Yankees hitting a wall
NEW YORK - The New York Yankees are an American institution. Yankee Stadium is the most famous sports venue in our nation. George Steinbrenner was born on the Fourth of July - a Yankee Doodle Dandy in every loyal and kooky way. The official ball club logo is an Uncle Sam hat perched on a baseball bat.
It was on July 4 in 1939 that a dying Lou Gehrig came back to the Stadium one last time and told the crowd he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth. In 1983, Dave Righetti no-hit the Red Sox on Independence Day in New York, whiffing Hall of Famer Wade Boggs for the final out.
Some proud traditions there, ladies and gents. It's easy to see why 55,130 came out to see the Red Sox and Yankees yesterday. In a year of Yankee Stadium "lasts," it marked the final Fourth of July game in the ancient hardball theater at 161st Street.
And at the end of the rain-delayed day, most Yankee fans slumped out of the Stadium wondering what in the name of Major Deegan is going on with their team.
The Red Sox made it two in a row over the erstwhile Bombers with a 6-4 holiday win. Reeling when they left St. Petersburg, Fla., Wednesday night, the Sox have gotten healthy in a hurry here in the former chamber of horrors.
The situation in New York is bad. The Yanks haven't won a World Series since 2000. They have the highest payroll in baseball (more than $200 million) and are in fourth place in the American League East, a full nine games behind the mighty Tampa Bay Rays, who come to the Bronx for a two-game set Tuesday. There's a real possibility there will be no October baseball in the final days of Yankee Stadium. Imagine if the last game in this place is a Sept. 21 Sunday snooze-fest against the Orioles - two teams battling for third place in the American League East? In the final days, this place could be The House That Melky Cabrera Tore Down.
Making matters worse, it looks like the Yanks are going to be without leadoff man Johnny Damon for a while. Damon sprained his left shoulder when he almost made a spectacular catch of a Kevin Youkilis shot to left in the third inning.
It was one of the goofier plays you'll see. The ball wound up perched on top of the padded fence for a moment after it popped out of Damon's glove, then fell onto the warning track for a triple. It was a turning point in this latest Yankee loss.
It turns out manager Joe Girardi blundered Thursday night. Outraged by his team's flat line performance in the series opener (a 7-0 loss), the man-who-is-not-Joe Torre called a team meeting and locked his players in the clubhouse for a half-hour ("now youse can't leave," in the immortal words of Chazz Palminteri in "A Bronx Tale").
Girardi should have thought twice about that one. Hall of Famer Earl Weaver always said he hated team meetings "because if we lose the next game, what do I do then?"
"Earl had a habit of calling those meetings right before Jim Palmer was pitching," recalled former Baltimore outfielder Ken Singleton, now a Yankee broadcaster.
Girardi should have thought about yesterday's pitching matchup before bolting the clubhouse shut. If Girardi had looked into the future, he'd have noticed he had the immortal Darrell Rasner on tap to start while the Red Sox were ready with Josh Beckett.
So just a few hours after their fire-and-brimstone session, the Yankees went out and blew a 3-0 lead and lost again. In the words of the Earl of Baltimore, now what do they do?
"It definitely is a letdown that we didn't get a win," said Damon. "Especially against a team we're trying to chase. Their lead is growing on us. Tampa's lead is growing on us. We've got an uphill battle against teams that are probably more athletic than us."
Damon's absence is just another brick in the wall that is closing in around the Yankees.
Let's take Alex Rodriguez, for example. Spend a few days here and you find yourself wondering what it's like to be A-Rod. OK, the pay is pretty good, but how does one walk past news boxes that feature sensational salacious details of one's personal life? Maybe Rodriguez enjoys the attention. It's part of the deal if you're going to run with Lady Madonna.
A-Rod had a chance to make a difference in the seventh inning yesterday. Trailing, 6-3, the Yanks had the bases loaded with two outs and Boston's raging bullpen was in full fury. But A-Rod tapped a grounder to third on a 1-and-2 pitch from Manny Delcarmen. That pretty much took the air out of the ballpark. Then came the hour-and-a-half rain delay.
When the game ended and the clubhouse door opened, A-Rod walked out with no comment. For the second straight day.
How badly are things going? The New York Post's estimable Joel Sherman described Derek Jeter as "just an ordinary player; on some days not even that."
Jeter remained positive after the latest setback.
"I thought guys had good at-bats today," said the captain. "I thought we played well. I try to take something positive from it and come back tomorrow. We need to play well and start winning some games."
"This could be a big trouble spot," said Damon.
Asked about the Yankees failing to live up to their reputations, Damon said, "Our résumés are pretty strong, but you can't look at the back of a baseball card and see how a game is going to turn out."
It's not in the cards for the Yankees at this hour. The Red Sox have a chance for a midsummer sweep and the Rays smell blood.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.
