WHY THE EMPIRE MUST STRIKE BACK

"I told him I couldn't play today, and that I needed time to clear my head, and that was it...I wasn't 100% to play the game. I mean, nothing serious."

-- Jorge PosadaThere's not way around it, Posada pulling himself out of the lineup last night made me realize what's been happening to this Yankees ball club. Low morale is killing them and it stems from lack of confidence from a leader like Jorge Posada, who's been diminished to the DH role. Low morale is now slowly creeping through the clubhouse like a disease, getting into their minds, their souls and dragging them down. How else do you suppose the errors, mental mistakes and lack of run scoring come into play? My New York Yankees have a great makeup, there is no excuse.

The Natural is one of the best baseball films that has ever been made. In it, the New York Knights head into a pretty significant losing streak, which is stemmed from Roy Hobbs, who was the star of the team, but was in a major rut. They bring in a shrink to speak to the team who said this:

"Losing is a disease, as contagious as polio. Losing is a disease, as contagious as syphilis. Losing is a disease, as contagious as bubonic plaque. Attacking one, but infecting all. But curable. Now I want you to imagine you are on a ship at sea, on a vast, gently rocking, gently rocking, gently rocking."



The line rings true to my New York Yankees. One guy hits a skid and the whole team starts to feel it and do it. Last night the Yankees were on the bad end of a 6-0 loss to the evil Red Sox. The loss is a big story in New York today, but the bigger story was what happened before the game.

Posada went into Girardi's office and asked to be removed from the lineup after he was slid to the 9th hole. He complained it was a sore back and he needed to clear his head. I respect that, you don't want to hurt yourself or your team. This however, I have a problem with.

Afterward, Posada said he felt "a little bit" disrespected by the team.

(Classroom setting. Teacher looks for a student to raise their hand, many are)

Teacher: Casey, you have a question?

Casey: Yes teacher. Jorge has been with the club for many years, even in the farm. This year was the first year he was the DH, otherwise, he'd probably be out of a job. He's given us some great years and now he's clearly frustrated. Why would moving him down in the batting order make him feel, quote "a bit disrespected"? Wouldn't he want to do whatever the team needed to win? With no disrespect to Posada, who does he think he is?

Teacher: Brilliant point Casey. You're a genius.

I have a big problem with Jorge saying anything about the Yankees and "respect." The Yankees love Jorge and if they didn't, they wouldn't have him on the team, they would have found a way to cut him lose. It's not about respect, it's about team. While I respect Posada for doing what he did, pulling himself out of the lineup, I am not understand the disrespect portion of this.

I don't know, I'm bothered by this. I hope Posada is able to clear his head and come out swinging, but to me, I feel like retirement is looming. Laura Posada came out and said it was just a sore back and not to worry. But put it this way, if the Tucson Citizen paper is covering it, HERE, a smaller newspaper across the country, it's GOT to be big. This is yet, another of the Core Four struggling.
Now, back the disease portion of this post. The Yankees lost 6-0. CC gave up 6 runs on 7 hits. CC was great until that dreaded 7th when Adrian Gonzalez homered putting the game out of reach. You can't totally blame CC Monster. The Yankees are leaving men on base like I'm leaving dirty socks on the floor...all the time.

Josh Beckett was dominant last night, the Yankees couldn't touch him and this is the second outing that he's looked great. Funny how things work, Beckett used to own us, then we owned him. Guess who's owning us again?

Final Score: Red Sox 6 - Yankees 0. Luckily for us, this 4 game losing streak is coming in May, but there's no doubt, the Yankees look tired, baffled and diseased. It's a crying shame.

Freddy Garcia vs. Jon Lester tonight. If Freddy could win tonight at least we'd win against the Sox ace. At least we'd walk away with some dignity.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.