Submitted by New England Yankees fan, Jun 28, 2007 23:48

Thanks for your insights, Steve. As someone living in Red Sox nation where Yankee bashing is as prevalent as breathing, I've always leaned more towards defending the positives where the Yankees are concerned rather than playing the blame game with an undying need to point the finger at someone in particular. As frustrating as this season has been, I've been hesitant to jump on the "fire Torre" bandwagon. I feel that the Yankees' demise is due to several factors: injuries, players not playing to their potential, years of sacrificing potential long-term gains for potential short-term successes catching up, and failure to diversify the bullpen with younger pitchers. I'm now ready to add "decisions made and the lack of motivation by the coaching staff" (namely, Joe Torre) to that list.

Your article hit the nail on the head with my more recent views of decisions made by Torre. While I realize you can't play every game like it's game 7 of the World Series and use up every available pitcher in attempts to win games, saving pitchers the way he has just does not make sense. Rivera wants more pitching time, so why overuse the rest of the bullpen? Isn't it just as bad for a pitcher to be too rested as it is to be overworked? While I don't think Proctor is the greatest pitcher out there, I do think he adds value and can pitch very well up to a certain point. Once he's gone beyond that limit, his effectiveness seems to drop considerably. Saturday's 14-inning game against the Giants was another example of using Proctor to the point of burnout. If you had Clemens warming up, a pitcher who has played for the National League (and who is therefore used to batting), why in the world would you not attempt to put him in, if just for one inning? Had the game gone beyond an inning of Clemens pitching, you'd still have Rivera to pitch an inning or two. I also do not understand the thinking behind pitching to Omar Vizquel with first base open. Why wouldn't you just intentionally walk him and take your chances with the next batter?

While I realize that many fans have been spoiled by the success the Yankees have had during the Joe Torre era and will not be satisfied with anything less than making the playoffs, I think many fans just need to accept the fact that this may be a rebuilding year rather than a year to make the playoffs. Trust me, in living where I live, nothing would make me happier than to see the Yankees make the comeback of the century by overtaking the top-seeded dreaded rival Red Sox. However, with each loss, the upward battle the Yankees would need to climb just to make it into the Wild Card, let alone taking over the AL East, gets steeper and steeper. It is going to take something dramatic to change the production of these players, and Torre's hands-off coaching style does not appear to be what is needed to add the spark that would change the momentum of this team. It does not appear to me that he's taking any action towards demanding the best out of the players he's got, which in my opinion is a big part of the problem. I think in the past he has had the luxury of not having to think about ways to get his players to give to the best of their abilities; this is no longer the case.

While I think it is ridiculous that Torre seems to be getting the brunt of the blame for what in my opinion are the consequences of the Boss' knee-jerk reaction decisions over several years, I also think Torre needs to own up and be accountable for his part in this year's demise. While he may not have the ideal team on the field, his decisions regarding the pitching and his inability to demand the best out of the players he has is certainly contributing to the problems the Yankees have had this season. That being said, I do think that had Torre's decisions worked out in the Yankees' favor, those on the "fire Torre" bandwagon would probably be singing a different tune. I however refuse to match the Boss' approach of changing my mind like the swinging of a pendulum, and think people deserve a chance to either prove themselves worthy of the job they've been given and/or be given enough rope to hang themselves, rather than making a snap decision based on short term results and throwing loyalty right out the window. I'm not a real big fan of the "what have you done for me lately" school of thought, though I realize this is part of life. If Torre's approach is no longer working, then perhaps it's time for some changes to be made to the coaching staff, but let us not be too hasty to jump to that conclusion without looking at the entire picture, and let's not forget about the success the Yankees have had under Joe Torre (as some fans are all too quick to do these days). I think if fans truly look at the whole picture, most would agree that firing Torre is not the be-all, end-all solution to the Yankees woes, just as Clemens return is not the be-all, end-all answer.

Thank you for taking the time to read my comments.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.