So much for the man lauded for his "leadership" skills. So much for a man considered one of the best motivators in the game. So much for a guy who's received credit for getting the most out of a team full of multi-millionaires.
One of the many things that have been proven about this Yankee team over the last few weeks is that Joe Snorre can only do so much, if anything at all.
And don't point to his previous success in '96-'00. Back then, he had players who were motivated, gamers like Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius who cared less about their personal numbers than winning one for the team. Competitors like that can play for Art Howe and go out there hungry to win.
There are too few fighters left on this team. Jeter, Shemp, maybe Sheff. Even Shemp can't be sat down while he's slumping, due to his personal games-played streak. But after that, there is no fight in this team. They look tired, play tired, lose tired. Losing 3 of 4 to the AAA-Rays is pathetic. How will the Yanks fare against major league teams like the A's and Mariners? Against Zito, Harden, and Blanton?
The D-Rays play the game with so much energy. I never thought I'd say they're fun to watch. But every time Crawford, Lugo, or Sanchez get on base, you feel like something exciting is going to happen. I can't name a single Yankee that I can say that about. For a Devil Ray, a guy who knows his team isn't going anywhere, to still play the game with passion, that deserves my respect.
Joe Snorre cannot get this team to play with the passion of those hapless losers. He holds team meetings, and they prove useless. He has $200 million worth of talent, and they prove useless. Bobby Cox has a team cutting payroll but still has a team playing hard, sitting on top of the division for the umpteenth year in a row.
If you want to blame this funk on the players, and say it's not Torre's fault, then you have to say that '96-'00, too, was thanks to the players, not Torre. And that those teams could've won with Art Howe or Stump Merrill or even Grady Little in the dugout. Because if now it's all about the players, then back then, too, it was all about the players.
What it comes down to is this: Joe Snorre is now facing his biggest challenge as a Yankee manager, and is failng miserably.
1 comment:
1. Art Howe? How about Art Vandelay, George Costanza's fictitious alter ego? Which would be like having absolutely *no* manager. Yup, if the inscrutable Torre was responsible for all the glory years, then why isn't his magic touch working now when the Yanks are in the toilet?
2. It's so sweet to see the Yankees' "strategy" of outspending everyone else blowing up in their faces big-time. At this point, they couldn't give away Giambi, Brown, and Bernie at fire-sale prices to desperate teams.
3. After Wednesday's loss, Jeter was quoted as saying that "it can't get any worse." Well, I've got news for ya, Captain Intangibles: It could and it did. You're now in the cellar of the East. And it can continue to get worse - hopefully. Having the D-Rays look at you through their rear-view mirror, having the worst record in the AL, etc., etc.
4. It's been a while since I've heard any non-Yankee pining to be a Bomber with the tired refrain "I'd like to get a World Series ring."
5. Since the Red Sox' stunning knockout blow to take the ALCS last year after being down 0-3, the Yankees are truly adrift. Now they're on a par with Tampa Bay, and they don't know what hit them. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
6. If Steinbrenner's horse doesn't win tomorrow's Kentucky Derby - supposedly it's the favorite - then watch out. Expect Yankee heads to roll. And Bellamy Road might be glue factory-bound.
Post a Comment