I have to admit that I haven't been paying close attention to the box scores lately. So over my breakfast of yogurt and fruit this morning, it was a bit of a shock to see the Yankees had used six pitchers last night, and I had never heard of a single one of them.
As far as I know, Whitley, Kelley, Huff, Betances, Ramirez and Thornton just as easily could be the name of a Wall Street law firm as the outfit that gave up 8 earned runs to the Red Sox in an 8-5 loss.
Just five years ago, when the Yankees were winning the 27th World Series title in their long and decorated history, they were lead by familiar starting pitchers with names like Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, and Chamberlain, with win after win being secured by the always reliable Mariano Rivera locking down the ninth inning and occasionally at least part of the eighth as well.
The Yankees will certainly need to pick up their winning pace considerably to allow "The Firm" to become household names beyond the five Burroughs -- and perhaps even within them.
Glancing at the top portion of the box score, I was welcomed by the comfort of a whole bunch familiar names including the likes of Jeter, Beltran, Roberts and Suzuki. But a quick check revealed that each of these four stalwarts is either pushing, or has already pushed past age 40. And though two are sure-fire Hall-of-Famers, with a possible third in Beltran, they are all decidedly well-past their prime.
With Rivera at long last calling an end to his first-ballot Hall-of-Fame career, maybe this truly is the end of an era. Perhaps the many years of buying up the big name free agents and trading youth for veterans to win now is finally taking its toll. Or perhaps some of these "no names" will lead the Yankees back to greatness.
But another glance quickly reveals that three of the six no-name pitchers is sporting an ERA of 4.70 or higher, so the odds seem decidedly against it. And against the Yankees revisiting their glory days anytime soon.
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