Klapisch is definitely a prince among swine, one of the best in the business. He didn't keep this article under his pillow all year (for the fourth year in a row) just waiting to gleefully pounce on George because the Yankees didn't win the World Series.
(Ironic how Lupica now remembers the recent Yankee Championship teams "as special as any New York sports team we have ever had," but at the time, he was basically ragging on Clemens for not being a True Yankee and dismissing the Yankees for recklessly buying WS titles ... which, admittedly, is better than recklessly buying AL East titles.)
I'm not going to take on Lupica today. If I started, it would lead to a sentence-by-sentence analysis and a fifty-page online manifesto which would ultimately prove that Character does not win baseball games and that Lupica et al must know this deep down.
It's downright cowardly and illogical to wait for one team to lose and then claim that team has no character. Just read the articles by the same folks last Sunday, when Torre's surgical professionals were about to sweep Francona's sloppy dirtdogs.
If one is to seriously propose that Character made the difference in the ALCS, then one has to believe that the Yankees suddenly lost all of their collective character on Sunday morning. (Some fans seem to think that Yankees just felt superior and entitled and stopped trying hard, and, at the same time, they crumbled under the pressure. Somewhow, the Yankees were too casual and too uptight at the same time.)
Or perhaps the Red Sox suddenly became collectively self-actualized on Sunday morning and learned how to handle pressure, etc.
Streaks and slumps occur all the time. It should be no surprise that Matsui hits .100 in 15 at-bats after hitting .700 in his previous 15 at-bats. Baseball is very unpredictable in the short run.
But what was constant during all seven games of the ALCS? The character of the players.
Well, that's a start to my vent ... back to Klapisch for a minute ... try to understand the stupidity of the following archaelogical excursion where he tries to find signs that the 2004 Yankees lack character:
"That 6-0 deficit indeed ruined the Yankees, who spent six innings demonstrating just how wide the gulf was between them and the 1996-2000 core. Other than Derek Jeter, no Yankee got the ball out of the infield against Derek Lowe. Instead, the images of the Yankees' lack of heart were everywhere -- from Hideki Matsui leading off the second inning swinging at a borderline 2-0 pitch, despite being down by six runs; to A-Rod being booed by Yankees fans after his final at-bat of the season; to Tom Gordon, who, according to one team source, was so unnerved by October pressure that he was throwing up in the bullpen during Game 6."
Hideki Matsui has no heart because he swung at a borderline 2-0 pitch? I wonder how many heartless homeruns he hit on borderline 2-0 pitches this season.
ARod has no heart because he got booed? (Or is it because he had the nerve to go 0-for-4?)
Flash Gordon has no heart because he vomited in the bullpen? Flash is definitely one of the biggest goats of this ALCS, and he truly may not be able to handle the pressure of big games, but even that's not a lack of heart. The guy's vomiting in the bullpen, he's no stoic mercenary, we need more gutty players like that!
Naturally, Derek Jeter is the exception somehow, because Mr. .200 managed an rbi single. Big whoop. How about one lousy fly ball over the wall in Fenway, when we needed it, which might propel the Yankees to the Big Dance.
C'mon, Klapisch, you're better than this. You're on my side of this battle, aren't you? You're more clear-eyed than the rest of them, aren't you? Did Olney hypnotize you, or something?
Besides, if the Yankees had really given up, why did they rally for two late runs off Pedro? Why did they get Sierra to the plate with a chance to bring the score within just four runs (heh)?
The reason for the game seven loss is not Matsui swinging at a borderline 2-0 pitch. The blame is squarely on Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez. The problem with them might be their character and their heart, but it's mostly their velocity and their location.
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