Murry Chass writes in the New York Times about what’s gone wrong with the Yankees:
Who said the Yankees would pass the Red Sox by July 4?
Well, no one exactly, but it was written here brashly (some would say foolishly) three weeks ago that “at the rate at which the Yankees are slashing into Boston’s lead” they would supplant the Red Sox in the American League East lead by July 4.
The target date arrives tomorrow, and the easy explanation for why the lead change will not happen is that the Yankees didn’t maintain their rate of the first half of June. Had they done their job properly, the Yankees could have given their employer the best birthday present ever. But happy birthday anyway, George, and many more healthy ones.
Even a tie would have been a welcomed gift, but the Yankees couldn’t manage that either.
And the reason this didn’t happen are pretty easy to figure out:
The players have not performed to their ability this season, and Torre will probably not finish in first. He can perform no magic to alter the team’s course.
Steinbrenner is out of magic tricks, too, and also apparently out of words. Howard Rubenstein, his spokesman, said that Steinbrenner would not do a requested telephone interview. Rubenstein also did not respond with Steinbrenner answers to a question or two about the state of the team.
The Yankees’ brain trust — we don’t know if that includes Steinbrenner anymore — has made no decisions on the team’s immediate future. Team officials plan to meet during next week’s midseason break and evaluate everything and everyone.
If they are inclined to end Torre’s tenure half a season early, they will first decide whom they would replace him with and whether the change or the new man might make an impact on the rest of the season. They would not be expected to make a change simply to make a change.
Making a change at this point is probably pointless. There would seem to be little that a new manager could do to turn things around.
