Esteban Loaiza was unimpressive in his second outing for the Yankees. The offense rallied on the strength of two, two-run home runs (Bernie Williams, Hideki Matsui), but fell just short. However, the Yankees didn’t lose any ground in the standings as Curt Schilling and the Red Sox fell to the Devil Rays in Boston last night. The Bombers start a three-game series against the Rangers in Texas tonight. The Rangers have lost four-straight.
Kenny Lofton started in right field and contributed an error prompting George Steinbrenner to mouth off to reporters that he doesn’t want to see his boy Lofton playing right field. Sound the alarm, the Yankees lost a game. Heads must roll. Jeez, and Joe Torre was having it so easy this year. Not to say that Steinbrenner’s minor outburst is anything to worry about. Most likely, Torre will just roll his eyes and move on. But who knows? Perhaps he’ll jab back.

George must be feeling lonely. After all, he hasn’t made an ass out of himself lately. His win-at-all-costs-or-else! attitude is pervasive and has been adopted by a large portion of Yankee fans. While the attitude to win admirable, when it morphs into a sense of entitlement it is tired. I find it boorish and obnoxious when Steinbrenner second-guesses his manager in public. I know that I get wrapped up in the need for the Yankees to win every game at times. I’m guilty, bro, no doubt about it. That is why I try to appreciate each game for what it is, instead of simply waiting around for October for the “important” games. I need to remind myself to stay grounded and enjoy each at-bat, each pitch, and each game. Fortunately, there are members of the Yankee organization who haven’t buckled under George’s pressure:

Bernie Williams told Harvey Araton in the Times:

“You know, everyone wants us to win the World Series, but I don’t think the season is only about October,” Bernie Williams said. “For the fans, it’s about summer, about watching their favorite team. It’s about kids being out of school, about spending a day or a great night, seeing a great game.”

Williams paused for several seconds, thinking, and added, “It’s about seeing how it all turns out.”

And here is bit from the Brian Cashman piece in New York magazine:

To Steinbrenner, anything short of a championship is a tragedy. But Cashman tries not to buy into the suffocating joylessness. “I didn’t learn any lessons from the way we lost to the Marlins,” he says.