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The Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo.  There is actually a zoo in the Bronx, by the way, but for most of us baseball fans, the phrase refers only to the drama which seems to occupy the home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium on a fairly regular basis.  It was also the title of Sparky Lyle’s book (written with Peter Golenbock) chronicling the exploits of the 1978 Yankees.  And that clubhouse was truly a zoo, as the baseball universe watched the antics of Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin, and George Steinbrenner with no shortage of amusement.  Now it would be quite a stretch to compare the personality of this Yankee team with the teams of the late ‘70’s, but given all of the chaos surrounding King George’s men this season, this much is certain:  The zoo is back in business.

 

It may all have gotten started back in the winter, when Randy Johnson arrived in New York for a press conference celebrating his arrival in the Big Apple.  The Unit promptly found himself in a confrontation with a cameraman from a CBS affiliate, and Johnson shoved the cameraman after a heated exchange.  Johnson was quite contrite in his welcome press conference, and he apologized again in a visit to Late Night with David Letterman (maybe Kenny Rogers needs to give Dave a call, eh?).  Off-season press conferences just weren’t the strength of the Yankees this year, as Jason Giambi would add to the turmoil around the Bronx Bombers with his public admission of …well, we will have to get back to you on that one…but we think he may have been talking about steroids (We now go to correspondent John McCain for more on the steroid story…).

 

The season started promisingly enough, with Johnson pitching well in the season opener against the Boston Red Sox (ah, the Red Sox…now I remember where all these problems began for the Yankees).  That would be the highlight for the first five weeks of the season, as the $200 million squad would find themselves 11-19 after the first thirty games.  Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright, the two prominent free agent signings by Brian Cashman in the off-season, would take turns being awful, and then injured.  Giambi would hit like Bobby Meacham (if you don’t know Bobby Meacham, know this…that ain’t a compliment), Bernie Williams would hit like he was swinging his guitar (which he plays quite well) and field like he was more Golden Girl than Gold Glover.  And apparently hell froze over.  Because when Kevin Brown threw his first pitch as a Yankee in 2005, I was sure that it had finally happened (hey, people have been suggesting it for years...as in, “The Red Sox will win the World Series when hell freezes over.”  See?)  In Brown’s case, as soon as he and Javy Vazquez finished shoveling dirt on the Yankee coffin in Game 7 of the ALCS last October, you know the Boss turned to somebody and said, “Brown and Vazquez will pitch for the Yankees again when hell freezes over.”  Well, come spring, there Vazquez was in Arizona (via the Big Unit trade)…but to my shock, Brown, his bad back, and his worse attitude were still in pinstripes.  And then all hell broke loose.  Every time he pitched.

 

And then a strange thing happened.  Tino Martinez (brought in as Giambi insurance...we can only assume Joe Pepitone wasn’t available) began hitting like it was 1998 all over again.  Alex Rodriguez announced that he was in therapy (it’s therapeutic, says Alex...we believe he also finds relaxation relaxing), and then finally started sending pitchers to therapy with a run that placed him in the midst of MVP consideration.  Derek Jeter was, well, Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield was his usual menacing self, and Hideki Matsui began swinging a hot bat.  A couple of talented youngsters (Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang) joined the fray and injected some much-needed energy into the Bomber clubhouse.  And all of a sudden, the Yankees had won 16 of 18 and found themselves in second place in the AL East.  What did the Yanks do with all that momentum?  Suffered a 17-1 beatdown at the hands of those Red Sox…

 

That began a precipitous slide that would not break until the Yankees found themselves at 39-39 and staring up at the rest of the division (well not the Devil Rays…you should have known that I meant the rest of the big league teams in the AL East).  At that point, I think we all felt pretty secure in suggesting that New York’s postseason chances were officially over.  But not so fast.  The Yankees picked themselves up off the deck (certainly motivated by George’s suggestion that they would do much better if only the players wanted to win as much as he did) and moved to within a half game of the BoSox after they went to Fenway and won three of four.

 

Injuries and inconsistency have slowed the Yankee push towards first (they are currently 2.5 games behind the Red Sox, and another 1.5 back of Oakland for the wild card), but the efforts of a very surprising figure have helped New York stay in the race.  The resurgent Jason Giambi, with 14 home runs in July (most by a Yankee in one month since Mickey Mantle hit 14 in July of 1961), has looked very much like the Jason Giambi the club signed three years ago.  And whatever you think of Giambi following the steroid revelations, I think everyone has to appreciate his perseverance in the face of a great deal of adversity.  Yes, much of it is self-inflicted, but Giambi has overcome health problems and the intense criticism and scrutiny of media and fans alike.  Remember, this is a guy who was going so bad early in the season that the organization wanted to send him to the minors.  It is admirable that he has worked hard enough to become a key cog on a contending club.

 

Giambi has managed to spring his heroics in key times, including this weekend, when his home runs sparked Yankee rallies against the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles of Orange County of California of the United States (or something like that).  The weekend was a shining example of how flawed and how vulnerable this New York team is.  Or as I like to say, when Tanyon Sturtze is your third-best reliever, you have problems.  The Yankee rotation has been destroyed by injuries, and the bullpen is just thin and bad in front of Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera.  The Yankees have tried patchwork and piecemeal to try and get by in the rotation.  The rookie Wang was performing very well until arm problems shut him down, but another rookie Sean Henn, was hit harder than paparazzi by Sean Penn.  Journeyman Aaron Small has won two starts for the Bombers, and veteran Al Leiter came in and gave them a lift in a win against the Red Sox.  The rest of the time Leiter is busy keeping everybody at the ballpark for six hours at a time.  He may be the only pitcher on the planet who can work a one-two-three inning in 45 minutes with his ability to throw no fewer than twelve pitches to every hitter.  Which is probably best.  Leiter’s stuff is so bad now, he has to hope that hitters fall into a coma-like trance waiting for him to throw something around the plate.  But even he is an upgrade over Hideo(us) Nomo, a guy so bad the Devil Rays released him.  If only it was 1996.  Then the Yankees signing of Nomo might put them over the top.  Now it just makes them seem like the Mets. 

 

As for the aforementioned bullpen, they should rename it the stall at the Stadium.  Because besides Rivera, everybody out there stinks.  Even Gordon, the only guy Torre seems to have any faith in besides big Mo, is as likely to give up a game-winning bomb as he is to retire the side.  Felix Rodriguez has always had a good arm, but he may be the greatest short-relief choke artist this side of Jose Mesa.  Just ask Barry Bonds.  He would have a World Series ring if not for F-Rod (is it me or does that spell fraud?) and his implosion against the Angels in 2002.  Sturtze has become a Torre favorite, which at least puts the right-hand side in decent shape.  But oh my, the left side of the Yankee pen has revolved more than a Union Station turnstile.  Mike Stanton was released a month ago (along with righty Paul Quantrill… dealt for Tim Redding and Darrell May…both of those guys got starts despite having ERA’s in the neighborhood of a trillion...), and Buddy Groom just got the gate in a trade to the D-Backs this weekend.  Groom, feeling jilted apparently (thank you, thank you…I’ll be here all week…), offered a tirade directed at Joe Torre upon his departure.  Groom suggested that Torre had no faith in anybody besides his “boys”, a group that includes Sturtze, Gordon, and Rivera.  Groom is an angry journeyman (who has been pretty good from time to time in his career), and Joe Torre is a four-time World Champion manager.  So not too many people will take Buddy’s side.  But he is right.  Joe has no faith in most of his bullpen.  And with good reason.

 

But onward they soldier.  Their two amazing come-from-behind wins against the Angels this weekend is proof positive of two things:  The Yankees aren’t very good…and you never want to count them out.  Their lineup is potent and relentless, and the front of their rotation and the back of their pen is just good enough to be dangerous.  In an American League that has no dominant team (sorry, ChiSox), the Yankees just might have enough to get back to the World Series.  It’s crazy, it’s chaotic.  It’s just another chapter in The Bronx Zoo.

 

 

Contact The Chief Justice at chiefjustice@thehighcourtofsports.com.

 

 

The return of the Giambino.

Giambi hit three homers over the weekend to help lift the Yankees to two late wins over the Angels.  The final homer was #300 for Giambi in his career.  (mlb.com)