Lately, I keep reading that the Yankee farm system is exploding with talent, a tsunami wave of young stars, the next big thing... but the other day, John Sickels ranked them 8th - not second or third, as the Yankiverse has come to expect - and all it will take is a rash of Tommy Johns, and we're back to Coulter Bean and Zolio Almonte. Judge is recovering from shoulder surgery. Montgomery threw far more innings last year than anybody expected. Can Clint Frazier really make a difference? And what the hell will be do with Jacoby Ellsbury?
I keep hearing how the Yankees are so smart by running their managerial search like a reality TV show, but I'm starting to wonder if something has gone wrong, and that our first choices were either snapped up by other teams or turned us down. I'm not worried - yet - but seriously, if Rob Thomson is named manager and Larry Rothschild returns as pitching coach, what will have changed? I really thought we'd see a new style of management. Now, not so sure. And come July 1, all this optimism might look really stupid.
Come on, everybody: LET'S BRING ON SOME PESSIMISM! WHAT ARE WE, A BUNCH OF CORPORATE TOADIES? WHERE'S THE BILE? THIS IS THE NEW YORK YANKEES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT! WHERE'S THE SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS THAT MAKES US YANKEE FANS?
No fear, the pessimism, bile and skepticism - mixed with a measure of exasperation and despair - are right there. They're not even below the surface. They are RIGHT THERE - just waiting to well up at the first sign - or non-sign - of mediocrity, stupidity, bogosity, you name it. The DIFFERENCE, though, is that this year, for the first time in a good while, there is the *potential* for a slight measure of hope, expectation and maybe enjoyment. Maybe. Possibly. Probably not, but maybe. For the first time in many years, there exists the chance that we may win a few games, will not leave 1000 men stranded on base, MIGHT execute some situational hitting, MAY get timely outs, and WON'T make boneheaded calls based on irrelevant statistics.
ReplyDeleteI just canceled my cable. I cut the cord, lopped of my TV's testicles. So I'm going to have to:
1. Listen to the games on radio, supplemented with Gameday stick figures.
2. Find some way to stream games from a source that I don't believe exists.
3. Buckle under and order cable again, just for the sake of the Weather Channel and YES, thereby lining the pockets of men whose pockets are so full and whose bellies are so huge that they cannot even get their hands in said pockets.
4. Just not pay attention to live games, as I have done for a long time now.
5 Move to Canada and catch up on my reading.
Situational hitting.......bunts? That's what most fans think of when situational hitting is mentioned. Bunting for a hit is the only bunt I wanted to see for most of the Yankee roster in 2017. The Yanks have few players who are capable of sacrifice bunting. Ellsbury is solid, Chase Headley's a decent bunter, Brett Gardner is less than we should reasonably expect at sacrifice bunting. Of course, I'm a fan of the hit and run, hitting behind runners, and keeping the line moving. The only real point to all of this talk of situational hitting, in my estimation, is you only ask players to do what you know they can do successfully. I won't ask Gary Sanchez to sacrifice bunt. I would, however, ask him to hit behind a runner, look for a pitch to drive the other way. This team is not built on speed, but on power. Moving runners is great, but you have to have a team built to move runners, in a time when moving runners seems to mean hitting a home run. I always say I'm not paying Directv for the MLB package, each year.
ReplyDeleteEach year, I look for today's game, and when it's not on, I call DTV, and make the purchase. Still the best game, played by the greatest team in history, and I just can't miss the game.
Who puts mayonnaise or gravy on French fries? Canadians.......
I think they do that in England, and they will accommodate " french fries " customers with mayonnaise in Holland as well. Likely; only an English tourist would ask for it.
ReplyDeleteBut Holland knows that Ketchup is King.
Not sure about England. They have a Queen, anyway, right?
I don't know anything about gravy on french fries.
Maybe in the deep south.
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