It hasn’t taken long for certain members of the New York area media to turn on Joe Girardi. We aren’t even out of April, but the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle anti-Girardi faction is out in full force. This band of merry men is led by Mr. Peter Abraham of the Journal-News.

To be fair, Abraham provides a valuable service to Yankee fans through his blog. He is almost always the first to post that night’s lineup. He provides breaking news and tidbits from the clubhouse that literally are not available anywhere else. He works very hard to gather his information and for that Yankee fans should be grateful.

(You can just feel the “but” coming, can’t you? Well, here it is…)

However (ha…tricked ya), Abraham uses his popularity as a platform to discredit the Yanks’ new manager. It seems not a day goes by now without a sarcastic comment or lame attempt at humor at Girardi’s expense. After 12 years of Joe Torre’s gentle, grandfatherly approach to the press, it seems that ol’ Pete is bothered by Girardi’s more guarded approach. Abraham also doesn’t seem to understand that certain matters need to remain in-house and are not for public consumption.

Abraham took it very personally when Girardi did not immediately tell him about Brian Bruney’s injury. Never mind that maybe the Yanks’ needed a few days to assess the damage. But Abraham made it clear that it was Cashman, and not Girardi, who finally told him about the severity of the injury.

To quote Abraham: “Communicated with Brian Cashman, who said that Bruney is out for the season. It’s funny how things work. Girardi has the Yankees do all this running and people rushed to point out how the team was working harder than they did under Joe Torre. Then the season starts and they have a series of lower body injuries, just like they did last year.”

Abraham’s point is clear, if Torre were still manager, Bruney would not have awkwardly turned his ankle while covering first base.

Memo to Pete: No one said the Yanks wouldn’t have injuries this year. Girardi’s hope was that if they are in top shape, the likelihood of an injury would lessen, and they would be more likely to withstand the travails of a grueling season. Is that so hard to understand?

After Ian Kennedy’s performance in Cleveland, reporters asked Girardi whether Kennedy will stay in the rotation. That’s a fair question. But the problem is if certain reporters don’t get an immediate answer, they get angry and seek revenge. Girardi replied with what I consider to be a reasonable response:

“You guys ask me these questions before we have a chance to talk as a group and to my general manager, but I liked what I saw today…. Four out of the five innings, he was very good. You guys are asking me to make decisions without talking to anybody… He’s in our rotation. I don’t mean to get irritated, but we talk as a group, as an organization. We talk about what’s best for all of our pieces, and we’ve been in here two minutes. I’m just saying that he’s in our rotation today.”

Abraham’s response? Here you go: “These days, it’s difficult to tell what to believe.” Again, rather than appreciate that Girardi does not want to make a knee-jerk decision, preferring instead to have a level-headed, objective discussion with the GM, Abraham is insinuating that Girardi is a liar.

Despite the fact that Girardi repeatedly told Kim Jones and other reporters that Joba Chamberlain would have two days off at the beginning of the Cleveland series, Abraham assumed the worst: Behold his statements: “Let’s assume Joba is out (Secret Agent Man Joe Girardi won’t say, of course. The Tribe has spies everywhere).” Here is another: “Joba has a hamstring problem, the result of slipping off the mound in Chicago on Thursday night. He was not available yesterday. Joe Girardi said the injury doe (sic) not impact how he will be used. Whether that is true or not, I have no idea. It has become fairly evident in a short time that Girardi will play loose with the truth about injuries.”

Just as Girardi indicated, Joba sat out the first two games of the series. In the 3rd game, Joba pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning, striking out two. Abraham’s response: “Joba hit 98 in that inning. It would appear that he is OK.”

You can almost taste Peter’s disappointment now that Joba’s okay and it prevents another round of misguided Girardi bashing.

Abraham also has been having one hissy-fit after another about the lack of a set lineup. To quote him: “One telling stat: The Yankees are 1-12 when trailing after six innings. There hasn’t been a whole lot of late-inning energy in his group so far. That’s largely a function of the injuries and the ever-changing lineups.”

Let the last sentence sink in. Never mind that Girardi has had to juggle the lineup this year due to injuries. Never mind that Girardi is trying to get some time for bench players to keep them sharp. Never mind that Girardi realizes that the Yanks have a killer early season schedule that requires them to play 20 games in a row and 33 games in 34 days. Never mind that Girardi wants to keep the bats fresh for the long haul. Never mind that Joe Torre has not had a set lineup in Los Angeles either. The idea that Abraham thinks that there is little energy because the lineups are not always the same is curious at best, and indicative of an agenda at worst.

Once you pick up on Abraham’s anti-Girardi bias, little gems like this don’t go unnoticed:

2008 managerial ejections
Laid-back Joe Torre: 1
Fiery Joe Girardi: 0

That beauty was a slam at Yankee fans who felt Girardi would bring more fire to the team.

Just for the record, Abraham doesn’t spew all his vitriol at Girardi. He also is capable of making tasteless entries like this:
Tonight: LHP Andy Pettitte (3-1, 2.45) vs. RHP Paul Byrd (0-2, 4.43), 7:05, Channel 9. First 25,000 fans get a vial of HGH.

Abraham’s daily jabs at Jason Giambi are also too numerous to chronicle here, but no less annoying.

To sum up, it’s Pete’s sandbox. I understand that. He makes the rules and it’s his blog. But, he seems less like a sportswriter these days and more like an uneasy man with an iniquitous agenda. If you are looking for objective Yankee analysis, I can’t recommend his blog. Unless you can block out the bias (Peter grew up as a Red Sox fan and is constantly littering his blog with New England Patriot references), you may find it too frustrating.

Don’t bother writing to Peter. He will just write you back and tell you how popular he is. He will get defensive and the thing will end awkwardly. Lawyers may be summoned.

Peter is a rock star now. His blog is seemingly getting more hits these days than the Drudge Report. But that’s exactly what makes his anti-Girardi trickery so perilous. It would be a shame to watch him turn a fan base against the new manager without calling him on it.

But I fear that as far as Peter is concerned, the little people who appreciate Joe Girardi can eat cake.