June 10, 2006: Oakland 5, N.Y. Yankees 2
Well, the Yanks are now in a three-game skid. Which of course means New Yorkers are out on the ledges, ready to jump off high buildings as they wail and gnash their teeth.
Relax. There's no need to panic. Mark Gallagher points out that the 2006 Yanks are back on track to score almost 1,000 runs. If they continue as they have so far, they'll end up with more runs than the 1998 Yankees.
The problem is that they aren't doing as good a job of preventing opponents' runs. Better pitching is always good, but the pitching really isn't that bad - Randy Johnson and all. They have the second best ERA in the AL, which ain't too shabby.
What's killing them is defense. Or lack thereof. They've made twice the number of errors as AL-leading Boston (42 vs. 21). Never mind the various adventures (often involving Bernie Williams in RF) that aren't scored errors.
The Yanks were too one-dimensional last year. Too many old, slow, DH-type players. The acclaimed 1998 Yankees didn't have even one 30 HR hitter. Our missing piece just might be defense, not another slugger.
On a cost/benefit basis, putting Bubba in for Bernie might be the best move we can make now.
Bubba back on Tuesday?
Peter Abraham reports that Brian Cashman told him that Bubba would be back with the team Tuesday. Makes sense. There's an early game today, and no game tomorrow. Tuesday gives him time to play more rehab games.
Bubba Crosby played for Class A Tampa again last night. He went 0 for 5 with a walk.
