I had this dream that the Yankees were 13 games back of Boston, several games under .500, the team had just been swept by the Angels and then played a lackluster game in Toronto after a closed door meeting called by the Manager.  And the headlines read: “Business as Usual.”  Anyway, I woke up to what I thought was the natural order of the Universe only to find…..

It’s true!  It’s all true!  It wasn’t a dream!  The Doobie Brothers did break up!  That was a dream wasn’t it?  It is business as usual! Does this mean Torre has lost the team?  He holds a 45 minute closed door meeting and that’s the effort we get!  I don’t know – I haven’t watched as much baseball as Joe Torre but I’m not being paid to put the “sunshine spin” on everything either!  We are not watching the same thing!  He sees “frustration.”  I see “flat” and “lackluster” and “lackadasical” and “listless.”  I see a complacent group – knowing that the Manager is staying and their little country club is going to remain intact and a team waiting for Roger Clemens.  Did I miss something?  Does Roger play Right Field on days he doesn’t pitch?  Does he play first base?  How bad does this have to get?  Do not misunderstand this frustration. Some may complain “oh, what a spoiled Yankee fan, his team is losing.”  This frustration is for a team with a $190 million payroll with more talent it is embarrassing.  As a matter of fact, that’s the word for this: Embarrassing.  We can all tolerate losing.  Heck, as some Roundtable members have suggested in the past, maybe we should “blow this thing up.”  At least we can rationalize some young players getting valuable experience with a smaller payroll.  Personally, I like watching young pitchers develop.  Anyway, am I going crazy, am I seeing things that aren’t there.  Is this group really trying?  Because I see at-bat after at-bat being thrown away and the outs pile up one after another until you look up and it’s the 9th inning.  So, Steinbrenner issued a challenge to Brian Cashman, big deal! He’ll get fired in the off season after 2007 has been a complete waste.       

Talk about complacency, on October 11, 2006 I wrote this and unfortunately it still applies:  

Has the Yankees Universe gotten so complacent over the last ten years with championships, division titles, networks, new stadium projects, attendance records that yesterday’s development provokes the faint sounds of crickets? What is going on here? Yesterday, the universe was basically turned upside down and one of the few things that I can count on in this world was disproven (gravity, the order of the seasons, the French admiring Jerry Lewis, the Rolling Stones going on tour, Democratic futility, did I leave anything out?). From childhood – the stated mission of this organization is as follows: WIN THE WORLD SERIES. ANYTHING ELSE IS CONSIDERED FAILURE. The ancillary message to that statement is: THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES WHEN THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. Where are the consequences? We have accepted defeat? We accept this as just business as usual? Someone brought Casey Stengal’s fate yesterday. That’s a good example. Are these the Yankees of Mickey Mantle? Joe Dimaggio? Thurman Munson? No, this is what happens when you have success – you get complacent. Everyone is standing around in the Bronx patting themselves on the back for a job well done over the past 11 years. What about the last five? The mission statement is gone, it has been reduced to just words with no content, there’s no meaning to it anymore. It’s a mockery. As John Lennon said: “The dream is over.” The Beatles imploded because of complacency. I can’t believe this. There are no consequences to 3-10? That’s the operative record here. I’m shattered, depressed and angry at what my team has become. Why would I bother watching next season? Why would I care? The organization doesn’t care about winning. We’re the same as the San Diego Padres where we congratulate ourselves for a division title and nice effort in the post season. This is a disgrace. I shell out money for season tickets to watch the Padres? Why do we have a $200 million payroll then? Just cut it down – who cares? The Yankees certainly don’t care.