BAKING AND BASEBALL DON'T MIX

(Photo Courtesy: Bleeding Yankee Blue)
I can’t take it anymore….I just can’t. Lately watching this Yankees' team makes my eyes bleed. Wake up call, this is September and playoffs will be here before we know it. We can’t keep playing baseball like it is May again and just go out there with the mindset of, “Well….tomorrow is another day” because pretty soon, we will run out of tomorrows.  Unless someone takes the reigns and steers this team in a new direction, we may not even see the ALDS. 

The Orioles and the Rays are right on our tail and if we keep losing….those two teams will find the way to pass us. Remember last year? I do. I watched the boys walk off the field and I was incredibly frustrated.  I don’t want to see another picture like the one above of Mark Teixeira, again…..but something’s gotta give.

In the last 10 games, the Yankees are 4 and 6…..and scoring a little more than 3 runs per game. I have become so frustrated with all of this that I have turned…. to baking. 

Yes, you heard me right, baking. Lay off the booze, I am giving Betty Crocker a run for her money (not really). My brownies recipe is simple... the secret ingredients vanilla, a lot of caramel and ton of frustration all in one. I think I created the most fattening confection known to man. I need the Yankees to get me OUT of my kitchen, because if this keeps up, it is a recipe for disaster. The only way to do this of course is play good baseball again.

Good baseball, remember that? You have to think back to July 18th when the Yankees had a 10 game lead and we all slept easier. Considering how far we've fallen, I have to wonder if the boss is rolling in his grave. What happened to that drive to win? I swear some nights, I sit and watch this team and just wonder HOW this is possible. In August, we are supposed to shine, but if I am grading the Yankees right now... they aren’t getting good marks from me.  

I rarely question Joe Girardi and his strategies, but lately I am looking at his decisions like batting Steve Pearce and Andruw Jones in the clean-up spot, and I scratch my head. I understand that with Tex and Alex Rodriguez out, we have to re-work the lineup, but putting them in the clean-up spot? Come on! To say that Jones has struggled lately is an understatement. So to put him in a RBI spot just dumbfounds me.  As far as Pearce goes….I wasn’t sold on this acquisition in the first place (Read HELLO PEARCE, GOODBY LAIRD), so to put him in a clutch situation like that makes no sense to me. 

I know our lineup isn’t as long lately, but they are not the answer. I am hoping the expansion of the roster and with our injured guys coming back soon, that this will be fixed soon. Maybe the young kids will light a fire under these guys.

Speaking of RBI’s….where are they?! The Yankees live and die by the long ball, and lately there is little life and lots of missed opportunities. To win it all you have to be able to play small ball as well, and the Yankees just don’t do it. 

I am really starting to think that my love for the movie “A League of Their Own” can come into play here. Bottom line, give me a bat... maybe that will help! If Kit Keller can hit the high fastball that always alluded her and win the big game….then anything is possible, right? The Yankees need to take notes on this. Also, read YANKEE BASEBALL: THE BASICS OF HITTING. It was a snarky BYB post about the basics of hitting...FROM MAY. Clearly the Yankees haven't read it.
 
Look, I don’t know who to blame….do you go after Kevin Long? Do you call out Joe for his remarks about not being concerned? Do you go after the Yankees focussing too much on homeruns? Or….do you go after the Steinbrenners? I have already said it, I miss the BOSS. He had such spirit and love for the game. He even said that he loved winning almost as he loves breathing….and now that he is gone, Hank and Hal are what we have left and they don’t have that passion. 

We are Yankee fans, we expect wins. I feel like we expect it more than they do. Hal rarely talks, and when he does, it seems to be about money….Blah, blah blah. Do you even like baseball?! Do you know what your team needs? And what about Hank? He is a figure piece. He doesn’t talk, ever and he is never seen unless he escapes from his cage and they have to bring him back to captivity.  As fans, we want answers! I miss the great Steinbrenner Dynasty and passion.

I love the Yankees, but this team isn’t playing to championship caliber standards, I know that, you know that! We have the tools to succeed, but we aren’t using them lately. Things have to change in a hurry before I set the smoke detectors off in my kitchen. Last thing I want is a repeat of the ALDS or for Buck Showalter to steal my thunder. 

We ARE the damn Yankees, we don’t settle for second place.

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ



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