I have watched in amazement at the steady undercurrent from New York that, although perhaps not intended, minimizes Joe Torre’s achievements (four World Series titles and 12 consecutive postseason appearances) as the Yankees’ manager.
Maybe it’s the truism that we love to build people up, and then we love with more delight to tear them down.
So as the transition to Joe Girardi takes place in the Yankees’ clubhouse, here are some key storylines for follow:
PRESSURE: We know Torre (who became the Dodgers’ manager two weeks after walking away from the Yankees) can handle pressure. Girardi saw that first-hand as a Yankee catcher from 1996-99. And the new man acknowledges Torre’s calm in the face of distraction. Baseball managing knows no challenge like the Yankees. Although George Steinbrenner’s presence has faded, his sons are now on the job. Media coverage is never-ending, unyielding and tabloid driven. Egos and personalities are huge.
Torre, operating under the most intense scrutiny in American sports, never folded. Not once did Torre give up a player to protect himself. He handled Jason Giambi’s return from BALCO, erratic personalities like Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield and Randy Johnson, and he even hit A-Rod eighth in a playoff loss in Detroit two seasons ago and didn’t lose the superstar’s respect.
Simply put, Torre’s run with the Yankees is the greatest managing/coaching feat in U.S. pro sports history.
Girardi proved he could handle pressure as a player. Now he gets the acid test as a manager. He had far less media attention and fewer expectations as he won the N.L. Manager of the Year Award for keeping the young Marlins in playoff contention in 2006. But after just one season with Florida he was fired due to clashes with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria.
CHANGE: Sorry to invoke the worn-out buzzword of our political season, but I read an interesting quote recently from Bob Melvin. Replacing the popular Lou Piniella as Seattle’s manager, Melvin felt he had to maintain status quo so as to not upset productive veterans. The Mariners flopped and Melvin never recovered from the slow start. Now, he regrets not making an impact in his first spring training.
Girardi won’t follow Melvin’s path. The first week of spring training for the Yankees in Tampa brought with it running for the players. Even 37-year-old Jason Giambi, heavy on fragile legs, took part. The Yankees were wracked by injuries early last season and Girardi is intent on avoiding a repeat of that this season.
Give Girardi credit for learning from the past. He doesn’t have a bunch of kids as he did in Florida, but he needs to establish a new order of business.
PITCHING: Here is a list of pitchers. Any idea what they have in common? Brad Halsey, Tanyon Sturtze, Donovan Osborne, Sean dePaula, Alex Graman, Sean Henn, Darrell May, Tim Redding, Aaron Small, Shawn Chacon, Kris Wilson, Darrell Rasner, Jeff Karstens, Sidney Ponson, Chase Wright, Matt DeSalvo, and Tyler Clippard.
Each of those men started at least one regular season game for the Yankees in the last four years. During that span, the Yankees won three division titles and a wild card berth. The list is one I keep handy when I am reminded by someone thinking they know the game of how easy it was for Torre to manage with a $200 million payroll. Guess the dollar is really devalued on the pitching market.
How Girardi handles his pitchers will be of great interest. With no Johan Santana it means Girardi has a rotation that includes kids Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes and a hybrid creation starter-reliever in Joba Chamberlain. The Bronx has no patience. It is not a place for kids to ease their way into the big leagues. All three are projected as stars but how will the Yankees react amidst the talk show and tabloid hysteria when any one of them struggles?
Girardi will be trying to prove himself after what happened with key members of Florida’s rotation in the season after he left the Marlins. What occurred could simply be bad luck or coincidence. But some deem it a result of Girardi overworking his younger pitchers. The numbers from which this debate stems are innings pitched. For Ricky Nolasco it was 140 in 2006, 21 in 2007. For Josh Johnson it was 157 in 2006 and 15 in 2007 and for Anibal Sanchez it was 114 in 2006 and 30 in 2007. Nolasco battled an aching right elbow. Johnson sustained bicep and forearm injuries and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery that probably will cost him this season. Sanchez is coming off shoulder surgery and may miss the first few months of this season.
BULLPEN: Probably the biggest complaint lodged towards Torre in recent years was bullpen burnout. Similar complaints could be made against most managers. The position of relief pitcher is abused in today’s game. The concept of relief pitching has been contorted into the dominant pitching role on most teams.
The theory here is media scrutiny and cultural impatience will cause abnormal use of relievers. Everybody wants to win every game. No longer can anyone publicly use the old baseball adage that every team is guaranteed to lose 60 games. No one wants to hear it.
A late-inning loss in April is now dissected and chewed over as if it were a game in the heat of a September race for the playoffs. During my years in New York as a Mets’ broadcaster, I was astonished to hear the postgame rants from callers to talk radio that would last into the morning hours over a pinch-hitting decision by then Mets manager Bobby Valentine. But I will believe that a manager can handle a bullpen differently in New York when, in fact, I see it done.
THE STAKES: They keep getting higher in New York. Nostalgia abounds in this last season at Yankee Stadium. But next year’s move by the team to its new stadium dramatically ups the ante. The Yankees are investing $135 million of their money to start an umbrella company to own and operate the concessions at the new stadium. So the Yankees will keep all the revenue from concessions. And they already own their own regional television network.
You get the idea: winning keeps people in the seats and eyeballs on the team’s televised games. So winning adds more dollars to the growing Yankee empire.
Girardi is a smart man and likely understands all of this. But when the Yankees -- his Yankees -- take the field March 31 against Toronto to open the season, it will begin being pounded home in a dramatic way.
