(With apologies to Tommy James and the Shondelles for the above headline.)
Anyway...
Last year, if you'll recall, we cogitated on the fact that the Judge and Giancarlo had hit a combined 111 home runs in 2017—but no more than 65 in any one season since.
I doubt it. But let's put a new over/under at 75.
Turning to a more likely milestone, in recent years ALL THREE Yankees in our mountain range of an outfield, Stanton (211), Judge (208), and Gallo (213), have made runs at the single-season strikeout record, currently 223, set by Mark Reynolds back in the halcyon year of 2009.
Can one of our boys do it??? All three, right now, are in the single-season top ten for most K's.
I doubt if Stanton or Judge can break the record, considering how often they get injured. But a Joey, Joey Gallo who can hit just well enough to stay on the field, maybe get up the giddy heights of his lifetime, .206 batting average again...well, he just might be our huckleberry.
But in any case, let's put the over/under for combined strikeouts by the Breezy Three at 600.
We do have to give Joey this: he is a model of consistency. When it comes to...his strikeout:home run ratio.
Lifetime, his 885 K's and 185 homers work out to 5.601 strikeouts per dinger.
Last year? His 213 whiffs and 38 roundtrippers came out to 5.605 fandangos per bridge shot.
WOW!
(By way of comparison, Babe Ruth's K:HR ratio was 1.863; Micky Mantle's, 3.1902; Joe DiMaggio's, 1.0221.)
I'm betting on Mr. Thousand-Yard Stare...being consistent.
Speaking of ratios...there's the guy taking over the traditional Gary Sanchez spot as Most Disappointing Young Yankee. That's right: your friend and mine, the oft-injured, always underachieving, Gleyber Torres—once thought to be the key to The Next Yankees Dynasty at shortstop.
So, the shortstop thing didn't quite work out.
Which serves to remind us that, for the last two seasons, The Gleyber has totaled all of 12 home runs...and 28 errors.
Yes, you read that correctly: 2 1/3 errors for every homer.
Will Torres top that mark again? Or...will he tumble back to 3 errors for every homer, a mark he achieved in the plague-shortened season of 2020?
But you never know with yet another Yankee in seemingly continuous decline. I would set the over/under at 2.0 errors per homer.
Beyond that, there's the fact that Torres generally misses 1/4 of all games due to injury.
So let's put the games-played over/under for our fabulous Invalid Corps as follows:
Gleyber: 125
Judge: 130
Giancarlo: 110
Donaldson: 90
Hicksie: 50
Ben Biceptedt: 25
Finally, there's pitching. You remember that, right? Brian Cashman never does, which is one reason why the last Yankee to win 20 games or more was CC, pictured here before he retired and had time to get into shape:
Considering the fact that the Yanks' only sure starter, the Cole Train, managed 16 wins before they took away his favorite foreign substance—(hey, wasn't that a Steely Dan line?)—and the fact that there are 327 people in the bullpen every night...I would say the over/under on most wins has to be 14 this year.
Remember, you heard it here first.
Sevy and Cole over 14 Wins. Montgomery at 14, Talisman, 13 and German 12 . Several stop-gap pitchers at 5-6 wins. One lucky reliever 8-10 wins and several other relievers will hit 5 wins. Should bring us to 97 total.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is all very interesting and well, important.;
ReplyDeleteBut when do the Rail RIders play next?
Is it snowing in SYR. or will they play tonight?
The Pirates want to see how their next SS is doing.
Carl, please put down the hash pipe. Sexy will not win 14 and Germane will not win 12.
ReplyDeleteIf they both reach your goal, I will give you a gift certificate to your favorite dispensary and will gladly allow you to beat me senseless with the "I TOLD YOU SO" stick.
And if he doesn't I will reciprocate in kind (Sevy).
ReplyDeleteI tried to buy a GC for Platoni (via Dick Allen) at Costco but was not able to because most of their stores are independently owned and won't redeem on-line cards. Platoni, if you have figured out a way to get you the 2 cases or $ 50.00 cash, let me know. You should still have my email address.
Arch, yes, Herr German might not win 12....agreed.
ReplyDeleteHey Hoss that was really great.
ReplyDeleteI like your betting app better than the one with the blond woman with the big head. She scares me. As does the little tough guy who wants to know if I will bet with his app or will he have to beat me up.
Then again, at least neither of them sets the basketball court on fire, literally. And don't get me started on the Caesar's one. (Although I do like the Mannings commercial)
Is there an incentive? Will you give me $250 in free bets if either Judge, Stanton or Gallo strike out one time during the season?
Or is it more subtle like $250 if Aaron Boone says a losing pitcher had good stuff but just made a couple of bad pitches?
Anyway... Nicely done.
Isn't German hurt again? We'd be lucky if he ever wins a few games for us again. The guy threw his career down the toilet. Why, why did he have to slap that woman? I feel like Nancy Kerrigan ... WHYYYYY? ... WHYYYYY?....
ReplyDeleteSeverino, Cole with 14 wins each? I hate to say it, but it'll probably be closer to 14 wins COMBINED for the two of them.
I think this 2022 Yankee team is starting to resemble the 2021-2022 New York Islanders team.
The Islanders thought they'd win a championship this year by bringing in a whole bunch of old guys. "One more old veteran will put us over the top." That seemed to be the mindset for their GM. And with back to back finishes in the playoff semifinals, it did not seem irrational. The problem was that all of the other teams got better, like way, way better, and the Islanders were left standing there. Looks like the Islanders are not even going to make the playoffs this season.
I feel that this Yankee team is going to be left behind by all the other other teams. Blue Jays, Red Sux, the Tampons are all probably going to be even better than they were last season. And we've got ... 36 year old Josh Donaldson. And a bunch of question marks in the starting rotation, as usual. Even Cole is now a question mark. Is he on the way downhill, can he wean himself off the sticky stuff, can he win a big game, can he beat Boston?
82 Wins max. You heard it here first.
ReplyDeleteDone with the homer-happy homers who hoppity hoppity hoppity happily around while they strike out endlessly in search of more homers because...well, because that's the way the "game" is now "played."
So done with these assfucks. So so so so done.
Don't fall for the hype, boys. It's a fairy tale.
Hal is the Wizard of Oz. Or is it Brian? Or is it Randy Levine, sitting naked in a phone booth that's draped with a green velvet curtain. Randy Erectus, just waiting for the first poor victim to make a phone call.
I'm a Yankee fan for life, but the Mets are looking good this year. The ONLY way the Yankees will change is to have Brian outed as the massive moron that he is.
Another sign of the Apocalypse;
ReplyDeleteI just got a message from RiverAveBlues, that the Yanks will have an exclusive game on the "Peacock Network" which I assume is some pay sub stack of NBC, ;
So now if you want to watch all the games you have to subscribe and pay for YES, FOX, ESPN, FS1, Amazon Prime, Apple+ and Peacock.
Kinda feels like I am observing the last great buffalo hunt of 1882. You know, kill the beast while you still can.
There once was time in my life when football season was just a way to get through the cold weather until baseball came back (and I actually played in HS and part of college).
Now, I am like when is the NFL Draft and when do college and pros start?
Wow is all I can say.
My grandkids won't even know what baseball is.
players will only be seen in game reserves like the Javan Rhino
Archie,
ReplyDeleteYes exactly. They are milking a dying game for every dime they can.
Arch...subscribe to an IPTV (Internet Protocol TV). You can get every sport, every team, home and away broadcast including through the services you mentioned above, movies, all premium channels, most local tv stations in the US plus PPV and 20 foreign countries TV for less than 20 bucks a month. Fuck YES, SNY, et al.
ReplyDeleteMmm, "plus" networks—cable's cable!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is a bridge too far for me.
They sort of don't get the whole idea of TV, which is that it's right there, and if you feel like watching you can. It's sort of like when all the drugstores started putting everything behind locked cases to guard against the meth fiends. Good luck with your impulse buys/watches?
The original idea of pay-TV, too, was that you didn't have to suffer through commercials. Now we have commercials AND pay cable, and pay for every other network.
Great idea, to introduce this in the midst of economic turmoil, after a months-long lockout. Oh, those big brains!
Thanks for the kind words, Doug.
ReplyDeleteActually, all transactions on these bets will be conducted in my own, super-cryptkeeper-crypto currency, which is PyInSkie. I guarantee you, it's the coming thing.
Here's how it works: for every US dollar you wager, I will pay off in 500 PyInSkie "slices." This currency will not have any material form, of course, and is accepted only at certified EmperorSansClothes stores. But for every wager of $1,000 or more, you are welcome to stop by for a beer.
Hey, it's the future!
And I like some of those Manning ads, too. I particularly like the one where they're all kvelling over the helmet catch, and Peyton says just loud enough to be heard, "Yeah, I would've put it on the numbers."
ReplyDeleteHee-hee!
88 seems about right. Just miss playoffs, or lose early.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI've already given my wins prediction, but I would like to add another prediction:
SWB wins more games than the Yankees this season.
I hope to enjoy the season. I hope to find some joy somewhere during the 2022 Yankees experiment. BUT - my heart says it won't happen. My heart says that it will be a disappointment. My hearts says that many things will go wrong for the 2022 Yankee$. I trust my heart. And I am sad. So sad. SO VERY SAD. Because my heart is always right. ALWAYS. RIGHT. SO SAD. That said - this blog does not allow anonymous comments. More sadness because I thought I was part of the fold. sad
ReplyDeleteWin them all. Lose them all. No self-respecting soul gives a shit.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to research IPTV services because what Carl described sounds like nirvana in every watchable way.
ReplyDeleteHoss, nice post. As always. I doubt we see much of the German this season. He's just been wrecked by that domestic violence incident and the aftermath. Karma is a bitch, you know?