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March 04, 2008

The Old Soft Shoe Dances No More In The Bronx

Via an ESPN.com feature by Bob Klapisch:

Mike Mussina seemed to be speaking for the entire team when he said, "We loved Joe [Torre], but we all knew things had to be different. Especially the guys who've been here a while and haven't won, we were very disappointed at the way things had been going."

No one says so in quite so many words, but the Yankees had become comfortable with Torre, perhaps too much so. It didn't help that the Yankees hardly ran at all last spring -- "We learned you have to do more than take grounders and BP and then hit the showers," Mussina said -- which left the team unprepared by Opening Day.

Looking back now, Torre says, "I think change was probably best for both parties." But how was Girardi going to win over Torre's captain, Derek Jeter, rebels Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi, and a clubhouse intellectual like Mussina?

Girardi has done it by mingling with players, which Torre did less and less in his later years, choosing to leave the policing to Jeter. Damon says, "Joe [Girardi] walks in here and he asks for your opinion, he asks how you're feeling, he gives you the feeling that what you think matters."

...No one says so in quite so many words, but the Yankees had become comfortable with Torre, perhaps too much so...

I cannot say that I disagree with that. After the 2006 ALDS, I wrote:

Joe Torre had never been to the mountain top prior to 1996. Then, he lived on top of the mountain for several years to follow. In 2001, Torre fell off the mountain. And, while Joe has tried to re-climb the mountain several times now - over the last 5 years - it's just not happening for him and his camp. As the Times author wrote "the magic he once wielded" has "disappeared."

It's time for new blood in Yankeeland. The old blood is tired.

If Brian Cashman and the Yankees felt the same way after 2006, and Torre was let go, I wonder if 2007 would have been different for the Yankees - and maybe the Red Sox too.

In any event, it's clear that General Joe is not short on hunger and energy - and, hopefully, that will rub off on the players this season as well.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at March 4, 2008 05:17 PM

Comments

Girardi is giving me that Jim Leyland-vibe... that he'll run an aggressive team and not be afraid to a) call inside pitches to David Ortiz b) be aggressive with a young squad with some old people on it.

I think we're going to see a team with some pop and sizzle. From a pure hitting side of things, A-rod,Jeter,Cano and Cabrera can all get on base with ease. Then Joe can do practically anything he wants with this team. With the only exceptions being Giambi and Posada, this team can run enough to get by and hit enough to get by.

Our pitching is going to be filled with youngins which is good because young pitchers can be broken of bad habits quicker than older pitchers. Plus they should stay healthy.

I am looking forward to this season. I fully expect the front office to continue looking for young talent and making sure Joe has the best team he can. Joe did a amazing job in Florida with really only 2 stars (Cabrera and Willis) and then a AAAA team. Giving him talent like this makes the Yankees a deadly threat in the AL

Posted by: Straylight at March 4, 2008 06:31 PM

Some of us have known that it was time to move on from Torre since the 2004 ALCS playoff collapse. Torre was transmitting a sense of panic throughout the club, which reached its zenith when he batted A-Rod 8th in the 2006 ALDS. His failure to take the team off the field when the swarm descended in the 2007 ALDS was enough to awake even many of the Torre defenders.

Girardi is taking the team to a new level of preparedness.

Posted by: Rich [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 4, 2008 09:26 PM

A-rod,Jeter,Cano and Cabrera can all get on base with ease.
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Melky had a .327 OBP last year, how does that classify as being able to get on base with ease? ;)

Posted by: Mike A. [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 4, 2008 11:14 PM