Forty-three thousand! Packed stands! Constant crowd roar! (Imagine what it must have been like for Joey Gallo, escaping deathly disinterested Texas.) Glorious night! Walk-off win! Gardy, Gardy, Gardy! Perfect in every way!
So... do we dare look under the rock? Was this our Sturgis? A week from now, will NYC pay the price with a spike of Covid cases?
Okay, bear with me here, because as obnoxious Yankee blog posts go, this one is a doozy. It will look as though I'm sidestepping the deaths and human suffering from Covid in order to ponder - gasp - the virus' potential impact on the AL East wild card race. To anyone who has suffered from Covid - or worse, lost a loved one - I apologize. But this is a Yankee blog - and Yankee fans, by definition, are patently insufferable. We know no better.
And here's the thing: Thus far, Covid has been out of whack. Maybe it's the cosmos, maybe it's random chance, or maybe it's something else... But the Yankees have been the hardest hit team by Covid, and it's worth wondering why? And what might it mean down the road?
If the pandemic surge continues - as practically everybody expects - will it hit other cities and franchises? Could it upend the pennant races?
Look: We're not rooting for this. I hope every team studies the Yankees and shores up safety protocols with masks, social distancing and - God, help them if they haven't already done this - vaccinations. But right now, it's a fair estimate that things will worsen before they improve. And that means rivals could face outbreaks that the Yankees have already suffered.
This season, the Yankees have lost to Covid, at times, the following players: Gleyber Torres, Jonathan Loaisiga, Gio Urshela, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery and Kyle Higashioka. This is their third outbreak in 2021, and the entire organization should be wondering... WTK?
How bad is it across MLB? Surprisingly, there isn't much information out there. This we know:
A July 28 game between the Nationals and Phillies was postponed because the Nats had 12 players and personnel test positive.
Following the All-Star game, 14 players or people tested positive. The event seems to have seeded an outbreak in Colorado, and it may have spread it throughout the game.
The Yankees suffered their first outbreak in May - with nine cases, including Gleyber Torres (the lone player) and 3B coach Phil Nevin (who had a seriously rough time.) Their second outbreak came after the All-Star game. This one came - whether relevant or not - after they played in the hot spot of Miami.
Will Covid be the wild card in the wild card race?
Yeah. Damn right, it will. Bet on it. The Yankees already have practically an entire lineup of injuries. Consider this batting order of the missing.
Aaron Hicks CF
Luke Voit 1B
Gary Sanchez C
Gio Urshela 3B
Clint Frazier LF
Miguel Andujar DH
Tim Locastro RF
Future injury SS
Future injury 2B
Gerrit Cole P
Cory Kluber P
Luis Severino P
Domingo German P
The usual tsunami of injuries, mixed with Covid, has put the Yankees on the ropes - ironically, a situation that often finds them playing their best. And between now and October, I doubt they'll be the only team so heavily stricken.
Forty-three thousand. Damn, it was beautiful. I hope we don't come to rue it.
Well since Tampa and Marlins have not had the COVID outbreaks that we have had, or any other visiting teams to those franchises since Delta was only part of Animal House, it is much more likely that it was the J&J vaccine .
ReplyDeleteJust saying, don't blame Florida, although you obviously do not like Red States.. We are actually quite happy here without any Cuomos, but by all means, do stay away if you are so inclined
Godot
Somehow I don't think the lineup is missing any of those guys. It's already full of guys hitting .200 - .240
ReplyDeleteLOL..ridiculous, Godot.
ReplyDeleteFL leads the nation with 17000 + cases this week. Cuomo may be a creep, but he isn't a serial rapist nor does he screw underage girls while cavorting with Jeffrey Epstein like Trump. Your Governor is a first-class douchebag who puts politics ahead of the health and well being of his citizens. It's laughable that he tries to blame illegal immigrants for the covid increase. Hmm, CA and WA have a lot of immigrants yet no large spike there now. No need to wonder why.
Speaking of covid, is the Manhattan meet-up cancelled....or even scheduled yet?
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm...
ReplyDeleteLet’s see now: major Delta outbreaks in Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
What could all these states have in common?
Republicans? People who aren’t vaccinated? Sister and cousin fucking?
Or is it just a coincidence?
Wild card, my patootie. We're going for the Division. I've always said, all we needed was a winning tear or two, and we've got one right now. And we're closing in on the Sox and will take on the Rays soon enough.
ReplyDeleteBut today, the question is can we win day games? Two of 'em in a row are upon us.
Dick Allen....I think Godot would tell you not to put down sister and cousin fucking until you try it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carl.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I’ll attend my next family reunion
Hi Carl, glad you mentioned the meet up,,,,,
ReplyDeleteIIHIIFIIC MANHATTAN MEET UP???
Hey Gang, looking at the schedule, if weekends work best for folks, they are playing the Twins Sat Aug 21st, Sun 22nd @ 1pm, and the A's Sat Aug 28th and 29th @ 4:07 pm. As far as bars/venues are concerned, my thinking is if friends are coming in from out of town, mid town might be the easiest for them, while of course making sure the game is being aired on a screen/television. That said, I'll meet whenever or wherever. I'm double vaxed, and while I'm not making a habit of dining in, I'd meet up inside of a bar for this.
Let us know your thoughts, and the more the merrier!!!!!
Lieber Herr Duque, you missed the latest to land on the IL:
ReplyDeleteLHP - Aroldis Chapman - 10 days (fucked-up his elbow)
Also @ Carle and DickAllen, thank you, spot ON analysis above!!!!!
ReplyDeleteFlorida set a new record of 23 thousand case with infections still rising. Cuomo being a creep will be dealt with, whereas Desantis being a serial killer is applauded. So there's that I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou ignorant authority worshipping servile fuckface.
Go Winnie!!!
ReplyDeleteBLESS YOU Winnie!
ReplyDeleteFlorida is personal for me, I grew up there and did the reverse migration to NYC for art school, but my family is still there. Thankfully, they are all science based and extremely careful regarding the pandemic, but, we know others who are not, and many are taking their lead from DeSantis> Don't Fauci My Florida and Co,,,, I cannot describe the anger and disgust I have for those in power who willfully misinform, there's quite literally, blood on their hands!
wonderful to see left wing people go deranged over anything that may disagree with their mantra.
ReplyDeleteSimply stated the truth, that all the other teams who visited FLa., did not have civid outbreaks like the Yanks. You guys blamed Fla. Maybe it was the weakness of the J%J vac which the Yanks took. Maybe it was because all of you stayed lockdown so long you don't have immunities yet.
According to the USA Facts website, NY has had 53,496 total deaths so far and on August 5 NY had 9 reported deaths. [last day listed.]
Fla., 39,079 total deaths and 0 deaths recorded on August 5th.
But, by all means keeping insulting the South and presume that we all sleep with relatives while you Northerners stay locked up. That approach certainly helped all the Nursing Home seniors. Oh, and take all the non-vacced migrants, please. Applying your logic means that Biden is "a first-class douchebag who puts politics ahead of the health and well-being of his citizens" by letting people flood our country.
Enjoy the nice gas and oil prices this winter on top of your taxes. At least you will be safe from the street shootings when the weather gets cold and you are all locked down.
Godot
Wrong again mutant Trumpster. Biden has virtually the same border policy as Trump (title 42) except he isn't as mean spirited towards the border-crossers who get caught.
DeleteAnd your stats about deaths in FL vs. New York are meaningless because NYC is much more densely populated. Of course, a Fox News watcher such as yourself is too ignorant to figure that out.
Just NYC, excluding the densely populated area of Long Island and Westchester County on their outskirts has about 40% of the entire state of swampland FL on about. O45% of the land mass. One need not be an epidemiologist to understand this.Even someone as brain addled as a Trumpster can should be able to figure that out.
ReplyDelete