YFSF

George: "Let's Get Going"

It was not, perhaps, his most stirring message to the troops, but at least George is backing his warriors—for the moment:

The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans. However, Brian Cashman our general manager, Joe Torre our manager and our players all believe that they will turn this around quickly. I believe in them. I am here to support them in any way to help them accomplish this turnaround. It is time to put excuses and talk away. It is time to see if people are ready to step up and accept their responsibilities. It is time for all of them to show me and the fans what they are made of. Let’s get going. Let’s go out and win and bring a world championship back to New York. That’s what I want.

Us too.

Taking Stock of the Sox

Although it's more compelling drama, the Yankees' miserable April would not be possible without some heady play by the Boston Red Sox, who will enter May tomorrow guaranteed to have their largest-ever division lead after the first month of the season -- at least 3.5 games.

At 16-8, the Sox have baseball's best record and are in first place by a wider margin than any other team. Hey, it's April, but which team would you rather be right now?

There's plenty to be happy about in Sox Nation. There's also some concerns being masked by the gaudy record and overshadowed by the Bronx soap opera. Five things to like and three things to not like about the first month:

On Josh Hancock, 1978–2007

A lovely eulogy for Josh Hancock, along with a commentary on the strange nature of fandom, from Will Leitch of Deadspin.

The Captain Speaks: "We" Shouldn't

We should never talk about his job. He's been doing a great job. He's been doing a great job this year.—Derek Jeter

That "we" was ostensibly meant to entail the media, but it was clearly a message to a certain other party. The Torre-Jeter bond is one of the most fascinating in the history of the game. The Yankees can ill-afford to irreparably harm the team's relationship with its superstar shortstop; that would create a serious long-term PR problem at a time when the Mets are already a media darling. That new stadium isn't going to just fill up by itself. Which is not to say the team must be hostage to its manager, whose performance has hardly been above reproach this season, though making him the scapegoat for the team's lousy results thus far seems grossly unfair. "It that's what happens, that's what happens," said Torre of a possible firing. We hope it doesn't come to that. Next week he will celebrate his three-decade anniversary as a Major League manger. We look forward to raising a glass in his honor

Elimination: It's Your Vote, America!

Something must change. The Yankees, who just lost two of three (5 of 6 on the season) to the Red Sox, are definitively in _last_ place, and (through "channels") have Stein=Steamed. Torre has had ample opportunity to prove himself worthy of this lineup, and should obviously be damn thankful for the pitching that he was given this year. Lineup is not hitting lately? A whack-a-mole rotation and pen so far into the tank that publicly humiliated starters get called on to save the game one day after their demotion and loss of face only to emerge a hero? Yankee pitchers giving up long balls like business cards at an Amway convention? Joe's fault. Heads. Must. Roll. Case in point: last night, Karstens got his leg broke by the first pitch of the game to Julio Lugo; there goes Torre leaving a guy in there too long in a knee-jerk reaction to make up for the quick leash he's had on the other guys this year, and by dumb luck the patsy gets the win. Talk about abusing your pitchers. Obviously, he should have swapped out for Igawa after the anthem and prior to the first pitch after demoting him if he knew a thing or two. What was he doing starting three rookies consecutively this year anyway, _and_ calling up Hughes? Moron. Look at the total lack of extra-base hits across the lineup as of late (prior to "pad my stats" ARod hitting as a _god_ distracting attention from what was a team's losing record before he finally returning to near-earth orbit), not to mention the fact that there were three guys hitting south of .230 playing in a "must" game this afternoon. Torre's clueless. Gone, I say, Yes, gerbil says he's out. However, he read in a picture book that this is a democratic society, and what gerbil wants is not necessarily what gerbil gets, despite his keen insight. Who do you vote off the show, in this week's episode of "You're Fired!"

a) Torre
b) Cashman
c) Guidry
d) Rubenstein
e) Selig
f) Billy Martin
g) Alex Rodriguez
h) Ronan Tynan
i) Kate Smith
j) Bob Sheppard
k) Michael Kay
l) Himself (nope, not an option; that's Somebody Else's job)
m) Nobody (see g)
n) George/Dick/Giuliani
o) He falls back asleep

Joe on the Line: Sox-Yanks Gamer VI

For all the desperation in Yankeeland, the team throws its ace to the hill this afternoon in a bid to take the rubber game with arch-foe Boston. Chien-Ming Wang is 0-1 with a 5.68 era, but those numbers are a bit of a distortion on what was a quality first appearance last Tuesday in Tampa, at least until the beleaguered bullpen got hold of it. He faces Julian Tavarez, the decidedly weak link in the Sox rotation, at 0-2, 8.36. A win today might well settle things in the Bronx. A loss could lead to ugliness. Rationally, a single game in April should not bear so much weight given a 162 game season that ends rougly half a year from now. That's the way it goes in NY. Comment on today's action right here. Lineups after the jump.

Yanks Win; Pressure Still On

The Yanks finally put a halt to their skid yesterday. Kei Igawa redeemed himself with a fine outing, Jorge homered, and Mo nailed down the win. This is how things were supposed to work. But the coast is not entirely clear. The pitch that knocked out Jeff Karstens in the first inning of the game actually fractured his leg; no surgery necessary, but the Yanks lose another starter. Also, Johnny's back is barking. Morre critically, Torre's job remains in jeopardy. "I think he's going to wait and see what happens this weekend, and then we'll see," said The Boss's mouthpiece, Howard Rubenstein. So, George is still hovering. A big game today, then. A win will probably quiet the forces of doom. Another loss and all bets are off. Thankfully, Wang will be on the hill.

Ebbets Field Today: The Ghosts Can Not Be Pleased

Yesterday we brought you images of what remains of New York's oldest ballpark, Brooklyn's Washington Park. While we were exploring that old relic last week, regular YFSF commenter Andrews took on the opposite side of Prospect Park to the site that was once home to Ebbets Field, where Jackie Robinson broke into the majors 60 years ago. You'll recognize those hallowed names in these photos, but we can't imagine Jackie would be pleased. Lipstick on a pig, as they say.

Snowball Effect: Sox-Yanks Gamer V

Yes, it has come to this. The Yanks have dropped 4 straight to the Sox, 7 straight overall, and find themselves in the AL East cellar. A calamitous season opening from the starters, due to injury and plain old ineffectiveness, led to an overused bullpen (except for underused closer Mariano Rivera). Now the bullpen is tired out (except for Mo, who's rusty), and the starting staff is still unreconstructed. Alex Rodriguez, who has personally carried the team, has cooled off a bit. Bobby Abreu has been rally death. The back end of the order dormant. The papers are sniping at Torre. You get the feeling the team may never win again, and today they throw rookie Jeff Karstens to the Red Sox wolves. Longtime nemesis Tim Wakefield goes for the Sox. He's given the Yanks fits over the years; they really need to make something happen against him today. Certainly, it's not hard to imagine Alex getting back on track against a floater over the plate. We're hoping for a big day from him, and hope the rest of the team follows suit. Comment on all the action right here.

[Ed. note: This post by YF; sorry for the confusion]

New York's Oldest Extant Ballpark

Extant is actually a stretch. The retaining wall pictured above is the last standing vestige of Washington Park, home to the NL's Brooklyn franchise from 1898 to 1913. That wall, which now encloses a Con-Ed facility, runs along Third avanue between Third and Fourth streets in Gowanus, an amorphous industrial neigborhood sandwiched between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens. The ballpark that once occupied the site was a lovely affair, with a covered grandstand and seating for nearly 20,000. A previous Washington Park, just a block away, had been home to that same Brooklyn team in its earlier affiliations; the boys were occassionally referred to as "Gowanucians." Fans came from the surrounding neigborhoods—the area was known generally as "South Brooklyn" back then—and from Manhattan, an easy commute across the then-new Brooklyn Bridge. A few more shots of that beautiful old wall: