It's not Joe Torre's fault, it's Jason Giambi's or Mike Mussina's. They're the guys who have been on this team for 5 or 6 years and never won a thing. The Yankees who won those 4 titles in 5 years were built out of a few great players, a bunch of emerging talent and most importantly roll players who had a knack for getting the big hit at the big moment. They also had 12 year old kids robbing sure outs in the right field bleachers, but I digress.
The point is, Joe Torre didn't go out on a shopping spree that netted a host of multimillion dollar busts. He may have made a bad call when he started Wang on 3 days rest rather then go with Mussina, but someone else signed Moose. Mussina is emblematic of the 21st Century Yankee: big paycheck, small results when it counts. Even in his O's days Mussina always seemed to shrink in big moments, and when he didn't he seemed to be snake bitten. When he wasn't getting hit in the face by Sandy Alomar he was giving up a 1 out single to him in the 9th inning of a perfect game. A fate that befell him again against Carl Everett and the Bo Sox.
The Sox are a perfect example of the mix needed to win in baseball these days. A few big stars, and then a few Dustin Pedroias and Kevin Youkilii. Oh yeah, and starting pitching that is good now, not guys who were great a few years ago. When Joe Torre had all these things he won big over and over. With a fantasy baseball team filled with big bank accounts and bigger egos, he still made it to the playoffs every year, so if George fires him it should serve as proof that he's lost it. Who will do a better job, Mattingly? Yeah, cause he's proven to be a real winner over the years.
If the Yanks fire Joe Torre they deserve all they get because of it. And, I'm all for it.
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