Small Ball: Yankees must resort to basics

There's never a day when Yankees and Red Sox fans can sympathize with each other, but with the baseball gods as my witness, today is one of those special occasions.

Maybe 'sympathize' is a bad word. Perhaps relate is more suitable. Because let's face it, the Bombers' late August, early September collapse in the AL East looks a lot like last year's Red Sox cataclysm. 

As a Yankee fan, it's hard to digest the past few weeks. I'm not suggesting we storm the clubhouse and rummage for buckets of fried chicken and cases of Bud Light, but it might be time to re-examine the way the team has been coached this year. 

One of my professors at Duquesne, when speaking about our poor reading strategies, told our class, "those techniques might have worked in high school, but here, you won't have a chance." I'd like to tell Joe Girardi the same thing, but in regards to the team's "swing for the fences" mentality.

Yes, relying on unmitigated home run power can work for a few months, but it won't carry the squad to the playoffs.

Where's that simple, hit-and-run style of Charlie Manuel's championship-winning Phillies teams? Where's that Joe Torre-esque small ball that the Yankees utilized during the dynasty years? Nowhere to be found.

The Yankees have 27 more games to play, beginning with tonight's series finale against the Rays. If the last two nights are of any indication, tonight needs to be an explosive offensive showing from the Bombers, especially from the heart of the lineup (Granderson, Swisher, and Cano.) The bullpen has been progressively more unreliable, assuring that no lead is big enough.

Tonight is the night to get back on track. One game at a time, boys. One hit at a time, even if the ball doesn't clear the fence.