Leave it to the Mets to use the media to hype up Clay Holmes as if he’s about to become the greatest closer of all time. Let’s be real—they kind of have to.
Why? Because Mets fans already know they overpaid for Holmes. Sure, he was an All-Star with the Yankees, but by the end of last season, he had lost his way in the Bronx. Now, the Mets are in full spin mode, selling him as the next big thing to justify signing him to a three-year, $38 million deal.
To be clear, Holmes isn’t a bad guy or a terrible closer. He’s a solid pitcher—when he’s not stumbling. But let’s not pretend he’s on the level of Mariano Rivera or Dennis Eckersley. He’s not even in the Cy Young conversation. If anything, maybe he’s a more likable version of Carl Pavano.
And now, here we are, with Mets PR pushing the narrative that Holmes is a game-changer. The latest example? NJ.com reported that Holmes threw three simulated innings on the first day of pitchers and catchers, something no other Mets starter did. Manager Carlos Mendoza even chimed in:
"The fact that on day one of pitchers and catchers, he’s already at three ups, that’s pretty impressive. You got to give him credit because that shows all the work that he did as soon as we signed him, like I said, with the mindset that he was making that transition. So he knew he needed to get here and (be) ready to go to face hitters."
Come on, man. It’s Day 1 of spring training. Let’s pump the brakes on the Clay Holmes hype train.
I'll put this as straight forward for you as I can be. When your own players go to the press and question a manager's decision to win a baseball game, you have lost control as the manager. It means your own players do not trust you with juggling hard decisions in an important series.
This speaks volumes.
Aaron Boone has had a historic problem juggling pitching personnel. It's always been his issue and it's because of this that we are typically close, but short in the playoffs during his time as Yankee manager.
Some Yankee loyalists can't understand why Aaron Boone lost last night's Yankee game. They are loyal to Boone, the machine, and they love to rather point fingers at Brian Cashman or the players. But players are in games because of a manager's decision and in last night's game, we are able to reveal Boone's weakness. He is in over his head when it comes to MUST WINS and Checkers, not Chess.
Look, I can see when angry fans point fingers at Cashman at times. But here's the thing; We made it to the playoffs with the guys we had because they had a pretty good run. Cashman brought them in. No, the Yankees didn't end as well as they started, but they did damn good. You have to applaud that. Players Cashman picked did the job. But then there's injury sometimes and that was a big issue for us. You can't blame injury on Cashman or Boone. That's life, that's the game.
But back to Boone for a moment. It's during tough times that a manager must earn his paycheck. Boone is a guy with a small mind when it comes to hard decisions. When these important series show up, Boone plays the game ahead of the game he's currently in. He thinks ahead without finishing off the opponent we are currently playing. Last night was a perfect example of this. And it's bigger than that. Aaron Boone knew he was responsible for last night's loss. But tried his best to skirt the truth to the press, and not be honest to the fans. Watch his entire presser last night. What he should have done at the very top was say this:
"Listen, before we get into this, I am the manager and this loss is on me, here's why..." and went into detail about bad decisions. We would have all been in a better place today. Instead, the entire east coast news circuit is calling for his head.
Listen to that first question. That questions are direct. The press is looking for answers because we all saw what was happening and no one could understand it. Listen to the questions, listen closely to his answers. He skirts, he dodges, he does NOT take blame. But most importantly, HE WAS SETTING THE YANKEES ROTATION AND BULLPEN UP FOR GAME 4. And he wasn't even finished with Game 3.
QUESTION: Did you have Clay Holmes available?
BOONE: NO. He was available but we would have put him in a tough situation.
Hmm. Weird. Clay thought he was going in last night. Luis Severino was confused why Clay wasn't in. Jack Curry of YES was "baffled" that Clay wasn't in there.
Luis Severino on Clay Holmes not pitching the 9th:
"He's our closer. So of course I was surprised. I don't know if he was down. There shouldn't be people down in the playoffs. That's something you guys need to ask Boone or [Matt] Blake to see what was going on there."
Clay Holmes said he was surprised that he was not used tonight. He said his arm is fine. Woke up today anticipating he was going to be on the mound tonight.
Wow. That's interesting. What's the tough situation though? Well, it's when there are men on base and the other team is chipping away.
But that's ok, Clay was "sore", and they didn't want him to blow it. So, what did Boone decide... or should I say what did Boone and Matt Blake decide? They decided to bring in Clarke Schmidt, a guy that fell out of favor with the organization this year alittle bit. A guy that had a ton of potential, but then just fell off, and dare I say, wasn't prepared for this big moment.
Here's the best part. The press challenged Boone with not throwing Holmes.
"He threw just 16 pitches the day before."
Sixteen pitches. This about that. Hardly a workload.
Boone's answer? He didn't want to put Clay Holmes in a back-to-back situation. Ridiculous. Guys like Goose Gossage and Dennis Eckersley are laughing their asses off right now. Boone is JV.
Boone goes on and says it needed to be "an emergency situation". What defines "emergency" Boonie? Guardians had a couple guys on and Peralta was pulled and you're up by only 2 runs. The next guy up could homer and win right there. ISN'T THAT AN EMERGENCY? It is. You know how I know? Because every analyst out there could see it as well as every fan.
Boone goes on to say that he loves Cole's chances tonight, and we need to get back to New York.
And say we do win and get back to New York Boone... Yankee Stadium is heaven to many of us, but it's not bulletproofed. We lose there too. Sure, having Cortes on the mound at Yankee Stadium is perfect for me and many fans, but none of us really have any faith that you can pull it off as manager. Let's remember something folks, the Guardians were pushovers a few days ago. Today they have the upper hand, all because Aaron Boone is a clown.
I love my Yankees. I want them to get to the next round of the playoffs, but bad leadership never wins if they don't know what they're doing. Boone made a terrible decision last night and we all paid the price. The Yankees did what they needed to do to win. You un-did that, Boone. You better show up with some smarter decisions. Us fans, your players deserve it.
Sometime between now and the end of July the Yankees have to make some decisions about the makeup of the team, and what they are going to look like, to make a push for the playoffs. A big part of those decisions is around the starting rotation. Everybody knows that CC Sabathia has been something of a question mark this season. Maybe everyone would be better served if he considered a move to the bullpen.
Now I know what you're thinking. I say the word bullpen and you hear the word demotion. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact I think his numbers say that he would do better coming out of the bullpen instead of trying to start and go at least six innings. In his first 16 games in 2015 he ERA is north of 5 and his opponents' batting average is a hair under .300. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to indicate specific weaknesses except one: his performance early in games vs his performance in later innings.
The first time through the lineup, hitters are batting .250 against him with an OPS of .694 - pretty respectable. After that, the batting average jumps to .325 and the OPS jumps to .925. That's significant. Consider that most major league starters are expected to go through the lineup 3 times and you realize that this spells trouble. Let's look at pitch counts. If you accumulate all of his stats for the first 25 pitches of each game he's pitched this season, opponents' batting average is .234 and their OPS is .698. Again, not bad. But from pitch 26 on, again Sabathia's numbers fall off a cliff. Opponents batting average climbs to .321 - almost 80 points higher - and the OPS goes to .897 - almost 200 points higher. Major league starters typically go a minimum of 80 - 100 pitches per game, so the problem becomes obvious.
Now consider that most relievers pitch 25 to 40 pitches per game and they rarely see a hitter twice. Also, consider that relievers don't have to worry about saving good pitches for the next time they face any particular hitter. He will always be throwing his best stuff in any given at-bat. It opens up a lot of possibilities if Sabathia is open to the idea. All the scenarios which include trading for starters like Johnny Cueto and bringing up rookies like Luis Severino take on a new dimension.
Dennis Eckersley faced a similar challenge at the end of his career. Or rather, what he thought was the end of his career, until he reinvented himself. Same goes for John Smoltz. After the 1986 season, his 12th in the majors, Eckersley was dumped by the Cubs. You couldn't blame them - in 32 starts he only had six wins. Then Oakland picked him up and converted him into a reliever. A year later he led the American League with 45 saves and came in second in the Cy Young voting. A guy who looked like he was done turned into a premier closer and ended up pitching for 12 more seasons, with a Cy Young and an MVP in 1992. John Smoltz switched from starter to closer for four seasons. In that time, he accumulated 154 saves and came in third in the Cy Young voting in 2002.
All that to say that a switch to a reliever role is not a demotion. It's all in what you do with it, and the numbers show that CC Sabathia could do a lot with that. There are just a few mental hurdles that he, the fans, and the Yankees need to get over. First there's that $23M price tag for this year and $25M for 2016. He would be the most expensive relief pitcher in franchise history. Get over it. You paid what you paid and you got 6 years of starts out of him. For several years, he anchored the staff, and his resume includes a World Series win for us. The price tag itself won't make him a better starter, and maybe your best play is to make him a reliever and get as much value as you can in that role.
The other mental hurdle is being able to recognize that he really cares and that he is doing his best and it is just not working. You can see it in the grimace on his face when he says he can't play at that level anymore. You can see it when he barks at an umpire and gets ejected for arguing a bad call. You can see it when he's the first one charging from the dugout after a pitcher throws at Alex Rodriguez. Believe me - he cares. He wants to win badly and to be a contributing member of the team.
It is painful to watch the end of a hero's career when you can't live up to past expectations. Not everyone gets to have a farewell tour in their final season. It becomes especially aggravating when it's not the final season of your contract and you haven't declared that you're done. Besides, I'm not convinced that he is done.
CC - we love you and will root for you till the end. Just think about it.
I get chills when I hear Enter Sandman play. The chills spike as Mariano Rivera leaps out of the bullpen and runs briskly to the mound. I love his windup- he bends his body at the stretch and hauls gas, intimidating most with his lethal cutter. And when I first began watching Mo, I always compared him in my head to my favorite childhood closing pitcher, Richard “Goose” Gossage.
He was this giant who came into the game in the 7th or 8th inning and blew everyone away. He was our Goliath- with a slingshot that overpowered hitters from both sides of the plate. But is Mo better than Goose? It is an interesting question to ponder. Let’s take a closer look.
The closer role- it is a relatively new position. Sure, we have always had relief pitchers, although many more starters pitched complete games in the early days. You have to see this list put together by ESPN’s Baseball Almanac to believe it. There are guys that had 40 or more complete games back in the 1800s. And even in the 20th century, guys like Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Ron Guidry and Steve Carlton had 18 or more complete games in a season. So the closer, although important, was not the critical position it is today.
Goose Gossage pitched 21 seasons for nine different teams from 1972-1994. He pitched for the Yankees from 1978-1983. His career 3.01 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 310 saves earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame in 2008. Goose was as intimidating, as the day is long- he was big, hairy and he looked mean. He was a giant to me- larger than life and I just loved him! It was lights out when the Goose game in and we saw him a lot more frequently than we see closers today.
"I think that these guys are so dominant in that one-inning role that they've forgotten what we used to do," the former Yankees closer said. "It takes three guys to do what we used to do,” said Gossage in an interview earlier this summer. Gossage, unlike closers today who pitch one or so innings, often pitched three innings. There were no set up men, no managers’ playing lefty/righty angles, there was Goose and guys like him in the 1970s and 1980s.
Guys like Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley held that three inning dominant closing role. Eckersley was the first to be deemed “the one inning specialist” in the late 1980s. Even the early 1990s, we didn’t see the kind of closer we have today. The bullpens were not as thick and as critical as they are today. Starters did a lot more of the work. They went longer into the games. They seemingly had more endurance. They didn’t necessarily throw as hard or even have the variety of pitches as today, so perhaps they could go longer?
"Believe me, I do not want to take anything away from this guy (Rivera), this guy is right up there. But had we been used like that, hard telling what [our] statistics would be. They'd be right there. We were dominant in that role for three innings,” said Gossage who is also a spring training instructor for the Yankees (HERE.) “I believe had Mo been used like us, he might have 350 saves," Gossage said. "You just wouldn't have had the numbers. The workload was amazing." Mo’s last regular season six out save was in 2006. He is just not used like Goose and the others were- it’s not the way the game is played today. Gossage had 125 career six out saves to Rivera’s 11.
Mo to me is just incredible. He is lean, clean cut and is healthy. Not to say Gossage wasn’t healthy, but he never had the physique of Mo and he loved to drink with the rest of the guys between games, something Mo does not do. Mo is a forever Yankee, where as Gossage pitched for nine different teams in his career. Both guys gave us a lot of quality innings, longevity, consistency and leadership. What Mo is giving to the guys behind him in David Robertson, Shawn Kelley,Boone Logan and the rest is incredible mentoring and leadership- readying them to step up their role when he retires at the end of the season.
So, frankly, comparing Mo to Goose and Goose to Mo is like comparing apples to oranges- they are both fruit but they have different purposes, different reasons for existence. Goose is Great, Mo is Great- The End! We are lucky to have them both as New York Yankees and Hall of Famers.
“You know, except for that mustache, you look just like my mother.”
“But I don’t have a mustache.”
“Yes, but my mother does!”
It’s time for a mustache ride! Baseball and nose beards have gone hand in hand forever. There are so many great players known for their skills and facial hair. And there are many more players known for just their facial hair. Here are some of the best known mustaches in baseball, and therefore the world…
Our own Donnie Baseball came to be known for his trademark crumb catcher. Donnie B’s look beats out even Mike Schmidt and (of course) Bill Buckner. Tom Selleck based his look for the movie “Mr Baseball” on Don. Okay, no, Selleck based his look on himself but had the same thing goin’ on as Don.
Mattingly was famously chewed out for his whiskers by Mr Burns on The Simpsons, who considered them sideburns. Donnie then commented how he liked Burns better than Steinbrenner.
Travis isn’t particularly known for his talent but he once grew a peach-fuzzfest memorable for its sad yet endearing hold on life, when Snider should have really pulled the plug. He made our next candidate look awesome in comparison…
As it was memorialized on a Facebook Yankee fan page last week, “Joba Chamberlain is warming in the bullpen. Joba’s mustache is not.” Sadly, Joba has taken such good natured ribbing about his cookie duster seriously, and has dispatched of it. Boo.
Pretty much all of the late eighties Minnesota Twins…
I know Minnesota can be crisp, temperature-wise, but there must have been a similar clause to the Yankees restrictive facial hair policy. Mustache required, perhaps. Well they got a Championship out of it at least.
Speaking of the Yankees “mustache only” facial hair policy, we will now take the opportunity to call David Price a big chicken for his “no shaves till Brooklyn” philosophy. Grow a pair, Price! A pair of handlebars!
This ‘stache was singular to Goose and Goose alone. Nobody else could or would dare to trespass upon this individual accomplishment of awesome upper lipholstery. Only one was more impressive, and that could only have been…
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Rich Gossage is entitled to his own opinion. After all, this is a man
that pitched 2 to 3 innings to close games back in the day. We all get that, and no one gets it more than he does. He tells everyone what he did and did it again when people started putting Mariano Rivera on a pedestal after he announced he was going to retire at the end of 2013. That's right, Goose is very, very loose apparently.
When asked
about Mariano Rivera being the greatest of all time, he had a round
about way of diminishing what Mariano had accomplished in his career. He said: "I think that these guys are so dominant in that one-inning role that they've forgotten what we used to do... It takes three guys to do what we used to do.... Believe me, I do not want to take anything away from this guy, this guy is right up there. But had we been used like that, hard telling what [our] statistics would be. They'd be right there. We were dominant in that role for three innings... I believe had Mo been used like us, he might have 350 saves... You just wouldn't have had the numbers. The workload was amazing." The full story is HERE. By the way, Gossage had 310 saves in his career.
Now look, I get it. But truth be told, the only thing that stinks about this
story is that Rich Gossage wasn't born later in life. I mean, he can
say what he will about pitching ONLY 1 inning as he says, but it's
silly.
Back when Gossage was throwing, it was a different time. These days,
they've changed things. Pitchers are treated differently. If he doesn't believe me, he should watch Joe Girardi read the binder when it comes to lefty, righty match ups. It's a different time, plain and simple. The reality is, there is nothing wrong with
what Mariano does, he is truly the greatest. I mean, during his time,
Gossage was one of the best too, no doubt about that.
But with time comes change and the fact
that I'm even devoting time to this story is silly. If you break it
down, Mariano is the best..EVER. If you look at how he pitches through one
inning, with one pitch, Mariano is the best. If you look at the amount
of Saves he has in a career, again, Mariano is the best.
And you know what? When closers were pitching 2 to 3 innings back in
the 70's, they were pretty damn special too. I loved watching Rich Gossage close. There was nothing
better than watching him throw and his arms and legs were coming at the
batter.
I appreciated Dan Quisenberry, Dennis Eckersley, Sparky Lyle... they were awesome! But it's 2013 and when you put it all out there, there is no
comparison. Different times, different heroes... And a silly story to boot!
I love you Goose, but you got this one wrong. Plus, it sounds like sour grapes, Bro. We still love you too, but hands down, Mariano is the greatest
closer I've ever seen. Case closed.
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Mariano Rivera has done it all. We have seen this guy in some of the greatest baseball moments ever played, and it seems like every time we think about Mo, it's in the playoffs or World Series where it counts the most. My fondest memory of Mariano is more recently, seeing him win it for us in 2009, but equally, I love the picture below of him. Watching him with his hands high after a 4 Game sweep of the San Diego Padres in 1998.
I was able to find the New York Times piece I remember reading by Jack Curry years ago. It stuck with me just because of the way it started. Curry wrote: "Mariano Rivera blew into his clenched hands and then he spit. There was not a bead of sweat on his forehead or a bit of doubt in his confident eyes. Rivera knew the task. The Yankees needed one more out and he needed to get it.
The Yankees were ahead by one run with Padres on first and third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Andy Sheets was at the plate and Rivera threw a fastball by him at 94 miles an hour for a strike. After Sheets fouled off the second pitch, Rivera's slider strayed out of the strike zone. Sheets fouled off the fourth pitch, another 94-m.p.h. fastball and the most hittable pitch he faced.. That was his chance. The television camera zoomed in on Rivera, who looked comfortable. Everyone knew the next pitch. Sheets knew, Rivera knew and the fans knew. So Rivera unleashed a 95-m.p.h. fastball that sailed by Sheets around eye level. Sheets swung and missed it to end the game. The Yankees won, 5-4, in Game 3, and now the World Series might be over, too." (Full piece is HERE.)
Reading that now, after all we know about Mo, gives me chills. I'm here to tell you that I have seen great closers in my time. I loved watching Rich Gossage shut down the competition. I had always admired Dennis Eckersley... but I have never, NEVER seen a pitcher do what Mariano Rivera has done.
The New York Times had an amazing breakdown of just how Mariano does it from a few years ago. The funny thing is, we all know how he does it. The fans know, his teammates know and the opposing batter knows. Yet, they can't hit the cutter and the ones that do hit it, like Jay Patyton in the 2000 World Series (read HERE) almost get some sort of "Badge of Courage" for beating Mo. But it happens so rarely, we salute him as being the greatest. Take a moment and watch this:
Last year on my son's 9 year old Little League team, there was a kid who loved pitching and asked the manager point blank why he couldn't be #42. (Our Little League numbers go 1-14.) All this kid wanted was to master his craft, at 9 years old. He wanted to be the great Mariano Rivera. I smiled at him. I got it. I wanted to be Ron Guidry when I was a kid. I understood it totally and as much as I admired and appreciated him having a hero, I said, "Why don't you just make your #9 something special." He agreed and with it, he has the season of his life. But Mariano does that to people young and old...quite simply.... he's raised the bar. He provides life lessons to.
Who doesn't want to go out there and be the best? It's Yankee dominance, but it's more than that, it's being yourself and shooting for the stars to help your team win it all. 5 rings later, there is no better closer ever in baseball history. It's an amazing story, especially thinking about where this man came from...the streets of Panama playing baseball with a milk carton as a glove to being the best, ever in his position.
Even when I met the man a few years ago, I could see it in his face, in his signing of my son's baseball card. He took his time, he smiled, he was precise and he looked me in the eye like I was an old friend. You don't see that with all players, so to see this guy all smiles and happy and knowing he's the best, but not forcing that on me was refreshing.
Today will be bittersweet, but let's not forget we have alot of work to still do. Mo's not done today... we have a whole season with Mariano and if he can handle this farewell tour like his has carried himself for his entire career, it's going to be something special to watch. I will cherish every moment of the "Mo Tour" and I'm happy to say, that fans out there, even non-baseball fans will too. Because while those non-Yankee fans didn't like him when they played against him, they appreciate his talent. They admire him and they see what we see.... the greatest closer of our generation... maybe even ever. In the end, how do you not love this man?
Look for a very special piece by Steve Skinner about Mariano Rivera tomorrow... something very special, only here on Bleeding Yankee Blue.
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I like when I'm proved wrong by the Yankee brass or by the actually player that I have no faith in. Derek Lowe not only looked like a Yankee last night against Texas, he played like a Yankee. Thank God. Lowe's line last night was 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R and struck out 4. Oh and he also go the Save, which means he's tied with David Robertson for saves this season on the Yanks. Silly stat, but significant for the tale I'm about to tell.
Now Lowe's debut means 1 thing, if he can deliver like that for the rest of the season, we not only have our long man, we have another guy that had to reinvent himself to keep a job in the major leagues. Lowe's success this run will be key, not only for the Yankees, but for his future as well. If Lowe can come in as a middle reliever and shut them down with all he's got, he can last another 10 years in relief easily in the majors. Sure, I'm all gitty for the guy right now, after all, I was the first person to suggest the signing of Lowe would be a total failure, but like I said, I like when Brian Cashman has an idea up his sleeve that I don't see. I like when these guys take the field and just have an amazing outing or play or pitching performance, something so good, that fans look at them and think, "Man oh man, where has this guy been all year?" I love that, that's baseball, that's life and anytime you can strike while the iron's hot, or just try to do something different just to stay a float and succeed, well, I applaud you, no doubt.
Plenty of successful starters have fizzled and came back as relievers. I'm particularly fond of Dennis Eckersley and Kerry Wood, but believe me, it happens alot and when it works, it works. Maybe it will work for Lowe. Sure, it's one outing but that confidence will follow him around for more than a few games now I hope.
Lowe said something tonight that stuck with me. It's significant and important to every Yankee fan out there, because, let's face it, I look at Lowe and I still see him as a Red Sock. He said “So far, so good...I’m not going to do jumping jacks tonight because you pitched one good game. We’re in this thing for the long haul.”(Read HERE)
"We're in this thing for the long haul." Think about that. That quote doesn't sound like an enemy at all. It sounds like a teammate, a teammate of my Yankees that wants to win it all for us Yankee fans, whether it's starting or relieving or whatever. I found new light in Derek Lowe after reading that quote. Lowe could be a champion with my Yankees, and last night was a damn good start. So Derek, I tip my cap. You did good old man, but keep going because we like what we see! Oh... and Go Yankees!
I believe that Andy Pettitte will succeed on the Yankeesthis year. According to Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record, you can’t help but be excited about him returning.Stapleton says Pettitte is maybe 2 weeks away from pitching in an exhibition game and he’s ahead of schedule.
According to Stapleton, Pettitte faced batters Friday, "Pettitte faced six batters and seemed encouraged with what he showed in the biggest challenge to date during his comeback from a year's retirement. He wants to throw a modified bullpen session Sunday in order to keep refining his mechanics and getting a feel for his pitches."
I believe that no fan is NOT excited about Andy Pettitte, unless you’re a blog and want to be provocative and take the other side suggesting that Pettitte returning is “no big deal.” Sure, that stance is unique and you’ll get more readers that day, but there is no denying… Everyone feels it, Pettitte is back!Whether or not you want to believe Pettitte will succeed again in pinstripes is another story of course.Sure, he’s older now, 39, and 40 in June but pitchers that have been successful in their career can usually pitch forever, I think about guys like Jamie Moyer, Nolan Ryan, Dennis Eckersley…Eckersley reinvented himself from starter to reliever, but you get my point.I believe in Pettitte based on his work ethic and conditioning.If you don’t, I’m afraid you’re just trying to be different… and I get that...from a blog perspective.
Look... Andy Pettitte may or may not be a success this season, but I believe we can all agree that when you already have guys like CC Monster and Ivan Nova, and adding a veteran like Hiroki Kuroda and a talented kid like Michael Pineda, the rotation looks pretty damn good.With Andy Pettitte returning, the rotation just got great.Plus Golden Boy Phil Hughes is out to prove he’s the real thing… finally.
The best news comes from Stapleton's piece where talks about an encounter between Pettitte and Freddy Garcia and he in the weight room yesterday. They seemed to have a pleasant conversation, according to Stapleton. Stapleton wrote:
"'I like him,' Garcia said of Pettitte. 'He just said, 'We have to win.' I said, 'We'll figure out something,' and that moment's going to come next week or the week after that."
Read Stapleton's piece HERE. Bottom line, we have what it takes to win it all this year.I believe in Andy Pettitte and the rest of our guys.The whole thing just makes sense this season…it’s destiny after all... isn't it?
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