INT YANKEES FRONT OFFICE – NIGHT
CASHMAN sits in his dimly lit office, the only light coming from a desk lamp and the glow of a muted television mounted on his wall. A lit cigar fills the room with smoke, a glass of single malt scotch in his hand. There is an empty expression on his face as he watches the television on mute, “The End” by The Doors softly playing from his laptop. HAL STEINBRENNER enters, hands in his pockets.
HAL
Well, it could be worse.
CASHMAN
I guess that’s true.
HAL
Headley got a hit. A-Rod hit another massive homer.
CASHMAN
Yeah.
CASHMAN watches the final out of Sunday night’s game and drains his glass. His face is clouded with disappointment. HAL watches with him and turns back to face his GM.
HAL
I mean it’s David Price, right? The guy’s an ace and managed to get six runs off of him! The offense is waking up.
CASHMAN is silent and then looks up at HAL
CASHMAN
Christian Vazquez. Three home runs in Dellin’s last three outings. After Headley had an easy double play ball and double clutched. And Ellsbury was stupid and came home on that easy ground ball right to the third baseman. And they scored six runs, but Eovaldi allowed six. And then… ugh. I don’t know anymore. Five in a row.
CASHMAN turns the television off and stands, moving to look out his window.
CASHMAN
I knew that this year would be tough. All those old guys on the roster, the prospects not quite ready, Bird gone all year. The pitching being so shaky. But I didn’t think it would be this bad. I didn’t think they would look so damn feeble. Even when they score seven runs, they can’t keep the other team off the board. Things will be better once the money frees up and the kids can come up, but… it’s rough. A lot of the fans, they don’t know what losing feels like. They weren’t alive for the early 90’s. They don’t remember not being competitive.
CASHMAN turns back to HAL.
CASHMAN
The stadium is going to be empty this summer, Hal. I’m sorry. I did what I could without sacrificing draft picks. I got Castro.
HAL
And he’s been great.
CASHMAN
I traded for Chapman. I didn’t put any more bulky money on the books. This is what we have to live with. This is how we pay for 2009.
HAL nods and glumly stares at the floor.
HAL
Only one run away.
CASHMAN refills his glass with more scotch and says nothing.
HAL
Good night, Brian.
HAL walks out of the office. CASHMAN sits down in his chair, takes a sip, and thinks.
The Play: Vazquez takes Betances deep over the Monster, because life is pain (-.323 WPA)
There’s not much to say here. The third homer in three games for Betances. The first was by Brett Nicholas, then Papi on Saturday, and now Vazquez. Two of those guys aren’t exactly major power threats. Something isn’t right.
Top Performers
Yankees: Alex Rodriguez (2-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI)
Red Sox: Christian Vazquez (1-4, 1 backbreaking HR)
Notes:
– Five losses in a row is very bad. So is Betances allowing home runs three outings in a row.
– On the play before the home run, Chase Headley took too long to get a throw to second and prevented the inning from ending in a double play. Things could have gone very, very differently had he gotten the throw off in time.
– Ellsbury’s decision to come home on A-Rod’s easy grounder to the third baseman is mind-boggling. What other outcome was there besides getting thrown out?
– A-Rod has continued to absolutely wallop the ball, which is a wonderful sign for him. His home run tonight was just as deep as the first one he hit in this series.
– Red Sox fans broke out a “Free Tom Brady” chant late in the game. Make of that what you will.
The Quote
“It’s a small sample size right now, but it’s getting bigger.” – Mark Teixeira
The Highlight: A-Rod finds the deepest part of the Monster
The CEO of A-Rod Corp put on a rather impressive public demonstration of his product. Word on the street is that the IPO will be sometime this week. You too can be part of the prestigious A-Rod Corp!
Up Next
The traveling house of horrors now moves on to Baltimore, where Luis Severino and Chris Tillman will face off in the opener of the series. Baltimore is 14-10 and Manny Machado looks like he’s finally stepped into the very top tier of ballplayers. So, look forward to him making the Yankees cry in their beer for the whole series.
Lead photo: Bob DeChiara / USATSI