OCT

10

Class dismissed. The school known as the American League Division Series is over, and the victories were decisive. The Boston Red Sox, which humbled the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game sweep, will face the Cleveland Indians, a scrappy young team that punished the New York Yankees, rendering the latter's vaunted offense helpless. With a 6-4 win last night, Cleveland dispatched the Yankees, 3-1. It is the third consecutive season that the team which by far has the game's highest payroll and every financial advantage at their fingertips will be watching the American League Championship Series from home. This proves two important lessons that, for the sake of Yankees fans, Brian Cashman should learn: 1. You can't buy team chemistry. Unlike any team in Major League Baseball - even the Red Sox, Mets, Cubs and Angels - the Yankees can afford to field All-Stars at every position. Yet, as the Yankees have shown for seven seasons in a row, a World Series is not won on paper. The Yankees teams that dominated baseball in the late 90s had true professionals like Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams. This version of the Yankees has soulless primadonnas like Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi and Roger Clemens. Like I have written before, give me a team with two or three superstars, and surround them with solid everyday players, and reliable pitching. That recipe, which creates a "team" instead of a collection of players, will result in success. 2. Pitching wins championships, not a team built solely around offense. Of course, you need to have some productive bats in the lineup, but when you have effective starting pitching and a reliable bullpen, you can still win when your offense struggles. Joe Torre should not be the fall guy for the Yankees post-season failure. Brian Cashman is the so-called brilliant mind who gave the Yankees a pitching staff centered around Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina, and a bullpen that had ...

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