An email from a reader ...

"1. Got an e-mail the other day from a reader who said 'It sure does not seem like the manager change is doing anything.'

Well, duh."

Very odd email from "a reader" that you got "the other day." Those are some high journalistic standards, by the way. I was annotating my book reports more effectively when I was in first grade.

It's very odd because the differences are obvious In-game attitude and especially postgame attitude. Not that I particularly care about the postgame, but you'd think Graziano would have noticed.


"Could that be because the idea that the manager was the problem was concocted by fans (and some high-ranking team execs) who just got bored with Joe Torre after 12 years? Who just didn't like him anymore?"

Oh, and the players, too. Don't forget the players who got bored with Torre and didn't like him anymore. Torre was also bored with the Yankees, as evidenced by his recent comments.


"A manager change isn't likely to have any effect if the starting pitching is lousy, and right now the Yankees' starting pitching would have to come up about nine levels just to get to lousy."

Of course.

I think Girardi handled the bullpen quite well considering Joba's absence and a bunch of pitchers who can't get out of fourth inning.

Noticeable difference, right?

No seeming danger of the next Karsay, Sturtze, Proctor.


"The Yankees ranked eighth in the league in starters' ERA in 2007, sixth in 2006, eighth in 2005 and sixth in 2004. Only four teams make it to the American League playoffs every year.

So the guy the Yankees got rid of was somebody with a proven track record of managing a team to the playoffs in spite of a lack of playoff-quality starting pitching."

Wow.

This is one of the weirdest analyses I've read in a while.

Torre made the playoffs last year because the team scored almost 1,000 runs. During those seasons, the Yankees bottomed out at 886 runs scored.

As for "track records," he also had developed a track record of losing in the first round of the playoffs.


"The guy the Yankees got rid of had a proven track record of staying calm and cool through a tough start and making sure the team got to the playoffs."

The last-place 2008 Dodgers are learning quickly about his track records of tough starts.

I am sure the players, coaches, and fans in La La Land will have no problem staying calm and cool. They're hitting the beach by the end of the sixth inning, anyway.


"2. Girardi and the Yankees are insisting that the pitch Kyle Farnsworth threw behind Manny Ramirez's head 'just slipped' and was not intentionally thrown at the hitter who'd whacked two home runs in that same game. Baloney."

In Sunday Thought #1, you claim that things are not different with the new manager. Well, not you, but "a reader" who sent an email "the other day."

In Sunday Thought #2, you bring up Farnsworth's buzzing of Ramirez, which is something Torre would not have allowed.

So, there you go, dear reader: If you want an example of how things have changed, just read Sunday Thought #2!


As for the lie that the ball slipped, that's what every pitcher and manager say every time this happens. They are lying because they don't want to get suspended.

It's the same thing the Red Sox said on Friday night when they drilled ARod in the back.