The Yankees were built for a world title. Now they're likely to face George Steinbrenner's wrath.
By MARC TOPKIN
Published October 21, 2004
NEW YORK - It was only a few days ago that general manager Brian Cashman stood by the Yankees dugout and marveled at his team's performance.
"Our team is playing its best baseball right now," Cashman said before Game 4 of the AL Championship Series on Sunday. "It's October. Now is the time."
Now, the Yankees are out of time.
"We just let it get away," Gary Sheffield said in the quiet clubhouse.
"We didn't deserve to win," Derek Jeter added.
The biggest collapse in baseball postseason history saw them lose four straight to the Red Sox, and when the World Series opens Saturday they'll be sitting home.
Maybe they'll be watching, though it's possible they'll all be sent to their rooms by Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, who is expected to have a long and loud reaction after seeing his $185-million conglomeration fall short of its only goal, which was to win the World Series championship.
Much will be made this week about how the Red Sox are trying to win a World Series for the first time since 1918. The Yankees haven't won since 2000, and in Steinbrenner years, that can be considered just as long of a drought.
"I feel like we haven't won in 86 years, and it's only been three," Cashman said last week.
The Yankees have taken great satisfaction this month in pointing out how their critics said they had too many flaws, while they kept winning.
But after blowing the 3-0 lead, and looking bad in doing so, they couldn't have much to say.
Plus, Steinbrenner will do most of the talking.
The Yankees will have a number of key offseason decisions, such as what to do about Jason Giambi and about the starting pitching after getting through most of the season with a patchwork group. The lack of depth was obvious Wednesday, as they marched out Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez and Esteban Loaiza.
As usual, they will have plenty of money to make pretty much whatever moves they want. The difference is that this year, they are starting earlier.
