AN ENGLISH LESSON FOR THE YANKEES

(Photo: Getty)

bull pen. -noun.
1. in baseball, the area where relief pitchers warm up.
2. Relief pitchers.

In looking up the definition of bullpen, I notice one word that keeps popping up, and that's the word relief. This is a very important word, and we all use it for many reasons. For instance, if you are in pain, and it goes away, that's relief. If you are working all day and someone comes to replace you, that's relief. If you are frightened by something and you suddenly realize that everything is OK, that's a relief.

Boone Logan is not relief, not in any sense of the word. I'm not saying he never will be, because last night he did OK, but right now, overall, when Mr. Girardi pulls out the starter in a close game and we see Logan jogging his way out to the mound, I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who feels ANYTHING but relief.

With a total of 13 innings pitched, Logan has a whopping ERA of 4.50. Add to that two losses, and only 7 strikeouts and the only relief I'm getting when I see him is from the handful of Tums I've been choking down since I caught the first glimpse of him warming up in the bullpen.(Photo: Getty)
Is it his fault? No. He's a young guy with a big career ahead of him, constantly being brought in to high-pressure situations. He's not a middle reliever in tight situations, however, for some reason, Girardi continues to test the waters with him, drowning every time. By the time they throw in the life preserver, it's already too late.

I find it hard to believe, with all of the "rules" imposed for other pitchers, the Yankees manager continues to try to work the kinks out of this guy in close games. It's almost June. The Red Sox have fought and climbed their way into the Yankee's first place spot in the AL East, and Yankees fans are left scratching their heads. I'm not panicking, but I'm also not buying into the stale and somewhat dismissive statement, "It's early in the season, we have a lot of games ahead of us." To me, if you're saying that, you might as well be saying, "Whatever". It reminds me of when I tell my teenager to pick up her room and she tells me, "I'll get to it".(Photo: Getty)
Granted, everyone knows that pitchers need their own relief, and that comes in the form of run support. When it's not there, it's pretty much like eating raw jalapenos once you already have heartburn. Once the burning starts, there's no stopping it, no matter what you do.


Without run support, the stakes get higher in a high pressure situation, and in a close game, too much pressure causes more pain than relief.

All of this lack of relief stems from one thing. The Cliff Lee situation, which I predicted in an early Bleeding Yankee Blue article would continue to haunt us all season long. (Read YANKEES WOMEN: YANKS NO UNDERDOG IN 2011)Once again, had Mr. Cashman not been romancing, wining and dining Mr. Lee without keeping his eye out for other prospects for the starting rotation and the bullpen, we may have been in a better position. Hindsight is 20/20, yes, but it also helps, when you are in a position like Mr. Cashman is, to look ahead. I'm not the type to say "I told ya so"....but I did.

As for Girardi, he could use a little advice on how to make an "educated guess" based on previous experience, and maybe not put Boone Logan in a situation where he's already proven that he can't perform in.

Here's another definition:

in san i ty. -noun. 1. Repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting a different result.

Class dismissed.




--Christy Lee, BYB Staff Writer



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