There’s nothing like going to the office and being blindsided by the news that you have been demoted.
Doesn’t matter what the job is or the nature of the profession, whether it’s public or private. Transitions often hurt.
The Yankees’ Jorge Posada walked into Yankee Stadium on Saturday to find that he had been demoted. He learned that he had been moved to ninth in the batting order.
This could not have come as a surprise to someone hitting .165 But it is another matter to be hit cold with being bumped.
After all the hits and heroics, all the good deeds and game-winning hits and homers, all the championships won — after all of that, forces far greater than you decide that your time is done. For the athlete, the force is nature, and the manager and general manager wind up confirming what nature has wrought.
Posada told reporters before the game that he understood why he was being dropped down: he’s not hitting.
But pride is pride. At some point after that meeting with reporters, Posada — a Yankee for all of his career, a face of toughness and valor — marched into Manager Joe Girardi’s office and said he couldn’t play on Saturday. Couldn’t play against an arch rival that had already beaten the Yankees once in this three-game series.
After the game, Posada said the reason for pulling out was that his back was tight and that he needed to clear his head.
But when he spoke with Girardi, he made no mention of an injury or of feeling disrespected. “I took it that he needed a day off mentally,” Girardi said.
“The conversation was really short,” Girardi added. “Jorge came into my office and said that he needed a day, he couldn’t D.H. today. That was the extent of the conversation.”
There was confusion about what really happened. General Manager Brian Cashman said during a national television interview that Posada’s sitting out was not injury-related. Cashman’s version was that after being dropped to the No. 9 spot, the struggling Posada went into Girardi’s office and asked out of the lineup.
Cashman would not elaborate on the nature of the discussion, or what it could mean to the team in the long term.
Posada reportedly felt disrespected about being bumped to the ninth spot. He then told Girardi he couldn’t play at that point in the order.
Cashman apparently tried to talk Posada into playing, but Posada declined.
Asked if he considered Posada’s actions insubordination, Girardi demurred.
“I’m not going to talk abut this much,” he said. “This is a situation obviously that we will take care of.”
After the game — the Yankees’ fourth straight loss — Posada was visibly disturbed that Cashman had gone public without speaking with him first.
The reality is that this moment — in fact, possibly the entire Yankees season — is about metamorphosis and transition, about a team that has gotten a lot of miles out of a core of aging stars. Now it’s time to begin the painful season of transition.
Posada recoiled when someone asked point blank if he was he considering retirement. Now. He repeated his refrain that his back was tight and that he needed time to clear his head.
The Yankees have the option of docking Posada’s pay; there is no indication he is going to retire. How will Cashman handle this? And what was Girardi thinking when he unceremoniously demoted Posada.
Still, when you look up and your average is below .200, it hurts.
Posada is struggling, and the Yankees are struggling.
“It’s hard, it’s hard when you get older in this game,” Girardi said. “And when you’re struggling and you’re older, people start to question can you do it anymore, that’s hard for a player to hear.”
Girardi was philosophical after the game. “Players go through difficult times,” he said. “Sometimes we need days to clear our head, just to take a deep breath. I’ve been there.
“This season has been a struggle for Jorge and he’s tried to fight through it.”
Or, perhaps, an aging veteran was simply fighting back.
