Yankees Hope Yogi Doesn’t Get Yanked

Yogi Berra is in trouble again. And although there is little surprise in the New York Yankees’ clubhouse, there is an air of sadness mixed with some anger and bewilderment.

Berra, of course, has been through this before. Last season, Yankees’ principal owner George Steinbrenner seemed ready to pull the plug early in the season. Though Berra seems calm on the outside, one senses that even Berra may be reaching his limit. When asked whether he might beat Steinbrenner to the punch by resigning, Berra said, “I’m thinking about it. It could get close.”

But, the manager added, that point is not yet at hand.

As for the players, they are mostly watching and waiting. And for the most part hoping that two days from now, two weeks from now, Berra will still be their manager. Even though they seem to think that they are hoping against hope.

“Nothing surprises me, but I can’t say you get used to it,” catcher Butch Wynegar said Thursday. “You expect it almost. But 12, 13 games into the season is awfully early to call games crucial.”

Early in probably every major league camp except one.

So what if Steinbrenner said in February that, win or lose, Yogi Berra would be the manager for the entire 1985 season? He said that in 1982 about Bob Lemon and axed the popular skipper after just 14 games.

And, for the past couple of weeks, Steinbrenner has publicly expressed his unhappiness with his team and used watchwords that usually signal the end of yet another manager’s term.

“You don’t like to hear it, but you get used to hearing it,” said Dave Righetti, a four-year veteran who is playing for his fifth manager. “Maybe he says those things because he believes players will show some extra spark to keep Yogi around.”

The Yankees have carried Berra to the brink by compiling a 6-7 record. Five straight losses to Boston--before a 5-1 victory Thursday night--and 19 errors have not made the situation any better. Still, thanks to merely human starts by Detroit, Toronto, Milwaukee, Boston and Baltimore, the Yankees were just two games out of first going into Friday’s game with Chicago. “Geez, I thought maybe we were about 10 back by now,” Don Mattingly said, shaking his head. “What’s the magic number, anyway?”

Mattingly laughed at the absurdity of the situation. But there was anger in the Yankees’ first baseman, too. “It’s only 13 games,” Mattingly said. “Damn! Leave us alone and let us play. I know we got a good club.”

So why is Berra in trouble?

One would have to climb into the principal owner’s mind to try and figure out why George Steinbrenner is gunning for a manager after only a dozen games. There have been hints--Steinbrenner’s perception that the Yankees lack discipline, that the players don’t respect Berra or work hard enough to play better baseball. And then there are the unspoken reasons, such as the fear of losing this city to the New York Mets, a team perceived by many to be better both on the field and off.

The browbeating is having its effect, but one wonders if it is the desired one. When asked whether such constant criticism is self-defeating, Mattingly simply answered, “Yes.”

Wynegar agreed. “You don’t see him (Steinbrenner) coming out and saying something good,” he said. “It seems he is always looking for something negative to talk about. It’s sad.”