Steinbrenner sullies hot streak
Steinbrenner: No more smiling, Joe (Image by Keith Allison via Flickr)
Quick. Consider the fates of three managers, we’ll call them A, B and C.
Manager A came into the season with expectations of improvement from last season. His team started off hot, but is now one of the worst in the Majors (37-54 to be exact).
Manager B’s team started the season with the mindset that his team had to make the playoffs, or else. Manager B’s team is now four games below .500 and nine games behind first place.
Manager C faced the highest expectations of all – win the division and play in the championship, or else. C’s team is now tied for first place, as well as for the second best record in baseball.
To sum this up, A and B’s squads are not nearly on track to meet expectations, and C seems to be in a good position to, so who is facing the most job-related heat from upper management right now?
Answer: C
Managers A (Trey Hillman, Royals) and B (Jerry Manuel, Mets) both recently received votes of confidence from upper management, meanwhile C (Joe Girardi, Yankees) was essentially called out last night by Hal Steinbrenner.
From the NY Daily News:
“Joe knows what’s expected of him. It’s never changed,” Steinbrenner said. “We expect to win every year. Joe knows who he’s working for. Joe knows the organization as good as anyone. He knows what’s expected of him and he expects that of himself.”
Make no mistake about it, although Steinbrenner also praised the Yankees and the job Girardi has done thus far, his message is clear: Get to the championship.
Really, could the timing of Hal’s statement have been any worse? Anyone who watches the Yankees regularly should been pleased with one thing in particular this season, the uncharacteristically loose and happy-go-lucky atmosphere of the clubhouse and dugout (except whilst facing Boston). Behind the leadership of Melky Cabrera and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees have left behind the grim ‘ol mercenary fatigues of yesteryear.
For weeks, on a daily basis, we’ve seen things formerly foreign to 161st and River Ave. Things like smiles and hard slides into second. Shaving cream, applied to the face not for the grooming of that perfect Steinbrenner-approved mug, but as a reward from teammates, in pie-form, for a job well done. Things like Red Bull, consumed in copious amounts, by a certain right fielder who behaves like Tweek (pictured right).
Nick Swisher as a child?
But that’s not the Steinbrenner way. The Steinbrenners like to see their players approach each game as if it’s the S.A.T. and they’re Upper East Siders who have been provided with expensive private tutors, to give them that “Ivy edge.”
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
Called-Out Comments All comments