October 26, 2003
Blame the Offense
That's what Joel Sherman of the NY Post is doing:
They were 0-for-10 with runners on last night, 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, making them 17-for-86 (.198) and 7-for-50 (.140) in those categories for the Series. The Yanks managed one extra-base hit in 32 at-bats against Florida starters with men in scoring position, a three-run, first-inning homer by Hideki Matsui off Mark Redman in Game 2, perhaps explaining why Beckett bumped Redman for the Game 6 start.
"We had opportunities to win games," Jason Giambi said. "We never seemed to get the big hit."
But before you go blaming the offense too much, remember that the Yankees offense in this series outscored the Marlins 21-17. They were 30 points better in batting average, 50 points better in on-base average and 100 points better in slugging percentage. They out-homered the Marlins 6-2. It was just a question of timing, or, dare I say it, luck.
The Yankees offense isn't perfect like in was in 1998, but I'd much rather have the Yankees lineup than the Marlins lineup. The Marlins won because they were able to take advantage of local weakness in the Yankee lineup (the bottom of the order), injuries (Giambi) and slumps (Soriano). They also got lucky with the one bad managerial move Torre made in the series, leaving Jeff Weaver on the mound in game 4.
And it wasn't exactly like the Marlins were wizards with men in scoring position. They hit .233 as a team in the series, which while better than the Yankees, it did not result in any more runs, as both teams had 14 RBI with their limited success in that situation.
There was nothing special about Scott Brosius or Jim Leyritz or Tino Martinez. They were decent players on a great team, and they all got lucky, just like Alex Gonzalez got lucky in this series. And sometimes, that's all you need to win a championship.
