Torre setting modest goals...

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http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...=.jsp&c_id=nyy
by Tom Singer, MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Looking out from the deepest hole in which he has been as manager of the Yankees, Joe Torre said Saturday morning that he was dismayed to see his team's fire doused earlier this month.
"I was disappointed after the [April 15-17] sweep in Baltimore. We let the games get away from us. We didn't fight," Torre said.

"There was too much frustration. Too much, 'We can't do this.' Just the body language. You find yourself crying to the umpires ... just doing a lot of things you have no control over. And if you're trying to find reasons why things aren't going right, you're looking in the wrong place."

Torre's message, delievered in his usual benign way, was clear: Look in the mirror.

The Yankees took a 9-14 record into Saturday afternoon's game at Yankee Stadium. It marked only the second time that Torre's Bombers found themselves five games south of .500, but never this deep into a season. The Yankees were 5-10 on April 17, 1997.

They have never been six under in Torre's tenure, which began in 1996 and has generally featured fast starts. This month snapped a string of 13 consecutive winning Aprils.

"Right now, my goal is .500," Torre said. "As a Yankees manager, that's not a very lofty goal. But that's the first stop. We can't worry about where we are; our goal is to get ourselves straightened out."

Baseball results do not always reflect baseball performance -- or desire. Thus, Torre had seen more verve from his guys the previous two nights, even as they were scoring only one run in losses to the Angels and Blue Jays.

"The last couple of days, we've been all right. We clawed, scratched, bit back," Torre said.

Everything but win -- Jarrod Washburn, then Roy Halladay, took care of that. The Yankees do not expect too many back-to-back losses when their own pitchers allow only five total runs.

"Right now, it's the hitting," the manager said of the woe du jour. "We have not been able to generate anything on a consistent basis.

"But as far as what the expectations are, they haven't changed. They're expected to win, and expect it of themselves. They don't quit believing; it's still the first month of the season."

As for complacency overcoming a team that gets a lot of notoriety for its MLB-record payroll -- not a prayer, said Torre.

"I don't get the feeling anybody's in that clubhouse saying, 'Well, I get paid either way. I don't have to worry about this.' That stuff we have no patience for at all," Torre said. "I don't think other guys in the clubhouse would let it happen, anyway."

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Most Yankee managers could not get away with simple goals like reaching .500 but Joe has a bit of a track record to keep the Boss at bay.

I just find it sad that we are 6.5 games out and 4 games under .500 starting May 1st. It is not a big task to turn it around but I am big believer in giving other teams confidence that they should not have. We see it all the time in sports players or teams winning when they should not.