But I'm not sure we're any better. Therefore, today - at least - how about a few holiday thoughts of peace on earth and good will toward man...
1. Now and then, Yankee fans - #metoodammit - must step back, drink a shot of Vitalis, and give Jacoby Ellsbury the benefit of the doubt. Yes, be nice to the albatross. Remember: Ellsbury's contract is not his fault. He's not overpaying himself. And if he won't waive a trade - that is, if he doesn't want to play for anybody else, outfield logjam or not - well, at least the guy has taste. The Chief's 2017 season went south after he crashed into the CF wall chasing a fly ball. Before the concussion, he was actually playing pretty well (replacing the injury prone Aaron Hicks.)
We can all lament that the Yankees are showering $22 million a year on a fifth outfielder, but Ellsbury is only doing what any player would have done: He's feeding his family. Moreover, I can of many scenarios whereby he could play a critical role this season. We obsess over the money paid to players, yet never get a glimpse of the owners' bank account. It's possible that Ellsbury will be a Yankee for three more years, maybe finish his career in pinstripes. How about an IIHIIFIIc pact: No more hating on Ellsbury, unless he does something to warrant it. (And wanting to stay a Yankee for life doesn't qualify.)
2. Frank Larry, the Yankee Killer, is supposedly dead. I don't believe it. Nothing can kill the Yankee Killer. When I was kid, growing up on Yogi Bear and Mickey Mouse - (guess who they translated into?) - no pitcher struck more fear in my heart than Larry. The 1961 Yankees - perhaps history's greatest team - were locked in a balls-busting pennant race with the Tigers - an awesome lineup with Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito and the incredible Al Kaline in RF. Frank Larry wasn't even their ace: That was Jim Bunning. But again and again, the Yankee Killer killed us. It was Larry who we feared.
Over the years, many pitchers have had our number - I'm thinking Teddy Higuera, Roy Halladay (R.I.P.), John Lackey, King Felix, to list a few (help me here, who am I missing?) - but most were great pitchers all around: They killed everybody. Also, the Yankees weren't always a team that needed to be killed, unless it was a mercy-killing. Frank Larry killed us when nobody could kill us. Make no mistake: He shall always be "The Yankee Killer." I bow in the direction of Detroit.
Rest in peace, sir. I shall fear your name until my last breath. The Yankee Killer cannot die.
3. Dustin Fowler is suing the Chicago White Sox for their craven indifference to the welfare of visiting players, by leaving a metal electrical box exposed along the right field line. I hope he has Celino and Barnes - the injury attorneys! dial eight-eight-eight-eight, eight-eight-eight! - and takes that hateful Hawk Harrelson-hiccup of a franchise to a payout worthy of the Deepwater Horizon. That night last year when Fowler, making his MLB, tore up his knee on that box - the most heartbreaking moment of the Yankees' 2017; it brought Joe Girardi to tears - makes me shudder even now.
Fowler's lawsuit maintains that he suffered "permanent" damage, because the White Sox couldn't be bothered to put padding where anybody could see it was needed. And the worst part is, if you think about it, home team outfielders would be schooled on this. They'd know the danger. Most vulnerable would be a rookie, a kid trying desperately to make a first impression, who would be sure that no major league team could be so negligent. I mean, that would be the stuff of the Dominican Summer League.
I will always root for Fowler, even when he plays against us. But I shall root hardest for him in suing the White Sox. Merry Christmas, Hawk. Suck on this.
Sorry Duque, just can't give Ellsbury the benefit of the doubt. I just can't see him as a Yankee, no matter how hard I try. Other Red Sox have made the transition to Yankdom, but he never really has. Johnny Damon did, and I even began to forgive him for that grand slam after a while because he really did embrace New York and connect to the fans here. I think he might even choose a Yankee cap for his plaque in Cooperstown if he were ever to get inducted, much like Roger Clemens once said (before he became a total butthead). Ellsbury is a Red Sux, period. Like Youkilis, only for much longer. Now he's blocking the way for Frazier, Cave, McKinney et al. Boston's evil plan is still working.
ReplyDelete"Cellino and Barnes...Ambulance chasers 800-888-8888"
ReplyDeleteI thought that the White Sox issued Fowler with a counter lawsuit on the basis that the electrical power box was dented when he ran into it and the cost to fix it using union workers was $100,000.
Here are my terms for taking this deal....Xmas spirit and all:
ReplyDelete1. I will not condemn Jacoby a single whit, until he earns it irrevocably.
2. I remember Frank Larry and feel compelled to add mention of the great Harvey Keune ( spelling not withstanding ). That Tiger team was my back-up team when I was too afraid to be the Yankees in a stick ball game, thinking I could lose, humiliate and do dishonor to my favorites ( how would I ever lose?).
3. My new found Xmas spirit does not apply to Cashman. I will always think of him as a traitor to the cause of re-building with honor and integrity.
4. In the category of anyone and everyone can sometimes do a miraculous thing, I remain stunned that Cashman did a deal to get us DIDI. Nonetheless.....
ReplyDeleteHawk H would not know a "good guy" from a giraffe.
I love you all and I am all for peace and love, but Jacoby will never be a real Yankee. The idea of sacrificing Clint F in order get rid of Jacoby E really sticks in my craw. Some of the "moves" being bandied about in the ether of the not-so-free press these days amount to masturbation, flawed masturbation with no climax because someone knocks on the door, but masturbation nonetheless. I hope none of this crap pans out. Just sign CC for a year and let Chance and Justus have a chance. There will be no JUSTUS until Adams and Sheffield are given a CHANCE. Okay, I'm a moron, but at least I'll sign my handle to these moronic posts, unlike the timid, putrid souls who hide behind nothing and then disparage this noble blog.
ReplyDeleteVery well put, Duque.
ReplyDeleteThe Pale Hose have the audacity even to contest this suit?? And padding? We don't need no stinking padding! The question is why an electrical box, in a fairly new stadium, is anywhere that any player, fan, or batboy, or big-styrofoam-we're-number-one-hand vendor could possibly stumble over it.
(Frankly, on this one I've never quite forgiven Girardi, for putting a rookie in his first game in an unfamiliar position, on a wet field. So he could protect Ellsbury, I think, out in center. Oy.)
In regard to the Big El, I say this: he wants a chance to fight for a starting job. Fair dinkum. Let's give him every chance in spring training. If, though, he still looks to be clearly an over-the-hill commodity far behind even Hicks and/or Frazier (not to mention McKinney and Cave), incapable of getting on base regularly save through his patented catcher's interference move...I say he waives his no-trade clause, or faces the consequence (lots of booing, oh the humanity).
Appears as if you get at least part of your wish as stated above, 13bit - - I fervently hope the other part of it will also come to fruition - - we need more JUSTICE (not to mention Justus)...
ReplyDeleteAlphonso, I will second your terms for taking this deal whole-heartedly...ALL of them.
Happiest of holidays to all who participate in this blog - - with the possible exception of Stat-Boy, and his few fellow trolls, who dare darken our print, from time to time. LB (No J)
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