Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain

While the newly ordained and newly insufferable mouthpiece of the Yankees, Hank Steinbrenner, preens and prickles like a spoiled child, placing his frustration over a 10-10 start on the fact that Joba Chamberlain isn't in the starting rotation, it has become frighteningly apparent that no one in the hierarchy is paying attention to, you know, the games being played on the field.

For instance, although many Yankees bloggers (and reporters, and talk show hosts, and my barber) have already made mention of it, does Joba Chamberlain have anything to do with the team's .231 BA with runners in scoring position? What's more, to add insult to the already injury-plagued point, guess who has the most AB with RISP so far this season? That's right, it's Robinson Cano. He's come to the plate a whopping 24 times with runners at second and/or third and hit to the tune of .167. At the risk of oversimplifying the matter, that statistic would be no different if Joba were starting; ere go, Joba is not your problem.

Point the Second, the Yankees have been shut-out 3 times already this year. For a powerhouse offense, that seems rather awful. 30% of your losses have been shutouts? Hmm. For what it's worth, in 2007, the Yankees were shut-out for the third time on June 27. That's a differential of over two months. Have I removed all context in this case? Yes. But it is still a fact.

What's more, the Yankees have scored 41 innings thus far in 2008. On 8 occasions, the pitching staff has failed to post a goose egg in the next inning. In other words, 20% of the time, the Yankees are giving back runs immediately after scoring them. A small sample size? Indeed. But it is still a fact.

Shall I remark on Jason Giambi's .071 BA and .142 SLG?

Hank & Co.: Do the people who spend countless days and nights watching your team play baseball, and, likely, hundreds of dollars (and hours in traffic) each year attending games, really have to point out how unintelligent you sound? Fix what's broken, instead of wasting your breath on issues "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Oh, yes. I dropped Shakespeare on your ass.
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