With their backs against the Great Trumpian Wall, the 2017 Yankees become a different team. They have now won four elimination games, and - frankly - the last two at home were de facto extinction events.
Aaron Judge is a
All year, we've been terrified that Judge was an illusion, that his bleacher "chambers" came too soon, that - before our very eyes - he would whither into Andy Stankiewicz. Well, ain't'a gonna happen. If you're my age - that is, old as dirt - we may be watching the last great homegrown Yankee slugger of our lifetimes (with Sanchez and Bird.) Maybe we should just sit back and enjoy it.
Of all people, Todd Frazier has become a key juju component to this team. For many reasons, I instinctively oppose trading prospects for vets, but it's getting hard to criticize the deal for Frazier/Robertson/Kahnle. All three have contributed, and the Toddfather has become the smiling face of this team, (reminiscent of Sergio Romo on the 2010 SF Giants.) I can't see how the Yankees could sign Frazier this winter - we have Miguel Andujar and Glyber Torres coming up - but frankly, I have come to love this guy. He's solid at third, and he's delivered big hits. Since the trade was made, judgment of it's success has been on based on the Yankees winning the World Series. If that's unfair, tough beans, this is the Yankees. But write this down: I was wrong, Cashman was right, and I've changed my mind about that deal: Todd Frazier is fucking wonderful.
No matter what happens in this series, last night's comeback cements the Yankees as a team of great heart. Moreover, it has completely silenced the spiteful Redsock Nation, who briefly slithered up on Twitter yesterday to slime troll the anniversary of their 2004 comeback. The Yankees' response: We hope they enjoyed the moment, but for us, it was a workday and - by the way - how did they plan to celebrate with their day off? Beautiful. The fact is, Redsock fans can no longer smart-mouth that their piss-poor October performance - they beat Houston once - was basically the same as the Yankees'. Last night, Big Papi was shouting WinWarbles and lovingly talking about Aaron Judge as if he were Pedro's midget. Boston has replaced him with David Price. It's another Popeye's Fried Chicken winter.
I know the world hates A-Rod, and there can probably be no worse Yankee ambassador to baseball, but I draw great joy at watching him smirk after we win. Last night, he was kissing his ring like it was J-Lo's
TheWinWarblist said...
ReplyDeleteAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrggggggHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heart is my throat, knot in my stomach, sweaty palms, drinking too too much; it's starting to feel like 1996 ...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThere are times today when people will see me staring off into space, smiling. That's because I'll be thinking of the words "cone of uncertainty".
What a great Yankee win. I love Todd Frazier.
ReplyDeleteBEHOLD !
http://www.fangraphs.com/wins.aspx?date=2017-10-17&team=Yankees&dh=0&season=2017
Astros shook about not having a pen. Still not sure what Hinch was thinking...unless Kooples throws 9 innings, Yanks will have confidence against whoever they throw out there. Maybe he'll bring Verlander out of the pen. HAHAHAHA. We should call 2017 Yanks, Night of the Living Dead.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you all, and have grown to LOVE Todd Frazier, his enthusiasm is off the charts, such FUN FUN TEAM!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mlb.com/yankees/video/101717-hou-vs-nyy-highlights/c-1864107683?tid=69549430
ReplyDeleteDuque you need to dust off the ol warble measure and clock the Master's one from last night.
I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO BROACH THIS SUBJECT WITH YOU GUYS......
ReplyDeleteTHE TODD FRAZIER DILEMMA....
WE ALL LOVE HIM NOW, ME INCLUDED....
HE HAS SHOCKINGLY BEEN CLUTCH, A TOUGH OUT, AND REAL GOOD IN THE FIELD TOO....
PLUS, EVERYONE ON THE TEAM SEEMS TO LOVE HIM....
BUT........
SO SORRY THERE IS A BUT......
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE HE HIT .207 THIS YEAR, AND .225 IN 2016....
HARD TO BELIEVE BECAUSE EVERY AT BAT HE HAS NOW IN THE POST SEASON, SEEMS TO BE A GOOD ONE..... EVEN THE OUTS- HE FOULS BALLS OFF AND PUTS UP A FIGHT.
I BELIEVE WE NEED TO BE RUTHLESS (LIKE THE RED SOX, AND PATRIOTS WOULD BE).
WE MOST LIKELY NEED TO LET HIM GO AFTER THIS SEASON....(SO SORRY TO SAY).
WE HAVE GLEYBER.
WE HAVE ANDUJAR.
WE HAVE TYLER WADE. (SORRY ALPHONSO).
NOT TO MENTION THE MONEY TODD WOULD COMMAND.....
FOR US TO KEEP TODDFATHER, WOULD BE TO GO AGAINST ALL THAT WE PROFESS.
WE NEED TO STAY YOUNG.
.....BUT IT IS SO TOUGH BECAUSE TODD FRAZIER HAS BEEN SO GOOD, AND CLUTCH.
REMEMBER, WE DON'T WANT CASHMAN TO DO "CASHMAN THINGS" IN THE OFF SEASON....
LETS JUST ENJOY ALL WE CAN OF HIM, NOW.
GO YANKS!
Yes, well said Anon, and so convincingly too. We can sense your sincerity by the way you use ALL CAPS. We so appreciate it. Maybe you can shout some more logorrheic nonsense about Sonny Gray too?
ReplyDeleteThis is fun because it's a feeling we haven't felt since 95-96.
ReplyDeleteWe're the underdogs. We're the kids who aren't supposed to be here. For 20-plus years, we have been the team that is supposed to win it all or the season is a disaster. We are the big payroll team who paid for the pennant.
This year, we weren't supposed to be here. For the first time in decades, we're playing with house money.
Yes, we still have the high payroll, but that's not the heart of this team. It's the kids and the castoffs. Judge. Sevy. Sanchez. Didi. Hicks. Bird. In the playoffs, Frazier. Hell, even CC, who is making more money than humans should be allowed to, was supposed to be shot and worthless this year.
Personally, I have nothing against dominance, big stars and buying titles. But being the underdog once in a while is fun.
SORRY YOU DON'T LIKE THE CAPS WARBLIST....
ReplyDelete.....BUT THEY ARE NOT NEARLY AS ANNOYING AS YOUR AAAAAAAaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHaaaaaaagggHhhh
STUPID BULLSHIT.
......BUT KEEP DOING IT AS LONG AS WE KEEP WINNING.
Say, Win Warblist, take it easy there with All Caps. He's just saying what most of us are feeling about Frazier.
ReplyDeleteAC is also a long-standing member of the community here. We've come to accept both his politics and his propensity for caps lock. It's his thing.
On the other hand, if you happen to be drunk by 12:17 in the afternoon, go nuts. Just don't fall asleep and miss the game.
Was last night's win warble a record??
ReplyDeleteALL CAPS SOLIDARITY, always love your posts Brother!
ReplyDeleteAnd WinWarblist, keep doing your 'cat walked on the keypad' thing, seems to be great JuJu!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YANKS!
For once I agree with ALL CAPS entirely--the apocalypse must be near. Falling in love with one guy because of one postseason performance and losing sight of the long term is exactly what duque has been preaching against these many years. So we sign a .200 hitter and defensive mediocrity because he's a good cheerleader and comes from New Jersey? And bury Andujar in the process? When, after Brosius's star turn in the 1998 World Series, Cashmann allowed this kind of cheap sentiment to eclipse baseball judgment and then chose an aging, fading Brosius over a rising young Mike Lowell, we all know what happened--Brosius turned in several years of .240, punchless hitting while Lowell became a major star.
ReplyDeleteSomebody please pass the smelling salts to duque before he goes into another swoon over some other crappy mascot of the momment, or before he reviles Judge the day before canonizing him, ad nauseam. Is duque going through his second adolescence--or maybe premature senility?
Another example, and, by happenstance, yet another third baseman: Ray Knight was the MVP of the Mets' thrilling 1986 World Series victory. But Cashman, being shrewd and not dumb (i.e., the opposite of Cashman on both counts), knew Knight was past his prime and declined to re-sign him. Knight's output, of course, did disappear off a cliff from 1987 on. So after several lifetimes' worth of agonizing over the Yanks' dumpster diving for fading All-Stars from five yeas ago, duque now joins the Confederacy of Dunces because a crappy player gets a couple of hits in the postseason and hops around in front of the dugout giving the thumbs-down sign in a relentless full-court press of self-promotion. Alphonso, where is thy sting?
ReplyDeleteTex Message, it was close. That's why I requested a measurement.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they'll re-sign Frazier - unless they plan to trade Gleyber for Mike Trout or someone of that caliber. Gleyber, Hicks, and Frazier the younger for Trout. I could see Cashman doing that.
THANKS FOR THE KIND WORDS:
ReplyDeleteJOHN M.
KEN FROM BROOKLYN
.....AND EVEN MY POLITICAL NEMESIS (BUT NOT REALLY MY YANKEE BASEBALL NEMESIS)...
LB (NO J)
THE CAPS DON'T REALLY MEAN ANYTHING, IT JUST DIFFERENTIATES MY ANONYMOUS POSTING FROM ALL THE OTHER anonymous POSTINGS....
......BUT MANY KNUCKLEHEADS (MOSTLY NEW TO THE SITE), THINK I'M YELLING, SCREAMING BEING RUDE AND ARROGANT.... BUT I'M NOT..... MOST TIMES.
IT IS AMAZING HOW PEOPLE LET THE CAPS BOTHER THEM.
JESUS, THEY ARE JUST CAPITAL LETTERS!!....LOL!
NOW, FORGET ABOUT THIS BULLSHIT!
WE ARE ABOUT TO BE 1 GAME AWAY FROM THE FUCKING WORLD SERIES!!!!
THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!
GOOOOOOOO YANKS!!!
I meant Cashen as the Mets GM who dumped Ray Knight at the right time--not Cashman--but I think you knew what I meant. Typing too fast again. . . .
ReplyDeleteBy the way--here's the Toddfather's slash line for the postseason, 2017. SUCKS! Don't be seduced by a couple of timely hits--he will be a millstone for years to come if signed. WAKE UP, DUQUE! ALPHONSO--SLAP HIM AROUND IF NECESSARY.
.216 /.275/.351
Hail, Brethren of the Ball,
ReplyDeleteI'm back from my travels in the hinterlands...and, man, what the guys have done while I have been watching from motel-rooms!! Hope I don't jinx them now, by coming home.
Re: Toddfather: Yes, logic says we should not re-sign him and about 60% of my poll of myself says "let him go"; OTOH, he has been a cut-up, and kept the guys really loose with his antics. Further, Judge seems to like him & respect him as a mentor/pal. Now, I know we can't use up one of our 25 roster-slots on someone just to inspire Judge - - but right now, the karma surely seems to be working.
I don't think our resident critic needs to castigate the rest of us for having mixed feelings on this issue. Following this to its logical extension, you could go all algorhytmic on us, and insist we have to get rid of Sanchez because of his fielding percentage, and/or because he's a sucker for down and away breaking balls - - and what about Hizzoner, Himself? Why, he strikes out way too much - - why not dump him for someone with better production numbers...and Tanaka, of course, is nowhere near as good as Sonny Boy - - why spend $$ on Tanaka-San, when we've got Cashman's baby, Sonny Boy??
I don't think we need to disparage others' points of view so vehemently, just because they disagree with us.
One thing I like about this blog is that MOST of us (one, perhaps, excluded) can change our minds when it seems warranted - - and also admit when we might have been mistaken...what's wrong with that??
I, personally, STILL don't want to see Girardi back next year, but I know that's just a dream, to happen in some alternate universe...or, Yankiverse... LB (No J)
Paragraph 3, above, I meant "better contact numbers". LB (No J)
ReplyDeleteLB (noJ) is an irredeemable moron. He postulates that maybe we should get Judge or Sanchez go because of their overall numbers? This is beyond stupid--we have to coin a new adjective here, such as idiomoronic, to capture the full extent of the cognitive deficit on display in Teeny Weeny's post.
ReplyDeleteGary Sanchez lead ALL MAJOR LEAGUE CATCHERS with a Fangraph WAR of 4.4.
Aaron Judge leads all MLB players of any position with a war of 8.2.
And LB (no J) analyzes their overall numbers and finds there reasons to discard them.
There are no words. Time to re-institute the blog qualifying IQ test, duque.
Look, Stat-Boy (you Goddamn Fool),
ReplyDeleteOne thing I won't let you do is twist my words around like you just attempted to: it is YOU who are a complete, insecure PHONY!! If you read what I said above carefully, I was absolutely NOT advocating ANY of the things you accuse me of advocating - - instead, I was citing those as examples of the stupidity that can arise when we pick out one or two flaws in someone's stats, and use them as an argument to "get rid of" that player...I was exposing the absurdity of that kind of argument - - the kind that YOU tend to make, fool. You are beyond contempt, trying to interpret what I said above as my own argument to "dump" those players. That is ridiculous, and a crime against the English language, and against me.
You are a cockroach licking a carbuncle on the asshole of humanity, Stat-Boy. "Beyond stupid" describes what you attempted to do, Sophist!!
I will wager that everyone on this blog - - besides YOU - - after reading the above, would know that I was not advocating getting rid of any of those players. I assume a certain level of intelligence in the readers herein, but in your case, I guess I will have to make an exception.
In the future, I will only be addressing YOU, cockroach Stat-Boy, when I only employ nice, easy, short words - - if you see otherwise in some of my posts, don't bother - - they are meant for INTELLIGENT readers - - not for the likes of you. LB (No J)
HEY LB(NO J).....
ReplyDeleteJUST CALL HIM "SABR DOUCHEBAG anonymous"....
HE LOVES THAT!
IT FITS!
Hey Teeny Weeny--you were saying that advanced statistical analysis might lead someone to want to get rid of the best player in the league and the best catcher in the league, when advanced statistical analysis does precisely the opposite.
ReplyDeleteNow stick your wagging tongue back in your foaming mouth, and then stick your head in a toilet, and flush. Repeat.
Yes - - I was saying that, taken to its extreme, some Sabre-Douchebag (gotcha', all-caps) might come to a conclusion like that. Take your "advanced" statistical analysis and shove it up one of your teeny, tiny, orifices - - take your choice. I have finally figured out what your obsession with teeny weenies amounts to: you can't perform unless you can find someone whose weenie is teenier than your own...Sad.
ReplyDeleteThe immediate above post was, though, far closer to the mark than your previous (completely unhinged and unfounded) post, above.
I'm sure it's too much to ask of you to play nice, and respect the opinions of others, rather than feeling compelled to try to savage them - - but I can tell you this much: My Baby, the IBS Lady, don't give a crap for you - - and that's a difficult feat, unless you are YOURSELF irritable, and your bowels are as loose as your (print-)mouth...Sad. LB (No J)
IDIOT--you quoted TRADITIONAL stats to come to your twisted, comical conclusions, so your whole dumbass "argument" evaporates. You don't even know enough about advanced analysis--you know, the kind used by actual GMs, but not Internet shut-in losers like you--to have thought to use WAR. You're a moron, a cipher, a frustrated, sputtering runt. Get lost.
ReplyDelete...as I have said before, Stat-Boy (stupid little bat-boy), I am not unhappy with FACTUAL stats - - only SUBJECTIVE ones - - where some Sabre-douchbag like YOU gets to decide things like how many games a player has caused a win above the "league average" - - or who should have fielded a ball (how do WE know what factors they took into consideration in making that judgment??), or, for instance, UZR - - which is a POS depending entirely on someone's opinion - - no doubt, someone "advanced" like you (perhaps "advanced" in AIDS - - or syphilis??
ReplyDeleteGo stick your nose up Nate Silver's butt, or something...
LB (No J)
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