Solo Homers Don’t Win Championships

August 31, 2008

I was thinking today, as I watched the Yanks go down yet again to a team they needed to beat, where are the rallies? Do the 2008 Yankees even know what a rally is? A solo homer is great if you’re talking about an Aaron Boone/Bucky Dent type fluke. But the teams that succeed in the 21st century are the ones that kill you with singles, not to mention pitching and defense and speed on the bases. I really hope Cashman – or whoever will be the GM next year if he isn’t – will take a look at baseball’s new reality. Gone are the days of the one-dimensional, big bopper home run hitters. Today’s success stories (can you spell RAYS?) have scrappy, speedy grinders, who mesh perfectly with the one or two guys with power. For the Yankees it’s been the same tired theme all season long: if we don’t hit a homer we don’t score/win.

And now, having lost the series to the Jays, we head to Detroit for a game between two teams that were supposed to contend (remember how everybody predicted the Tigers would win it all when they got Cabrera, Renteria and Willis?) but are, instead, nobody’s idea of a champion.

All I know is it can’t be a fun atmosphere on that charter flight this afternoon. The Red Sox lost and are clearly vulnerable down the stretch, and yet the Yankees can’t do a damn thing about it.

Written by mlblogsjaneheller Posted in Dailies Tagged with Cabrera, Detroit, Jays, Rays, Renteria, Tigers, Willis, Yankees