Stamford, CT: Sometimes you gotta give your fan base some red meat. Here we go. The New York Yankees are a garbage baseball team. Soooooo, what else? Some people around here think the Indians name didn’t have to be cancelled, but I say good riddance. To find a guy who shouldn’t have been cancelled, I submit Mike Milbury?. That’s where we’re going to today, stay with me.
Bad Baseball
Every time the Yankees show flashes of being a competent baseball team, they come up with another nut smashing loss. The latest offense came Sunday night in Boston, after stealing one the night before and threatening to split the series. The headlines were about the blown no-hitter and the horrendous performance by the bullpen, and rightly so.
But, you might have missed Giancarlo Stanton swinging futilely at three straight pitches out of the strike zone with the bases loaded and one out in the 7th. Or Gleyber Torres getting picked off second with no outs and two on in the 8th. This folks, is how you waste two prime chances to put the game away and let the Sox stay in striking distance. Bad baseball by a poorly constructed team.
Firing on One Cynlinder
The small amount of life provided of late by youngsters like Florial and Allen make it ever so obvious that this team needs an infusion of athletic, dynamic players. A lineup of burly right handed sluggers in the stadium with a really short right field porch designed for lefties may not have been the best way to build a team.
You’ve heard the expression “firing on all cylinders?” Well, the Yankees are never firing on all cylinders. When one starts firing, two others crap out. They’re like a 4-man crew team where as soon as two guys start rowing, the other two stop and the boat goes in circles. They’re like a relay race team where the first two runners get a nice lead and then the next two try to run the same leg. They’re like a construction crew trying to build a house without talking to each other. I’ll stop now.
Good teams find different ways to win. If they’re not getting great pitching, the hitters pick them up, and visa versa. This teams find different ways to lose. If the hitters are hitting, the pitchers find a way to blow it. If the hitters aren’t hitting, they pitchers give up just enough runs to lose. Heads are gonna need to roll soon.
The Guardians of the Indians
My man Cheesy argued that the cancel culture has gone overboard with the changing of the Cleveland Indians to the Guardians, but I disagree. “Indians” wasn’t as derogatory as the “Redskins,” the terrible mascot aside, but it was a dumb name.
A team name referring to Native Americans as “Indians” is a wrong that we can right. Why keep this ridiculous misnomer just because we have for so long?
It the same calling a team the Washington Whales and then having an elephant for a mascot. Forget whether or not it’s insensitive, it’s god damned inaccurate and that makes it insensitive. They’re not from India. Must we continue with this charade just because Columbus didn’t know where he landed?
Change the name, I say. But couldn’t they have found something less boring than “The Guardians“? At least “Kraken” is different.
Boys like Girls, the Mike Milbury Story
If you want a good example of someone who shouldn’t have been cancelled, how about Mike Milbury? In case you missed it (like me), the NBC pundit (and former Islanders’ coach) was fired last year for the response below (Milbury’s comment is the second one.)
“If you think about it, [the bubble is] a terrific environment with regard to — if you enjoy being with your teammates for long periods of time, it’s a perfect place,” said Forslund.
“Not even any women here to disrupt your concentration,” replied Milbury.
Hold on while I find the part of the quote that got him fired. Wait, that’s it? He got fired for that?
How is that sexist, can someone tell me? Any ladies out there? Hahaha. But seriously, this just in for anyone who has not spent time on planet earth – women can disrupt the concentration of young, virile men like hockey players. I can’t believe there’s a need to make this argument.
The league said it was “insensitive and insulting.” How? I’m pretty sure women know they can be distracting to men. I know a few who would be insulted if you told them they weren’t distracting. Is it not true that fewer women being in the bubble could mean less distractions for the players? Jeez, give the guy a break.
That’s it for me. Come back tomorrow when we unleash our own Kraken, Angry Ward. He’s gotta be in bed by 9 though, so re-leash him at 8:45 please. Follow us on Twitter at @benwhit, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
