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January 12, 2008

Motown Rally Leads To Yankees Thoughts

There's some interesting comments, related to the Yankees, coming out of "TigerFest" (held at Comerica Park) today.

First, on the pressure in New York. From the Windsor Star:

Since the blockbuster deal that brought two all-stars -- third baseman Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis -- to Detroit from the Florida Marlins, the Tigers have been the talk of the town.

Considering they'd already added all-star shortstop Edgar Renteria and outfielder Jacque Jones prior to the big deal, you can put the Tigers in the same sentence with the Yankees and Red Sox and list the most flattering adjectives in front of Detroit, which will enter the season as World Series favourites.

"You look at the Yankees and every year, they have these expectations and the weight of the world on their shoulders, because they're supposed to win," Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander said.

This year, that load will be carried by the Tigers.

I think that's great," Verlander said.

Secondly, an interesting observation from Donnie Baseball. From MLive.com -

Cabrera and Willis came from the Florida Marlins in a deal for six prospects, including outfielder Cameron Maybin and left-hander Andrew Miller; Renteria in a trade from the Atlanta Braves; and Jones in a deal with the Chicago Cubs.

The team also exercised its option on catcher Ivan Rodriguez, and re-signed Todd Jones and starter Kenny Rogers.

Detroit's lineup already included A.L. batting champ Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen — who moves permanently to first base from shortstop with the addition of Renteria — Placido Polanco, Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson, who last season had at least 20 home runs, doubles, triples and steals. He's one of only four players to accomplish that.

But as potent as the lineup is on paper, manager Jim Leyland was warned by former New York Yankees batting coach Don Mattingly to be aware of one thing.

"Guys can fall into thinking the next guy's going to do it," Leyland said. "And I'm going to stay on top of that right from the start of spring training."

After the 2006 ALDS, I wrote:

The Yankees need a shift of position with respect to their mental modus operandi. They need to get away from a prevailing false sense of entitlement and placid demeanor and adopt a greater sense of urgency and aggressive nature.

I find Mattingly's warning that "Guys can fall into thinking the next guy's going to do it" right in line with what I said back in 2006.

And, it's actually something that I've felt about the Yankees for a while now - going back to May 2, 2005, when I wrote:

In some ways, I think that winning three rings in a row is part of the problem that the Yankees are living with now. After that happened, I believe that many of the "stars" that joined the team thought it was some sort of birthright that you would win the World Series once you were on the Yankees. And, "just showing up" was all they had to do. Yet, most of these players that have come here have flopped entirely or failed in a big spot where they could have helped towards getting a ring.

Hopefully, General Joe is plugged into this as well, and he can set a new tempo for the troops in Yankeeland this season.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at January 12, 2008 10:41 PM

Comments

Maybe that's true, but on the other hand, it took a series of bad luck and bad bounces for them to lose the 2004 ALCS despite being up three games to none. If they won that series, they probably would have beaten the Cardinals in the WS.

So another was to look at what has transpired over the last several years is that the Yankees have played tight in the postseason as a result of the way they lost the 2004 playoffs.

Posted by: Rich [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 13, 2008 12:14 AM

FWIW, yes, part of me wants to believe that the eventual results of the 2004 ALCS, coupled with the Game 5 loss in the 2005 ALDS, may have led to a heightened sense of pressure for the main ringless players on the 2006 & 2007 Yankees teams.

But, still, pressure or not, it's up to each player to do his thing and not just hope that the next guy will do it for him.

Posted by: Steve Lombardi [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 13, 2008 09:35 AM

FWIW, yes, part of me wants to believe that the eventual results of the 2004 ALCS, coupled with the Game 5 loss in the 2005 ALDS, may have led to a heightened sense of pressure for the main ringless players on the 2006 & 2007 Yankees teams.
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I think they all feel the pressure. Having said that, you get different performances from series to series. Don't know if you can chalk that up to pressure. It's easy to get "rah-rah" but baseball isn't a sport like football or basketball. If you can't go to your left to field a grounder, it's not going to change. You're not going to hit the ball any harder, or run any faster. It's a game of skill and technique.

I think the pressure thing is overblown; a number of players who've played in the playoffs have had both failure & success. I would say it's more the nature of the game itself than pressure.

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 13, 2008 12:39 PM

Is there really an explanation for A-Rod's postseason "slump" over the last few years that doesn't include pressure as part of the variance?

Posted by: Rich [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 13, 2008 04:31 PM

Is there really an explanation for A-Rod's postseason "slump" over the last few years that doesn't include pressure as part of the variance?
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Sure; break down his season in 15-20 at bat increments

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 13, 2008 11:51 PM