2008 New York Yankees: What Went Wrong?

Looking back at the Yankees 2008 season, one can't help but sigh in defeat. The season isn't even over yet, but it sure seems to be. This was supposed to be the year. The year the Yankees won their 27th World Series title. The year when A-Rod finally got his first ring. The good-bye year of Yankee Stadium, where magic happened and the ghosts always showed up someway, somehow.

It doesn't really feel like that year.

There are multiple factors that contributed to the fall of the Yankees: a practically brand new coaching staff, under-performing players, and a team plagued by injury after injury. But one of the main things missing was the spark. The Yankees seemed to have lost all enthusiasm towards the second half. It seemed as though things were going great with a winning streak after the All-Star break, and then suddenly, everything fell apart.

In the beginning of the year, however, there were signs that this season would not go as hoped. Two of the top Yankee pitching prospects, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, started the year off roughly; the two combined to sport an 0-6 record with an 8.67 ERA.

The fans witnessed injury after injury, each one a significant blow. Brian Bruney was sidelined with a foot injury at the beginning of the year and spent his time on the 60-day DL. They lost Andy Pettitte (back spasms) for 15 days. Jorge was getting weaker by the day, and a trip to the DL was inevitable. On June 15, the club lost their ace; Chien-Ming Wang was placed on the disabled list two days after the infamous base-running incident in Houston. Then, a sore knee sidelined outfielder Hideki Matsui, who has been dealing with knee problems since his days in Japan. A strained shoulder sent Johnny Damon to the DL when he couldn't come up with the ball after leaping at the left field wall. Then, as if matters couldn't get any worse, the Yankees lost two more pitchers in Joba Chamberlain and Dan Giese. But when you add up every single one of these injuries and when they occurred, it still doesn't provide a good enough excuse as to why the Yankees failed so miserably this season. Hank can say whatever he wants, but in reality it was more than just injuries. Earlier in the season, he said, "If we don't make it this year, I'm not going to explode...Injuries are a part of the game, and in 35 years since we've owned the Yankees, I've never seen a rash of injuries like this" (NY Daily News).

It wasn't just a cluster of DL trips that sent the Yankees into a downward spiral. No, the trickle of failure had to start somewhere: the coaching staff. There is no doubt that manager Joe Girardi could've had a lot more wins under his belt if he had just done his job more easily. Instead, he wound up over-managing and ended up losing many close games that could've been won with a simple bunt.

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