Monday, August 23, 2021

Tp Pass The Time....


 A few things I like about the Yankees:

1.  Velazquez

2.  Wade

3.  Rizzo ( and Voit in his angry, but productive, response.).

4.  Higgy's defense; Odor's petulance and grit ( And he is showing useful versatility ) 

5.  Nasty Nestor - how many people know that this guy is young?

6. Luis Gil

7.  The emergence of Johnny Lasagna, Abreu and Ridings ( both were " disappeared for a stretch ).

8.  Judge in center; Gallo in left, Giancarlo in right

9.  Some names in the minors ( Volpe, Preraza, Florial, Allen)

10.  Urshela ( I always love a great glove at third ).

11.  The solid guys ( Cole, Taillon, Greene, Montgomery, DJ)

12.  Gary - quietly improving at everything. 

Let's drink to that !

51 comments:

  1. OK, who kidnapped Alfonso and took over his account? I’m going to start a go fund me and we will raise as much money as it takes to free him.

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  2. Drinking to Gary would require several fifth over a short period of time, alcohol poisoning, and death. THEN maybe I’d stop hating him.

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  3. I think JM must have hacked his account

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  4. Gerrit Cole Fastballs
    And trouncing the Red Sox
    Valazquez’s grandma
    And finally, some base knocks...

    Stanton, when he stays in place with his swing.
    These are a few of my favorite things.

    Doug K.

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  5. Wow - Porn Stache is only 26? Coudda knocked me over wid a feather!

    I'll drink to that! (And one for Mahler!)

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  6. Quandaries: It's clear that we are all hoping that Gleyber stays on the DL to prolong Velazquez's stint at shortstop. But . . . what about Urshela? If he returns, that's the end of Tyler Wade's sprint to the mountaintop. Frankly, I think that in a rational universe Wade would be playing ahead of Odor--he's better on defense and speed and his hitting is very close--look at their respective OPS's--although Odor has a slight edge, Wade's is much better for the past few weeks. Wade brings the youth and athleticism and elan we all pine for but has been markely lacking from Cashman's pastiche of suggards (and don't credit Cashman/Boone for playing Wade--credit COVID and injuries; Wade has always been good in extended trials but has had precious few with this team). And frankly I find Urshela to be something of an energy suck--he's great on defense, but SLOW, with only sporadic pop at the bat. People like to think that the Yankees' recent run is all about the firm of Rizzo and Gallo, but I think it has as much--or more--to do with the tandem of Velazquez and Wade: subtracting either from the lineup at this point in favor of Urshela and/or Torres would send this power-speed juggernaut into reverse and reinstate the sluggish .500-ish mailing-it-in jalopy of April through June.

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  7. Anon, shades of 2017 if that happens. And it very well could.

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  8. Wade should be playing instead of Odor. Fucking Boone.

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  9. Atlanta has won nine in a row against certifiable tomato cans. Which has brought them to first in the sad NL East,12 games over .500.

    So basically, they're a .500 team that can beat the dregs.

    If we don't take two, something is wrong.

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  10. Since July 1 the Braves are 29-15

    This ought to be a good test.

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  11. Wow, they must have really sucked before July. Quite a turnaround.

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  12. Of course, we had issues before July.

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  13. Before their run against the worst teams in the NL, then, they had been 20-15 since July 1. And were three games over going into the nine game run.

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  14. Giancarlo! His name isn't Marlo!

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  15. Nice to see Giancarlo hit a slider away after whiffing at what seems like thousands of them.

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  16. That is one tall Yankees outfield: Gallo 6'5", Judge at 6'&7" and Stanton 6'6"

    No doubt the tallest outfield in history. Surprised none of the pundits have mentioned it. Unless I missed it, which wouldn't be a surprise since I hardly listen to anything Michael Kay has to say anyway.

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    Replies
    1. John Smolz mentioned them as the tallest outfield on the Fox Sports broadcast over the weekend. Judge is tied with one other player as the 2 tallest center fielders in MLB history.

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  17. Larry Rothschild was fired as pitching coach of the Padres.

    Obviously, the Pods current losing streak can be laid directly at his feet.

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  18. @DickAllen...Read an article about Larry being sacked. The problem, according to the article, is that the Padres didn't do enough at the trade deadline to remain competitive (refer to Boston Red Sox). The pitchers liked Larry, but the team had injuries to the pitching staff (refer to New York Yankees) and couldn't make up for the setbacks. Larry was the scapegoat (look up scapegoat).

    Look I agree with you that Larry should have been put out to pasture years ago...he was in a bad situation (refer to Baltimore Orioles).

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  19. The photo they showed of Larry looked more like a police mug shot: unshaven and bloodshot eyes. Not a good look, even for an old guy like me.

    Okay, call me the doomsayer, but why Lasangna in the sixth, and why Gardner as a defensive replacement taking Stanton's bat out of the lineup when there's plenty of game left to play?

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  20. Dick, Boone will never be compared to a man like, say George S. Patton.

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  21. Really hate the Gardner move. It's just too damn early for that.

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  22. Rothschild has to be the worst pitching coach in my lifetime. And I ain't no spring chicken!

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  23. Michael Kay points out that "It's not a save situation," but does it really matter?

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  24. Four runs is not enough.

    I guess Bonehead is thinking it's unsportsmanlike to win 10 in a row.

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  25. For Chapman, four runs IS a save situation these days

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  26. Maybe they can score 4 or 5 runs here to make it a winnable game.

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  27. Fiddle dee dee. Here we go.

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  28. Braves are helping out here, swinging at balls.

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  29. Here is the deal. Yanks at beginning of season all had designated roles. Same lineup, same bullpen order. Same everything. No one was challenged for playing time because if they sucked, well they just got plugged back into their role the next day. Rinse, wash, repeat. Rinse, wash, repeat. Gleybor struggling? Still played. Frazier and Gardy? Let's put them in the lineup tomorrow anyway. Chapman struggling with a 4 run lead? Well he is the closer so you can't pull him. No variables, no accountability, no managing, just plug the numbers and play. What occurred was discourse with some injuries and trade deadline moves that impacted "regulars". And then suddenly, no one was guaranteed anything. Wade is challenging infielders, Gardy can't play every day bc Stanton is in the field, some of the AAA guys came through and pushed veterans even if they got sent back down. The bullpen was without a closer and others emerged as reliable. Voit now has accountability with Rizzo. Stanton and Gardy with Gallo. Wade playing regularly looks like a real baseball player. Valasquez, wow. Now we have "reserves" coming back. Urshella and eventually Torres. Do they deserve to play? Well friggin earn it and perform, bc come 9/1 there are 2 extra roster spots so some of these guys ain't going anywhere. You see, healthy competition was lacking early in the year. Fail and who cares. Now they care. The depth is breathing down their necks...and they nut up. Thats the difference.

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  30. Wow, indeed! And I agree with my fellow Unknown. The biggest thing we have to fear is the likes of Gleyber being automatically being slotted back in because they are "regulars."

    Shame about Britton. But a bigger shame about Miggy. WTF? Whoever would've thought that Andujar, Frazier, and The Gleyber would amount to so little?

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  31. Great stat on YES tonight:

    Yanks are only the 5th team to go from .500 or under on July 4th—they were 41-41 on Independence Day—and be 20 games or more over .500 by September.

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  32. I missed the game today. First day of a stay-cation. I'm still processing.

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  33. An amazingly clean win with no drama.

    And In other incredible news: today’s game took less than three hours to play.

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  34. "Earn it"? But that means giving Urshela and Torres playing time. We've already seen what they can or can't do over a large sample size. I say keep them as reserves, but don't deprive Wade and Velazquez of playing time on their account. There's not enough time left in the season to allow proven mediocrities to clog the starting lineup long enough to allow them to earn or not earn something.

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  35. It's not a matter of whether this or that pitcher should be a "closer." The best relief pitcher should be used in the highest-leverage situations, even if they occur before the ninth inning. That's rational--rather than traditional sclerotic--thinking.

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  36. Used to be that major league active rosters "expanded" on Sept. 1. From 25 to 40.

    Am I dating myself with that memory? OR --

    Is that still the case?

    If it IS still the case, you can have your Gleyber and Ursh on the team without dropping anyone.

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  37. Joe--The issue is not whether or not Torres and Urshela are on the team. The issue is whether they displace Wade and Vazquez in the starting lineup.

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  38. @JFOB It's not the case anymore...Only to 28 players now.

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