Storyline: Long gone are the days of 20 win pitchers, 40 save seasons, and over 100 RBI hitters. No – the new 2015 Yanks are not even close to those once consistent numbers. Written by Joe Rodriguez, North New Jersey.
It was official. The 2015 Major League Baseball season was over for the abattoir that is now the New York Yankees; losing yet again at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles finishing the season 12 games over .500 and second in the American League East. Privileged, prosperous, elite, and favored are the words that come to mind when referring to the New York Yankees.
They are reasons why sports fans hate certain teams like the New England Patriots or why everyday “Joes” hate wealthy people and their teenagers who are seen driving daddy’s Mercedes Benz as if it were their own. Heck, it’s even why most countries hate the United States. And if you are a Yankee fan, especially those between the ages of 23 and 30, then you most definitely received a healthy dose of greatness; the likes of which baseball might not ever see again.
Courtesy: silive.com
Here’s another word for you: spoiled. When Joe Girardi gave the “OK” for the Yanks to bring out the champagne and celebrate after their 4-1 home win against the hated Red Sox, many had qualms on how hard the Yankee teammates partied for clinching the A.L. Wild-Card. After all, many of the new and young players have never played in the post-season.
“Celebrating the way the Yankees did for only a playoff berth is something lower-tier teams do. It’s for an over-achieving team whose bar is set much lower,” is what many fans declared. The irony in all this was that fans were in fact unintentionally describing the 2015 New York Yankees.
It pains me a great deal to state this, but these are not the same Yankees many of us grew up to love and watch; crushing home runs, winning division title after division title, and most of all winning championships. No, things are very much different now in the Bronx in terms of winning and talent. While the level of play has been increasingly painful to watch, the Yankee/Steinbrenner philosophy is still very much alive and well, yet only on a smaller scale.
One of the biggest misconceptions I constantly hear about the Yankees is that they have to get back to their old Mid-90’s way of developing their star players through their farm-system. While this has some merit to it, it’s still not entirely true.
While the Yankees struck gold more than once with their “Core Four”. The beginning of their latest dynasty was largely brought upon by trading many of their own Top-100 prospects for star-caliber players like, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch, and David Cone. Free agents played a great deal in the building of the dynasty as well with players like Boggs and Clemens.
It has always been clear that there is only one common denominator that helped make the Yankees great during the mid-1990’s. It was the same reason they were great in the late 1970’s; buy the best players out there. But still, it doesn’t hurt to bring up five players who put up Hall of Fame numbers. Or at least close to it.
Courtesy: bronxbaseballdaily.com
Jeter wasn’t his Mr. November self until the 1998 season and Posada didn’t begin to play full-time until the 2000 season. In fact, many of his stats came during the 21st century. And while Andy Pettitte had career-bests in 1996 and 1997, he also had career-worse seasons during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. Yet Pettitte was still a formidable workhorse, bailing out the Yankees during high-pressure starts.
Mariano Rivera was the only exception, since he was spectacular throughout every championship year. Without taking anything away from the “Core Four,” much of the heavy lifting during the early years of the Yankee Dynasty was done by the likes of Tino Martinez, Jimmy Key and Paul O’Neill (All players acquired by either trade or free agency).
Long gone are the days of 20 win pitchers, 40 save seasons, and over 100 RBI hitters. No – the new 2015 Yanks are not even close to those once consistent numbers.
To put into perspective on far they have fallen, Carlos Beltran led New York this season with a .272 batting average. During the ’96 championship run, the lowest average by a batter with at least 100 games was Tino Martinez who batted .292. At the beginning of the season, we all knew this team was utterly incapable of hitting and bringing in runs.
Therefore the Yanks beefed up their defense to facilitate their pitching staff. After all, Tanaka appeared unhittable until the elbow injury last year, and Pineda appeared like a legit ace during the early stages of the 2015 season. Teixeira and A-Rod were also both pleasant surprises that kept the Yankees in striking distance throughout the season in winning the AL East.
But between sub-par play late in the season, injuries from key players, and the emergence of a red-hot Toronto team, the Yankees continued to disappoint. The pitching staff struggled mightily and could not drum up enough run support when they needed it the most.
Yankee fans must try and forget about the good ol’ days, when year after year the Yankees contended and created their own personal “Championship or Bust” mantra. Never would we dare see Clemens, Jeter, or Bernie pouring champagne down their face for clinching a Wild Card berth.
Courtesy: newyork.cbslocal.com
Celebrations were once saved for World Series wins, and maybe an exception if the Bombers overcame a hated rival like Boston during the playoffs. The Yankees Dynasty were a proud bunch of great players – not so much cockiness but rather a humble sense of confidence that could seen as a kind of aura that had been passed down from one Yankee great to the next. But this is not that team. Playoffs are beginning to feel like aberrations and Championships are nothing more than a distant memory.
The days of the old Yankee greats are over. We must now look forward to a less-than-mediocre lineup, a few potentially “lethal” Starting Pitchers and a superior Bullpen that must now all collectively and quickly turn the switch on if the New York Yankees want to give their fans and themselves some of that old Yankee magic that fans have been so accustomed to seeing throughout the Dynasty years.
