To paraphrase Billy Joel, himself a Yankee Fan:
In the space of less than 3 full days, the Yankees went from the Mountains of Faith to the Valley of Fear, the Jungle of Doubt, and, especially (given comments by alleged Yankee Fans on social media) the Desert of Truth.
We were on such a high after sweeping the Boston Red Sox 4 straight. Then we lost 3 straight to the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that shouldn't even exist.
I'll spare you the details of things like losing pitchers, blown leads, failed comebacks, et al. Suffice it to say that none of these losses should have happened.
Injuries is no excuse. I don't care if we're down to the Scranton lineup: The New York Yankees should be able to win at least 1 game of a home series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
This as followed by the next series, against the Mets, being postponed because Met players had tested positive for COVID-19. For once, it looks like the Yankees and their fans who benefited more from the postponement.
Officially, the Yankees are still in 1st place in the American League Eastern Division -- tied with the Rays, but, having played fewer games, a game ahead of them in the all-important loss column.
But this makes 6 out of 7 recent games against them lost.
Why?
Because general manager Brian Cashman has assembled a roster incapable of beating the Rays.
I saw some Yankee Fans blaming field manager Aaron Boone for it. I saw one Twitterer write, "It's over. The Boone love affair from "savages in the box" is over. Fun while it lasted."
We will always love Boone, because of one swing of the bat in 2003.
But it has become obvious that he is not the actual manager of the New York Yankees. He is merely the press secretary for the real manager, Cashman. Boone is there to take the hard questions as to why the Yankees aren't winning, so Cashman doesn't have to.
Cashman gets to take the praise from making the transactions that look like they will build a World Champion. Boone has to take the bullets for when they don't.
Joe Girardi got tired of being treated like this, and when his contract ran out, he wasn't given a new one. Now, he is the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, and is probably the one man for whom facing the Philadelphia media must feel like a piece of cake.
It seems like every player on the Yankees is either injured, or a gutless wonder, or both.
Brian Cashman built this team, but he didn't build this team on rock and roll.
Meanwhile, Didi Gregorius is batting .299.
Until the Yankees fire Cashman from all roles within the organization, they will not win a Pennant.
He is to the Yankees what Jeff Wilpon is to the Mets, and what James Dolan is to the Knicks and the Rangers. You know the old saying, "The (Name of Team) is just one man away from a title"? For the Yankees, that one man is Brian Cashman.
There are idiots on Facebook pages who tell me Cashman is the best GM in baseball; that, if the Yankees fired him, any other team would hire him immediately.
Based on what? His record? Not his recent record. 10 years of failure. He has won nothing without George Steinbrenner's money and Gene Michael's players. He gets no credit for the World Series wins of 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009; and the Pennants won, but World Series lost, of 2001 and 2003.
They tell me he's built a team that puts the Yankees in position to win every year. But they don't win, any year. This is the New York Yankees. This is not the New York Mets, who infamously had owner Fred Wilpon say the goal was "playing meaningful games in September." This is not the Atlanta Braves, for whom winning the Division is enough -- and there's only been 3 Division titles in those 10 years.
Here's his record since George Steinbrenner died on July 10, 2010:
* Lost the AL Championship Series in 2010, 2012, 2017 and 2019.
* Lost the AL Division Series in 2011 and 2018.
* Lost the AL Wild Card Game in 2015.
* Missed the Playoffs completely in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
* The Houston Astros won 2 Pennants, including their 1st-ever World Championship, thanks to a trade Cashman made (and some cheating).
* The Chicago Cubs won their 1st World Series in 108 years, and their 1st Pennant in 71 years, thanks to a trade Cashman made.
* The Cleveland Indians won a Pennant, only the 6th in their 116-year history, thanks to a trade Cashman made.
* The Texas Rangers won their 1st 2 Pennants, partly due to beating the Yankees thanks to Cashman's obsession with bringing in a "lefty one out guy"; and won another Division title thanks to a trade Cashman made.
* The San Francisco Giants won 3 World Series, including their 1st in 46 years, their 1st since moving from New York.
* The Kansas City Royals won their 1st Pennant in 29 years, and the next year, their 1st World Series in 30 years.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers won their 1st Pennant in 29 years, and then another.
* The Washington Nationals won the 1st Pennant and World Series in the franchise's 51-year history, the 1st Pennant for a Washington team in 86 years, and the 1st World Championship for a Washington team in 95 years.
* The Boston Red Sox have cheated their way to 2 more World Championships. Since 2000, they are 4-0 in the World Series; the Yankees, 1-2.
* And even the New York Mets have won a Pennant more recently.
How does Cashman's record look now?
Here's another question the Cashman fanboys refuse to answer:
How many more years of failure are you willing to accept? How many more years of not winning the Pennant is acceptable to you?
One more year?
Two years?
Five years?
Ten years?
Twenty years? Are you still going to be on social media in 2040, telling Yankee Fans not yet born, "Give Cashman a chance, he knows what he's doing" when he hasn't won so much as a Pennant since 2009?
Today is August 23, 2020. At this point, supporting Brian Cashman is like supporting Donald Trump: We have to ask you the question, "What the hell is wrong with you?"