About the Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

About the Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

August 6, 2024

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The Yankees were off yesterday after winning a series at home against the Toronto Blue Jays. They are tied for first place with the Baltimore Orioles and have 49 games left to play. The Red Sox are 6 1/2 games behind the Yankees and the Orioles. Although it is uncertain if the Yankees can win the division, it seems likely that they will make the playoffs, barring a collapse. Since there is no game to recap, I will now move from topic to topic like a busload of senior citizens headed for the early bird special at the buffet.

·       The Yankees don't play the Orioles again until a three-game series beginning on September 24th at Yankee Stadium. The Yankee should do everything possible to pull away from the Orioles before that series. If the Yankees are tied with the Orioles or trailing them at that point, that would be a very difficult series for them.

·       Yusuf Dikec is my new hero. For those of you who don't know, he won the silver medal in a shooting event at the Olympics. He is from Turkey. All the other competitors had fancy weapons, uniforms, state-of-the-art eye protection and ear protection. This fellow simply strode up to the line wearing a t-shirt with his country's name on it and a pair of jeans. Apparently, he was filling in for an athlete who became ill. He happened to be in Paris at the time and because he had previous experience, he was called upon. Reportedly, Yusuf had dinner plans for the evening of the competition. When Yusuf competed, he had one hand in his pocket and fired his pistol with the other hand with both eyes open. When he finished, he apparently went for a smoke break. He was able to keep his dinner reservations. When he was interviewed after the event, he told his ex-wife that he wanted his dog back. In a day and age when most people can't seem to function unless all the conditions are perfect, this fellow is what we need.

·       In my 30-year career in Child Protective Services, I interviewed a lot of people. I heard some of the most unbelievable excuses you could ever imagine. However, I think the one Aaron Boone used the other day tops them all. Boone was asked why he pulled Gleyber Torres from the game in the fourth inning instead of the third inning immediately following his malingering. Boone stated that he did not want to ambush Oswaldo Cabrera, who would be coming into the game. The fact that he would even say such a thing is mind boggling. It conjured up an image of Boone playing soothing music and lighting aromatherapy candles to put Oswaldo in the proper frame of mind to enter the game. Oswaldo appears ready to go at any moment, as would any player in that situation. Boone’s indecisiveness and waffling are a major problem, but his ridiculous excuses and explanations make things even worse.

·       Austin Wells is getting better and better the more he plays. He is a fine defensive catcher, and his offense has really taken off. He's adjusting very well to batting cleanup. My only concern is that when Jose Trevino returns from the IL, he will take a great deal of Wells’ playing time. That should not happen. Trevino should simply be the backup for the rest of the season. However, with Boone at the helm, Trevino will probably resume catching on a regular basis.

·       My wife gave me a cookbook written by Ina Garten recently. I had never used one of her cookbooks before. I made her recipes for overnight macaroni and cheese and roasted baby peppers drizzled with balsamic vinegar when we had company for dinner. I also tried her recipe for a chocolate tart. Everything was delicious and very easy to prepare. I was quite impressed.

·       I have read a lot of comments recently about how the Yankees can't afford to go without Gleyber Torres down the stretch. I have read that he is effective and productive. Perhaps I learned a different definition of those words when I was in school. Torres has played 107 games and has 391 at bats. He's hitting .235 with 10 home runs and 42 RBI. He is the worst fielding second basement in Baseball. He is a terrible base runner. He is prone to lapses of concentration and effort in the field and on the base paths. He presents as being moody and refused to even consider changing positions when the Yankees acquired Jazz Chisholm, Jr. He has been benched twice so far this season. The only thing he brings to the table is a fork. I have no idea what contributions he makes to the team that are better than what someone else could do. In fact, it is highly likely that he could make an error or a base running blunder or demonstrate a lack of effort in a playoff game that could end the Yankees’ season. As I stated yesterday, it is folly to rely on the unreliable and by playing Gleyber Torres every day, that is what Aaron Boone is doing.

·       The other day, I listened to Ricky Ricardo doing a broadcast of the Yankees’ game on the radio with Suzyn Waldman. Prior to this year, I had not really heard him. He is quite interesting and entertaining. I discussed this with my friend Brian, who also heard him do a broadcast. Ricky refers to Luis Gil as “the Gila Monster”. He even told Suzyn that he asked Ben Rice if his nieces and nephews call him “Uncle Ben Rice.” He refers to Jazz Chisholm, Jr. as “Smooth Jazz” and drops into a disc jockey voice when he says it. He says that DJ LeMahieu had everybody up and dancing. He seems to have a great deal of fun and is quite reminiscent of Suzyn's previous long-time broadcast partner. As my friend Brian observed, Ricky Ricardo is “Juan Sterling”.

·       Now that Jazz Chisholm, Jr. will be playing third base almost every day, DJ LeMahieu will play more and more first base. It is inevitable. Aaron Boone believes that DJ LeMahieu is a better option at first base than Ben Rice. LeMahieu’s six-RBI game last Wednesday carries much more weight with Boone then Ben Rice’s three-home run game from a few weeks ago. It is clear that LeMahieu will be playing against all left-handers now as well as right-handers with “reverse splits”. It will only be a matter of time before Rice becomes the backup, through no fault of his own. It is also highly likely that LeMahieu’s hot week will remain an isolated incident. After all, he is still batting.184 for the season. He has 2 home runs and 21 RBI. Eight of those RBI came in the last week. The only thing that could alter Boone’s shift to LeMahieu as the starting first baseman would be the return of Anthony Rizzo. Rice, who is beginning to show a lot of potential, will be pushed away. On Aaron Boone’s menu for the rest of the season, Rice will only be a side dish.

·       Aaron Boone has habitually and continually pushed younger players to the side for his favored veterans. There have been cases where eventually the veterans were removed, but it took far longer than it needed to. Aaron Hicks lingered in the lineup far longer than was warranted. The same could be said of Josh Donaldson. Currently, DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres, and Giancarlo Stanton are clogging the lineup. 

·       I do not believe the Yankees will ever win a World Series with Aaron Boone as the manager. Something will always happen. The team will either collapse and fade to the point where they don't make the playoffs or if they do, they will lose to another team, quite possibly Houston again. I hope I'm wrong but, the evidence of these past seven years supports my statement. We have all seen the mistakes Boone makes in high pressure games. Well, the playoffs are about as high pressure as you can get. The Yankees do have a very talented team and two superstar players in Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. They also built up enough of a lead that despite their best efforts to give it away, they couldn't. It seems likely that they will make the playoffs but how far they will advance is the question.

·      The Yankees are once again a very streaky and inconsistent team. They can go on a ten-game winning streak just as easily as they can go on a ten-game losing streak. The most alarming aspect to all of this is that the manager is unable to identify what causes either one of those conditions. It is hard to fix something if you don't know what's broken Aaron Boone is like a Volvo repairman looking at the repair manual. Unfortunately, he can't read Swedish.