OHHHH – HOW YAH DOING, HAL ?
Friday, September 18, 2026
Schadenfreude Week, Day Three! Mets Retire the Number of a Player Most Famous for Taking a Called Third Strike.
This was the bottom of the ninth, Game 7—the same game that had already seen Endy Chavez's amazing catch, in Shea Stadium. Mets loaded the bases with two outs and Beltran, their best hitter at the plate against rookie relief pitcher, Loudon Adam Wainwright, who had all of three saves in his career, and looked as shaky as a Trump lawyer out there.
Beltran let the first pitch go by for a strike, swung and missed at the second, then stood as still as the Statue of Liberty for strike three.
The Mets are retiring his number.
Oh, Mets.
To be sure, Carlos Beltran had some terrific years with the Mets.
And hey, added bonus: Beltran also played a key role in another piece of fraudulent Metsian lore. When Johan Santana pitched the team's one and only, single-pitcher no-hitter, back in 2012, Beltran, then with the Cardinals, in fact hit a double down the line. One that kicked up chalk.
In those pre-replay days, it was allowed to stand.
But I metsgress.
It's all but impossible to imagine the Yanks retiring the number of somebody whose biggest moment was taking a called third strike. Right down the middle. With the bases loaded. With two out. In the bottom of the ninth inning. To decide the seventh game of a league championship series.
But then, a lot of the Mets' retired numbers are, well, just plain weird. In part, this is due to the fact that the team just started play...64 years ago. In part, it's because...Mets.
Consider:
David Wright (#5)—Perfectly admirable player and captain. Made one World Series—in which he allowed Royals to score tying run in 9th inning of clinching game by reading the play wrong, and cutting in front of his shortstop to field a groundball.
Gil Hodges (#14)—Managed Mets to miracle World Series win, but played only 65 games for the team, after Hall-of-Fame career in Brooklyn.
Dwight Gooden (#16)—Great pitcher in his prime, and a tragic story. Won 1 World Series with the Mets—and 2 with the Yankees.
Keith Hernandez (#17)—Captain, star, beloved announcer and Seinfeld guest. Won MVP...with the Cardinals.
Darryl Strawberry (#18)—Great hitter in his prime, and a tragic/triumphant story. Won 1 World Series with the Mets—and 4 with the Yankees.
Willie Mays (#24)—A god—with the Giants. Nice send off from the Mets, but he had little left.
Mike Piazza (#31)—Juicer. Never won a World Series with anybody.
Casey Stengel (#37)—Excellent ballplayer with Dodgers and Giants, greatest manager ever with the Yankees. Amusing ornament with Mets.
Talk about your reflected glory. Fun fact: Of all the Mets' retired player/manager numbers, only Tom Seaver (#41) and Jerry Koosman (#36) won more World Series with the Mets than they did with another team.
The Mets are not only retiring Beltran's number this weekend, they have also produced a documentary tribute to the man, one they play repeatedly on SNY.
In the doc, Beltran comes off as the Edith Piaf of baseball, saying repeatedly how he regrets nothing.
Not the called third strike.
Not his deep involvement in the Houston Astros cheating scandal that cost him a chance to become the Mets' manager.
(Has any other team ever retired the number of a player who was kept from becoming their manager because of a cheating scandal?)
He did clear up one thing for me, though, which was that he did not come to the Yankees as a free agent in 2005, because he had the deepest respect for Bernie Williams, and did not want to push him out of centerfield. While this sounds like just another Beltran excuse, it is confirmed by Bernie himself, in the same documentary.
Don't get me wrong. I love Bernie Williams with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. But Bernie was already in decline—and already being pushed out the door by Cashman.
Geez Louise, Bern, you couldn't have said to Beltran, 'Great, man! Come play center, and I'll move over to left.'?
No?
Everybody sing now:
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien..
Across the Yankiverse, there are several "Aarons" and multiple "Bobby's," but there will only be one Oswaldo.
Over five years, Oswaldo - a rare Yankee bencher to achieve first-name status - played every defensive position but catcher. In his career, he batted .232 with 20 HRs, but his beacon smile long ago won over MLB's toughest crowd.
To the Yankee scouting machinery, he never recovered from last year's gruesome broken ankle, the result of a hard slide at home in the 9th inning of a tie-game. While teammates winced, Oswaldo asked if was called safe? (He was, and he beamed, while being carted off.)
And now he's gone, like so many others whose time with the Yankees began with unlimited hope and ended with empty questions of what could have been. We all know their names. Clint Frazier. Estevan Florial. Slade Heathcott... The list goes on, and it's painful.
They arrived with the gleeful promise of youth. They left, still in their 20s, desperately seeking to salvage their dreams. Even now, seeing their names, I wish for them the best. Is Clint still doing the podcast? Is Estevan in Japan. Is Slade flying planes? There was a time when, in need of something - anything - hopeful, I foresaw them hitting 30 HRs or winning a batting title. Their grand futures would lift me from the pit.
But Oswaldo was special. No matter what happened, he never seemed to lose hope. Before the broken ankle, he seemed on course to take over 3B. After the injury, they traded for Ryan McMahon, ending Oswaldo's path. But his smile never wilted, even when the Yankees sent him to Scranton for what would become nearly the entire 2026 season. (He played three games with Yankees this year, going 0-9.)
I don't think Oswaldo is done. He's had a good year in Scranton - 19 HRs, .288. Hopefully, he will hook up with a team that is not Boston, Tampa, Toronto or the Mets. Others have salvaged their careers. Oswald Peraza. Thairo Estrada. Miguel Andujar. It ain't over 'till it's over.
Considering the wave of prospects who came and went, it's worth asking why Oswaldo became so popular. He even teamed with J.C. Escarra for a hokey car insurance commercial. Why would such a company invest in such minor players? I think it's simple. It was the honest smile. Oswaldo was the kid who wakes up Christmas morning, finds shit under the tree and yells, "There must be a pony."
This week, the Mets suffered an iconic embarrassment, when their home crowd wildly cheered a home run by Pete Alonso, their former slugger.
I can imagine Yankee fans doing the same with Oswaldo, maybe next year. If he comes up, if he smiles to the crowd - well - who would root against him?
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Schadenfreude Week, Day Two! "A billion dollars worth of Mets out there and none of them could pick it up."
One could, of course, say something similar to Caustic Kev. You know, maybe along the lines of:
"$15.7 million and you couldn't get past the second inning in two starts against Boston in the 2004 ALCS."
Or:
"$15.7 million and you couldn't win a playoff game where the Yanks scored 19 runs."
Or:
"$15.7 million and you couldn't keep yourself from slamming your hand into a wall."
No, I'm still not over it.
The Mets, of course, are just phoning in at the end of yet another, weirdly lost season. The Billion-Dollar Bumble completed a three-game sweep at the hands of the Orioles in which they were thoroughly punked. But it didn't really mean much.
The bigger questions involve the three featured stars.
Francesco Lindor has been a good shortstop and given the Mets four good-to-excellent years at the plate (out of 6). He has been injured and bad this year, though. At almost 33, he looks to be in decline—and has 5 years left on his contract. (More on that, later in Schadenfreude Week.)
Still would've been better than Volpe, though.
Bo Bichette, who is 28, got off to an awful start. He's been better in the second half, but still a poor season. (He can opt out after this season, but as he's due to make $42 M in 2027 AND 2028, he won't. More on that, later in Schadenfreude Week.)
Which leaves Juan Soto.
I know that many of you are now breathing a sigh of relief over the fact that we did NOT re-sign Soto.
He is an erratic fielder, to be sure, and he has missed a bunch of games with injuries this year. Jane Leavy, who also knows a lot about baseball, wrote in Make Me Commissioner! that she was shocked to see that much money go to a guy she expects to be a DH in a few years.
And it is a lot of money—a helluva lot of money, even by the standards of professional sports these days. At least $661 mill and maybe more still owed on his contract, over the next 13 seasons. That's a crazy commitment.
Buuuutt...
I still think the Yanks were fools to let him go.
The Yankees have plenty of guys who get injured all the time, play an erratic game in the field, and are owed too much money. (And Steve Cohen can afford it. So can ol' Food Stamps.)
Just as Aaron Judge isn't the problem with the Yankees, Juan Soto isn't the problem with the Mets.
We didn't hear much about it because the team was so lousy, but in 2025 Soto finished 3rd in the NL MVP voting, and nearly had a 40-40 season (a real one, Jazz), with 43 HRs, and a league-leading 38 stolen bases.
This year, he's only played in 101 games, but he still has 25 homers and a .907 OPS.
Think we couldn't use that? From a lefty, in the Stadium?
Erratic as he is in the field, Soto's led the league in putouts for a corner outfielder 5 times in his career, and has repeatedly been in the top 10 for assists. He has 104 stolen bases in just 134 attempts.
And yes, he IS a generational hitter.
Lifetime .945 OPS. He is an on-base machine, with a .415 OBP that is currently tops among all active players. He already has 386 home runs.
His command of the strike zone is unmatched. You can see how uneasy umps are about calling a strike when he doesn't swing.
Also—and this is not to be underrated on the current, semi-engaged Yankees—he's locked in on every at-bat, every time, even in all the useless games the Mets play.
His clutchness sparkles in October. He is a terrific postseason player, with 11 homers in 43 games, and a .927 OPS. In two World Series, he has 4 homers, a .326 BA, and a 1.147 OPS.
Cashman, in a true small-franchise move, gave up four young pitchers and Higgy to get him for just one year, hoping the Yanks could win it all, and we would wave him a fond farewell in our ecstasy.
Hey, it almost worked. But it was fraud, of course—and the Yanks should've done everything they could to keep this lefty juggernaut hitting before or after Judge for the last few, productive years of his career. Then he should see about getting another righty slugger, because Juan Soto—still jus 27—will be around for a loooong time.
Instead, we'll no doubt get the next Caustic Kev. Whoopee.
By the time we get to Phoenix, they'll be rising. They'll find the note left hanging on their door. They'll laugh when they read the part that says we're leaving, cause we left that team so many times before.
It happened in the 6th, when Aaron Judge didn't come to bat with two runners on base. Judge had fanned in his previous two at-bats, but nobody cared. He's Aaron Fukkin Judge, and this was Minneapolis, the Yankees' City of Perpetual Rebirth. Judge had homered the night before, and surely, another was coming.
Then, instead of Judge - whose statistical doppelgangers include Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner and Willie McCovey - out popped Heliot Ramos, he of 55 career HRs, a recurring mathematical incarnation of Darryl Motley. You remember the Mot-Man, right? In essence, that's who we have to replace Judge.
"Very concerning," said Girardi the prophet. "Very much concerning. "
At that point, everybody in the world - except maybe MBS, the Saudi crown prince, who has other worries, such as the sound of approaching machine guns - collectively feared that Judge's recently fractured rib had begun to bark. If so, 2026 was probably lost.
With Judge hitting, the Yankee lineup only blinks with Austin Wells and Ryan McMahon.
Without him, they're the 1983 Runner-Up Royals, home to Motley, Don Slaught and Buddy Banancalana. They are a team a few games above .500 in a league where mediocrity makes the postseason. It's a terrifying difference.
The Yankees don't play today. (Thank you, scheduling gods.) They'll fly to Arizona, where the D-Backs - 7 games above .500 - probably won't reach the NL postseason. Judge's problem - if the Yankees can be believed - is right leg "tightness." If it's a muscle issue, the Sonoran Desert could be a good fit. The entire city of Phoenix is a sauna - weekend highs at 98, overnight lows in the upper-70s - a far cry from wool-socks-and-Carhartts Minnesota.
Suddenly, the AL East race looks like a joke. Let's stop kidding ourselves: The Yankees won't sweep Tampa. They're more likely to get swept. And Boston has accepted its three-game blood match, which will pit Cam Schlitter against Garret Crochet. In that game, every run will contain the consequences of a point in soccer. Two runs will make a game feel out of reach.
So, we can watch Friday night knowing that nothing matters, aside from the heat pad on Judge's leg. Today, that's the state of the Yankees. Very concerning, says the prophet. Where's Glenn Campbell?
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Schadenfreude Week Is Here! Day One: A Tale of Two Sluggers.
Yes, folks, it's that wonderful time in mid-September, with days and nights full of heady good weather, when we can shake off yet another lethargic, Yankees summer and dream of Octobers past. The Yanks have once again clinched a playoff spot and a winning record, and we can all wonder if maybe Brian Cashman isn't right after all that the postseason is just a crapshoot ("I, uh, didn't say that.") and we will win the whole World Series.
We won't. But at least, as our Peerless Leader points out, we can all thank the Good Lord that we weren't made Mets fans.
This week has been pure torture for our Metsian brethren (say that ten times fast), beginning with a Monday night game when, once the Polar Bear took his last swipe at a 300th home run, the fans started streaming for the exits—in a game tied 1-1 in the 8th.
Last night, when Alonso got that 300th dinger, erasing a one-run Mets lead in the ninth against Kodai Senga, a failed starter who the Queens team is hoping to turn into their closer, Pete got a standing ovation and a curtain call—the only time I've seen anything like that since I was at the Stadium in 1982, when a returning Reggie Jackson belted a home run off no less than Ron Guidry.
(Even Guidry later admitted that he was quietly applauding in his glove.)
The Mets went on to lose the game, remarkably, with two out in the 11th inning when A.J. Ewing, actually a terrific young outfielder, turned the wrong way and hit the centerfield wall, allowing one Coby Mayo (a lifetime .215 hitter), to belt the rarely seen, inside-the-park, standing three-run homer.
Oh, Mets.
Afterwards, the estimable crew on SNY's Sportsnite was divided over whether or not Mets fans should have given the Polar Bear his standing O. Sean Manaea, the Mets' starting pitcher on the night, seemed a little stunned afterwards, wondering—very cautiously—why it was the fans would do such a thing.
With all due respect to Sean Manaea, who lasted all of 5 1/3 innings last night, and is a 34-year-old, journeyman 84-73, 4.15 starting pitcher who has nonetheless accumulated nearly $100 million in that mediocre career, and who is actually making more than Alonso this season ($25 million to $21 million)—okay, I admit it, there's not a speck of respect for Manaea in here—this ain't State v. Tech.
Okay, college sports are now so professionalized that that's not a good analogy. This is not high school, it's not Little League. We're not root-root-rooting for the home team.
And what Mets fans did was actually a good thing: a proof that, contrary to Jerry Seinfeld's maxim, it's not just "rooting for the laundry."
It seems like a moment ago that Pete Alonso broke Aaron Judge's record for home runs as a rookie, 53-52. Alonso was actually a year younger than Judge when he broke in, and for a while there was lots of speculation as to whether Alonso would be the greater star.
Well, that proved not to be the case. Alonso is not the all-around hitter or even the slugger that Judge is. He has never cleared a .900 OPS in a single season, much less his career. He does not steal bases, as Judge can and does, and he is a mediocre first baseman, where Judge is an outstanding outfielder.
He strikes out less than Judge does—but also walks much less. He is much less injury-prone—despite getting hit a Mets-record 100 times with a pitch in his career—frequently playing every game on the schedule, but has not come close to winning a single MVP, as opposed to the three Judge won (and the four he deserved to win, you little cheating SOB, Altuve).
Alonso will also be 32 this December, and despite the excellent year he is having for the Orioles, it was not beyond the bounds of reason for Mets GM David Stearns—more on him, later in Schadenfreude Week—to not want to be stuck with a huge contract for Pete's declining years.
The really dick Cashman move by Stearns was letting the Polar Bear lope away, rather than getting something, anything in return. The result has been another, dismal Mets team that has not come close to replacing Alonso in the lineup, or even at first.
Yet who is the greater fool here? When Stearns was trying desperately to let Alonso walk the year before, the Yanks refused to take a one-year gamble on him—even though Steve Cohen had just stolen away Juan Soto (more on him, too, coming up in Schadenfreude Week).
Think Alonso, with his NL-leading 41 doubles, 38 homers, and 126 ribbies in 2025 just maybe would've got the Yanks to the Series again? Does a polar bear, uh, gambol on the Arctic ice?
News Item: Giancarlo Stanton may return as late-inning pinch-hitter for postseason.
Giancarlo Stanton could return to Yankees this season
—Meta, AI, and our other, electronic overlords
Reportedly, Giancarlo Stanton—who injured his left calf while taking a jog to rehabilitate his a right calf injury that kept him out of the lineup for four months—is "doing some hitting."
Speculation has arisen that Stanton could make a gutsy comeback in the mode of Yankees star Aaron Judge, and return to the Yanks as a "late-inning pinch-hitter" in the postseason.
We here at "It is high..." will keep you informed of all new developments in this fast-breaking story.
As the season winds down, can the Yankees achieve recursive self-improvement? Ten existential questions about the 2026 team.
1. Is Anthony Volpe the new go-to IF backup? Can he beat-out Cabby, whose HR the other night belied a long, grinding slump?
2. Is Spencer Jones our postseason CF? Grish could return around Oct. 1, but he wasn't hitting or covering much ground before the hammy screamed. Is Jones the new Bernie? (Who should be in the Hall.)
3. Is Max Fried the new No. 2 starter? (Schlitter is the ace.) Gerrit Cole cannot seem to avoid HRs. Did Fried's outing last night push him up a notch? Or was it just Minnesota?
4. Is Carlos Rodon the new No. 3? (He pitches this afternoon.)
5. Does Giancarlo get a final shot at 2026? (This sounds ridiculous, but it is apparently for real.) In a three-game series, you shouldn't need 15 pitchers. You can make room for a base-stealer - (Duke Eliis in Scranton, 55 SBs?) - and maybe even a famous pinch-hitter. Stanton?
6. Is Clarke Schmidt our new bridge to Bednar? (Sorry, Brent.)
7. Is Ryan Weathers our new situational lefty? (Sorry, Tim.)
8. Is 3B a platoon of Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario? (Can Rosario field the position?)
9. Can Jazz Chisholm return? (And does he sit against lefties?)
10. Knicks in five?
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Yanks clinch a meager prize, the postseason. But let's give credit to a NY team that is not the Mets.
That's baseball, Suzyn. For six tortuous months, you crash walls and snap hamstrings like bungee cords, and then everything boils down to three games - maybe two - in a gathering darkness, which the Dodgers will rule, anyway.
With the AL's second-best record, to fall in the wild card round would make 2026 a colossal Yankee disappointment. But today, as the Yankees nurse their hangovers, let us give thanks for a franchise that, all things considered, is not the Mets.
Ten takeaways:
1. Instead of Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, the Yankees are led by Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. End of discussion.
2. You could tease the stats for 2026 and argue that Lindor and Soto had superior seasons, but in terms of leadership, there's no comparison.
3. Soto might someday grow into the role of a de facto captain. He's 27 and will probably hit his way into Cooperstown. But he shall never escape the burden of being baseball's highest-paid player. That's not nuthing.
4. With a lockout coming this winter, and the entire 2027 season in jeopardy, Soto's name will become shorthand for "overpaid." And depending on how the lockout ends, Soto might wear that "highest paid" albatross for the rest of his career.
5. The huge reception Pete Alonzo received at Citifield - Mets fans deliriously chanted his name - shows the hunger for team loyalty beyond the bottom dollar. I wonder if Steve Cohen heard.
6. Who can explain the Yankee mastery of Minnesota? But last night, you felt it all game, even when the middle innings looked like a vintage Yankee loss. (I.E. no hitting.) Somehow, you knew their bullpen would crumble.
7. Great to see Aaron Judge finally hit that HR, signifying his return. He has 18. He needs at least 20 - pulling ahead of Jazz Chisholm (19), Paul Goldschmidt (18) and Trent Grisham (18). Of course, Ben Rice has 38. (Tied for 3rd in AL.)
8. Some Gammonites are calling for Cam Schlittler to be the AL MVP, in part because Ron Guidry got screwed out of it in 1979. Certainly, Schlittler deserves the Cy Young, but let's not put him on a pedestal guaranteed to topple.
9. Last night, George Lombard Jr.'s double launched the Yankee rally. He's been in a deep slump, that period of Stygian darkness that all rookies experience. The Yankees must play him at SS. And he must hit.
10. There is ridiculous talk of Giancarlo Stanton returning as a late-inning pinch hitter. Dear God. This is insanity. Are the Yankees swallowing their own bullshit? We've seen Judge battling to come back. Why subject Giancarlo - and the fans - to shaking off so much rust? Bad idea.
Monday, September 14, 2026
Thirteen games left. The end is near. The Yankees have run out of time.
Once again, the Yankees will finish 2nd.
What about that upcoming four-game set against Tampa? The odds of the Yankees sweeping the Rays are roughly equivalent to those of Mitch McConnell unveiling an erection on the U.S. Senate floor. The Yankees will be runners-up.
Ten takeaways from a day when three out of four of NYC teams - the Giants, Jets and Yankees - all won. Sorry, Mets.
1. Cam Schlittler should be a lock for the Cy Young, but this crapola about winning the MVP? Nope. He's the Yankee MVP, for sure. But Yordan Alvarez in Houston could win the triple crown. (He's two HRs behind Junior Caminero, with 40, and tied with Ben Rice, at 38.)
2. By now, the tabs have secretly decided never to use one particular headline: "Hail Schlittler."
3. Since returning, Anthony Volpe is 4-14, due to his amazing first night back, when he went 3-4 with a grand slam. Since then, he's 1-10 and reverted to the Volpe we remember. Yesterday, he made a fine defense play, throwing out the runner with a Jeteresque leap. I think one verdict is in: He can play 2B, defensively.
4. But will he ever hit? He has the Minnesota series to start. Otherwise, Volpe Derangement Syndrome will return. At that point, he will disappear on the roster behind Jazz Chisolm and Amed Rosario. He'll be home for October.
5. You know who deserved a better shot this year? Oswaldo Cabrera. Guy homered twice yesterday for Scranton - 19 on the season, batting .287 at Triple A. He played three games for the Yankees - three - went 0-9, and vanished along with J.C. Escarra and their adorable CarShield commercial. Oswaldo is 27. I still think he will have a decent career. But not with us.
6. Note to the Captain: Any time now, sir, feel free to stop lunging and start hitting. Any time now...
7. Let's give Cooperstown Cashman credit: Luis Garcia Jr. turned out to be a great trade deadline pickup. We spewed hot bile over Cash's failure to improve our bullpen and catching situations. (Which remain problems.) But Garcia is the real deal. He's hit .307 with 7 HRs as a Yankee. We have him under contract through next season, if there is one.
8. The Yankees are two different teams:
a) when Hendrick, Blackburn and Bednar pitch the final three.
b) when the rest of the bullpen must pitch.
Conclusion? A shitload of pressure - maybe too much? - hinges on Clarke Schmidt.
9. The Jets and Giants are undefeated! That will grab a bunch of tabloid back pages through October. It could be the difference in our final race.
10. Prediction? Knicks in five.
I'll have the rat feces, fries, and some of that water there
The Giants won. The Bills won. (As my father used to say, the only truly New York team since they don't play in New Jersey.)
Even the Jets won. The Jets. That's spooky.
Meanwhile, a woman dies from measles--"no vax, please, I'm enjoying the golden age"--and the Legionnaires are performing in the Bronx (they were so great with Elvis).
A good time was had by all. L'chaim!
Sunday, September 13, 2026
The Yankee bullpen "Circle of Trust" is shrinking into a dot
One hundred forty-eight games into the season, the world still cannot figure out the enigma that is the '26 Yankees.
But but BUT... it's hard to see a championship destiny for this team.
Certainly not after yesterday.
Saturday, one batter in against the Mets, the Yankees found themselves behind. By the third inning, they were in a deep hole. By the eighth, they were on the verge of using a position player to pitch.
This is what happens when you burn your entire bullpen in the first game of a series. It's a frightening omen of what's to come.
Right now, the Yankees have a bullpen of David Bednar and the exhausted, stems-and-seeds pair of Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn, both of whom look increasingly spent. Yesterday, it meant brining in Bradley Hanner, who has bounced around the minors since 2019, finally making his MLB debut in August. The game quickly spiraled out of control, and today, the Mets - a miserable team of wasted money and failed expectations - are today poised to win the most emotional three-game series of the year.
Every Yank fan knows the reality:
This team beats tomato cans and not much else.
Yes, we beat Boston at home, a series that hinged on a trapped fly ball - an umpiring decision that could have gone either way. But the Yankees could not hang in against Houston and San Diego. We hoped the world would change when Aaron Judge returned. Thus far, it hasn't.
Yesterday, Judge went 0-4 with a strikeout. Since returning, he is 3-14 with a walk. Everyone is quick to note that he's "still in spring training," and working back to form, and he's got nearly three whole weeks to get there.
It doesn't look like the Yankees can catch Tampa. But they should be able to stave off Boston. That means a best-of-three playoff series with the home field advantage. Today, the Yankees could clinch an appearance in the postseason - a big nothing-burger for their fan base. Soon, the entire year will boil down to a Circle of Trust that right now barely exists.
Saturday, September 12, 2026
The Soto-in-Hell, Volpe-Rising, Met-Yankee Continuum goes on
Then, let the feces rain!
On that note, let's withhold our wanton cruelty toward the Mets and their beloved superstar left-fielder, the smiling and warm-hearted human ATM, Juan Soto. Watching the Juanster grimace malevolently, while occupying LF like a butter sculpture of Trump, is a new 9/11 memory night that I shall cherish, at least through Sunday.
But nothing today and tomorrow could change my view of the great Soto auction of 2024: Thank God the Mets outbid us.
Ten Takeaways from last night.
1. Anthony Volpe continued to hit - 1-4 with a single. Maybe, just maybe, his near future isn't at 2B?
Clearly, Jazz Chisholm's thumb will decide Volpe's fate, hopefully by the four-game Tampa series. If Jazz can hit, the Yankees could try Volpe at 3B, where Ryan McMahone - (the Yankee, not the Onondaga County Executive) - has for most of the season pounded out infield grounders. We could learn why Volpe played both 2B and 3B at Scranton.
2. Last night, both McMahon and Volpe went 1-4. McMahon drove in a run with a dink pop fly into left field. (Looks like a line drive in the box score.) If Jazz comes back with any vinegar in his swing, it might be McMahon who loses his job.
3. But let's be clear: Two games does not a Volpe resurgence make. To be anything more than an infield selfie, he needs to excel through the next eight games.
4. Is Carlos Rodon finally peaking as a Yankee? It's been four years. Last night, aside from the HR - (which is an automatic for Yankee starters this season) - Rodon looked - dare we say - in command? In fact, he looked like a better chance of pitching the seventh and eighth than the Yank bullpen.
5. For the record, in his fourth Yankee year, Rodon's ERA is for the first time under 3.00 - (that's 2.96.) At 33, he seems to be getting stronger. Before coming to NYC, Rodon was a three-time all-star with a no-hitter on his resume. Over the years in NY, he's been a steady disappointment. Dare we hope?
6. Speaking of the bullpen, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick are clearly showing signs of Boone Abuse Overuse. It's a bad time for Boonie to be channeling Scott Proctor.
7. Ah, yes... there's a name. Scott Proctor. The man who torched his jerseys at home plate. There's a Name That Yankee for Joe Girardi to ponder, eh?
8. Last night's game hinged on one nutso play, and the Yankees were just damn lucky. With the bases loaded, Headrick snared a line-drive back at him, a ball that would have scored at least one run, maybe two, and rejigger the game. Damn, we wuz lucky.
9. Spencer Jones botched another play in CF. Well - checks lineup, sighs - we have nobody else. Up the middle, the Yankees are a carnival of uncertainties - Wells, Lombard, Volpe and Jones. So be it.
10. Afternoon game today. Prediction: Knicks in five.
Friday, September 11, 2026
"I plead the Fifth!"
—"Point of order! Point of order, Mr. Chairman! Those lobster tails were foisted upon me by a very friendly server!"
—I see, Mr. Clarke. So how many did this fair maiden 'foist' upon you first?
—"Um the first foist was only, uh, one. One extra."
—For a total of TWO lobster tails, then. But did you not, in fact, RETURN to the crustacean counter?
—"Uh, well, yes."
—I suppose that charming wench made you do THAT, too?
—"Well, she was very nice..."
—And how many lobster tails did you have THIS time?
—"Um, I ordered...two."
—Two MORE lobster tails! And how many did she FOIST this time?
—"Uh, one. Just one! More."
—I see. So add them up, gentlemen! That is FIVE lobster tails in all! Five! And three of them even before the foisting! Have you NO decency, sir? At long last, have you NO sense of decency at all?
—"Uh, no. But, you know, they were free."
—And did you dip these foisted crustaceans into melted butter?
—"...i did..."
—And we have not even turned to the steak! How many pieces of THAT did you have?
—"Only two. They were very small. As were the lobster tails. Tiny, tiny little tails. Like those on a kitten."
—I see. And now may I turn your attention to the Candy Wall—
—(sobbing) "Oh, not that! Please don't go into the Candy Wall! I plead the Fifth! I plead anything! Just don't tell them!"
The real highlight, of course, was being so close to the action. (I swear!). McMahon is really a wizard with the glove. I was determined to get him fielding a hotshot, but of course, could barely get my phone up before the ball was in his mitt or past him. I have a newfound respect for sports photographers, as these shots might indicate.
Meanwhile, L'Shana Tovah to those who celebrate, and may we never see another 9/11.
A glorious night in the Bronx leads to a solemn day in Manhattan. Ten Takeaways
After last night, who does not feel an escape from Volpe Derangement Syndrome? Trouble is, we've been here before.
Which comes next, the happily-ever-after? Or the morning after?
Ten Musings from last night.
1. Volpe's slam reminded me of what's been missing since early May: John Sterling's beloved homerun calls, which had become a Yankiverse parlor game. In case you forgot, here was The Master's first-ever call for a Volpean blast:
"Anthony Volpe! A spettacolo oggi! Ohhh the fox socks one to left!"
2. Ridiculous, right? Cringey? Still, Sterling's moments of pure joy conveyed a grand, eloquent innocence. And it has me wondering:
Would it not be a great gesture for Michael Kay or Dave Sims to remember Sterling with home runs call for each player - especially those who were on the team during The Master's final incarnation. (Thinking Judge, Grisham, Rice, Wells, Volpe...)
3. Yes, some would find this as blaspheme. Not anyone could do it, but Kay could, leaning into his own longevity with the organization. He'd have to make it clear that it was a remembrance of John, not an attempt to steal his bit. But with every HR call, people would remember the tradition begun by Sterling.
4. At the least, come next May 4, the anniversary of Sterling's death, could Yankee announcers celebrate him with homer calls? Dunno. But I do know this: You cannot predict baseball, Suzyn.
5. Regardless of what happens next, it was truly satisfying to watch Volpe's grand slam and curtain call. Plot twists are a major reason to follow this show.
6. Cams showed Jazz Chisholm wildly cheering Volpe's HR. Good for him. But it had to hurt. If Volpe hits over the next two weeks, Jazz becomes a platoon player.
7. On a night of hope for misgiven prospects, Jasson Dominguez botched a ball in RF and looks headed back to Scranton. For The Martian - (that nickname is starting to carry a twinge of mockery) - 2026 looks like a total loss. Like 2025 was.
8. MLB did the Yankees and Mets no favor by scheduling a subway series on the weekend of 9/11. It smacks of trying to exploit the city's pain. This weekend, the Mets can play with abandon, for simple redemption. If they lose, who cares? Meanwhile, the Yankees face a pennant race.
9. Max Fried's inability to last four innings is a real concern. We've got Schlittler, Cole and - gulp - Rodon? Yikes. Somehow, I see Will Warren pitching in a critical situation.
10. The Colorado Rockies look like a terrible team - and next season's pennant winner. One reason: An ascending 1B named TJ Rumfield, whom we gave away for Angel Chivilli. I recognize that Rumfield was blocked on the Yankee roster. But I'm amazed at how they never seemed to give him the time of day. You win pennants with great 1B. And Colorado might just have one.
G'bye
Everybody's high on consolation
Everybody's trying to tell him what is right for him, yeah
Boonie tried to bore him with a sermon
But it's plain to see that they can't comfort him
Sorry, Brian, for the imposition
He thought he had it, he had the strength to carry on, oh
yeah
He needs a drink and a new position
Now it's up to Shelley, ooh, what will be
He's gone, he's gone
Oh he, oh he
He better learn how to face it
He's gone, he's gone
Oh he, oh he
He'd pay the devil to redo it
He's gone, and he's gone
Oh why, what went wrong?
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