeping everyone happy and productive. But when it comes to in-game decisions, there are better. Quite a few better.
Part of the micromanaging includes the use of the bullpen. Joe Torre overuses his bullpen, often falling in love with a reliever after a good stretch of outings, using them way too frequently and quickly burning them out. Perfect examples, Ron Villone and Tanyon Sturtze. He seems to be headed that way with Luis Vizcaino. The Yankees bullpen is on a pace to set a record for bullpen innings. Now, in fairness to Joe Torre, he has had some pathetic outings to cover in the past few weeks.
But tonight's 6-4 loss is completely on Torre's shoulders. The Yankees score twice in the top of the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead over the Devil Rays and Chien-Ming Wang comes out in the bottom seventh. He strikes out the first batter, then serves up a single and a double to put runners on second and third with one out. At this point, Wang has thrown 81 pitches and hasn't labored all night. Torre decides to call the bullpen again. Vizcaino comes in a intentionally walks Baldelli. Here's my problem. If you're going to intentionally walk a guy to load the bases with a one-run lead, does it make more sense to:
A) bring in a flyball reliever that's more likely to induce a sacrifice fly
or
B) leave in the double-play guru to induce an inning ending double play?
B, duh. But after Vizcaino retires Harris, Torre brings in Mike "The Biggest Waste of A Roster Space" Myers to throw Carl Crawford a 68 mile-per-hour hanging slider (which has become all too common from him) that Crawford deposited into the right field seats and gave Tampa Bay a 6-3 lead.
Typical Torre. He's been great for the team and city, but after this year, it's time for the managerial debut of Donnie Baseball and a return to the bench coach for Joe Girardi. Those two minds next to each other on the bench would make the Royals a contender. Well, maybe anyone except Kansas City. The Yankees are no longer the team they were during the late-90s dynasty, and Torre is no longer the best fit for this team.
The Yankees now sit at 8-11 and in last place with five straight games looming against Toronto (2) and Boston (3). However, after that there is a hopeful stretch. Twelve straight games against the AL West (6 each against Texas and Seattle). In 2006, the Yankees won 7-of-10 against AL West teams in early May to jump back into the thick of the AL East, and in 2005 they won ten in a row against AL West teams to get back into things. Hopefully, things turn out very similar this May.
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