Watching the Plight of Joe Torre From Afar

I'll leave the Yankees and Indians blogging to SB Nation brohams Pinstripe Alley and Let's Go Tribe, but thanks to Ol' Reliable, George Steinbrenner, tonight's Game 4 has an extra cloud of tension hanging over it that's going to compel me to watch.  Could this be Joe Torre's last game as manager of the vaunted New York Yankees?

Kurt reminded me in a conversation we had last night that the same sort of smoke followed Torre as the Yanks were being eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in last year's playoffs.  But to me, that seemed like a worse situation because of all the wacky maneuvers Torre was resorting to in that series, like moving Gary Sheffield to first base and batting Alex Rodriguez eighth in the lineup.  However (and maybe this is because I was in Hawaii at the time), I don't recall The Hammer of George looming over Torre's head in quite the same way.  At least it wasn't verbalized as it had been before yesterday's Game 3.

Yowza.  You can feel the heat under Torre's ass from here.  But it's kind of fun to watch from a distance, the type of stuff that makes Oliver Platt portray Steinbrenner as a total buffoon.  Criticizing Torre seems asinine after keeping a team that was 12 1/2 games out of first on Memorial Day together enough to rally for a playoff spot.  Not to mention working mixing young players into a solidly veteran lineup while trying to win games, which might be one of the most difficult propositions in sports.  Of course, Yankees fans would probably tell us that the expectations are a little bit different for their team.

Meanwhile, Peter Abraham is ripping Derek Jeter at the LoHud Yankees blog - not just for failing to stick up for his manager (seriously - how many times have they had to answer such questions about Steinbrenner?), but for going 1-for-12 in the series thus far.  Is it any wonder Eric Wedge has the confidence to start Paul Byrd (0-3, 6.86 ERA vs. the Yanks) tonight?  No matter what he does, it's a warm blanket compared to the fire Torre's feeling from his owner.

Kinda, sorta an Open Thread for Game 4, if you so choose.  Does another AL Central powerhouse tag the Yankees with a second straight first-round playoff loss?  Is Joe Torre a dead skipper managing?  Do you really have a rooting interest in either team?