May 17, 2005

Toast (Not Toast)

On May 7, I drafted a post: "Are The Yankees Toast?"
New York is 11-19 (.367) -- a 59-win pace. To finish with 95 victories -- the absolute minimum number of wins to even begin thinking about a playoff spot, in my opinion -- the Yankees need to go 84-48 the rest of the season. That is a .636 pace -- and right now, only four teams (Baltimore, St. Louis, the White Sox and Los Angeles) are playing that well.

Can this Yankees team, as currently comprised, play .636 ball -- starting now? No.
And several Yankee fans agreed.

Since then, the Yankees have played nine games and won them all, outscoring their opponents 71-33. They are 20-19 and still five games behind the Orioles, but to reach 95 wins now, they need to play at a .610 pace (75-48). A bit easier, but still not assured -- the Yankees of 1999, 2000 and 2001 didn't play that well.

Back on May 7, SG at RLYB suggested waiting until Memorial Day:
Joe Torre is beginning to show the flaws in his managerial style that were masked by tremendous roster depth and talent that were put in place by the front office from 1996-2004. ... His postgame interviews are indicative of a man who has no idea what to do. Torre is a fine manager when he doesn't have to think ...

The front office put this team in place with a plan, but it was a lousy plan. They expected players who had career years to repeat them, and they expected the ravages of age and injury to stay away. They did not fill their biggest hole on defense with a marquee player who was just entering his prime. ... Can this team still make the playoffs? Sure. Will they? I am pretty sure they will not at this point. If they are not around .500 by the end of May, I think they need to face the reality of the situation.
I closed my post by saying:
I don't think we have to wait that long. The New York Yankees will not make the 2005 post-season.
This winning streak will end -- and Tino Martinez will soon be playing like Lou Gehrig circa 1939 (and not 1927) -- so I'm not ready to retract that statement just yet.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Yanks will be there. Will the sox? I think not. Ortiz cant carry them forever. You will have to retract that blog. Even though I am the enemy you have the best blog. I read it every day.

allan said...

Thanks for the compliment.

As for October, we shall see.

Anonymous said...

the arrogance of yankees fans never ceases to amaze me.

Anonymous said...

Whats arrogant about believing in your team? Did you stop thinking the sox were going to win when they played 500 ball for 80 games last year? Its called being a fan.

laura k said...

"Whats arrogant about believing in your team?"

Nothing. What's arrogant is believing that your team can do anything, regardless of facts, just because they wear a certain uniform.

"Its called being a fan."

Being a fan means wanting your team to win more than anything, and loving them whether they win or lose.

Being a fan does not mean speaking ignorantly or disregarding facts when they don't suit you.

Anonymous said...

The Yankees have been in the playoffs 10 years in a row, its ignorant to think they are going to make it this year? what facts are you talking about? Instead of getting personal and calling people ignorant and arrogant state your socalled facts. I would like to here them. Grow up. Try to be nice you finally won one,act like a winner. I know its a new state of mind for you try to embrace it.

allan said...

Hey JC:

Keep the insults to yourself or I'll delete your posts.

Where the arrogance that Sarah talks about comes in -- I think -- is in statements like this:

The Yanks will be there. Will the sox? I think not.

Once the Yankees start winning, the state of mind is that that's going to continue (naturally) and by extension, that means the Sox will fold.

Didn't 2004 teach you guys anything?!?

Anonymous said...

That was my point why use insults like ignorant. I promise you I wont insult unless I get insulted.