Tale of the Two Joes

"Sooner or later, no matter how smart you are, baseball plays everyone for a fool," remarked an old hand at the game.

He could have been talking about the Steinbrenner clan that owns and runs the New York Yankees. Putting the screws to Joe Torre to win a World Championship or to take a cut in pay, Joe T. traded a sour apple for a sweet orange, accepting a longer and arguably much better contract with the Dodgers.

The Yanks promoted Joe Girardi, a fine former catcher and a gritty leader. Did I mention Girardi's about a couple of decades younger than the other Joe? But you knew that.

So did the Steinbrenners, who thought they had brought youth, vigor, and a certain championship to the Bronx. Now, it's August, and the pin-stripers are in third in their division and very wobbly. Whispers are deafening that the Yanks might miss out on tying a record 14th consecutive visit to the post-season.

That discard, the 70-something veteran who was consigned to baseball's worst division, that Joe-how's he doing?

Torre's team is torrid right now--tied for first place with the Diamondbacks. With the addition of Manny Ramirez's bat and electricity, the Blue Crew is coming on strong.

Both Joes have had to manage through adversity, including multiple player injuries.

They're effective, but you have to wonder if Torre's steady hand, his ability to keep an odd coupling of youngsters and oldsters in contention until Ramirez' arrival, will have been the decisive factor when the post-season begins.

You heard of the "Curse of the Bambino," that winning drought that Boston brought upon itself after trading Babe Ruth to the Yanks.

As I've said before, we might be witnessing more than a Tale of Two Joes.

It could be the first year New York suffers The Curse of the Torreno.