The problem started in earnest at the beginning of September. Vasquez proved he didn't belong, Burnett lost his command and couldn't find it and Hughes simply got tired. Sabathia showed that the load of the whole starting staff was too much, even for the big guy. In the meantime, Andy Pettitte was playing canasta with Nick Johnson on the DL.
So with the pitching staff blowing up like the Fourth of July fireworks show, the "most powerful lineup in baseball" decided they had to score in double figures every game. Instead, they became very ordinary, in fact, less than ordinary. As in all sports, the harder you try, the worse you do.
Most of the hard hit balls went right at fielders and instead of quaking at the thought that the Yanks were catching up to them and pitching scared, opposing pitchers were laughing and keeping their composure.
It just shouldn't have affected all these all-star, professional players like that. And frankly, a couple of the usually reliable players got old. Jeter showed it at the plate, Posada showed it behind the plate. A-Rod hit into a lot of bad luck, Swisher slowed down and Gardner became invisible. Only Granderson and Cano looked like they belonged on a championship team.
It will be interesting to see how Cashman attacks these problems over the winter. It's not just a matter of adding a couple more big guns, there are some deletions that need to be made, too.
At any rate, making it to baseball's Final Four is still a good thing and the Yanks should be congratulated for that. There are 26 teams that didn't, and a couple of teams that got sent home a little earlier than they thought they would.
Like Vod, I, too, will just check into the Series occasionally. It is fun to watch a pitcher who has more hair than the whole Yankee staff combined.
In the words of the old Brooklyn Dodgers: "WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR."
CP-
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