Today’s Yankees Last in League, Last in New Yorkers’ Hearts

Were it possible to shed a tear for the New York Yankees, their current state would call for torrents. They are a mess, a disaster, even objects of ridicule, an embarrassment to their remnant of Yankees fans, and to the city. So futile are they that long ago they lost New York to the exciting Mets.

Yankees pinstripes that once stood for pride and majesty are now a connotation of not much class.

They are an abysmal ball club that for frequent periods has been groping for a one-game winning streak. They have earned last place with their resume of 32-55, which has landed them 16 games out in the AL East. Will they achieve the Yankees’ lousiest record in 75 years? This Yankees team is on course.

No longer is Yankee Stadium a mecca for the city’s visitors eager to tell the folks at home, “I saw the Yankees.”

Perhaps these 1990 Yankees can best be assessed in the Ring Lardner fashion: Although they cannot hit, neither can they pitch. And sometimes they do not catch fly balls.

Even the New York Times, not usually as blunt or mean-spirited, came right out with it the other day: “Only five (of the 25) Yankee players are worth keeping, and the fans are likely to be cheered only if George Steinbrenner, the team’s principal owner, is handed a lengthy suspension” in those cases pending before the baseball commissioner.

The indictments of the Yankees are numerous:

Last in the league in runs scored.

Last in hits.

Last in total bases.

Last in on-base average.

Last in walks.

Eighth in home runs.

Ninth in pitching.

And last in the hearts of their countrymen (New York division), particularly with the feebleness of their home-run hitting, which used to be the proud trademark of Yankees teams. The Yankees have one home-run hitter in double figures. The Mets have four. These days, Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Yankees?

The Yankees have become a league-wide problem, because fans in other cities no longer have a team to hate. The Yankees used to stir ‘em, used to fill this role and were a boon to other clubs in terms of ticket sales. Not these Yankees, who are becoming almost beneath notice.

Their top regular player is Roberto Kelly, a .284 hitter. Their showpiece, Don Mattingly, is wallowing in a season-long .250 slump. Their man in the powerhouse position, their designated batsman and pinch hitter, Bye-Bye Balboni, is giving them a rousing .221. Their top starting pitcher has won five games. In their first 84 starts, the starter has been the finisher only seven times.

These Yankees are even beginning to qualify as weirdos. Refer now to the case of Andy Hawkins. On July 1 he pitched a no-hitter against the White Sox. Lost it, 4-0, on two muffed flies in the outfield.

A couple of days later, the Yankees, who couldn’t get Hawkins a run, busted out with 18 hits in a single game. They lost. On July 6, Hawkins came back with an 11-inning shutout of the Twins, but no luck. Lost it in the 12th, 2-0. Hawkins was in there against the White Sox again on July 12. He didn’t win, because there was a rain-shortened six-inning no-hitter by Melido Perez, with the Yankees as the party of the second part. Seems these Yankees have a faculty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One of the consequences is that they are now becoming a blight on the memory of Yankees teams, especially when arrayed against the legends of the Ruth-Gehrig-Lazzeri-Dickey era, and later the DiMaggio-Mantle-Henrich-Berra-Rizzuto gang. In the same sentence, perhaps, they shouldn’t be mentioned.

They could be a fit subject for Trivial Pursuit. Name any of the current New York Yankees, except Mattingly, Steve Sax and Dave Righetti. One must ruminate and then give up. These Yankees are the no-names of the American League.

Somewhere in all of this horror, an accusing finger points directly at Steinbrenner, the most intrusive owner in the majors. The buck has to stop with him. By his 19 changes in 17 years, he confesses that his managerial choices have been appalling. So is his habit of overpaying certain players and then calling them lousy if they don’t earn their big salaries. And then he wonders why they aren’t a happy family.

Steinbrenner’s genius is now on display once more. At a time when his team is crying for power and outfield defense and speed, Yankees fans can contemplate Rickey Henderson playing in Oakland and Dave Winfield with the Angels. George traded them away as unnecessary to the Yankees. His teams haven’t won a pennant in 10 seasons. But this is the year they hit the iceberg.