Schadenfreude 347 (A Continuing Series)

Dan Martin, Post:

Just how bad are the Yankees right now?

Not only can they not win anymore, these days they can't even get a lead.

Heading into Wednesday night's game against the Nationals in The Bronx with a nine-game losing streak – their longest since 1982 – the Yankees haven't even had a lead in the last 61 innings.

The last time they led was when they scored a run in the top of the second inning go up 2-1 in Atlanta on their way to an 11-3 loss Aug. 14.

It's the third-longest such streak in franchise history, according to Elias, and it's just two innings shy of the 63-inning record stretch set in 1906.

The 2000 . . . Yankees oddly own the second-longest streak with a 62-inning stretch without a lead from Sept. 25 through Oct. 1 . . .

That 2000 team also set the franchise record of six straight games without a lead – which it did twice – and the 2023 Yankees team has matched that.

So if the Yankees fail to get a lead versus Washington by the third inning, they'll have set an unfortunate new record and they could be on their way to more unwelcome milestones.

A loss Wednesday would be the first Yankee losing streak of 10 games or longer since 1913, when they dropped 13 in a row.

Mark W. Sanchez, Post:

The Yankees' defense sparkled Tuesday night. . . .

But sparks go out. An ice-cold offense again cooled off any semblance of good feelings and the Yankees' skid reached another historic low, one not seen in 41 years, with their ninth straight loss, this one 2-1 to the Nationals in front of 38,105 mostly indifferent fans in The Bronx.

The losing streak is the Yankees' longest since 1982, when Dave Winfield led the club in home runs and a pair of firings meant Bob Lemon, Gene "Stick" Michael and Clyde King all had stints managing the team. . . .

The Yankees have scored 13 runs combined in their past seven games.

They finished the latest embarrassment with two hits, both from catcher Ben Rortvedt, whose third-inning home run provided their only run. . . .

Despite the two hits, they still put together the beginnings of threats with six walks.

But they only had three at-bats with a runner on second base (going 0-for-3) and zero with a runner on third.

The offense did virtually nothing against Nationals starter Josiah Gray, a New Rochelle native, who one-hit the Yankees for six innings before a trio of relievers finished the job.

"I thought we had some chances . . .," said Boone, who sounds more defeated by the day. . . .

[T]he Yankees went quietly to another loss in a season in which they usually have gone quietly.

The Yankees (60-65) fell to 10¹/₂ games behind the Mariners for the final AL wild-card spot.

Boone described his club's morale as "pretty down." . . .

The Yankees are battling not just opponents but the numbing feeling that arises from each contest feeling like the last.

The day changes, occasionally the personnel is different, but the punch and the result remains the same.

Matt Ehalt, Post:

Even those being paid to watch can barely watch these disappointing Yankees.

WFAN announcer Suzyn Waldman said, "God, this is boring," on a hot mic during Tuesday night's lifeless 2-1 loss to the lowly Nationals in The Bronx.

Waldman made her comment coming out of the break to start the fifth inning, as captured by Awful Announcing. . . .

Waldman . . . is in her 37th year with the franchise and 18th as a broadcaster. She knows a terrible Yankees team when she sees one.

And these Yankees are about as watchable as re-runs of "Ishtar."*

About the only reason to watch Wednesday's game is to see if these underachievers can lose a 10th straight game. . . .

Again veterans like Giancarlo Stanton – batting a robust .196 – and DJ LeMahieu look like they are finished as productive players, despite multiple years left on their contracts. The catchers can't hit. . . .

The team is slashing an abysmal .229/.305/.398/.703.

The pitching is basically Cole . . . Carlos Rodon is invoking memories of Carl Pavano, Luis Severino may be the worst pitcher in baseball and the rookies are inconsistent . . . And let's not forget Clay Holmes' Miami meltdown that may have been the proverbial nail in the coffin. . . .

At least there's only 37 games left for Waldman to watch.

*: Sportswriter Outdated Cultural Reference: 36 years.

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

George Steinbrenner has been dead since 2010. He ceased having everyday input into the Yankees at least five years before that. Yankees fans who scream and shout about "If only George was still alive …!" are forgetting two very important things. 

1. The version of George from around 1981 through 1990 not only culminated with his second suspension from baseball but featured the most ill will ever between owner and fan base. . . .

2. Just because Hal Steinbrenner is George's son, there should never have been any kind of assumption that he was anything like his father. . . .

And here's the thing about Hal: 

You can (fairly) complain that maybe he's taken his father's famous impatience way too far in the other direction. You can (easily) bemoan that there seems to be a craven lack of urgency throughout the organization right now, top to bottom. You can (certainly) argue that somebody other than the hitting coach should have paid the price for a season that has run so improbably off the rails. 

This is who Hal Steinbrenner is. . . .

Hal is 53. When George was 53, in 1983, the Yankees had stopped winning and had entered into the surreal world of George's Whims. . . .

That said? 

Boone and Cashman both have to understand that even given their owner's genuinely tolerant nature, both of them need to hit the bell lap of this season at full speed, even if the idea of making a miracle run . . . seems more and more fantastical. . . .

Even Hal has to be tempted to occasionally throw his guacamole tray at the TV when Boone starts playing his postgame greatest hits. Something has to change there. . . .

Cashman's status is trickier, if only because he's been so dug in for so long, and everything about the Yankee operation has his fingerprints on it. To cashier the GM is to declare that everything has to be rebuilt from the ground up. 

But it's a critical time to make that call. You can hope that this year is just an aberration, but then you'd be ignoring that the Orioles seem set up for a long ride at the front of the AL East, that the Rays keep losing players yet keep managing to win games, that the Red Sox and Blue Jays look in significantly better shape going forward, that the Astros are still the Astros and the Rangers are learning how to win with deep pockets. . . .

Pining for George accomplishes nothing. But for his heir, the time is rapidly approaching when he has to make some hard choices, ones that may not be in his comfort zone. For better or worse, that kind of thing never bothered the old man. Is that, at least, hereditary?