The House That Truth Built: Girardi Reveals Yanks Need Home-field Advantage in Playoffs

This article first appeared in Blogcritics.

The words said by New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi seemed as if they came in a private conversation; however, they were uttered during a post-game interview. As a New York Mets fan listening to the radio, I immediately noticed that this revealed truth is salient and yet seems to be lost on most Yankees fans, and thinking about it I see this as either being the Yankees' greatest strength or ending up to be their Achilles' heel.

What did Girardi say? He spoke candidly about what the team needed to do to have success in the post-season. "We still need to win some games because we want to have home-field advantage." After a follow-up question, Girardi reiterated the obvious: "It's (home-field advantage) real important. I really believe that we were built around this ballpark."

"Aha!" I thought, how true this is because the Yankees have always been built around that ballpark. When the first Yankee Stadium opened with Babe Ruth as the star, a convenient right field "porch" made it possible for the Sultan of Swat to bang lots of homers. Of course, we can argue that Ruth could hit homers in any park, but playing half of his games in Yankee Stadium certainly didn't hurt him. This is also true for Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, and current players like Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira.

Girardi's revelation may not be a surprise to many, but I think it is crucial to understanding the Yankees' success story. When he says that the team is "built around this ballpark" we can understand that he means that Granderson and Teixeira need the dimensions (314 feet down the right field line and 318 feet down the left field line), as do the other players, to succeed. We can only guess about how many championships might have never been if the Yankees played in a different stadium.

Take my suffering New York Mets and their home ballpark. Citi Field is like the Grand Canyon of baseball parks compared to the home run friendly Yankee Stadium. How many homers are lost in the field that Citi helped build will never be known, but just take a look at David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, and others whose power has diminished while playing there.

Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks coined the phrase "the friendly confines" when referring to Wrigley Field. We can well understand his liking the park where he had so much success (512 career home runs), but imagine someone like Willie Mays who went from the Polo Grounds in New York to a place like Candlestick Park in San Francisco, where he lost so many homers in the wind. How many homers would Mays have hit if he had played in a more homer friendly arena? In my humble opinion he would have had more than Hank Aaron, who for many years played in a very homer-friendly Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta.


So Joe Girardi revealed a truth which may or may not be ugly, depending on your point of view. Yankees fans will no doubt scoff at the notion that their team's history of success is based on the dimensions of Yankee Stadium, but most everyone else knows the truth: the House that Ruth Built was designed to have Ruth and other Yankees players hit lots of homers.

Certainly, opposing players might be seen to have the same advantage, but I beg to differ. I think that many great opposing players came into Yankee Stadium salivating for the chance to chip the ball into the short right field porch, but the execution of that is not so easy as it is for those Yanks who play eighty-one games a year there. Trying to pull the ball many hitters came up short, just as many guys who tried to poke one over the Green Monster in Boston's Fenway Park found out.

By the way, Girardi got his wish. By sweeping the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and with the Boston Red Sox losing to the lowly Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees have clinched the division. It seems Girardi is going to get what he wants: to have the home-field advantage during the playoffs. Now we have to see if that will be a deciding factor in the Yankees going all the way. Girardi got what he wanted; for the rest of us, it seems that is the reason why they are known as those Damn Yankees!

Photo Credits: NY Daily News

Barry Bonds Guilty: The Home Run King Knocked Off Throne?

Article first published as Barry Bonds Guilty: The Home Run King Knocked Off Throne? on Blogcritics.

The verdict is in at Barry Bonds's perjury trial in San Francisco, California: guilty! Bonds has been found guilty of obstruction of justice, which means (if the verdict stands) that Bonds is now a convicted felon. The jury was hung on three other counts, and in all likelihood Bonds will not serve any prison time, but the damage is already done to his reputation and to his legacy.


Since the verdict was announced I have heard all sorts of wild things on TV and on talk radio here in New York, basically along the lines of the "former home run king" and that Bonds has been humiliated in court. As far as I know, Barry Bonds still retains his Home Run Crown, having hit 762 in his career, surpassing Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and everyone else. Perhaps people do not like this, but the man still has his records and that is a fact.

For a long time people have been talking about asterisks in baseball. They talked about it when Roger Maris passed Babe Ruth's single season home run mark (when Maris had beer as his "substance abuse" and that was legal). Anytime a cherished record is threatened, we hear all the naysayers talking about asterisks, but the truth is the numbers are what they are.

I have never seen a study that proves that steroid use makes you a better hitter, pitcher, or player for that matter. If Bonds didn't have the natural talent, he would be up there with huge biceps taking hacks and missing the ball. His natural talent allowed for him to be a fine hitter; perhaps the steroids made him hit the ball farther, but wouldn't a home run still be a home run whether it just clears the fence or lands in San Francisco Bay?

Either way Barry Bonds is now ruined. He is a convicted felon, and that probably destroys his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame. Guys like Bonds and Pete Rose and Mark McGwire may have done wrong things, but their statistics do not lie: their accomplishments will stand - with or without asterisks - and it is up to future generations to make the call.

Barry Bonds looked more than sad as he left that courtroom yesterday. He looked not like he has been portrayed in the media and in living rooms and bars across this land: he didn't seem pompous but rather as a man defeated. I am sure the obstruction of justice verdict will be challenged by Bonds's lawyers, but it does not matter anymore. In the court of public opinion, Bonds has lost more than all the statistics in the world: he has lost his legacy.

The prosecution did more than win in that courtroom; they took away the man's heart. Bonds is destroyed now, and maybe he only has himself to blame, but no matter what there is a stain that is not just on Bonds but on everyone who looked the other way for too long. If Bonds is guilty, so is baseball and every fan who cheered as he rounded the bases.

Today, we do not say "the king is dead; long live the king," because in truth the kingdom is no more. That is what this verdict does, and it is a sad day for all fans of the game of baseball.

Photo Credit: AP