Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Friday, August 19, 2016

Trump joins the Moon Big Papi movement

The first moonshot has arrived. But the real action begins September 29.

Moon Big Papi. 

Make America Moon Again.

12 comments:

JM said...

"There’s a good chance right-hander James Kaprielian, the team’s No. 1 pick last year, will need Tommy John surgery."

Does anyone else find it strange that so many pitchers--especially young ones--need TJ surgery? Do they really? Seems as the years go by, more and more and more...hard to believe all of it is so necessary. Either that, or thousands of pitchers never made the bigs over the decades because that surgery didn't exist. Not sure which is more plausible.

http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/inside-baseball-with-jon-heyman/heyman-10-managers-whose-seat-hot-lukewarm-cooler-youd-think/

Anonymous said...

DID THE "IT IS HIGH IT IS FAR IT IS CAUGHT" SITE SAVE THE NEW YORK YANKEES???...I JUST READ THAT HAL STEINBRENNER SAID THAT "SOCIAL MEDIA" MADE HIM MAKE UP HIS MIND ABOUT SELLING AND GOING WITH THE YOUNGER PLAYERS..... DID HAL SEE ALL OF OUR SCATHING QUOTES, CURSES, AND OPINIONS?..... COME TO THINK OF IT, IF HE DID SOMEHOW STUMBLE ONTO THIS SITE, HE MAY BE INTERVIEWING NEW GM CANDIDATES RIGHT NOW....... WISHFUL THINKING.....

Anonymous said...

BTW....THE "WE CAN DO THIS" PAGE ON MOONBIGPAPI.COM IS HILARIOUS....

KD said...

Getting swept by the lowly devil rays as a result of our reverse juju is what saved the Yankees.

Anonymous said...

I am waiting for someone on this site to give me an answer to a question that I have posed three times now without an answer. So let me be more specific. Aaron Hicks has a WAR of 0.5, which ranks him 615 in overall quality among 640 MLB players who are ranked at the ESPN Web site. Here's the reference:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/league/al/sort/WARBR/count/601/qualified/false

So my unanswered questions remains: with a glut of outfielders, including some newcomers who deserve the playing time, WHY THE FUCK IS THIS GUY STILL ON THE ROSTER, MUCH LESS GETTING REGULAR PLAYING TIME? What's your theory? Is it that the combined IQ of Cashmand and Girardi is half of Donald Trump's? Does Hicks have photos of Hal Steinbrenner consorting with a goat? Is the real CEO of the Yankees Vladimir Putin? Any thoughts would be appreciated, because this has to be the most perversely self-destructive player personnel policy I have ever seen. Thanks for you help.

Anonymous said...

Sorry--correction--typo in my comment above: Hicks's WAR is - 0.5--that is MINUS 0.5.

el duque said...

Small caps anonymous, there is no answer to your question. We have squandered an entire season waiting for Aaron Hicks to blossom. At this point, why NOT play him? The ships have sailed. Hell, I'd say, bat him third. See what happens. Maybe he'll get red hot and lift his WAR to - 0.000. Wouldn't that be exciting?

Frankly, I don't care anymore.

What's important here is that Brian Cashman feels vindicated. Last year, we played Stephen Drew until he pulled himself out of the lineup; he suffered dizzy spells from a concussion - (an injury I don't wish on anyone, and is in no way meant to be funny). If not for a bad-hop grounder hitting him in the head, he would have played the entire season, hitting about .200. Not that it mattered.

The Yankees' official line on Aaron Hicks seems to be "Jackie Bradley Jr!" Boston waited and waited, and he arrived. I DO like the idea that the Yankees might be getting over their past need for instant gratification with prospects - we need to give our guys a longer look. But Hicks isn't a prospect anymore. If there's anything in him, we should have seen it by now. Last night he got a hit. Whoop-tee-doo. But I'd rather see him out there than Gardner or Ellsbury. They are bigger disappointments, and we are lashed to them like Ahab to the whale.

Anonymous said...

POOR BEN GAMEL..... THE BASTARD HAS HIT .300 FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS IN A ROW, HE'S ONLY 24 OR 25, AND CAN'T GET THE NOD OVER .200 HITTING AARON HICKS..... IT DEFINITELY SMELLS LIKE IT'S "CASHMAN APPROVED", BECAUSE IT'S HIS PET PROJECT PICKUP, LIKE DREW WAS LAST YEAR..........

The Ghost of Yankees Past said...

They need to see what Hicks can do with consistent playing time. Look at his batting average post Carlos Beltran to see how he does.

Anonymous said...

el duque--thanks for your thoughtful reply. But I differ on several points:

1. The Bradley analogy does not hold by this point. They are the same age, but after four MLB seasons, Bradley is having his breakthrough year. Hicks, also four years in, is regressing to his Mendoza-line norm after nearly a full season. This is a career death-rattle. The guy just doesn't have it.

2. Gardner is actually the Yankees' most valuable player now--he has the team's highest WAR, modest though it is at about 2.5. He carries roughly a .350 OBP and plays superb defense. Ellsbury is only slightly lower down the WAR totem poll, but drains so much from the payroll that they need to find a way to move him. He is only meh on defense, so his presence up the middle of the diamond is a wash. He's the one who needs to go. Gardy still has a role to play--speed, defense, OBP.

3. HIcks's continued presence in the lineup means fewer AB's for Tyler Austin, who can also play the outfield. It appears that, despite the unloading of a few prominent big-name busts, old habits die hard in the Bronx/Tampa axis. A truly sane, competent management team would be seeking ways to move McCann, Sabathia, Teixeira, and Headley to unclog the roster and make way for the future--they are all dead weights. Castro was another of Cashman's idiotic made-the-All-Star game several years go so who cares about the declining performance graph stupidities. They'd be better off right now giving Refsnyder the ABs at second base. The Yankees have invited a few young players into the Old Age Home--but they need to demolish the Old Age Home once and for all--and that includes 26-year-olds on the way down. If Cashman can't own up to his mistakes--and they are legion--they need to bring in someone else who can.

Anonymous said...

Ghost of Yankees Past--he's been equally abysmal throughout the year. He's done somewhat better in August, but it's a tiny sample compared to his consistently awful performance up to now. He's a waste of time. See his time-period splits at

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=hicksaa01&year=&t=b

Isiyku Abdulahi said...


I really want the world to know about this great man who brought back happiness into my life again after my husband left me and the kids 3 years ago for another women online when i contacted Dr Believe he cast a love spell for me within 48 hours my ex husband start calling me and begging for forgiveness for everything that have happened between us. I was so happy to have my family back together with love again here is the email of Dr Believe via believelovespelltemple@gmail.com a man with the great powers you can also call him or add him on Whats-app: +2348156148821
God bless you
I am very grateful for your help in my marriage.