WILL THE YANKEES FIND THEIR WAY?

Source: The San Diego Tribune

The Holidays are a time for reflection, for traditions, for new beginnings. Some people lose their way and the holidays some how get them back on track. The Yankees know all about losing their way; and it has been a long time since they have been on the right track toward a championship. But will this off season be the one that snaps the Yankees back in sync? Will they finally find their way back to the World Series in 2021?

Famed sports writer, Mike Lupica, wrote a column on Friday that centered on the Yankees storied droughts since their beginnings. "The longest the Yankees have gone without winning a World Series -- since they really became the Yankees just over 100 years ago when Babe Ruth showed up in the Bronx -- was 17 seasons. That drought lasted from 1979-95, before Joe Torre’s Yanks finished the Yankee Century in baseball in style. Prior to that it had been 15 years, from '62-77. Their third longest stretch without winning a World Series is happening now." He gave a number of reasons for the Yankees droughts and defended them as reasons vs. excuses.

"Both Stanton and Cole were seen to be game-changers and difference-makers in the Bronx, Cole especially. But you saw what happened in a short season. Too many Yankees got hurt again, they ended up finishing second in the division to the Rays and at one point looked as if they might not make even the expanded postseason at all, before ultimately losing another heartbreaker -- this time in the AL Division Series -- to the Rays," said Lupica. 

Heartbreakers have been the Yankees MO over this drought. Injuries have been another. But if the Yankees can figure out where their issues are, perhaps they can bandage up their Achilles Heel and go get themselves a catcher that can, well, catch. Maybe they can smarten up and let Luke Voit go and pick up another infielder with a bigger bat. And maybe, they can pick up a pitcher, that can add more consistency to the rotation. That is how you win games. That is how you win the Series. Consistency. This is an area for growth for the Yankees, and the key to finding their way.

December 6th is the start of MLB's Virtual Winter Meetings. Perhaps the Yankees will find their way in 2021 and this will be the week that ignites their path. And like Lupica's friend who is a diehard Yankee fan, I will be less impatient too because the Yankees will be back on track to win again, and win more consistently. 

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

WHY THE YANKS SHOULD LEARN FROM CERVELLI'S PASSION

Say what you will about the Francisco Cervelli fist pump.  Many call it silly and over the top.  Some, like Michael Kay and Mike Lupica are embarrassed by it, read HERE.  They’ve actually said on the radio that Cervelli needs to “act like he’s been there before.”  I call all that bunk.  We need the passion, we need the spark and we need the Yankees to ignite a run for the ages. Perhaps last night's 7-0 win against the Rays will start that... It starts with confidence, then situational hitting and pitching. Throw in a little passion and that’s your formula. I’ve often wondered if having Cervelli on the team right now would have helped that energy that we’re lacking. 

Make no mistake, it is my opinion that Francisco Cervelli was screwed on the last day of Spring Training when he was sent to AAA and replaced as the backup catcher by Chris Stewart.  Sure, it was a baseball move, but Cervelli lost his mojo at that point. Look, I’m not the only one who believes Cervelli was surprised.  I recently chatted it up with one of my writing idols, Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record who said this of the Cervelli situation:

 

Pete Caldera:  At the time, I thought it was a tough deal, too.  Plus, Cervelli had a pretty good spring and you could see how blindsided he was by the whole thing. You felt for him, naturally, because he's a nice guy and a pro.  But the club had its reasons, they knew something about how Chris Stewart could help, and it's hard to argue the move based on how it turned out. At the end of the day, as they say, it was a baseball decision.

Read Caldera’s full interview here, NO ONE DOES THE YANKEES BETTER THAN PETE CALDERA.

The point is though, passion plays a big part in the Yankees solid performance on the field and without it, I almost feel like my New York Yankees are a little flat...a lot of strikeouts, a lot of RISP lately...it's a mess and it only gets worse before it gets better sometimes. Look at Alex Rodriguez last night...0-4 and 2 more strikeouts.

You’re asking “What’s the point of this bro?” The point is we lost the energy and the spark….I don’t know where it went but right now, our drive is different.  Does it mean bringing Cervelli up and letting him ride the bench will artificially insert the passion we need in the Yankees clubhouse? Not exactly, but the idea is there…

We need a move or a moment, 1 thing that the Yankees will do on the field that lets them realize that they have the talent and they can win it all. Maybe it was Andy Pettitte and his amazing performance last night...maybe it was Russell Martin's Grand Slam. Hopefully it is. When it comes to these athletes, no one likes to lose and anyone who tells you they don’t care if they lose is full of crap. Everyone wants to win, but there are 162 games, the strategy is the win 162, but if you can’t do that, you win the series.  If you lose 1 game that night, the players know they need to then win 2 in a row and win the series.

Derek Jeter says it all the time, “One game at a time”... and he's got 5 rings now. I believe that too. 

Look, I’m a believer in earning your keep, working hard and performing to the best of your ability every day.  Cervelli showed a positive example when he was out there. He loves the game and he wanted the world to know it.  I’m not sure this “going through the motions” attitude the Yankees have lately is too great.  But at the end of the day, I do believe in my boys.  Bottom line, it’s about a moment, 1 single moment that lifts my Yankees attitude up. Maybe it’s an outstanding catch in center, maybe it’s a come from behind win in the Bronx on the next home stand, but there needs to be something to trigger raw emotion….and I feel like it’s coming…do you?

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WHY CAN'T ALEX RODRIGUEZ CATCH A BREAK?

Can we stop already? Alex Rodriguez can’t take a poop without someone being skeptical that it’s actually not his deuce in the bowl. Alex is a lightening rod, this is true, but the guy also deserves to live his life too right?

Let me back up and start from the beginning. Last week this story came out about Alex Rodriguez going to Germany for a “procedure”… recommended by Kobe Bryant, to work on ARod’s knee and possibly his shoulder. I read Marc Carig HERE... you can too. Marc wrote that it was a "cutting-edge procedure that he hopes will help guard his aging body against further injuries."

OK... so nothing’s really going on with the Yankees this off-season and this story pops up and Alex is attached to it... I’ll admit, I read it. But what I’m not understanding is why people are outraged? Look, writers write the news, I'm not faulting sports writers, I'm questioning why the people that read about it are so up in arms. Last time I checked, this "procedure" was signed off by the team. Marc wrote it and I'll quote it; Alex went with a "blessing of the Yankees." That must mean it was signed off by Major League Baseball too, right? Oh yeah, the commissioner knew about it. The New York Post wrote about it:

"The Yankees first cleared the procedure with the commissioner’s office to avoid the appearance that Rodriguez might be receiving impermissible treatment."

And just so you understand what the procedure is, it's called Orthokine therapy. The Post writes that it: "involves taking blood from the patient’s arm and spinning it in a centrifuge, a machine used in laboratories to spin objects around a fixed axis. The serum is then injected into the affected area — in this case, Rodriguez’s knee."
So, what can we make of this? Is this Dr. Peter Wehling under investigation for doping players? Did he treat Drago in Rocky IV or something? I'm asking these questions because my take is, if the team is allowing their player to do it, and the commissioner is OK with it, I'm OK with it too. Some people aren't though.Enter Mike Lupica of ESPN radio who is apparently skeptical of what ARod is doing...What else is new. Hardball Talk has a terrific piece HERE about the Lupica take. You must read it. Lupica said of Alex:

"Nobody is saying that Wehling, the new star doctor of the moment in sports, is Galea, or will ever look at any kind of legal trouble. Maybe what Wehling is doing with blood really is better than what everybody else is doing, he is one of those guys out of science and medicine who really is a step or two ahead of the field.

But sometimes you don’t have to be either a doctor or a scientist to know that when things look too good to be true, they usually are."

OK, fine. Clearly Lupica took that route because he’s trying to be provocative. Understood. But Why?

Look, Alex Rodriguez messed up in Texas and he came clean and admitted it. Many forgave him, some didn’t. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion on Alex Rodriguez, including Mike Lupica. But like I said earlier, it doesn’t matter what Alex does now, whether it’s walking in Toronto with a blonde bombshell, or kissing himself in a mirror after a workout (Come on, come clean, we’ve all done it,) Alex Rodriguez needs to be left alone.

It’s funny, Tiger Woods crashed his car and immediately it was chalked up as “just an accident.” Of course we know what happened after that. Ryan Braun tested positive for something that could be PEDs related, but many have come to his defense suggesting it's a “big misunderstanding.” Yet, Alex flies to Germany to get looked at by a doctor using breakthrough technology and suddenly, we need to examine this more closely? Why? I’ll tell you why… because it’s Alex.

If it was Derek Jeter, it would be spun as Derek's way of getting "back to his prime" to give Yankee fans a few more years as our favorite Yankee of this generation…but for Alex, it’s wrong. It's not fair.

Hey, that’s my opinion of course. If I was Alex though... I'd be a beaten down man by now.

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