About Last Night: The Yankees Were Flattened by the Red Sox 8-3
By Tim Kabel
August 19, 2023
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The last-place Yankees opened a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox last night. The Yankees entered play riding a five-game losing streak and trailing the Red Sox by three games in the standings.
The game started at 7:05 p.m. It was essentially over at 7:06 p.m. The one good thing about the Yankees this season is that they lose quickly. It does not take them long to suffer heartbreaking and humiliating defeats night after night. Unfortunately, when you're watching these games, wasted time is wasted time. When, "at least we weren't shut out", is the rallying cry for your team, it's not a good sign.
Last night's game was another one of those Apple TV affairs, which means I couldn't watch it. I had to revert to the 1950's and listen to John and Suzyn on the radio. I guess not seeing it was a blessing. Still, listening to the game these days can be somewhat dreadful. First, the Yankees are losing with alarming frequency. Second, every single moment of the game is sponsored by some company or another. I imagine that if John and Suzyn have a spat on the air, it will be sponsored by a local marriage and family counselor. Third, when John and Suzyn are not telling us who is sponsoring something, they are complaining. Last night, they complained about the PitchCom system having a malfunction. John was lamenting the fact that pitchers and catchers are no longer capable of calling signs the way they used to. Later, John and Suzyn discussed Hurricane Hillary, which caused postponements of several games on the West Coast. John stated then he did not recall hurricanes ever occurring on the West Coast. Suzyn reminded him of the time he helped his uncle Noah build the ark.
Listening to John and Suzyn is comparable to sitting in Floyd's Barbershop on the Andy Griffith Show. They seem to get stirred up about the littlest things. The final thing about listening to the games is that John and Suzyn alternate between mewling about how awful the Yankees are and then telling us how they can turn things around and win games. Sadly, the Yankees can't turn things around, and they won't win games.
The highlight of the game was when John recounted the incident in which Justin Turner’s foul ball hit him in the head. He said that the next day Suzyn went down and talked to Justin Turner and had him sign a ball for John. Susan interrupted to say that it wasn't any old ball, it was the ball that actually hit John in the head. John was unaware of this, which is amazing since the entire affair was documented ad Infinitum. Everyone knew that Turner signed the ball that hit John in the head. People in solitary confinement knew Turner signed the ball that hit John in the head. Yet, John did not. In the words of Gomer Pyle, "surprise, surprise, surprise."
Quick Stats -
Alex Verdugo came up to bat three times last night before Anthony Volpe came up once. It's hard to win games when things like that happen.
The Yankees had more mound visits than runs last night.
The Yankees have now lost six games in a row, which is their longest losing streak since 2021. Is this one of those "unlikely runs" Aaron Boone likes to talk about? With him in charge, a six-game losing streak is a very likely run.
The Yankees are 3-9-1 in their last 13 series.
The Yankees have lost six of seven games against the Red Sox this season and have been outscored 40-18.
The Yankees are 15-22 against American League East teams this season.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa has had a pretty good season. He lost the starting shortstop job in spring training and there was some thought he wouldn't even make the team. He turned himself into a valuable utility player. However, who could have ever imagined that he would become a mainstay in the lineup and an offensive replacement for other players? Who would have thought in March that IKF would ever be used as a pinch hitter? How did the Yankees get to this point? As Yul Brynner said in The King and I, “is a puzzlement".
On August 18th, 1983, The Yankees and Royals completed the famous Pine Tar Game, with the Royals winning 5-4.
The Big Story -
The Yankees are sinking quickly and most likely permanently in the standings. They are not a good team in any way, shape, or form. They have gone from being inconsistent to being consistently bad. Ben Rortvedt described the team as having a lot of ups and downs this season. Lately, they have produced more downs than a goose farm. I have a great deal of respect for Jack Curry but, when he comes on after every game and tries to sell the idea that the Yankees can turn this season around and make the playoffs, I feel as if he's trying to sell me a deep-sea fishing trip in the middle of Arizona.
The ship is sinking. It's time to stop trying to patch the leaks and instead lower the lifeboats. The Yankees need to start thinking about the future now. They can't keep trying to salvage this season; it is not salvageable. This season should be tossed on the back of Fred Sanford's truck and driven away.
Player of the Day -
Aaron Judge hit a two-run home run.
Notable Performances -
Anthony Volpe, DJ LeMahieu, and Gleyber Torres all had two hits.
Better to Forget-
That there are still 40 more games to watch this season.
My Take -
Sometimes, you have to admit when you are making a mistake and change direction. To continue trudging down the road to failure serves no purpose. Robert E. Lee knew when it was time to surrender. The Yankees have to face reality.
In this situation, facing reality doesn't mean giving up. It means trying something new and building for the future. As of Friday, there were 45 total days remaining in the season, which is the number of days a player cannot exceed on a Major League roster and still be considered a rookie in a subsequent season. That means it's the exact time to bring up prospects and see what they can do. Everson Pereira should be in the Bronx tomorrow. Although this doesn't apply to Oswald Peraza because he was up last year, he should be recalled as well. While we are at it, what would be the harm in bringing up Austin Wells? Catching has not been anything to brag about on the Major League level for the Yankees this season. The Yankees should start the Major League career of Austin Wells. The Angels just brought up their top draft pick from this year, Nolan Schanuel. If you suggested something like that to Brian Cashman, paramedics would need to treat him with smelling salt and defibrillators.
There is not much to keep the Yankees' fans excited or interested in the remainder of this season. Bring up the kids and let them play. We will then have an idea of what they can do for next year and it will give those young players a jump-start on their Major League careers, so they hopefully won't have to go through as many struggles as Anthony Volpe did at the beginning of this season.
We have seen enough of Billy McKinney and Jake Bauers. They have done reasonably well but they are not part of the future and should be released. If the Yankees want to wait to recall Austin Wells until September 1st, when the rosters expand, that would be fine. However, he and the other youngsters need to play. They don't need to sit on the bench and hand bubble gum to Aaron Boone. If Aaron Boone is not going to play the kids, the Yankees should cut bait and let him go now instead of waiting till the end of the season. There is no point in waiting for next season to develop the young players. Start the process today.
Next Up -
Today, the Yankees play the second game of the three-game series against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium at 1:05 PM. Gerrit Cole (10-3 2.76 ERA) will face Boston's Kutter Crawford (5-6 3.80 ERA). I will take a page out of Phil Rizzuto's handbook and put WBW (Won't Be Watching) on my scorecard. Instead, I will be getting married to the most wonderful woman I have ever met, who makes me feel like a World Series Champion every day.
