WHY IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT

(Photo: US Presswire)
Oh, where do I start on this one…Friday, April 8, 2011... Opening Day... Fenway Park. The red-hot Yankees face the 0-6 Red Sox for the first game of the Series.

Piece of cake, right? Yankee fans calling for a sweep before the first pitch was even thrown. Red Sox Nation was fairly timid in the beginning of the game.

Enter Phil Hughes. Absent of velocity and command of his fastball, he had an outing so shaky that it registered 6.3 on the Richter Scale. A decision had to be made, and eventually, the Yankees Skipper tapped Bartolo Colon for the relief.(photo: AP)
Colon was doing very well. To quote my fellow blogger, Mikey Blue, he was “lights out”(Read WHY HUGHES NEEDS A TIME OUT by the way to see what I'm talking about.) The Yankees were able to tie the game, and the lead wasn’t an unattainable goal. But wait…what? Girardi took white hot Colon out of the game, and replaced him with Boone Logan. It was all downhill from there. The Sox logged their first win of the season, against the Yankees, on Opening Day. Red Sox Nation exhaled and has found their voices again.

I’m still shaking my head. Yes, I am a woman. I’ve never played professional baseball. But I can tell you this, with the utmost certainty- if I was sitting on that bench, this would never have happened.

First of all, it doesn’t take Miss Cleo and the Psychic Friends Network to know that Hughes’ stuff wasn’t there. Unless you’re waiting for some mystic sign from the ghost of Babe Ruth to tell you what to do next, take him out of the game.

Girardi waits so long to take his starter out, that it feels like we’re actually evolving into another species, waiting for him to decide. But when it comes to relievers, especially when they’re performing well, he yanks them out so fast that it makes my head spin. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Colon was a starting pitcher. He could have handled a couple of innings without hurting himself.

I understand it’s the beginning of the season. If you listen to Mike Francesa on WFAN, he makes it a point to ridicule anyone who shows concern over a loss, especially one as senseless as this one. He calls people “silly” for their comments and dismisses them. No, Mike. Not silly. Not silly at all.

One thing I don’t think men understand as well as women do is how important morale is. It’s the steam behind the engine that keeps it running. It’s what fuels momentum. You lose morale, you lose steam, and you lose games. Before you know it, it’s August, and you find yourself scrambling to catch up for the Wild Card.(Photo: William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)
Girardi’s decisions Friday were morale-killing calls. He should have taken into account the situation. The Red Sox...Fenway...Opening Day at Fenway...The Sox first win against the Yankees after losing six straight. The citizens of Red Sox Nation got an extraordinary shot of morale, while the Yankees got knocked down a few pegs.

Although morale remains high, the Yankees momentum was cut to a screeching halt with bad coaching decisions. Look, I’m not telling Girardi to have slumber parties and spa days for the boys to keep them in the game, but it would seem that maybe he needs to make decisions a little more carefully and efficiently.Take it from a woman, Joe, we know these things!



--Christy Lee, BYB Staff Writer



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