Too much time at South By Southwest, and far too many 16oz cups of frothy lager, has left El Duque in a state of benign euphoria.
He has given us a formula whereby the Yankees can win it all.
Now I love optimism as well as the next guy, but I drink alcohol for my dream sessions, not so much the frothy lagers.
So I perused his meanderings with a neat Crown Royal Reserve, and was feeling quite upbeat until I reached the part about the "help from Scranton."
If any of you have watched the spring training games, you will know that Pirela was the only hope. (Until Sabathia threw the gopher ball that he had to chase into the CF wall), that is.
But all the other guys have failed, recently, when it mattered. And "stars to be," don't do that.
Here is an example; Our top prospect, by most talking heads, is Judge…a number one pick of ours. Even the announcers yesterday ( O'neil included ) described him as a " can't miss, future star." So he comes to bat with the bases loaded and either no outs or one out, and a chance to do some damage. A single gets the Yanks back in the game.
Do something…anything…positive. He looks at a third strike.
Here is my point; when real talent gets a chance, as a youngster, they always do something positive. Derek would have banged out a single. Bernie would have driven in a run. Ellsbury would have tripled. Pete Rose would have hit an inside the park home run.
My test of Yankee "prospects" is; do they do something positive when they get a shot?
The tall, athletic, " can't miss" prospect just stood there, dumbstruck and watched the third strike paste the middle of the plate. If grades were handed oaut for the quality of an at-bat, Judge gets an "F."
Pirela would have made contact and done something positive.
None of the others ( Austin, Williams, Heathcott, Sanchez ) ever seem too, either. Though Heathcott got hit by a pitch and drove in a run.
And don't tell me about Judge's HR three weeks ago, when some guy from A ball was pitching to him.
He reminds everyone of Dave Winfield. Who should have played basketball. His claim to fame as a Yankee; Mr. May and the guy who killed the seagull in Toronto.
We have nothing to hope for from Scranton.
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6 comments:
I wish I could be as pessimistic as you are. I expect them to be a boring, mediocre team. If they were truly awful-like 1966 awful-Hal would have no choice but to do something to keep attendance from nose-diving below the Mets. But if they are not too stinky to stay in the "race" for the second wild card until mid-September nothing will change.
Wow, Alphonso--for all your heavy ladling of the scorn for the Steinbrenners, your modus operandi is identical--if a prospect looks at one third strike or makes one error or walks one batter in a meaningless spring training game, he's buried forever, gone the way of all Mike Griffin, Bobby Meacham, and Hal Morris. Morris, you may recall, struck out ONE TIME against one of the league's toughest lefties so Steinbrenner traded him to the Reds, where he went on to be a star. You need to change teams and lighten up on the booze before you lose the use of your remaining brain cells.
I am George!!!
George: the heart of a lion. Hal: the soul of a banker.
George: the heart of a lion who devoured the team for more than a decade until he was banished by Faye Vincent so that Buck and Stick had a chance to rebuild it. It's amazing how this diseased monster gets mythologized in retrospect by clueless Yankee fans.
all true, Clem, albeit a tad harsh. Passion has its price but I'll never forget how fans reacted to George at The Stadium in his later years. Hal? Never seen him at a regular game. I've seen more of Bill O'Reilly and Donald Trump than Hal Steinbrenner.
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