| Show Oh how the mighty have fallen Jake Williams Sports Editor The New York Yankees have two yearly traditions The biggest payroll in inthe inthe inthe the majors and winning As of Monday the Yanks rank first in the with a team salary of nearly million but have won just 51 percent of their games By defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 6 4 Monday night the Yankees improved to 46 44 on the season That marks the first time NY has been two games over in almost a month On June 19 New York lost to the Colorado falling to 35 33 overall They lost again the following even evening mg The Yankees now trail their perennial foe the Boston Red Sox by nine games in the American League East standings They need to get hot in a hurry if they have dreams of anything better than a Wildcard playoff berth So who's to blame for this disappointing 2007 season It isn't hitting The Yanks rank fourth in inthe inthe inthe the majors with a team batting average of 28 I. I The Detroit Tigers lead the majors at followed by bythe bythe bythe the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Seattle Mariners The Yanks also rank tenth in home runs with although 32 of those have come from one player Alex Rodriguez has earned million this year the biggest salary on New Yorks York's inflated payroll and leads the team in home runs and nuns Rodriguez hit his career home nm run in Mondays Monday's win Could it be pitching Analysts predicted the Yanks would have a weak starting rotation after afler losing the bidding war for Daisuke to the Red Sox So far in 2007 the Red Sox rank seventh in the majors in batters struck out while the New York ranks dead last The Yankees are averaging just 55 punch- punch outs per game compared to Boston's seven Then there is team ERA Boston is allowing just earned runs a contest good for fourth in the league NewYork New NewYork NewYork York on the other hand is fourteenth with a team ERA of The Yankees should be looking to deal for starting pitching soon Such a proud organization cant can't just stand idly by while the season slips through their deep pockets Last season the Yankees were a league best 97 62 in inthe inthe inthe the regular season |
