As Boss George retreats deeper into his sentimental myopia, it's not too surprising that Joe "Four Rings" Torre has been given another chance to manage the Yankees.
The missive delivered by Boss George indicates plainly that he is behind his men, for now:
"The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans. However, Brian Cashman our general manager, Joe Torre our manager and our players all believe that they will turn this around quickly. I believe in them.
"I am here to support them in any way to help them accomplish this turnaround. It is time to put excuses and talk away. It is time to see if people are ready to step up and accept their responsibilities. It is time for all of them to show me and the fans what they are made of.
"Let's get going. Let's go out and win and bring a world championship back to New York. That's what I want."
The most important words in the missive are "our" manager and "our" General Manager. When the Boss changes to the definite article "the" manager and "the" General Manager, you know that the firing is imminent.
That being said, George is right. Torre should not be fired now. He should have been fired in 2006, 2005 or 2004.
Joey Four Rings should've gotten whacked after the 2004 ALCS, when he presided over the most-embarrassing collapse in the history of the New York Yankees.
The litany of sins he committed in that series alone could fill a modest-sized book, or a novella of sorts, but there are still those who chose to shield their eyes from Torre's blatant incompetence.
Joey Four Rings should be whacked for his consistent inability to manage a bullpen. There is the Quantrill factor, the Sturtze factor, the Proctor factor….the inexplicable love affair he had with Felix Heredia, heck for fun go back and see what Four Rings did to Steve Bedrosian's career.
It's well known around the baseball world that if you are a relief pitcher and you have earned Torre's trust, watch out, he will love you up and spit you out just like those sirens did to poor Pete in "Oh Brother Where Art Thou."
Yes. The starting pitching has been horrible so far this year. But there comes a time when Torre must leave a starter out there to absorb punishment for the good of the team. Nor is there a bonafide reason to use so many relievers every night out. No team has used 5 or more relievers in as many consecutive games in the last 57 years. Is this the worse pitching staff in the last 57 years of baseball? I highly doubt it. Again, Torre must let one of the relievers pitch more than one inning.
If Bruney comes out in the 5th and retires the side, is there a reason he can't come out for the next inning? Or does Torre get paid by the number of pitchers he uses per game? Sometimes it seems that way.
Yes, I know, the Torre defenders will chime in to tell me that the rosters have a lot to do with this. And it's certainly true that Brian Cashman built this roster with no bench to speak of, and a human-outmaker at 1st base. The Yankee rosters of the late 90s were built for the post season. This 2007 roster was built for a fantasy league, minus a bench.
But that's all the more reason for a "take charge" manager to actually do some managing. Yes, the roster has changed. But isn't this the Joe Torre who once made a useful player out of Clay Bellinger-now he can't figure out how to use Josh Phelps?
By the way, I still can't forgive Four Rings for losing the 2003 World Series by bringing in Jeff Weaver - at that time, in that situation. Nor should Torre be let off the hook for mismanaging the 2006 ALCS, or for his panic move of batting A-Rod 8th. All these sins are articles unto themselves.
For those with poor memories, or for those who find it simply too painful to remember, Torre was the main catalyst of the 2004 debacle. He shall never be forgiven.
When asked why he didn't have his base runners steal when Wakefield was pitching to Varitek in extra innings, he said that "They could have gone if they wanted to. They had the green light."
Joe, you see that there have been three passed balls in the inning.
Three passed balls!
You see that Varitek is concentrating so much on just trying to catch the knuckler that there is no way he could throw anyone out.
COMMAND THEM TO RUN. MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Torre knew that Schilling's ankle was being held together by threads. But he doesn't bunt on him, even once? Hell, Jeter has been bunting all year in silly situations; he doesn't tell him to lay one down now?
Torre plays Sierra that night instead of Lofton who hits .324 vs. Schilling with an OBP of .386. With the wet grass that night, Lofton could have had 2 bunt hits.
There were also many opportunities to pinch run for the more lumbering base runners-like Posada, Sierra, and Clark-in the late innings, just to make something happen. (By the way, Dave Roberts says hello.)
Rather than manage, Torre looked to be asleep most of the time. His gaze was fixed on the ground, as he slowly twirled Jeter's bat.
Yankee fans have waited long enough. It's time to stop paying for the championships year of 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Torre's credit had run out. The creditors are calling during the dinner hour. Joe Torre must pay the bill. He must be fired.
Clueless Joe indeed.
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