The Joe Torre Story.

So, I was at work yesterday, keeping tabs on the Yankees' afternoon ballgame on the Interweb.

Step off, Mike Bloomberg. I also identified and prioritized 31 BAU items which were discovered during UAT of the POD system. You know what, pal? Until one brick is put in place, you can kiss my butt.

So, I see that Wright starts the seventh inning of a scoreless game. After Wilkerson homers, Wright leaves with a runner on base and the Yankees down 2-0 in the seventh.

Torre brings in Erickson and Villone and the Yankees eventually lose 6-2.

I'm not blaming Erickson, Villone, Wright, or even Torre. The offense only scored two, which is not enough. It just seems to me that Erickson and Villone are pretty low in the bullpen pecking order to be pitching in the late innings of a close game. I'm bothered by this because I get the sense, once again, that Torre just doesn't care all that much about winning this particular game. The Yankees fell behind by two runs in the seventh inning and Torre was willing to rest the bullpen and get ready for the Mets.

Now, I drew this conclusion based on very little information. It just seems like Torre was willing to let one go. It's still early in the season, we got a split with Texas, we've played high-profile games vs. Boston and we've got upcoming high-profile games vs. the Mets.

When I got home and flipped through the channels, I happened to tune into Yankee Replay in the wondrous top of the seventh inning.

It's fun to watch because I know what's coming. The seemingly inconsequential 2-1 pitch to Wilkerson that is fouled off on a check swing. Kaat and Singleton singing Wright's praises and pointing out the benefits off his low pitch count. He still looks strong, doesn't he? Smiling sisters in the stands waving to the camera. Little do they know that their afternoon is going to be ruined on the next pitch.

But I know.

Here's the amazing part. The jaw-dropping observation.

When the score was 0-0 in the top of the seventh, Proctor and Myers were warming up in the Yankees bullpen.

This means Proctor and Myers were available to pitch and Torre would have used them to preserve a tie game in the seventh inning.

As soon as Wilkerson hit a 2-run homerun, the YES Network camera showed Ron Guidry on the phone to the bullpen instructing Proctor and Myers to sit down and Erickson to start warming up.

Even though I knew it instinctively, I still couldn't believe it.

Joe Torre's strategy completely changed because of two lousy runs. Torre stopped caring about winning today and started his Triage garbage. Lose the battle to win the war, huh?

If you're going to use Myers and Proctor in a tie game, why won't you use them when your team is only down by 2 runs? What kind of strategic tipping point is that?

2-0.

Top of the 7th.

Joe Torre gave up.

I knew it.