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August 7, 2003



by Larry Mahnken

Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. I'm so glad ESPN let me see that.

You can look at the games in Boston and say they lost because Benitez pitched too often, and Hammond didn't pitch often enough. You can look at Friday's game and say that they lost because Soriano made a lousy defensive play. You can blame Sunday on Joe Torre using Rivera on Saturday with a four run lead. But tonight...that was Mo's fault. There's no way you can point a finger of blame at anyone else, or for that matter, give anyone on the Rangers enough credit to negate the vital role of Mo's meltdown. It was all his fault.

And no matter how you spin it, no matter why it happened, the Yankees have lost at least four games in the last two weeks that they should have won, and they should be at least seven games in front of Boston, and for all intents and purposes, the AL East race should be over. Woulda coulda shoulda, didn't. It's not a problem of personnel, it's a problem of execution, and the Yankees didn't execute in those games when the game was on the line. It's something that makes you worry about their postseason chances, and there's nothing that adding personnel will do to change it. They've got the players they need on the roster right now, they just need to get it done.

But let's not overreact to two weeks that, while they could have been truly great, were still pretty darn good. They've taken on tough teams and have held their own, and haven't lost any ground to the Red Sox since the series opened in Fenway. They're still in first place, and Boston still has their two weeks of hell to go through. It still looks good. Even if Boston doesn't collapse, it still looks good.

I found a nice shell this morning that looks like that painting with the guy screaming. Pretty freaking cool. Not as cool as watching the sun rise over the ocean, though. :-)

I plan to lay in the sand and listen to the ballgame this afternoon, get my sunburn working. Damn, I hate being Irish.