Hitting the Wall
SPORTS COLUMN by Dave Tramonte

Before I turned the TV on I had that same feeling you get before you go to a funeral. This Yankees team has no heart and I knew they were done after the second extra-innings loss. I had hoped the deaths of Mariano's family members would spark the team and it did initially, but we fell apart and were exposed as the expensive machine that can't handle adversity that we are. The Yankees were like a player like Larry Bird playing street ball or like Ivan Drago where the Red Sox were Rocky.

I had said, as have many have, the Yankees don't play small ball anymore and their hitters, when pressed, only try to swing for the fences rather then get on base. Except for Miguel Cairo, who I think should be commended for his play through out the series.

And I don't want to hear I had it coming to me as a Yankees fan. Wednesday night was one of the worse nights of my life. I have never celebrated a Yankees championship because I didn't like baseball, post strike, until 2001.

For all the money the Yankees spend, the thing people forget is that Steinbrenner is the one spending it and he makes stupid decisions with that money. Bernie Williams and Kevin Brown each received $15 million this year. Jason Giambi is with us for another five years. We still pay part of Jose Contreras's contract. So don't tell me all the Yankees money buys championships because 2001 with Mussina, 2002 with Giambi, 2003 with Matsui (who I love and consider an old-time Yankee) and 2004 with A-Rod have brought the Yankees nothing but playoff losses. For a team "built" for the postseason, they sure seem to have better regular seasons these past four years.

With all that said, here is who I blame and here is what I would change. You just know Steinbrenner is going to come back in a big way and it will either be overkill like when John Matrix raids an ammunition store in Commando (in baseball terms: an aging Pedro signed for four years) or it will be like when the Warriors decide to stop running from the Furies in the park and beat an entire gang to a bloody pulp with baseball bats in the movie The Warriors. (In baseball terms: Pavano and Beltran signed and Bernie and Giambi exported through some miracle contract work)

Now people more experienced then I have given you their opinions on the Yankee collapse. What do I know; I can't even beat my girlfriend in picking football games on Sundays? But I did watch this team from the beginning of the season (Five a.m. in April to be exact) and thought many of the following things through the ups and downs of the season.

THE BLAME GAME

FATHER TORRE: I don't care, but Joe Torre mismanaged games four and five. I don't particularly understand why an overworked Tom Gordon went into game three with an 11 run lead but the real problems came down to Paul Quantril pitching to David Ortiz in game four. A righty ground ball pitcher pitching to a fat lefty with an uppercut swing usually spells home run and I would have rather seen Heredia in this situation. At least then we could say he went with the lefty vs. lefty match up and if Ortiz hits a home run hey, "IT'S HEREDIA."

Bringing Mariano in the eighth was the right move but why oh why did Mariano have to walk the leadoff man in the ninth? I would rather see a home run then walk the leadoff man. According to Howard Megdal, if one walks the leadoff man with no outs, he has a 75% chance of scoring. (Editor's note: I've seen 66-72%. If someone has the exact number, please e-mail it to us.) And did I mention that pinch runner Dave Roberts should have taught Joe Torre a lesson with the use of Kenny Lofton. And knowing that Roberts took a lead longer then Gina Davis's legs, could we have at least tried a pitch out on pitch number two? I knew he was going, why didn't Torre? He played this series very tight despite being up three games.

Thanks for bringing up Lofton. He should have been used as a pinch runner in four or five and he should have been the DH against Schilling in six.

How did we not steal against Tim Wakefield when Varitek couldn't hold onto the ball? Pinch run Crosby for all I care, but let's test the knuckleballer, I'm guessing we could have gotten into scoring position.

However, the big thing to me was the line up. Tony Clark next to Sierra is a bad move because they're the same player. It's a home run or a strike out. Once the momentum started shifting to Boston I think Torre could have jumbled things around and involved Lofton (small ball) and maybe separated his trifecta of A-Rod, Jeter and Sheffield.

CASHMAN AND STEINBRENNER: Everyone says Steinbrenner is tough to work for and Cashman can't get what he wants, but someone in that organization has to stand up to the big boss and tell him he is crazy. We let Pettitte go and watched Clemens tag along with him and then we decided to let Wells walk as well. (Remember something, it's the Yankees so they get who they want. These three players left because we let them.) So we filled those holes with Vasquez, who imploded, and Kevin Brown, who I want shot, beaten, hung and put in a room where he is forced to watch Joe Buck and Tim McCarver comment on his two ALCS games over and over again. I don't know what would be worse, the game highlights or having to hear the commentators.

So this off-season they need to address two things: the starting pitching and the bullpen. And they need the pitcher who has had the most success against David Ortiz. I don't care what you have to do trade for him or buy him just get him. You need to hire an assassin to take care of Ortiz because he kills the Yankees.

I would leave second base alone and have Bernie shift to DH because we know Beltran is coming in. To get real creative, I'd sweet talk Beltran into taking a low salary his first year and then a huge, inflated, A-Rod-like salary the following seven years, once a few of these lame ducks come off the payroll in 2005.

There has to be a way to get out of Giambi's contract because the guy developed cancer due to steroid use. Doesn't that violate a contract somehow? Work with me, people, this is more important then one steroid freak's health.

The really bad moves made last year, however, were Steinbrenner's two requests of Lofton and Sheffield. I liked Lofton off the bench and in center field every third game, but Torre obviously didn't so why are we paying $3 million to a guy the manger isn't going to use? Sheffield I can't say enough about. He became one of my favorite players of all time, but had we had the chance at Vladimir Guerrero; five years down the line this move to sign Sheffield seems stupid.

And once games four through seven came about, four days in a row, maybe Vlad wouldn't have looked so sluggish swinging the bat because Sheffield and his bad shoulder really took some un-Sheffield-like swings the second half of the series.

CERTAIN PLAYERS MAINLY BROWN AND (maybe) A-ROD: Kevin Brown is a whiny bitch who hurt his hand punching a wall down the stretch in September. Then, when we needed him to step up the most up and have a game based solely on adrenaline and maybe not on his best stuff, he crumbled. I HATE KEVIN BROWN. In game seven, is it any shock the guy in a contract year pitched great and the aging 39-year-old Texan making $16 million looked more concerned with his back then his sinker pitched horribly?

I blame Giambi for being one of thousands to take steroids and the only one to develop pituitary gland cancer.

I blame Lofton for talking about a sweep to the press on the morning of game four.

I blame A-Rod for not being able to get Miguel Cairo home on a sac fly with one out after Jeter laid down a bunt. I do not care about his slap play at first. (Editor's note: this play will define A-Rod's career.)

Here is what I want out of A-Rod, the guy obviously has enormous talent, but has psychological problems. He can't get runners in scoring position home because his mind is elsewhere and he could be called a cheater depending on who you ask. I would like to see him calm down a bit. Can you imagine A-Rod on this Red Sox team? Do you know how much weed they would have had him smoke? He would have been the most relaxed guy ever and possibly would have had a better year then Bonds. I really believe that. A-Rod needs to smoke some weed and calm down. Just look at his face after Jeter flew into the stands on July first. He was frantic and I think it says a lot about what goes through his mind at the plate. Before this Yankees team moves to the next level, A-Rod needs to grow up and, despite being somewhat of a bitch like Kevin Brown, if it happens, I will be happy for him…even if he votes Republican.

THAT NIGHT: What can you say? It was like the day the Berlin Wall came down. I received more phone messages in the past three days than the past three years. That night, I went out, in Southern California mind you, and everyone was celebrating and singing, "We are the champions." It was a weird scene. It hasn't really all set in for me. It probably won't until Christmastime when I'm watching one of those "SportCenter" 'year-in-reviews'.

As the game unfolded I took a long walk and bought a Tootsie Roll bar. At the newsstand they had a little TV on and I watched some more of the madness. As the Red Sox celebrated on the field, I almost cried.

I can only give this Red Sox team credit for winning. It doesn't surprise me because they are all high and I bet Manny Ramirez didn't ever know they were down three games, but it is still impressive.

I am actually happy for all the longtime Red Sox fans out there because you deserve it but for the ones under 30 years of age you can all go to hell and try to stop killing innocent girls while rioting, on the way. (I told you Red Sox Nation was evil.)

The one good thing to come out of all of this: You can't hate on "bandwagon" Yankees fans anymore. No one can argue the fact that there are more bandwagon Red Sox fans now. Everyone is on their side. If only John Kerry could gain this kind of support heading into the election. I have been out the past three nights and at every bar I go to people try to rouse me about my Yankees hat and Derek Jeter all-star shirt. And I ask them the following questions, "Who gave up Bucky Dent's home run, who scored on the Mookie ball or tell me your all time five favorite Red Sox not including Williams, Boggs, Ortiz, Pedro or Yaz. (Huge bonus points if you say Sam "Mayday" Malone.)

The ones who could answer such questions I shook their hand and said wait till next year (talk about a bizarre world) and the ones who couldn't and were obviously just bandwagon drivers I told to leave me alone before I pulled a Kevin Brown and treated their face like a brick wall.

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