So after another 9th inning tie game bed shitting by Mo and 2 out fly out by Giambi with the bases loaded, I have come to realize something else about this beyond frustrating and irritating team. They, despite being full of veterans who played on this team last year, have, incredulously, taken on the persona and personality of their manager.
Consider this; Girardi was brought in because he was more passionate, temperamental and, dare I say, up and down than the even keeled and 1st ballot Hall of Famer Torre. As such, this team, unlike last years team that would, late in the year, consistently win 2 of 3 and 4 of 5 yet never really went on a crazy 10 in a row run, is entirely streaky. Instead of winning series, this team has compiled a semi-respectable record of 64-58 by playing horrendous baseball almost all season..... except for 4 runs of 4+ game winning streaks sprinkled throughout the 2008 campaign. They have a 4 game winning streak, a 5 game winning streak, a 7 game winning streak, and an 8 game winning streak. Outside of these fairly spaced out bursts of solid play, this team is a woeful 18 games under 500. I know you can't take away those 24 wins but it is noteworthy that this team has basically played lousy baseball except for 4 solid streaks at various spaced apart intervals of the season. Unlike Torre, who looked exactly the same at a press-conference after a loss as he did after a win, Girardi looks like his favorite dog died after each loss and looks like he just banged the prom-queen after each win. This radical temperament change, based on the outcome of games; which is appropriate for die-hard fans like myself, is not appropriate for the manager of a team whose team plays 162 games.
I admit, I thought I wanted a more passionate and temperamental manager but I think I was wrong. I am not saying Girardi is a terrible manager or that he is not the right guy for the future of this team. However, I am saying that I see negative aspects of his personality rubbing off on his team; in turn these personality flaws may in part explain it's horribly erratic play.
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8 comments:
I don't think that's really it. There might be some truth to that, but I don't think that's the Girardi issue. I think his tactical choices for the most part have been poor. I think the biggest problem is the severe lack of fundamentals on this team. They play poor defense. Their situational hitting/bunting is atrocious. They rely on luck and streaks to even out their numbers. This team is MENTALLY WEAK. They have injury problems that should've decimated this team but we freak out that they are only 9 games over .500. If you lost arod for a month, wang for 3 months, had bad luck with hughes and kennedy, lost matsui, and lost pitching guru Posada, you'd have trouble too. With key injuries and down years from Jeter, Abreu (DONE), Cano, Cabrera showing his age, Giambi showing his, and even Mo showing his... we should count our blessings they are a winning team.
funny, i coulda swore i saw the guys on daily news live discussing this exact same theory on THURSDAY
Why do I think that this isn't jeter's first post on this site, even if under a different name?
hey man, if you're not going to require a password and instead grant me the ability to have an infinite number of usernames, well then hey, i'm going to take advantage of it
the fact that you all know exactly who's commenting regardless of the name ;)
I did not watch said episode and would not take any satisfaction out of taking information from that show and passing it off as my own. I watch every single game they do not.
touche... loudmouths is pretty legit though, surprisingly
Yea I have loved both of them for many years at the FAN. Btw, if tonights game does not perfectly epitomize this 08 club; I don't know what does. Losing on a 2 out era and a single turned into an out on bases; yikes.
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