Afternoon Baseball

Now, all the numbers say winning the division doesn't matter. But, I think it should be obvious that a replacement-level manager would have not lost eight games for the Yankees this year, and maybe Boston the wild-card team.

Why am I being harsh on the guy who smartly continues to play my favorite center-fielder, Melky Cabrera?
Because he's returned to terrible bullpen management, something that will cost the Yankees in October.
I'll give him a pass on Luis Vizcaino's recent struggles. I don't think he was as good as he pitched from May 28 to mid-August, and he may just have arm troubles outside of Torre running him into the ground.
But why is Edwar Ramirez still pitching? You screwed him over once when you didn't pitch him for two weeks, Joe, so are you trying to make up for that by putting him in lead-protecting situations every game? And watching him blow them?
And we all love Brian Bruney. But he's forgotten how to pitch.

Of course, Mariano Rivera didn't pitch, hanging out in the bullpen as the Yanks lost.

As soon as the game ended last night, I thought, that's another loss to hang on Torre. Sure enough, NoMaas.org agrees.

Maybe most managers lose eight games for their teams each year (Phillies fans would argue Charlie Manuel does that in a month, no doubt). But if that's the case, then there are no good managers.

The good news? Torre's not in control of Joba, for the moment. And with the magic number at one, at least the Yankees are going to make the damn playoffs. Maybe good things will happen, and Torre will dig deep for the 1996 magic one last time. I'm hoping.