Houston... Texas... Ted Cruz... fake cowboys... floods... migrant buses to NYC...
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...
A soul-eating, teardown city with the most polluted air in America, and a power structure built from oil billionaires and incest.
A baseball franchise of secret computer rooms, upper-management sexual harassment and the worst cheating scandal since the 1919 Black Sox.
A team of garbage can bangers.
The problem with having a hate-filled arch-enemy is that, at some point, you must beat them. The Yankees have never beaten Houston in a postseason.
Over the next two weeks - dare I even write this? - the Death Barge has a chance to reverse the polarity on their Houston/NY dynamic, maybe even flick back to their pre-2004 dominance of Boston, before the Bambino was ripped from his grave and paraded around Fenway.
Dare I even suggest it?
So, okay, repeating for the dense: Here... We... Are...
Some other globs of consciousness...
1. What a difference DJ LeMahieu would make, if healthy. But how can we know? He'll say he's ready; they all do. But Matt Carpenter has looked terrible - 2 ABs, 2 Ks. Would the Yankees subject LeMahieu's rustiness to playoff intensity?
One note: No matter how you slice it, DJ is a far superior leadoff hitter than Gleyber Torres, who just doesn't walk enough to bat first. DJ is made for that role, and with a runner on first, Aaron Judge is a different batter.
2. Ron Marinaccio says he's ready. If so, he would step into the late-innings rotation, replacing Miguel Castro, who was only there to look scary stepping off the bus.
3. Somewhere in Miami, El Chapo must be throwing baseballs at his TV. (And missing, of course; they go straight to the backstop.) Too bad. I guess the tattoo infection went to his head.
Aroldis had one shot - one shot! - at showing the Yankees that he had found command of his pitches: One shot, in their final practice, to throw strikes. Instead, he threw a hissy fit and went home. Sad.
4. If LeMahieu can play, the Yankees would suddenly enjoy multiple options - but they all boil down to whether Giancarlo Stanton can play LF. If so, the lineup explodes with possibilities - Gleyber, Carpenter, DJ, Cabrera - so many moves.
In the their winning streaks of early summer, Stanton often played LF. The outfield even seemed to rejuvenate him. Would they dare? Still... no signs of Stanton chasing flies in practice.
5. This winter, Jameson Tailion will be a free agent. Tonight, he has the chance to make himself a shitload of money in those upcoming negotiations.
6. No sightings of Domingo German, whom I thought could be an x-factor. When pitching well, the Herm can be lights out, at least once around a batting order. Frankly, I was surprised Boone didn't uncork him, but it worked out, eh?
7. If the Yankees are really going to bench IKF, it's time for Oswald Peraza. Playing Cabrera at SS is a ticking time bomb. He's a 2B, not a playoffs SS. They should flip Peraza for Marwin Gonzalez, keep Oswaldo for the utility role, and see what happens. Those Cleveland rookies sure didn't look overmatched. And let's remember that Peraza, in 47 MLB at-bats, hit .306 with a HR. (He also stole two bases in two tries.)
Game time is 7:37. Houston is favored to win.
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4 comments:
If El Chapo were on the team, he would have surely blown the save in either the 4th or 5th game. He made the team better with subtraction.
The move to put Peraza on the roster is so obvious, I can't believe Cashmoney or Lorna Boone could possibly even think about it.
Preach, Duque, preach! And yes, if Chapman were still on the roster, the roster would now be scattered all over this great land of ours, awaiting their tee times.
Now that Hicks is gone, all they have to do is put Peraza in. And take out reliever Castro, why is he even on the roster? They're not going to use him, unless it's a blowout either way.
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