Tears of a Yankee Fan

Added by Elizabeth DiPietro on October 7, 2011.

I’ll be the first to say it: it was tough getting up this morning.  I think a lot of people at my job were actually surprised I didn’t commit suicide last night.  But the most difficult thing about last night’s game was not the fact that the Yankees lost and were eliminated from the remainder of the 2011 baseball postseason.

The most difficult, and frankly ridiculous, thing was that they lost by only one run.  Their fourth, fifth, and sixth batters, whose combined salaries outweigh the entire payroll of the Tampa Bay Rays by about $20 million, went a combined 9-for-55 in the series.  It seemed like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher were constantly up with runners in scoring position, which is what any Yankee fan should want.  And each time we would say to ourselves, “This is it.  This is going to be the big hit.  This time he’s gonna come through.”

But the big hit never came.  It got to the point where I was hoping one of them got plunked on the rear end because it seemed like that was the only way they’d drive a run in with the bases loaded.

Of course, it’s easy to blame the big three, and their lack of production is the main reason why the Yankees faltered.  However, there were other, less obvious subtleties in the Yankees’ game plan that didn’t spell outright disaster but nevertheless indicated to us fans that this just wasn’t our year.  And trust me, that’s probably the most difficult thing for a Yankee fan to admit, something we simply won’t admit until our worst fears are realized.

TBS commentators kept remarking about how neither team in the series was particularly aggressive, how the Yankees and Tigers failed to take risks, both offensively and in the field.  I couldn’t agree more.   Most scouting reports prior to the ALDS chose the Yankees as the favorites because of their ability to be aggressive on the basepath and manufacture runs.

So it boggles the mind why Brett Gardner, who was one of the only Yankees to hit in the series consistently, kept finding himself on first base via a walk, infield hit, or slap single, only to stay put when he should have been stealing second.  You can’t blame Gardner for that; those decisions usually come from the dugout.

So why the hell does Joe Girardi have Gardner in the game if he’s not going to let him do what he does best?

Throughout the season, he has been so effective at getting things started.  The only time I recall Gardner attempting to steal in the series was in the bottom of the eighth in Game 5 with Derek Jeter at the plate.  Jeter swung away at the first pitch and flew out just shy of the short porch in right field, constituting the most exciting moment of the whole evening.

Too many called strike threes.  Too many LOBs.  Too little energy.

If you had told me Yankee pitching, which was the biggest question mark of the whole night given the unconventional use of relievers, was going to give up only three runs and the Yankees would still lose, I would have thought you were crazy.  In Game 4 the offense treated baseballs like beach balls and Tiger pitching like little league.

In Game 5, the balls morphed into marbles and Doug Fister channeled Cy Young.

Now the Tigers will continue their season, while the Yankees will go home, and decisions will have to be made in the offseason.  Malcontents are already calling for Girardi’s head on a platter, demanding he be replaced with Terry Francona.  CC Sabathia has the opportunity to opt out of his contract, and questions arise about whether the Yankees should offer him more money to try to keep him despite his disappointing postseason performance.  Incidentally, the Yankees should remember that they wouldn’t have even gotten to the playoffs without him, given the fact that for the majority of the season their rotation read as #1—Sabathia, #2–?

Swisher’s contract is also up, and the Yankees will have to decide if they want to resign him, and at what price.

As for me, I’ve dried my tears and moved on.  Basketball season is just around the—oh wait.  Never mind.

Five months to spring training.