The Yankees have slayed every single dragon they were needed to slay, and maybe were supposed to slay, during the regular season, one that really ended with them getting those last two games off the Angels.
They have made it back to the playoffs, back to the top of the AL East. They can clinch the division this weekend if they can sweep the Red Sox at the Stadium. They just settle no scores this weekend, not any that matter, at least not around here. All we get this weekend is a dress rehearsal for the only games that matter, the ones that begin the second week of October.
But we won't find out this weekend if this Yankee team is as good as the Yankee team Girardi played for, no matter how much it slaps the Red Sox around. We don't find that out until the week after next, Game 1 against the Tigers or the Twins, as Girardi's Yankees try to do something no Yankee team has done since a division series against the Twins in '04.
But what we know from the recent past is that as much as they have done so far, as many questions as they've answered, and that includes questions about the manager, all they've done is win the first six months. They've done that plenty of times.
Girardi, who really ought to be Manager of the Year for the second time in a three-year managerial career, knows the deal better than anybody. He didn't put No.27 on the back of his uniform because he just wanted to make the tournament.
He will get his chance to get there soon enough, under the brightest possible lights, the kind of bright lights Joe Torre had on him from his very first October. Alex Rodriguez will get his chance to get his first big playoff hit since Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, which is 13 postseason games ago. Teixeira will get the chance to perform with a lot of Yankee money on the table. So will Sabathia, so will Burnett. And Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner and all the others who have made this the most entertaining, and satisfying, Yankee regular season in a long time.
So he and his team have won the championship of the first six months. The Yankees did that a lot when they were getting to 26 world championships. It was never supposed to be this hard to get to No.27. The real dragons are still out there.
This is one of the rare occasions where I agree with Lupica. Hell, how can you not? Of course the pressure will rise as September turns into October, especially for Girardi. No Yankee manager can go into the postseason without added pressure, it's part of the job.
That said, I don't think the pressure will be anywhere near what it was for Torre in the last few years of his Yankee career. Torre had set the bar so high for himself that anything short of a world series win started up the talk of whether he should be fired or not. That won't happen with Girardi.
After missing the postseason last year, making it this year carries with it a rare sense of accomplishment, especially rare for the Bronx. That in it of itself should all but guarantee Girardi at least finishes out his contract. I wouldn't even be surprised if he got an extension.
21 Comments:
Yankee manager = pressure
Thanks for stating the obvious Lupica.
Oh... and by the way... you still suck.
The Yanks have answered every question posed so far this year. Who would have thought they could possibly be in this position after losing their first eight games against the Red Sox? They even managed to win a series in Anaheim for the first time since 2004, despite playing their B team in the rubber game. Yet, for all their success, I think most fans still have doubts about Girardi's managerial skills when he's behind the eight ball. There are two schools of thought: (1) That with all the talent at his disposal, he couldn't possibly fail to win 100 games, and (2) By and large, he's handled the bullpen expertly and rested players at just the right time. I think the answer is somewhere between the two. If the Yankees are leading, the equation is simple: Hughes to pitch the 8th and Mo the 9th. But when you're two or three runs behind in the playoffs, the equation is not so simple. You can't just dump that game and move on to the next one. That's the area where the jury is still out on Girardi. Can he bring in the right man to keep the Yanks within touching distance and make the right moves off the bench to get a rally going? We all know the Yanks are the long-ball kings, but by and large it's small ball that succeeds in October.
The worlds new moral compass - Mike Lupica - puts down his global guide to life and the way you must think to come up with Girardi under pressure? Very Deep - Very Cerebral. How does he find the time. Go Yanks and Ralph Terry where ever you are (also thanks KC Royals way NOT to play dead this week)
LOL @ Lupica
Girardi has pressure all year long. He had too make the playoffs to keep his job. I cant think of another manager that had to do that this year.
At least I have the confidence that Girardi will stay awake in the dugout and actually fight for his team. I did not have that hope the last 3-4 years of Torre in the playoffs.
Lisa, your hatred for Torre is irrational.
You do realize there were only two Yankees managers (McCarthy and Stengel)in the history of the franchise who had more success than he did, right?
Lupica is such a tool. I still can't believe the leash Girardi gets from the fans while Torre only won 4 championships in five years, is some kind of villain because he took seriously deficient teams from 04-07 and made them into postseason contenders anyway? I don't want to hear about the talent he had in the 90's. Girardi has been given close to 500 million worth in talent this year, so he's only doing what he should be doing too.
I still think Sciosia deserves Manager of the Year. The Angels started poorly, but have played at or near the same level as the Yanks with half the payroll and, I think, more adversity.
However, I won't weep if Girardi gets it. He's done a great job this season, particularly off the field.
"You do realize there were only two Yankees managers (McCarthy and Stengel)in the history of the franchise who had more success than he did, right?"
Um, yeah. And, as the record shows, Joe got a heck of a lot more chances to fail than either of them did before those two legends were out as Yankee managers.
And sorry if it makes me "irrational" to have expected the highest-paid manager in the history of the game, with the highest payroll in the history of the game, to actually, well, have paid attention to the game in the playoffs for the last five years of his Yankee tenure. The nerve!
Lisa, I'm sorry, but no Yankees fan should have anything but good feelings towards Joe Torre. Regardless of what you have convinced yourself, the 2004-2007 Yankees were severely flawed. They played terrible defense and had no pitching, the fact that Torre took them to the postseason is an accomplishment whether you believe it or not.
Please. I'm a heck of a lot more grateful to Torre for the four rings than that tell-all book author is to the franchise that picked him up off the scrap heap and helped make him a managerial legend.
Lisa, that book was fantastic, and told a lot of great stories (much of which were not negative) about the Yankees latest dynasty. You have to stop buying into the Steinbrenner PR machine. Did you even read the book, or did you just get all your info from the tabloids?
Oh yeah, you're right - those were a lot of great stories, Greg!
I particularly enjoyed when Torre accused David Wells of being a bad influence on Sidney Ponson when the two were Yankee teammates. Only thing is, the two pitchers were never teammates.
Or how about when Torre revealed confidential conversations with Johnny Damon about the player battling with depression? Classy!
Or when Torre kept on confusing 2000 World Series hitter Jose Vizcaino with pitcher Luis Vizcaino? Such a detail-oriented guy!
What are you talking about?
Can you answer me this question; did you read the book cover to cover?
Also, the Damon thing was the only low blow in the book, but I'm not going to get angry about it. You need to get over this petty stuff.
Those are all anecdotes from "The Yankee Years," the book you just praised as being "fantastic."
Says who? Again, did you read the book or are you getting that info second hand?
As for the Vizcaino thing, isn't that a mistake by the editor or Verducci? It's not a quote so that's on them. Also, it's worth noting that the part of the book where this error is, is in the same sentence with Luis Polonia, so it's clearly a typo.
And as far as I can remember, and based on the index, Sidney Ponson isn't mentioned once in the book.
Page 49. I noticed it when reading the book and retyped this quote myself:
"[Wells] can be an engaging personality, and then there are times as a manager where you could hate his guts. He'd go out there and I'd watch his body language, and I'd watch Jeff Weaver and I'd watch Sidney Ponson, those are two guys who gravitated toward him, and I saw the same things. 'Woe is me.' It drove you nuts."
Again, Wells and Ponson were never teammates.
As for the Vizcaino names, which were messed up three times in the book, check the index to see the pages for the errors.
The other two times a "Vizcaino" (based on the index) was mentioned was when he was correctly referring to the relief pitcher.
As for the Ponson thing, yes that's in there, (For some reason his name is not in the index -- odd.). But really, is that a big deal to you? Let's crucify Torre for that mistake, because I know you or I have never made one.
Another thing about Ponson, he was in the O's system when Wells was on the O's. They may have formed a friendship in the Spring Training, but that's just speculation.
Torre could know of a friendship that they had, which we are unaware of. Did you ever think of that?
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