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It is bad but it could be much worse. Thirty teams want to be World Champions. Thirty teams and thirty managers consider GETTING to the World Series a successful season. One owner and a minority of fans consider such a season a failure. For George Steinbrenner and some Yankees fans, being the last team to lose a game in October (or November) is the worst of all possible seasons while winning the last game in October is the best of all results.
The 2004 New York Yankees collapsed when it counted second most. It will never be known if the Yankees played badly or if the Red Sox played outstanding baseball that completely stopped the Yankees. Perhaps the St. Louis Cardinals can answer that but all that matters is that the Red Sox made the greatest comeback in baseball PLAYOFF history. This brings us to the disaster that is known as the Yankees' 2005 season. The team consists of rich, unmotivated players who are living off their pasts and their huge salaries. From the manager to the coaches and especially to the players, there is no fire. No one gets angry (except for Kevin Brown, whose anger is counterproductive). Only owner George Steinbrenner shows any emotion and an unwillingness to accept defeat. At the completion of play on June 6, the Yankees were 28-29. The third baseman is a shortstop, the leftfielder is a second baseman, the centerfielder is a left fielder, the first baseman is cheered because he lost some weight and alleges he will now be a good boy, and the starting pitchers are old and ineffective. The setup man throws up before playoff games, and there is no bench. Alex Rodriguez was the best shortstop in baseball when the Yankees acquired his services. He is now playing third base---poorly. Much has been made about putting the team first. Much has been made about what a great team leader the Yankees have in team captain Derek Jeter. Is Alex Rodriguez better able to adjust to third base than Derek Jeter? Regardless of the answer, signing Rodriguez gave the Yankees two great players who played the same position. Contrary to what some modern physicists are now hypothesizing, at least in major league baseball's thirty ball parks, two objects still cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
The copyright of the article Not So Bad? in NY Yankees is owned by Harold Friend. Permission to republish Not So Bad? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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