No defense for it

Shelley Duncan is young and upcoming, and his grit and intensity are already earning him a reputation as a hard-nosed, I-got-your-back kind of player and teammate. What someone better tell him -- some veteran like, oh, say, the team captain -- is that a very fine line exists between being a standup guy and being a goon. The first gets and deserves all the respect in the world; the second, rightfully, is scorned and ridiculed.

Duncan crossed that fine line Wedneday afternoon. There's just no excuse for sliding in with your spikes waist-high to the defender. Just no excuse. And Duncan's silly explanation that he was "sliding toward the glove" would only be true if Iwamura were wearing a condom under his cup. Duncan needs to grow up, and fast, and he's in the perfect place for it. This Yankee roster is full of guys who have played the right way for years. It's time for one of them -- Mr. Jeter, you're on deck -- to pull this kid aside and teach him something before he ruins a potentially good, and respect-worthy, career before it ever gets started.

Every Yankee fan is all for sticking up for the pinstripes -- who hasn't wished that our pitchers were a little more aggressive in defense of our batters, particularly against Francona's Red Sox the last four years? But integrity is about more than just settling scores -- if it's even about that at all. Integrity is about staying on the right side of the line, and Duncan didn't do that against the Rays.

Shame on Shelley.

But also, shame on Joe Girardi.

I know the mass of Yankee fans are walking around with swelled chests and inflated senses of pride now that we have a field general who is apparently intent on exorcising the gentle ghost of Joe Torre as quickly as he can, but hold on a minute, pardner. This "new sherriff in town" posture poses a risk, and that risk is that the glory of the Yankees may be re-kindled, but at the expense of Yankee class.

Whatever fans of other teams may think of the Yankees and their supporters, the Yankees are -- whether those other fans like it or not -- the class club of Major League baseball. If MLB had a flagship franchise, it would be the Yankees and there wouldn't even be a runner-up in the race. With that honor comes not only the slings and arrows of outrageous envy, but also the responsibility to play baseball in such a way that defies criticism. People who hate the Yankees can rip the front office for how it builds its teams, but -- at least in the Joe Torre era -- those people couldn't rip the Yankee players for how they competed and how they carried themselves on the field. That aura of class and respectability seems to be seeping away. (I admit that is a rather alarmist and reactionary position, but the Cerevelli-Johnson discussion has gone on for too long, and now the Duncan incident is going to keep last Saturday's game in the spotlight just that much longer. A disturbing trend is beginning to develop here.)

As much as any Yankee fan, I watched Red Sox pitchers plunk Yankee batters over the recent years and I cringed when Pettitte or Mussina refused to follow suit. I secretly believed that Joba Chambelain's two fastballs over the head of Kevin Youkalis last September were intentional (although I'm sure they weren't..... pretty sure). I've longed for a tougher, grittier Yankee team. But watching Duncan yesterday didn't make me feel gritty; it made me feel dirty.

I hope Girardi can calm himself down and let the players play. Playing with quiet humility, class, and dignity isn't Joe Torre Baseball; it's Yankee Baseball. Let's all hope Girardi figures that out soon.