By the book doesn't always make sense.

Brett Gardner has been arguably the best player on the Yankees recently. His slow start maybe tainting Joe Girardi's baseball intelligence or Joe maybe doing what he always does which is strictly play by the book. In many ways this is the antithesis of what former manager Joe Torre did. Torre's lore came from his "going with his gut" moves in the late 90's and early 2000's which cemented him not only in rich history of the New York Yankees but in baseball in general. It also was his undoing. Torre would constantly play his gut and played favorites. This can be best illustrated with his over usage of bullpen arms like Paul Quantrill, Steve Karsay and the list goes on. Joe Girardi is a very "by the book" manager. Lefty vs. lefty matchups, playing the percentages, this has been the calling card of the Joe Girardi era. It may, just like Joe Torre, be his undoing.

Going back to where i started, Gardner has been on fire lately. Not only that he's been able to hit lefties the whole year. He has a .385 OBP vs. LHP this year. He's never had a problem with lefties in his career. Why does Joe continue to go to Andruw Jones when a lefty is starting against the Yankees? Simple, he's looking at the book instead of what he sees on the field.

Gardner's pro's far outweigh his cons. Andruw Jones is a below average fielder, well below average hitter, and not very good on the base paths either. Gardner is a superb fielder, very good hitter, and while his base running has declined this year he's always a threat on the bases. With Derek Jeter on the DL I expected to see Brett lead-off every game in place of Jeter, instead I've seen Nick fucking Swisher do the majority of that.

Swisher while being my least favorite Yankee has been playing better as of late and has been hitting for power, put him in the 6 or 7 spot and have Gardner lead off EVERY GAME. Why is this so complicated?

I remember something similar to this last year. Joe kept starting Juan Miranda to "keep his bat hot" then two weeks later he was sent down to AAA. Andruw Jones isn't a crucial part to this team. KEEP HIM ON THE BENCH. Jones isn't going to be starting in the playoffs so let him learn to be a bat off the bench


If Girardi doesn't open his eyes and stop trying to play by the book or even worse "keep Jones' bat hot" he may find the same fate that Joe Torre found.