Even Joe knows the end is near

Mark down September 5 as the day that Joe Girardi stopped believing. No, the always optimistic Yankees manager didn’t concede the season or declare his team out of the wild card race, but after listening to Girardi speak to us since February, I sensed a different tone in his voice after his team was nearly no-hit by Mariners youngster Brandon Morrow. Sweeny Murti of WFAN asked Girardi whether the confidence that the team can come back to claim a playoff spot starts to dissolve with each passing day. Here was Girardi’s response: “No. If you play this game long enough and have been around the game, you have to have confidence every day. You go through little things all the time. You might be in an 0-for-20 slump, but you don’t quit and go home. You just don’t do it. You come prepared every day and do what you can do.” Girardi’s voice didn’t have the optimism it typically does, and nowhere in that quote does he say anything about the team and its ability to bounce back. I think he knows at ... (link)