A Somber Goodbye to the House That Ruth Built

With just four games remaining in the most historic building in sports, those following the team in the Bronx can’t help but scratch their heads. Since the demise of their late 1990’s dynasty, the New York Yankees have wandered listlessly through disappointing season after disappointing season, and whether it was the bugs in Cleveland in 2007 or the Curse of the Bambino being lifted in heart breaking fashion in 2004, each season seems to be justified with a new excuse. There are a plethora of excuses to choose from in 2008, ranging everywhere from injuries to aging to just bad luck, but the bottom line is that the Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time since I could count my age on one hand.

The issues that plagued the Yankees this season were devastating and, to some, depressing. However the results that were yielded were not shocking. Everybody remembers the deity-like Yankee teams of 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000. They were teams that played the way the game was supposed to be played, and they won games they way they are supposed to be won. Most importantly, the teams were built the way they are supposed to be built: phenomenal drafting to create a core nucleus of homegrown talent, and the missing pieces were found through reasonable trades and logical free agent signings.

Somewhere along the line, however, things went wrong. With each World Series Championship trophy, adding to what has to be an entire wing-long trophy case, came more popularity, and with more popularity came more money. A lot more money. The money lead to greed, and the greed lead to enormous contracts. The rest is history.

Tino Martinez became Jason Giambi. David Cone became Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson. Paul O’Neill became Bobby Abreu. Scott Brosius became Alex Rodriguez. 

By the time the front office realized that their big name, big contract free agents had aged well beyond their prime and, outside of a select few, had done little to earn their money, they made an initiative to replenish the farm system and restructure the team through home grown talent. Problem was, the home grown talent wasn’t there.

Bernie Williams became Melky Cabrera. Andy Pettitte became Ian Kennedy.

Years of horrendous drafting and seemingly ill-advised free agent signings mixed with a last minute realization of the necessity of youth combined to form the perfect storm in the Bronx, ultimately leading to the first October-less season since 1993 (not including 1994’s strike.) Rather than the heroes of Williams, Martinez, and O’Neill, Yankee fans have been treated to Richie Sexson, Jose Canseco, and Gary Sheffield. Kei Igawa, New York’s answer to Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka, is reportedly begging GM Brian Cashman to let him go back to Japan, and Carl Pavano makes Hideki Irabu seem like he should have a bronze bust in Monument Park. 

On top of all that, Johan Santana, who could have quite possibly salvaged this season for the Bronx Bombers, is pitching across town with the playoff contending Mets. How are the “untouchable” prospects that the Yankees couldn’t part ways with doing? Both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are 0-4 with ERA’s around 8.00, and Melky Cabrera is hitting a solid .243 with an OBP of .296. 

Barring a Red Sox or Rays collapse of catastrophic proportions, the 2008 season is in the books and the team must move towards 2009. However, even with a whopping $86 million off the books for next year, a return to the playoffs is not a guarantee. The hunt for a new General Manager will begin the minute Brian Cashman’s contract ends at midnight on October 31st, and who knows if anyone will be willing to work with the new Steinbrenner regime. As a matter of fact, who knows if the new Steinbrenner regime will even want a new GM and not handle the duties themselves. Hank sure seems to think he can handle it.

In addition to that, Hughes and Kennedy still have light years of growing ahead of them, the decision of whether to place Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation or the bullpen is as back and forth as AIG’s last few quarterly reports, and how much longer can the arms of age-old Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte stay attached to their respective shoulders? 

Yankee Stadium, the most historic stadium in any sport, did not receive the goodbye party that it deserved. What’s worse is that the new Yankee Stadium, located just 20 yards away and costing a mere $1.3 billion, is not guaranteed an October appearance in it’s inaugural season.

Oh, and one more thing. There’s a man in Souther California right now wearing number six that is cruising into the playoffs with an underachieving roster, and the team he wanted to manage for didn’t think they needed him.