Listen, I’ve attended far too many mid-season Yankees Elimination Parties in my lifetime, only to find the Sox staring up at New York in the standings come September. So I’m far from willing to count them out of any pennant race. But watching the last two games in the Bronx, the Yanks just seems so listless and faceless. Back in the magical Scott Brosius era, every batter in that line-up gave you fits and seemed to elicit their own special brand of hatred. Christ, even Chuck Knobluach was entertaining, if for no other reason than every routine throw that left his hands had the potential for landing fifty rows back in the stands.
But the current crop? Meh. It seems like one, big, overpaid, mediocre blur. And is that really f@#king Sidney Ponson in the rotation?
Yesterday, after the Yanks scored thrice in the first, I thought they might have turned a corner. But from that point on, the only excitement they could muster was that bizarre Damon-crashes-into-wall-and-ball-stays-while-Johnny-falls play (which the NY Post breaks down brilliantly in this photo montage. And check the dude in the Sox jersey with his mouth agape, like someone just tugged on his nutsack with a pair of pliers).
The lack of spark is apparent to the locals, as well, as Daily News blogger Mark Feinsand notes:
Here’s the puzzling part for me. If Girardi believes that his players are giving 100 percent effort and preparation, then what can change? Maybe they are what they are. I’m not in the clubhouse to the extent that he is, so I can’t speak for their preparation or effort, but it certainly looks like some of the players are missing the intensity we’ve seen before.
Today’s game would seem to give to the edge to the Yanks, with Chandler Bing on the mound. But I’m praying for a Sox sweep just to see some heads start rollin’ in Yankeeland.
Meanwhile, for those of you in the UK… I’m jealous.
