LOOK at it this way, Yankees fans; at least manager Joe Girardi doesn’t have to change his number to 28 next season.
The question is how long will he have to wear No. 27? When will the Yankees be championship quality again?
When Girardi took over as Yankees manager he boldly chose No. 27 as a mission statement. The Yankees have won 26 World Championships. His job is to get No. 27.
Toronto and Roy Halladay simply overmatched the Yankees 6-2 yesterday at Yankee Stadium. Fourth-place is in the rearview mirror and this was a day the Yankees could have gained on the Red Sox, who fell to the White Sox.
The Yankees trail Boston by seven in the loss column and the Twins by 4 1/2 games in the wild-card chase. In many ways this season is the Yankees’ worst nightmare. They will not make the playoffs after 13 straight appearances.
The Tampa Bay Rays, the team that George Steinbrenner loved to beat even in spring training, are rubbing the Yankees nose in it, leading them by 13 games in the loss column. The hated Red Sox probably will win the wild card and the cross-town rival Mets are leading the NL East. It can’t get any worse for the Yankees.
“We have to take the field with some pride,” Johnny Damon said of the 10-game road trip that be gins today in Detroit. “You’re able to wear a New York Yankee uniform.”
Yesterday Xavier Nady misjudged a fly ball in left that set up Toronto’s three-run first. Perhaps the Yankees are living the Curse of Billy Crystal, who suited up for them in spring training at the same time the Rays were mapping out their strategy to crush the Yankees and run away with the AL East.
Coming off two consecutive victories, the Yankees were leading 6-2 in the seventh Saturday when the wheels came off as second baseman Robinson Cano made an error on a sloppy toss to second on a double play ball. Girardi insisted again yesterday that the play was not a nonchalant play and that Cano simply got his feet “tangled.”
Cano said he believes now he should have just straightened up and made the throw.
Give him credit for realizing he made a blunder. He clearly was too far away from the base to make a shovel pass. But that kind of planning and focus must be made before the play actually happens.
The difference in the Red Sox and Yankees can be diagrammed in many ways, but the difference at second base between Dustin Pedroia, who is batting fourth for the Red Sox lately, and Cano, in style and substance, is dramatic.
“The key is,” explained one general manager, “is you have to find players like Pedroia, who really want to win. Those kind of players are getting harder to find.”
The Yankees have to find their fair share.
It’s been a long time since the Yankees have made it to the World Series. Here’s the scary part: Perhaps this is not a transitional year, a year to take one-step backward just to take two steps forward in the future. Perhaps this is another step in the process of spiraling down the drain.
In the top of the eighth the public address system blared AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” That was appropriate. This is all uncharted territory for these Yankees.
And let’s face it, beating Roy Halladay is never easy.
What makes him so tough?
“He has Mariano’s cutter with all the other stuff, a great sinker, and different speeds on his curve ball,” Damon said. “He’s able to hump up to 94-95 when he needs to and he knows when to save his pitches. He’s the best out there.”
The Yankees need someone like Halladay. Free agent to be CC Sabathia fired another shutout yesterday. They can start there, but why would Sabathia ever leave the NL?