The Yanks and Rays split four games Thursday-Sunday in the Bronx.  Here are five things that defined the series:

  1. Yogi Berra still owns Old Timer's Day.  The Bronx crowd was alive and well on Sunday, cheering Yanks of the past like Goose Gossage, Whitey Ford, Bernie Williams, Don Larsen, Bobby Richardson, Reggie Jackson and more, while welcoming El Duque Hernandez for the first time.  But no one gets the crowd going more than Yogi, as the 10-time World Series champ was wheeled out on the field in a golf cart.  Berra still represents the Yanks and America (World War II veteran) in every great way possible.
  2. Joe Girardi must stop over-managing.  Girardi brought in lefty Boone Logan to face a lefty, James Loney, in the 7th inning of game four instead of leaving reliever Shawn Kelley in the ballgame.  What happened next was a two-out RBI single by Loney and was the difference in the game as Tampa Bay won 3-1.  Girardi should have just trusted his young reliever to get out of a jam and learn how to do so.  Girardi does this stuff all the time.  It always has to be lefty-lefty or righty-righty.  He needs to start trying to trust his young bullpen for a change.  They might be better than he thinks.
  3. The Yankee offense is simply anemic.  17 runs in four games, yes, but the Yanks got lucky in game three with shoddy Rays defense.  The team still struggled with men on base time and time again and needs more righthanded pop from the right side.
  4. Will Myers is darn good.  Tampa Bay had no problem trading two frontline pitchers in Wade Davis and James Shields during the off-season because it knew what was coming in the deal and there were arms in-waiting.  Myers was the big piece from Kansas City and the phenom hit a grand slam in the Rays' 7-5 loss to the Yanks in game three and marveled all weekend.
  5. Enough is enough with Andy Pettitte.  Pettitte lost game one of the series by giving up five earned runs and two home runs to Rays superstar Evan Longoria.  His command and control were off, his fastball was terrible and he constantly nibbled at batters.  The Yanks need to end this Andy Pettitte thing after this season once and for all.

By:  Mike Lindsley, "Mid-Day with Mike," 1-4, Yankees pre/post game on 104.5 The Team ESPN Radio.  Follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/MikeLSports.

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