THE UNIVERSITY OF DALY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
SPORTS
3B
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
From left, Darrell Rasner, Morgan Ensberg and Andy Pettitte react to a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in a baseball game in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Yankees haven't been mathematically eliminated since Sept. 27, 1993, when Bill Clinton was a first-year president and gasolate averaged about $1.13 per gallon.
Yankees miss first playoffs in 15 years
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees' season has gone so badly, the wife of team president Randy Levine taped bubble wrap around the TV remotes to keep the furniture from getting damaged.
Hard to believe, given its $200 million payroll, but baseball's most glamorous team will be missing the playoffs after a run of 13 consecutive postseason appearances. That's just one shy of the record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991-2005.
The Yankees haven't been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention since Sept. 27, 1993, when Bill Clinton was a first-year president and gasoline averaged about $1.13 per gallon. New York's regulars then included Mike Stanley and Pat Kelly along with a young Bernie Williams, Don Mattingly, Paul O'Neill and Wade Boggs.
Derek Jeter was a 19-year-old playing at Greensboro in the Class A South Atlantic League, teammate of a 22-year-old starting pitcher named Mariano Rivera. Andy Pettitte was 21 and spent most of the year at Prince William of the Class A Carolina League, where he pitched to Jorge Posada, a 22-year-old catcher.
Those four went on to form the core of baseball's final dynasty of the 20th century. But this year, New York's fortunes have crumbled like a Wall Street bank, leaving Yankee Stadium set to close Sunday with no October games in its final season.
"Our everyday position players did not perform up to their typical ability." Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Not everyone. But I would say mostly as a unit we've struggled there from injuries and underperformance."
Ever since winning the 2000 World Series for their third straight title, and fourth in five years, the Yankees have regressed.
They lost in the Series in 2001 and 2003, were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in 2004 and didn't get past the first
round in 2002 or the last three seasons. In 2007, their streak of nine straight AL East titles came to an end.
This year's team never jelled. Starting a critical road trip on Aug. 3, the Yankees were $5 \frac{1}{2}$ games out in the AL East and $2 \frac{1}{2}$ back in the wild-card race. New York then went 3-7 visiting Texas, the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota, and dropped nine games behind in the division and six in the wild card. When Boston won the first two games of its final series at Yankee Stadium in late August, the Yankees' fate was sealed.
This was not what New York expected in Joe Girardi's first year as manager.
He replaced Joe Torre, who left after 12 seasons, insulted by the team's offer of just a one-year contract. Torre signed on as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and
now appears headed to the playoffs again.
Standing outside his office in a subterranean corridor of the stadium this week, Girtardi said he didn't let the losing eat him up away from the ballpark, and he doesn't second-guess his decisions too much when he gets home after games to watch "Seinfeld" reruns or more baseball.
"I'm able to leave it here. That doesn't mean I won't think about it when I'm laying in bed," he said. "I'll watch a little TV maybe and fall asleep. My wife can sleep with the TV on, so it doesn't matter. I fall asleep and then I get up with the kids and we play. I had to learn that."
What about the players? How could such a talented team fall so far?
The Yankees themselves blame injuries.
Chien-Ming Wang, a 19-game winner in each of the past two years, was off to an 8-2 start when he hurt a foot running the bases at Houston in June, ending his season.
Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, counted won as the fourth and fifth starters behind Wang, Mike Mussina and Pettitte, were sideline for much of the year and entered the final two weeks of the season with no wins at all.
Joba Chamberlain was out from Aug. 4 to Sept. 2 because of rotator cuff tendinitis, leaving the team still uncertain whether he'll be a starter or reliever next year.
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(Above) Alex Rodriguez flips his bat as he looks at the ampire after striking out to end the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium in New York. (Below) Carl Pavano reacts after a balk to allow Los Angeles Angels' Mike Napoli to advance to second base during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif.
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