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Monday, September 3, 2018

Most Useless Yankee

So I watched the game against Oakland today.

We tied it early and then went to sleep.

There was a chance to get back in the game in the top of the 8th inning.  Jerry Familia ( Oakland pitcher ), after getting two quick outs, lost the strike zone.

Before you could blink, the Yankees were in a position to tie or lead the game, as the long awaited slugger, Jesus Sanchez, sauntered to the plate.   With a 2-0 count on Sanchez, Familia got a lucky call on the edge of the outside corner.  So it is 2-1.

Remember now, Gary ( or "Jesus" ...in honor of our former great prospect and slugger Jesus
 Montero ) has been out for weeks re-habbing a strained groin due to over-eating and lack of hustle.

But the writers for the sports pages, and the various media outlets, have long told us that the Yankees
will " right this ship" when slugger Sanchez returns to the line-up.

On Familia's next pitch ( and he had just walked Andujar on 4 pitches ), Gary lunges at a ball at least a foot off the plate for a 2-2 count.  With any normal human being at bat, that pitch is taken and we have a 3-1 count.  Which would have put more pressure on Familia.  But not Gary.  I mean Jesus.

After a few lame fouls balls, Gary strikes out.  I will concede that he swung, rather than watched.  And that is a good thing.  Not very good. But something.

So here is what I think:  Gary "Jesus" Sanchez is, in fact, worse than Jesus Montero.  Since this heralded catcher has returned from the hospital, his batting average has dropped.  Now at the.183 level.

He had a chance today to make a difference.  He failed completely.  It is for these moments that star players live.  With one swing he brings the team back from the brink.  Instead, he has a crappy at-bat and leaves everyone with a sour taste of hopelessness.

We can all now feel the hot breath of Oakland closing on us.  The wild card chase may soon reverse, and have us chasing others.  Forcing the Yankees to watch the scoreboard at night.

Sanchez is part of our destiny.  A destiny which may shortly be out of our control.

I think he is awful.  I think he is over-rated.  I think he will fail this team at every critical moment.

As he did today.



11 comments:

HoraceClarke66 said...

Yeah, this whole season is becoming a surreal nightmare in which players get hurt, rehab, come back—and are worse than ever.

Or, they are replaced by players even more terrible than they were.

Is there some reason why Hetch Hetchy, acquired as a defensive replacement, is now starting every game.

I know, I know: Neil Walker. But hey, he got to contribute his own critical strikeout today.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

I'm going to have an ice cream sandwich in his honor. After all, it is hot tonight.

Anonymous said...

WHAT MADE ME JUST AS SICK AS THAT STRIKEOUT WAS THAT PASSED BALL I SAW SLAP OFF HIS GLOVE.

IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, IT LOOKED LIKE HE LOAFED AFTER IT THE FIRST 2 STEPS, THEN PUT A LITTLE BIT OF A MOVE ON AFTER THAT.

WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY?

Local Bargain Jerk said...


I didn't watch the game tonight.  I'm glad I didn't.

I was going to log on and wonder among friends how it is that we can have the second-best record in baseball, yet seemingly suck so hard.  Then I noticed something...

If we lose tomorrow (a distinct possibility) and Houston wins (a distinct possibility since they're 7 of their last 10), then we can dispense with all this nonsensical angst about being the second-best team in baseball.  If those two things happen, we're tied for the second-best record ... and it's all downhill from there.

Mind you, I'm a leading hand-wringer in the nonsensical angst sweepstakes in wondering how it is we can have this record while showing so little.

So, I say:

     Lose tomorrow.

     Pull for Cleveland.

     Hope that the change in their overall MLB status causes the boys to look in the mirror
     and try to figure out who they are as a team.

I got nothing else.

Local Bargain Jerk said...


Oh, maybe I do have something else: Get rid of Boone.

Signed,

Yer Humble Hand Wringer

Anonymous said...

Allow me to fervently second that, LBJ - - and while we're floating in fantasyland, why not dump Coopsie Cash-Puss, too?? The team's chances would improve considerably overnight - - imho.

Yes, Fonz, Jesus was in his usual form today - - although he DID hustle down to first, after he struck out one time, today, and reach safely.

Also: I am not equating Stanton with Jesus - - not by any stretch - - but Stanton DID swing a third "strike" which was even worse than the one Jesus swung at. It killed a rally with men on base, as well.

As if we needed more trouble, Cuzzi was in his usual execrable form today, behind the plate - - and his dislike for the Yankees has been palpable, for the last several years (watch him screw us tomorrow night, on check-swings, from his third-base perch)....Carnac the Great told me so.

...and why the be-jeezus did Boone put in Cole first, and the overworked Chad Greene first and second, when we have Jonny Lasagna back, now?? That kid was the brightest spot in this sad game. LB (No J)

HoraceClarke66 said...

LBJ and LB no J: I could not agree more, about both men.

But Coops is going nowhere, as long as he keeps bringing in the big bucks with a shrinking payroll, at least—and as long as Coops is going nowhere, Ma Boone is going nowhere fast.

As many of us have mentioned, Coops already has his gilded alibi: 'Oh, what could you have possibly expected with all these injuries??? Just LOOK at how many games we won anyway!'

And you know, he has half-a-point. What will be overlooked, though, is just how badly he overreacted to the injuries.

So yes, I am rooting for those Indians. After my first team after the Yankees: Not the Red Sox.

HoraceClarke66 said...

And I have no idea why Cole is still coming in with the game on the line. Of his last ten outings, I would rank five as flops, which is just not good enough for important situations.

Why not just save him for mopping up—particularly now that it's September, when there are plenty of other possibilities?

HoraceClarke66 said...

As for that second-best crap, the Yankees had the BEST record in baseball, period, after the games of June 20th, when they
were 50-22, and in first place by 2.

Since then, they have gone 36-30, as Cashman has reacted to their problems with one stopgap "solution" after another, all of which have gone bad after a short time.

Hmm, looking like killers, then falling apart with injuries and strange regressions for two months? Sounds weirdly like last year.

I'm sorry, did I say last year? I mean next year. An the year after that...

HoraceClarke66 said...

Also...this was where we really could have used Old George.

Coming down the stretch, in a long and injury-laden season, and we have to fly cross-country to play an afternoon game the next day???

WTF?

Who came up with that? And worse yet, why didn't we complain about it loud and long?

The Mad King would've been tearing the jugulars out of league officials with his teeth. His sons? Hey, the money keeps rolling in, don't it?

I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that the Yanks didn't have to play the ESPN Sunday night game before catching their flight.

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