Perspectives: September 30, 2024

By Paul Semendinger

September 30, 2024

***

Well, now the post-season beacons.  It is time, way way way past time, for the Yankees to reach and win the World Series.

The Yankees limped to the finish of the regular season. It wasn't a good look, but none of that will matter when their playoffs start on Saturday.

Now, the Yankees just need to win games and series. It's the playoffs!

***

Sometimes when teams win games, I hear fans saying things like, "They really wanted it today" or they focus on players - "He was determined to win and nothing was going to stop him."  I never understand those phrases as words of praise because they actually imply that at other times the team or the player didn't really want it.

I've played enough ball to know that most players most of the time want to win.  Athletes do not play games to lose. And that's how it should be.  If I ran a baseball team and I had players on my team who sometimes didn't give their best, who sometimes didn't care, who sometimes didn't give it their all, they wouldn't be playing on my team any longer. 

As the Yankees limped to the finish, some people made excuses for them. "They don't need to win these games" and things like that. I don't buy the excuses. The Yankees lost their last two series, at home, while first place and home field advantage were on the line. The fact that the Yankees ended up with the best record was less because of their excellence, but more the fact that the teams challenging them kept losing.

Also, on a completely different note, and one that cannot be taken lightly, with the proliferation of sports betting, there should be a very real concern about sports teams that are supposedly (as some fans argue) not trying to win. The only way sports have any legitimacy is if the teams and the players on those teams are putting their best efforts forward and playing their best. It can be no other way.

Finally, the Pirates played hard. They were eliminated weeks ago. Again, that's how it should be. Teams must play to win. This is professional baseball. The games count. Every game.

***

All that being said, of course there are times when teams need to rest a player. Of course there are times when a player makes the correct choice by not crashing into a wall or diving into the seats.  (I made that point a few weeks ago.)  There are times when a pitcher needs to save his arm.  No player, not even Pete Rose, ran hard on every single groundout.  Sometimes you're just clearly out.  But in all of those circumstances, the desire to win and perform well is still there. 

This is a nuance I am afraid many cannot understand or will refuse to acknowledge.  In the end, these are professional ballplayers.  They should always be wanting and playing to win.  They should always be determined to win.  And they should always be giving their best. They won't always win, of course, but I want my team to be made up of players who are always focus on those ends, not just sometimes.  When one says, "He really wanted it today," it implies that he didn't really want it yesterday.  A team made up of players like that won't win. 

***

Anything can happen in a short series, but heading into any short series, I want the team I root for to be the better of the two teams.  Sure the underdog can win, but I always like my chances more when my team is the better team.

The strange thing about the 2024 Yankees is no one is quite sure if they are the better team.  On some days and for long periods, they look like an amazing baseball team - on others not so much, at all. 

There are fans that will say, correctly, "They won the most games in the league."  True. Very true.

Winning the most games means something.  And no team in the American League won more games than the Yankees. In a normal year, that means a lot, but I'm not sure what it means with this team.

This was a season where 93 wins clinched the most wins in the league. This is the first time since 2016 that no team in the A.L. won 100 games. I have said before, the Yankees this year were better than a lot of mediocre and poor teams. That doesn't mean they're good. It means they were better than other more flawed teams. A powerhouse they are not.

***

We have all seen Aaron Boone out-managed in big spots.  It's happened numerous times.  (To pre-empt the discussion in the comments, yes, I believe Aaron Boone makes the in-game decisions.  But, if it makes some people feel better, I could write this as "We have all seen the Yankees decision-making team out-managed in big spots."  The main point, in the end, is the same.)  

Boone has been the manager of the Yankees since 2017.  That's a long time.  There should never be a spot where he is out-managed.  He now has many years of experience. If he hasn't figured it all out by now, it seems clear that he never will. 

It's time to for the Yankees to be ahead of the other teams - to be the ones making the decisions in advance of the problems not in response to them.  For far too long Boone (or whomever) has been a step or more behind. 

The other night, Aaron Boone (or the Yankees as an organization) gave us, again, another example of how they do not plan well in advance.

On the TV broadcast on Friday night, after talking to Aaron Boone, Meredith Marakovits stated that the Yankees have only just started to think about how they are going to handle the week off this week.

She noted, "They might have some activities on Wednesday. They don't what that looks like yet..."

Now, note this is the YES reporter, the Yankees own reporter, reporting what the Yankees manager said to her, knowing full well that this is what she would share on the Yankees own television network. This was the message the Yankees wanted to give. "We haven't figured out what next week looks like," the manager said.

This is not a good look. Not having a plan is not a good look.

The manager could have said any number of things there. He could have said, "We have it under control." He could have said, "Our plan is not one we are sharing right now." There are countless things he could have said to indicate that the Yankees have been seriously considering the off week before they play in the playoffs.

Instead he said, "We don't know yet."

One key to success is planning. Not having a firm plan in place less than a week before the week off is very clear evidence that the team is not well-run nor well-organized. It's impossible to draw any other conclusion.

Any reader here who runs a business, manages people, has any responsibility in a job, etc. wouldn't accept that approach from their employees. At all.

It is almost impossible to fathom. A Major League Baseball team doesn't have a plan for the week off as the post season is about to begin? Really?

I am actually embarrassed for the Yankees that they'd admit this to the TV reporter, their own reporter, knowing that it would be discussed on air for millions to hear.

"Let them all know we don't have a clue."

***

We discussed the Aaron Judge day off enough. There are great differences of opinions. That's a good thing. Talking sports and making points is fun. It's what we do here.

But, some have framed the idea of Judge playing (had he played) as being selfish because he would be going after historic milestones. This line of thinking is new to me.

Was Babe Ruth selfish when he hit his 60th homer to set the record?

Was Roger Maris selfish when he hit number sixty-one?

Was Hank Aaron selfish for hitting home run 715?

Was Sandy Koufax selfish when he finished his perfect games and didn't let another pitcher get in the games?

Was Nolan Ryan selfish when he set the all-time strikeout record?

Was Rickey Henderson selfish when he set the single season and all-time stolen base marks?

On and on.

In sports the great athletes compete to be the best which includes playing in pursuit of records. That's why we keep track of them. Setting records and milestones is what great players and athletes do. It's what we celebrate. Those numbers frame our discussions forever more.

This idea that playing hard and accunulating milestones is being selfish is new to sports arguments. It's seems to be a call to mediocrity. "Don't be great."

I'll disagree, forever, with that line of thinking.

***

I'm not confident that the Yankees will win any of the playoff series.  For long stretches this season, they've been a bad team.  They played very poorly the last week of the regular season. And, again, first place and home field were on the line. They were absolutely. When people say otherwise, they're not telling the truth.

That being said, I can still see this team winning it all.  Anything can happen. By record, if nothing else, the Yankees are the best team from 2024 heading into the American League playoffs.

It'll be an interesting ride.  I hope it's a fun ride, a long ride, and one that ends with a trip down the Canyon of Heroes.  

***

Let's Go Yankees!