Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Hard to watch
I haven't written about the Yankees in a long time. I have resisted the urge to vent for four long months because I thought I was jinxing them. Every time I wrote about how they were turning it around, they would rattle off a losing streak or suffer the loss of yet another overpriced starting pitcher.
A lot can be said about this season ... but it would all be bullshit.
The Yankees had a tough season, but they won over 90 games, won their division, and made the playoffs. There are a lot of teams that would give a lot to have a regular season like the one the Yankees had. They made the playoffs, were playing some of their best baseball of the season, and had just as good a shot as anybody.
The fact of the matter is, they lost to the better team.
And when I say "better" team, I don't mean in some metaphysical "if they played 100 times the Angels would win 60" kind of way. That sort of idle speculation is dumb and proves nothing. (although it does keep thousands of sportwriters and radio hosts employed) What I mean by the Angels being the better team is that, for these five games, the Angels were superior in every important facet of the game.
They played the field better, they pitched better, and they scored runs better. They did not hit better, they scored better. Who gives the fuck how many hits or walks you have if you don't score runs. The sabermatricians probably have an algorithm that shows I'm wrong on this point, but fuck them -- I've watched enough playoff games to know that the "rules" that apply to the regular season don't work for the post season.
The Yankees left too many runners on base. FAR too many. Matsui left SEVEN runners on base IN THIS GAME.
The Yankees lost the games they lost in different ways. Game 2 they gave away with sloppy defense and a lack of timely hitting. In game 3 they hit but had a pitching imlplosion. Game 5 was a combination of one bonehead play on defense, bad luck, bad calls, and a lack of timely hitting.
I take no joy in trashing the Yankees. I hate the Angels, just like I hate whatever team the Yankees face in the playoffs.
But what can you do?
|
A lot can be said about this season ... but it would all be bullshit.
The Yankees had a tough season, but they won over 90 games, won their division, and made the playoffs. There are a lot of teams that would give a lot to have a regular season like the one the Yankees had. They made the playoffs, were playing some of their best baseball of the season, and had just as good a shot as anybody.
The fact of the matter is, they lost to the better team.
And when I say "better" team, I don't mean in some metaphysical "if they played 100 times the Angels would win 60" kind of way. That sort of idle speculation is dumb and proves nothing. (although it does keep thousands of sportwriters and radio hosts employed) What I mean by the Angels being the better team is that, for these five games, the Angels were superior in every important facet of the game.
They played the field better, they pitched better, and they scored runs better. They did not hit better, they scored better. Who gives the fuck how many hits or walks you have if you don't score runs. The sabermatricians probably have an algorithm that shows I'm wrong on this point, but fuck them -- I've watched enough playoff games to know that the "rules" that apply to the regular season don't work for the post season.
The Yankees left too many runners on base. FAR too many. Matsui left SEVEN runners on base IN THIS GAME.
The Yankees lost the games they lost in different ways. Game 2 they gave away with sloppy defense and a lack of timely hitting. In game 3 they hit but had a pitching imlplosion. Game 5 was a combination of one bonehead play on defense, bad luck, bad calls, and a lack of timely hitting.
I take no joy in trashing the Yankees. I hate the Angels, just like I hate whatever team the Yankees face in the playoffs.
But what can you do?
|
