The 2020 New York Yankees season is over. Even during last night's game, the recriminations were beginning. Manager Aaron Boone was already being criticized online by Yankee fans for some of the most baffling decisions any baseball manager has ever made:
* Taking Gerrit Cole out after pitching 5 1/3rd innings, having allowed only 1 run, and with no one on base at the time, because he had thrown 94 pitches.
* Bringing Zack Britton in to replace Cole, at least 1 inning sooner than Britton usually gets brought in.
* Taking Britton out after just 1 inning.
* Bringing Aroldis Chapman in to replace Britton, at least 1 inning sooner than Chapman usually gets brought in.
* Pinch-hitting for catcher Kyle Higashioka, meaning that the defensively struggling Gary Sánchez would have to catch Chapman's unpredictable triple-digit fastballs.
* Using Mike Ford, struggling offensively every bit as much as Sánchez is, as the pinch-hitter for Higashioka.
This what-the-hell moves by Boone resulted in a 2-1 loss. And this is on top of Game 2, when he started Deivi Cruz, and let him pitch only 1 inning, before replacing him with J.A. Happ, who had nothing. And that decision pushed Masahiro Tanaka back to Game 3, which may have messed with his mind, because he had nothing, too.
Boone made these decisions, and he has borne the brunt of the post-series blame.
Is that fair?
Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Aaron Boone for the Yankees Failing to Win the 2020 American League Division Series
I know, some people are going to blame the umpiring, especially the ball-and-strike calls. I'm not: They were also substandard in the games we won. Had the plate umpiring been good, I don't think it would have made the difference, especially given my Reason Number 3.
First, some reasons that didn't make the cut: The Best of the Rest.
COVID-19. The epidemic delayed and shortened the season. We'll never know what would have happened if there had been a full 162-game season starting at the beginning of April like we were supposed to have.
The Curse of Ike. Yesterday was the 62nd Anniversary of the last time the Yankees won a World Series with a Republican serving as the President of the United States. It was October 9, 1958. Dwight D. Eisenhower, popularly known as "Ike," was the President.
Eisenhower, attending Game 1 of the 1956 World Series at Ebbets Field.
With him is Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick,
and opposing managers Casey Stengel and Walter Alston.
Since then, in 62 years, a Republican has been President for 34 years, and the Yankees have won only 5 Pennants, and lost the World Series every time: In 1960, under Eisenhower, to the Pittsburgh Pirates; in 1976, under Gerald Ford, to the Cincinnati Reds; in 1981, under Ronald Reagan, to the Los Angeles Dodgers; and 2 under George W. Bush, in 2001 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and in 2003 to the team then known as the Florida Marlins.
Also under Republican Presidents, there have been some rather unpleasant endings to Yankee seasons. Under Richard Nixon, they blew a good shot at the American League Eastern Division title in 1972. Under Gerald Ford, they blew a good shot at the Division in 1974, and another in 1975. Under Reagan, they were in the Division race in September 4 straight years, 1985 to 1988, and didn't win any.
Under George Bush the father, they collapsed, and were rebuilt in the Clinton Years. Under George Bush the son, they lost ignominiously in the AL Championship Series in 2004; looked very bad in losing in the AL Division Series in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007; and missed the Playoffs completely in 2008. And, under Donald Trump, they have lost to the Houston Astros in the ALCS in 2017 and 2019, and pathetically lost the ALDS to the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and the Rays this time.
In contrast, a Democrat has been President for 28 of those years, and the Yankees have won 11 Pennants under them, going 9-2 in World Series play. Under John F. Kennedy, the beat the Cincinnati Reds in 1961 and the San Francisco Giants in 1962, and lost to the Dodgers in 1963. Under Lyndon B. Johnson, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964.
Under Jimmy Carter, they beat the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. Under Bill Clinton, they beat the Atlanta Braves in 1996 and 1999, the San Diego Padres in 1998, and the New York Mets in 2000. Under Barack Obama, they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009.
True, they also had some bad times under Democratic Presidents: The collapse of 1965, the struggle season of 1979, the close calls of 1993 and 1995, the Strike of '94 cutting a great chance short, and 4 bad Playoff losses and 3 playoff misses under Obama. But the record is clear: The Yankees do better when the President is a Democrat.
I told you all to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but enough of you didn't listen so that it made a difference. If Hillary were President now, maybe the Yankees would have won a Pennant in these last 4 seasons, or even the World Series.
Which brings us to...
Vladimir Putin. The President of Russia, who has a compromised Trump under his control, had his people hack the voting results in the States of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. That's what won the election for Trump. If Putin hadn't done that, Hillary would have been President, and maybe the Yankees would have won.
"Vhat are you going to do about it, Comrade?
I give you light beer. It's got a third more polonium
than your regular beer."
Now, for the Top 5:
5. Mr. X. Who is Mr. X? That's a code name for an unknown person. And therein lies the problem: The "Major League Baseball" official who claimed that Domingo Germán hit his girlfriend won't even come forward and present the public with his name and his face, let alone his evidence. Why should anyone believe him, when he's too much of a coward to provide even the slimmest of backup for his claim?
And yet, his claim prevented Germán from appearing in the postseason last year, and in any games this year. And, as with Severino and his long-term injury, we have no idea if he's going to be back in 2021 at anything like his previous superb level.
And let's tell the truth: We don't know what happened. We don't know that anything happened. Unlike Chapman, who faced a similar charge while with the Cincinnati Reds, and was suspended for it, in spite of the charge being dismissed in court, Germán has never gotten his day in court. He has not been charged. He has been unable to defend himself. The case against him hasn't been resolved. It hasn't even been started.
And he got suspended for a postseason and the entire next season as well. How is that fair? How is that justice?
All because of the word of one man who said he saw something, but won't come forward to tell us, and try to prove it. In other words, with this reason, we know what to blame, but we have no idea of who to blame.
4. Injuries. Luis Severino missed the entire season. James Paxton made only 5 starts. That’s 2/5ths of your starting rotation right there. Miguel Andújar made only 65 plate appearances. Giancarlo Stanton, 94. Aaron Judge, 114. So that’s 3 big sluggers unavailable for, as it turned out, at least half of even a shortened season.
The absence of the injured Severino and Paxton, and the unjustly suspended Germán's absence, along with Severino's and Paxton's, meant that 3/5ths of what should have been the Yankees' starting rotation was unavailable for most of the season, including the postseason. This left Boone with Cole, Tanaka, and a choice for 2 games of Cruz, Happ, Jordan Montgomery and Jonathan Loáisiga.
And of those 5, only Cole and Montgomery came anywhere close to getting the job done in the ALDS. And still, Boone took Cruz out too soon in Game 2, Montgomery out too soon in Game 4 (the Yankees won anyway), and Cole out too soon in Game 5.
Germán. Severino. Paxton. Andújar. Stanton. Judge. Of those 6 guys, only the last 2 were available for this postseason. The fact that the Yankees were even able to reach the ALDS suggests that Boone has some managerial talent.
But talented people don't always get the job done:
3. The Yankee Players. Check out these ALDS OPS's by the Yankees:
* Giancarlo Stanton: 1.381. He hit 4 home runs, and had 10 RBIs. But he also had more strikeouts (7) than hits (6, plus 2 walks), and his Carlos Beltrán-style leaving the bat on his shoulder in the 9th inning is going to stand out more than any of his homers, regardless of distance or timing. Whatever he did earlier in the series, when we most needed Stanton to produce, he failed.
* Clint Frazier: 1.167. No problem there: He finally grew up.
* Gleyber Torres: .950. He had a fielding miscue that ended up not costing the Yankees any runs. Other than that, he was fine. Brian Cashman's golden boy, for whom he got rid of All-Stars Starlin Castro and then Didi Gregorius, was not part of the problem this time.
* Aaron Hicks: .899. No problem there.
* Kyle Higashioka: .896. It is now clear that he needs to be the Yankees' starting catcher in 2021 -- unless we can get a better one, which doesn't seem likely.
* Brett Gardner: .864. The senior Yankee has taken a lot of heat, but he sure didn't deserve it in this series.
Now, we come to the failures -- sometimes referred to by me as the Gutless Wonders:
* Aaron Judge: .637. Not really fair to call him a gutless wonder, since he was injured for a big ortion of the season. But he should have done better than this.
* DJ LeMahieu: .593. The 2020 AL batting champion didn't come through in the ALDS.
* Luke Voit: .533. The 2020 AL home run champion didn't come through in the ALDS, either.
* Gio Urshela: .296. He almost redeemed himself with that line shot in last night's 9th inning, but it was caught for the last out.
* Mike Ford: .000 in 2 plate appearances. But then, not much was expected of him.
* Gary Sánchez: .000 in 4 plate appearances, after a .618 regular season that included a .147 batting average.
Then there was the pitching: Aroldis Chapman had a 0.750 WHIP, but a 3.38 ERA. Chad Green had a 1.000 WHIP, but a 4.50 ERA. Deivi Garcia had a 1.000 WHIP, but a 9.00 ERA. Jonathan Loáisiga had a 1.200 WHIP, but a 5.40 ERA. Luis Cessa had a 1.500 WHIP and a 4.50 ERA. Adam Ottavino had a 1.500 WHIP and a 13.50 ERA, and should never pitch for the Yankees again. Masahiro Tanaka, counted on to be the 2nd starter, had a 2.250 WHIP and a 13.25 ERA. J.A. Happ had a 3.000 WHIP and a 13.50 ERA.
Both the hitting and the pitching were unacceptable. Boone counted on these guys to get the job done, and so many of them didn't. Is that his fault?
2. The Tampa Bay Rays. In this exercise, it's easy to say, "The (Opposition) Were Better." The Rays do not have more talent than the Yankees. But they did what they had to do to win 3 games out of 5, and they should receive credit for that.
But there is one person, above all, who has earned the blame. A habitual offender:
1. Brian Cashman. He is not just the general manager of the Yankees, the man who put this bunch of failing players together. He is, effectively, the field manager. He tells Boone what to do. He gives Boone the pitch limits, forcing him to take pitchers out too soon, and bring their replacements in too soon. He tells Boone which unproven players to give new chances to. He tells Boone which slumping players to give continued chances to.
Besides, if Boone is the problem, what does that say about the guy who hired him? Why fire the doll, when it's the ventriloquist who's the real dummy?
Think about it: Joe Girardi finally had enough of the binder, and told Cashman he didn't want to be a yes-man anymore. So Cashman let Girardi's contract run out, and hired Boone to be a yes-man. If he fires Boone, the next Yankee manager will be every bit the willing lackey that Boone has been.
If this were a real legal case, and I were in Boone's position, I wouldn't wait for the trial to go begin: I would make a plea deal, and rat Cashman out.
In other words:
VERDICT: Guilty on a lesser charge. In this case, the Nuremberg defense of "I was following orders" should work. Maybe Boone still needs to go, but Cashman definitely does.
Until he manages for a GM other than Brian Cashman, we will never know what kind of manager Aaron Boone really is.
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