PATHETIC AT THE PLATE

sac ri fice [sak ruh fahys] noun, verb: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

I'm not sure if certain Yankees' egos are just so big that they just think they can homer every single time they come up to the plate, or they're just stupid and they don't realize that sometimes hitting a sacrifice when a man's on third base actually helps momentum for a ball club and... helps your club win.  The New York Yankees are horrendous offensively, there I've said it and now I'm aggravated! They have officially been exposed. I'm not even sure how the hell they won the division playing like this.  Too many times are runners left in scoring position and as fans, these runners are staring at us fans in the face from third base screaming "I can score on a sac fly!"  But no.  Guys like Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson come to the plate with the fence on their mind.  In the end, they strike out almost every time they show up to the plate and not to mention, the Yanks continue to pile up a RISP fail made for the record books. It's a freaking embarrassment.

What the hell is going on with my Yankees? Why did the Yankees make Doug Fister look like Cy Young last night and why did they yet again blow big opportunities. The Tigers are not the Royals! Doug Fister is in fact not Cy Young... he's not. He's a good pitcher that they allowed to look great.  And Nick Swisher? Let me tell you something about this chump; The smiles in the dugout are now old and tired and if you can't get a hit, you should also be benched because it's becoming more and more evident that Alex Rodriguez is in fact the whipping boy for all ya'll.  Sure, Swish finally got a double tonight, but what about those lousy post season numbers before that? We can't expect Raul Ibanez to just pick us up every time, every guy on this Yankee team has to contribute. Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, Grandy and ARod are clearly lost and now they're clogging up holes for guys that are dying to get out there... Brett Gardner anyone?

The Yankees have problems, major problems. I have preached this RISP fail since May when I made a mockery of the Yankees failing to hit the runner over or sacrifice the runner in. The RISP ghost keeps showing up. The Yankees can't walk to the plate thinking they're going to hit a home run every time so they can be the hero. Nick Swisher swinging for the fences in the 10th? Seriously? Trying to be a hero are you? You can't hit a lick right now, how about you just hit the ball!

How about Russell Martin with 1 out and a man on second in the 10th, swinging for the fences like it was the only way to get the run in. Ridiculous. Sure, we love when the walk off happens, but the reality is, when there are men on 2nd or 3rd base and 1 out, you have to get them home, YOU HAVE TO! I don't care if you need to slap it over 1st base for a single or hit a fly ball the center, you have a job; win the game! I have news for you, you can't win a game if you don't drive in runs. That's it, nothing more than that! If the Yankees continue to play like this,  they played themselves out of the ALCS, because I'll tell you something, each round gets tougher.

Andy Pettitte did everything right last night. The problem was when his offense needed to pick him up, they couldn't.  For the record, Pettitte is allowed to give up a run or 2, but the Yankees are also allowed to knock in runs. In fact, they must! They didn't until the 9th inning and while that's fine, for the fan like you and I, it's agony. The truth is there were 8 innings before that where runs should have been scored.

Am I too hard on my guys? Well, I'm not exactly hammering all 25 of the Yanks, there are 4 guys I'm shocked about, because as professional ballplayers, I understand slumps, but I do not understand a mental block of baseball fundamentals. Why do you ask? Because if my 10 year old son, who I allowed to stay up late with me last night, yells at the TV "all he needs to do is sacrifice the run in", well, that cemented it for me.  He's 10 and he's thinking like a ballplayer. What the hell is Swisher's excuse? 

Grandy, Swisher and Cano are better than they're playing! So I say this, "Hey guys, shake the monkey off your backs, and wake up... this is the ALCS, not game 6 of the 2012 season... you're better than that!

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