by Dennis Cole
May 11, 2021
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NOTE - We welcome guest contributor Dennis Cole who shared these thoughts.
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I'm a Yankee fan. It's been a long time too. That means if I'm hoping this player gets traded; but if he's at bat, I want him to get a hit. When Brian Cashman makes a bad trade such as letting young J.P. Sears go for two pitchers who are not able to pitch this year . I still want to beat Sears as the Yanks did the other night. It's not rational that in such a troubled world I should even care about the Yankees, but I do. I had more conversations at old Yankee Stadium with my father than anywhere else. Going to see a baseball game can be very personal. It's not religious, but it's spiritual. It's personal even though it seems public. Perhaps that is what I'm looking for in the game and from the Yankees.
The Yankees are playing teams younger and stronger than they are. Talent is harnessed in the moment of conflict. They must know their general manager made bad trades and unnecessary bad free agent signings. They have to, I'm sure, fight off those mistakes and win with what they have. That includes their many injuries. I see that the players have hope. That they want to believe in their team.
I deeply believe had Brian Cashman not fired Joe Girardi, the Yankees would have had two World Series championships since 2018. It was all public relations - getting a baseball announcer (Aaron Boone) to be manager. 'If it ain't broke don't fix it? ' Cashman forgot the personal factor in winning a baseball game. Baseball has all the qualities of war, but no one dies. A safe war, but its war. Aaron Boone wants, it seems, to speculate like a good announcer, but not engage like a soldier.
I'm a fan. I want the Yankees to win it all this year. I always want that. I don't think they will. I'd rather be wrong and have the Yankees win it all this year. In life, however, you don't see your wrongs unless you make corrections. It's baseball repentance and admitting mistakes lightens the stress of believing what's not true. Believing what is not true is a heavy weight to carry. The team can play with a lighter load if management would come out of its denial. The players on the team have heart. They can still sneak into the playoffs and maybe find their destiny in a set of short series. It's going to be difficult. Repentance, and correction can cause a lightness by embracing real truth about yourself, and your team. With this internalized, the batted balls will travel farther.
People, we fans, don't want to talk about what's really happening. We do however know times are not normal. That they can never be as they were. Yet when we see someone put on a Yankee uniform, we have hope, down deep, that things can be as they were before.
Better than ever?
What a true leader processes is that true change can bring us back to the best of the old days. The paradox of metamorphosis is that change brings one back to essence . Even childlike essence. That's the joy of winning Yankee baseball. That's what a winning Yankee team does for its fans, it's enemies, and for society.
As I write, I see the possibility of this, but Brian Cashman needs to open up. He needs to be in public appearances the way he is when no one is looking. He needs to be real. To show the emotions he truly has and engage into the moment of each game. That's the way the players win. Brian Cashman never played major league baseball, but by engaging in the inning by inning game as the players do, he can learn gametime passion. He needs to leave the world of 'concept'. He can show passion a la George Steinbrenner, not George's way, but his own way. Passion is passion .
If Cashman does this, Aaron Boone will see the passion too. He's a nice guy, but with passion his baseball acumen will rise and be used in real time. He might be a Billy Martin 'in the moment kind of a manager' without being Billy Martin. Draw from Billy's best attributes. Hal Steinbrenner will see this. He can learn this. The best of his Dad was his fierce passion to win. Executive passion can carry over to the players. The whole team will get it and unite in the most simple way.
Brian Cashman needs to admit how bad he has been. It will make him feel better. He shouldn't fear social media, but attack it by being real. Being real is a kind of love. The players and the fans will win something greater than the game. Stop 'winning at the losing game.' Play the boys game and discover you have already won.
