On a different June 3, Derek Jeter was named team captain, following Donnie Baseball in that honorific.
Today, Jordan Montgomery has to extract the Yankees from the muck and mire of not being able to put up back-to-back wins. I can't recall when we last won two games in a row. And only once in my memory has Jordan not departed in the 5th inning, having thrown 98 pitches, and down several runs with more potential runs on the bases.
The team is losing series after series now. We are out of games in the first inning. We are striking out and not scoring, save for the occasional dinger which comes, " too little and too late." The Yankees' recent RISP success ratio is like Congress's work on passing helpful legislation to the country.
We get sluggers ( Holliday ) hitting into inning-ending double plays with the bases loaded. We are leaving scores of men in scoring position, and not generating RBI's. Instead of great comeback wins, we now settle for losses where we came close, but don't ever get the tying or lead run.
Clutch play has abandoned us and even Chris Carter , in for first base defense, failed to touch the bag on a key ground ball to the right side. This, "misapplication of his size 12 foot," led to another nail in our coffin yesterday. Poor execution.
We are no longer playing smart baseball ( bunting guys over; hitting to the opposite field against the shift; forcing misplays due to crafty base running). Instead, we are letting the opponents do that ( see Gary Sanchez' errant pick-off attempts....well intentioned, but not effective) and playing scared. We are playing; " not to lose." And that is a formula for defeat.
Today will be an important test. Do we honor our former heroes, or shit the bed again?
I, for one, am getting angry because, if we are down something ( anything) to zero in the first inning, our probability of winning is reverting, again, to none. So I turn off the game and won't watch the tape. I can miss the entire season that way.
Like the last 10 years.
ReplyDeleteClearly, we are living in some kind of fantasy. Judge hit a line drive today that "handcuffed" the center fielder. And just now, Gardy hit his 12th home run of the season (it's June 3rd, and the number is TWELVE).
For my money, Gardy at 12 is more amazing than Judge at 18.
And, if you want to dwell on Montgomery -- today wasn't so damn bad, was it?
Sure, you can find things to put a burr in your . . . saddle. Girardi's managerial style is one. Today, David Cone implicitly criticized his use of relief pitchers (who enters the game in what situations).
But keep looking. We're in first place with Head Chasely at 3B, Carter still on the roster, Sanchez not yet In Stride, the relief pitcher making 10s of millions still injured, and so on. Our alternative First Baseman remains an injury case.
But the NYYs are in first. It's a fantasy. We're actually GOOD. Please, give yourself a break -- and go with it!
P.S.: I still think your black pigeon is messing with Ellsbury.
Monty was the general today. Isn't that two out of his last three? Not bad for a kid. And four solo shots in the eighth, including back to back to back.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to lose my cynical New York edge. This was impressive.
Black Swan, Joe.
ReplyDeleteThe Mets use a pigeon.
We have been looking pretty damned good, no thanks to Joey Blue-Binders...pretty bad when Coney actually speaks up and criticizes him. It takes an extreme situation to keep Carter out of the line-up...and having Sanchez DH and Holliday at 1B when Romine catches just isn't happening, either. Joey B-B is perfectly content for the guys to go up there and just whale away - - he plays station-to-station BB - - not at all the smart style I like to see, i.e., moving runners over, beating the shift, whatever's necessary to do it, starting runners to open up a hole & stay out of the DP - - you name it, Joey's not interested...so it seems. But please don't wake me up - - in an alternate universe, we are on the bottom, as has been per usual the last few years. I don't want to go back there. LB (No J).
ReplyDeleteP.S. - - I would love to hear the Master use his stentorian tones to do "Back to Back, Belly to Belly" to the tune of the Kingston Trio's "Zombie Jamboree". How cool would that be?? LB (No J)
ReplyDeleteP.P.S - - Orlando Hernandez was one of the smartest men to ever grace the mound in the game we love. I applaud our own duque for becoming his godson, of a sort. One of my prize icons is a BB card signed by Hernandez. LB (No J)
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