NO LEADERSHIP MEANS THE END

You want me to give it to you straight? OK... I will.

It's my opinion that Joe Girardi is no longer capable of managing the New York Yankees.  Last night, arguing with the umpires on irrelevant, insignificant calls opened my eyes. He looked worried. He looked unhinged. He looked like he was exposed as someone that wasn't doing enough. Here's the problem, he picked the wrong thing to get aggravated about, and he looked small. 

Sure, if you wanted to, you could tell me "The Rays hit our guys! Joe should be fired up!"

But let's be honest, where the hell has that "fired up" Girardi been?  Why the hell is Joe making such a big deal about the Rays hitting Derek Jeter and the other 4 Yankees while we're down 6-1 in the 8th inning, and meanwhile, Yankeeland was screaming at Joe to retaliate against the Red Sox every damn time they threw at our guys! Remember that? But no, back then, Yankee management was silent. Back then, when it mattered, we didn't retaliate. It was Yankeeland, us fans, screaming that something needed to be done! Then again, that's when the Yankees used to win.  We don't win anymore and so, maybe that's why Joe lost his mind. Maybe it's finally getting to him. Maybe that's why I feel for guys like Derek Jeter and when I watch the #RE2PECT commercial, I break down more than I did when it was first released. It truly is the end on many different levels.


The reality is, we have what, 12 games left to play, and were 6 games out of the Wild Card?  Now, miracles have happened... but this team is out of miracle.  We're bums. We're stale. We shrug our shoulders on the basepaths.  We look like we're going through the motions. 

The Orioles? They deserve to be Division Champions... we don't.

I'm rambling now...

But back to Joe and yelling at the umps last night. Am I the only one that thinks that he picked the wrong time to freak out? How about freak out on your hitters, Joe? I've stated numerous times on BYB, when something's not working, you change it up.  That's just good business practice, That's not just a baseball lesson. Bench a player.  Other managers do. Stop standing there like your job is hard.  We know it is.  Show some emotion.  Get angry when it matters. You're down 6-1.  We have a great bunch of ballplayers, veterans, and they look like they just want the season to end. Well... that starts at the top.  We need a leader.

The New York Yankees on paper are amazing.  The Yankees in the field can't scrape together a run.  Why is that? Again... it's leadership.

Last night for a short time, I was listening to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. They were discussing small ball.  They were saying that "small ball should happen when the home runs aren't coming".  Trust me, we're all engaged on this issue.  That immediately puts guys like Kevin Long under a microscope.   What does the guy do? You can't wait for home runs to come out of Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira's bat in September after they've struggled all year... so you need to change the approach. DON'T TELL ME IT'S HARD, that's what players get paid to do... perform.

I tweeted something last night when Jeter bunted 2 men over with no one out:

Gotta love Jeter there. Trying to manufacter runs. #Re2pect #BYB
— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) September 17, 2014

With everything going on with the Yankee bats this season, to me personally, that sac bunt was the most important hit of last night's game. WHY? Because when you're slumping, you need to find a way to turn it around.  Jeter shook it up. That's a leader.  He didn't swing for the fences like a caveman.  He tried to change it up and energize the club. He was trying to get things started. Trust me when I tell you, he didn't get that idea from Joe Girardi... he did it on his own.

I've been told by my friends and fellow writers, "Well, Girardi had to deal with the injuries and did a great job of juggling players and scratching out wins with what he had." That's all fine and good. It's also correct, but there is one important part of the New York Yankees; They also need to win. Being a manager and struggling through it to reach third place IS NOT A GOOD MANAGER.  Injuries are part of the game, you need to roll with it.  Do you think the fans are satisfied with that? Do you think the fans feel bad for Joe Girardi and the Yankees? Hell no. We pay a ton of money to watch our team win, not watch them get third place.  You feel bad for Derek Jeter, who, while he's contributing to this mini-collapse, doesn't deserve any of this.  It's pathetic.

So yeah, it's my opinion that when things don't work out in business, in baseball, you cut someone loose.  Hey, it may not be fair... but it makes the rest of this lame crew think, "Hell, I could be next, I need to wake up."  Kevin Long probably needs to pack his bags.  Larry Rothschild, as much as you want to credit him for the handling of the pitching staff... he wasn't throwing at all.  And Joe Girardi... it was fun while it lasted, but maybe, just maybe it's coming to an end.

I mean, this isn't the Florida Marlins, it's the Yankees, and we need leadership.  With Jeter gone next season, we're gonna need it more than ever.  Is it fair that Joe goes? Maybe not... but there needs to be a shake up.  The shake up that needed to happen all season, with the lineup, with moving overrated guys to the bench who weren't performing. And so now, the reign of GI Joe may have to come to an end.  Sure... it may not seem fair, and sure, even if you think he did good things... 3rd place isn't a good thing.

Finally... I leave you with this tweet:

Yankees are hard to watch. Even if you think Joe's not responsible for this team's problems, he probably needs to be fired on principle.
— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) September 17, 2014

My wife asked me this morning, "What is going on with the Yankees that they can't gel?"
I looked at her and said in my morning voice... "No leadership." 

 Discuss this amongst yourselves...

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