Big game tonight And frankly, what to say?Last year, we hate-hate-hated the one game wild card, which boiled 162 contests into a four-hour catwalk show. It wasn't fair. It wasn't cricket. You can't decide an entire year, a box of careers, in one night.
And yet, here we are, teeing up another set of lifetimes, players whose athletic careers will be permanently marked by a blooper or short hop. Meanwhile, the evil Astros will sit on their fat asses, rooting for a marathon that would drain our bullpen the way politicians drain our wallets.
One game. Tonight. Yankee Stadium. The Master and Suzyn. A 30 percent chance of rain. A 100 percent chance of Destiny.
Aaron Judge's last game as a Yankee?
Or Jameson Tailion's? He's another looming free agent. If he gives us five good innings, could it not seal his long-term future in NYC?
Then maybe... Domingo German? Dare we ask for three innings? After that, it's whomever answers the phone. Jonathan Loaisiga, probably. Clay Holmes? Magic Wandy, if his arm hasn't fallen off?
Can Oswaldo Cabrera continue to play flawlessly at SS? By now, it's obvious that Boone should have added Oswald Peraza to the playoffs roster. He's a superior fielding SS, the best candidate to replace IKF. Considering what's been piled upon him, Cabrera, he's been magnificent. But how far can they push the kid? And if he messes up, playing out of position, could his Yankee career be permanently shadowed?
Speaking of permanent shadows... Josh Donaldson. Last night, he waved pitifully at pitches down the middle. If we somehow beat Cleveland, and if his big toe hasn't fallen off, DJ LeMahieu should play 3B. We can't escape Donaldson next year; he'll cost us $21 million, no buyout until 2024. In the meantime, pray for DJ's big toe.
Could this be the Yankee finale for Gleyber? It didn't help matters, watching him lollygag to first on his DP grounder last night. He handled everything at 2B. But the planets, long range, are lined up against him. Our best young talent - Oswaldo included - can play 2B. And then there is DJ.
Oh, did I mention Boone and Cashman?
So many futures... riding on tonight.
Overture, curtain, lights. This is it, the night of nights. No more rehearsing and nursing a part, we know every part by heart...
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36 comments:
El duque gave a well-delineated list of concerns, oh so many concerns. Start with the imperative that the Yankees sign Judge to a long-term contract and then name him as Captain. Let's begin there.
Tallion Thee Stallion & Placido Domingo, seems a little like Kevin Brown (from the sun) and Javy 2x Vasquez going in game 7 of the 04 ALCS.
Well maybe I was wrong when I said they were done and it's over...
Looney tunes is a great metaphor for Yankees' management. Somehow we need a crossover with Scrooge McDuck playing HAL.
Is it Boone who made the playoff roster and left Oswald off of it? I doubt it.
Cash micromanages everything. No WAY that was not his move.
And no WAY he's not going to toss everyone under the bus if they fail and take ALL credit if they don't.
I had a mad urge to spend money last night - a few tickets in the very last row of shitlandia in far right field - $86 a pop - for tonight. Could have had them easily. Then, I realized that, not only did I not want to ride that D train home if they lost, but I did not want to ride it home if they WON. What is there to look forward to here? I am broken, nihilistic and disillusioned with this team. When I confirmed my decision with my friend Tom, he said "Not one penny for Hal." and I remembered my original boycott.
Fuck Hal.
Also, I have been supportive of Cole all year and it was interesting to watch so many people last night who had eviscerated him all year, suddenly raining platitudes on him. I don't think he's an ace, but he has brought everything he has to every game.
Anyway, here goes nothing!
One of two things happened regarding IKF and both possibilities make the Yankees management look awful.
Option 1:
The Yankees were blindsided watching IKF play in the ALDS, even though it's how he has played all season: lots of contact, no power, some speed, and occasional defensive lapses.
Option 2:
The Yankees knew all along that benching IKF was a possibility, yet chose not to bring Oswald Peraza on the postseason roster thereby forcing Aaron Hicks into the starting lineup. Additionally they chose to carry 4 players who have gone unused (German, Castrom Luetge, Marwin) instead of their top shortstop prospect who hit .306/.404/.429 in 18 games in September.
The first option means the Yankees aren't paying attention.
The second option means the Yankees don't understand how to construct a roster.
Either way this team is run by morons.
@13bit, Of course Cashman made the Peraza decision. He's the GM, not BaBoone.
In fact, I don't think BaBoone makes any managerial decisions either. BaBoone appears to be nothing but a babysitter for adult millionaires playing a kid's game.
@ZacharyA, It's gotta be the second option. I'm not sure why they put Castro on the roster. A completely useless one inning reliever. And German has not pitched one inning so far? Maybe there's something wrong with him and they are hiding the injury, as usual.
"Something familiar,
Something peculiar,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Something appealing,
Something appalling,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Nothing with kings, nothing with crowns;
Bring on the lovers, liars and clowns!
Old situations,
New complications,
Nothing portentous or polite;
Tragedy tomorrow,
Comedy tonight!
Something convulsive,
Something repulsive,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Something aesthetic,
Something frenetic,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Nothing with gods, nothing with fate;
Weighty affairs will just have to wait!
Nothing that's formal,
Nothing that's normal,
No recitations to recite;
Open up the curtain:
Comedy Tonight!
Something erratic,
Something dramatic,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Frenzy and frolic,
Strictly symbolic,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Something familiar,
Something peculiar,
Something for everybody:
Comedy tonight!
Something that's gaudy,
Something that's bawdy--
Something for everybawdy!
Comedy tonight!
Nothing that's grim.
Nothing that's Greek.
She plays Medea later this week.
Stunning surprises!
Cunning disguises!
Hundreds of actors out of sight!
Pantaloons and tunics!
Courtesans and eunuchs!
Funerals and chases!
Baritones and basses!
Panderers!
Philanderers!
Cupidity!
Timidity!
Mistakes!
Fakes!
Rhymes!
Crimes!
Tumblers!
Grumblers!
Bumblers!
Fumblers!
Comedy
Comedy
Comedy
Tonight!"
"On with the show, this is it."
We have our Three Stooges, Cashman, Bonnie and Hal.
Numbskulls!!
Or at least some hits.
I largely agree with Hammer about the course of this game. If we get out there, start getting some hits, scoring runs, Cleveland—a young team—might well fold with the baying of our crazed fans in the Bronx night. A shiver will run through them, like a man hearing a wolf's howl out on the moors at night.
On the other hand...if we don't hit early...
I dread to think of it.
Bitty, I'm one of those who have been frustrated by Cole all year—and for much of his Yankee duration—but I give him his props when he proves me wrong. Is that not what I should do? Happy to tip my hat and call him my daddy, as a great pitcher once said.
Speaking of which, Hammer, that was how I used to think about Mike Mussina. He was no good at all in a big game—UNLESS he was up against Pedro, when nobody expected him to win. Then he was generally lights out.
But maybe that was unfair. I do remember thinking that Mussina looked great in his first start against Florida in the 2003 World Series. Had we made it to a Game 7, and he had won the Series before a huge Stadium crowd, I might think of him in a wholly different way.
As for Cole...well, all the little meltdowns after delays and errors behind him annoy the hell out of me. But...maybe this is his year to shine. Let's hope he gets a chance against Houston.
All I know is this. After the disgraceful (if no where near as severe as the media, in search of a story, is painting it) booing of Aaron Judge the stadium crowd should give him a standing ovation EVERY time he comes to bat.
Not only did he get us here but this could be the last time we see him in pinstripes.
ALL RISE!
Zachary, I think you're completely right about how this roster has been put together for the postseason.
Any actually smart GM, looking over our team at the end of the regular season, would have concluded that the horse what brung us here is all knackered out and needs to be taken behind the barn and shot.
This was the time to go all out, even with young guys—who maybe other teams have not seen or adjusted to yet. Sure, that has its risks—witness Cabrera in LF—but they can be compensated for with judicious, late-inning substitutions.
If they don't trust Hicks in the OF, then Florial should be on this roster. If they don't trust Marwin, then we should have Peraza. This isn't rocket science. And if it were rocket science, I would not be anywhere near Cape Canaveral when Dr. Cashman went to launch.
The thing that's galled me all year is (to use your word) the lackadaisacal lollygagging lazy ass half speed jogging to first base, then turning on the jets only to get thrown out at first or second. Gleybar -Giancarlo, Donaldson I'm looking squarely at you three. If I was the manager, I'd print out a poster with some of Jim Kaat's best words of advice - "Run Hard Until the Umpire Calls You Out".
Is Bugs available to pitch a couple innings?
Taillon has the ball?
Comedy tomorrow! TRAGEDY TONIGHT!!
This is so repetitive, fuck.
What do you think of a LF Bader/CF Judge/RF Stanton alignment tonight if Cabrera is at shortstop?
This will allow you to get both Stanton and Carpenter (DH) into the lineup.
You wouldn't ask a ton from Stanton since right field at Yankee Stadium is not a lot of ground to cover.
Judge already has experience in CF and generally played well out there.
You'd still be getting Bader's defensive talent in Yankee Stadium's huge left field and he can come into center to help out Judge if needed.
And if miraculously we take the lead, you can move Judge back to right, Bader to center, and Hicks/Marwin to left later in the game.
Or is that too risky for a do-or-die game?
Zach,
That's a really good thought. not seeing the risk at all. Is it that Stanton gets hurt? So?
Risk is Stanton hasn't played the outfield in close to 5 months. Not sure he's even been taking practice flyballs. Small acreage or no, Stanton in RF is a disaster waiting to happen.
I do love me some DJ, but at 34 years old can we really consider him part of the Yankees' future? Not with all the "vaunted" "talent" in the pipeline. And certainly not with this front office.
It was reported last week that Stanton was taking outfield drills. No word on how they went.
Sadly, Stanton has reverted to his "mechanical man" persona, with late, perfunctory, level swings at pitches out of the strike zone. For all the invective leveled at Judge, Mr. Disappointment is hitting .083 on the series.
They won't put him in the outfield, from the fear that, God forbid, he injure himself again. But hell, I might even risk Carpenter in left for 6 innings or so.
I'd put Carpenter out there before Stanton too.
Ah, me. Going to the end with Hicks.
"Something convulsive, something repulsive..."
@Hoss, Love that poem, quite ingenious, is that yours or pilfered ... er ... borrowed from somewhere? Sounds almost like something from Gilbert & Sullivan.
About Mussina, yeah I think you're spot on about him. He was always so ... delicate. A six inning pitcher, maybe seven if he was feeling extra strong that night. Plus fastball and great knuckle-curve, and a smart pitcher with plus brainpower. But his stuff was not good enough to make him a true power pitcher, like Roger Clemens, or to force the other team to put weak grounders in play, like Greg Maddux. Therefore, he wasted an awful lot of pitches trying to strike everyone out. Nor did he have the intestinal fortitude and physical stamina of an El Duque Hernandez or David Cone. He finally won 20 games in his final season, when the Yankees were not making the playoffs and it didn't even matter what he did. His final year, he was a control pitcher, having lost the plus fastball. He probably could've pitcher another few years, but with his delicate constitution and maybe a desire to retire before his arm fell off, he called it a career without having one the big one.
Mussina came very close to winning a championship but ultimately came up short in the end, (mostly because his teams were not good enough). He by himself was not good enough to put the team on his back and drag them to a championship through sheer willpower. They put him in the Hall of Fame, though, didn't they? That's a joke. Ron Guidry was a better pitcher, at least for a few years. Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada, and even guys like Paul O'Neill, Hernandez and Cone, all arguably more deserving of Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame is a big joke. I don't even pay attention to the Hall of Fame.
Hoss, I played Psuedolus in "Funny Thing" when I was 20 in a youthful amateur production. But I do not at all remember all those lyrics. Jesus, there are a lot of them.
And yes, I'm sure I was the thinnest Psuedolus in history at the time. I couldn't act, couldn't sing, couldn't dance, but I had a good time. Got a lot of laughs--intentional ones, that is.
JM...
Intentional ones, as far as you know 😊
It's from the late, great Stephen Sondheim, Hammer, in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Based on actual, ancient Roman farces.
Let's hope tonight is not a farce!!
And yeah, Mussina...I could never stand that guy. Yet another pitcher who, like Kevin Brown, showed us his true mettle when he blew up after the Orioles made a couple bonehead plays behind him in our 1996 ALCS.
Seeing that, Cashman apparently decided...he's the man for us!
Always sour, always whining. He was 5-7 with us in the playoffs, turning in one clunker after another. Yet when he was asked why he thought he never won it all, after he retired, he blamed it all on Mariano's losses in 2001 and 2004. Look in the mirror, ASSHOLE!
And this was after Rivera, in the last, meaningless game of the 2008 season, came out of the bullpen to pitch 1 1/3 scoreless innings and preserve his first and only, 20-win season, up in Fenway.
Yeah, I think anyone who has actually watched the game, instead of just relying on the statistics, would put all those guys in the Hall before him, too.
Thanks, Doug K.! I enjoyed it!
Mussina was a pretty good high school basketball coach at Montoursville. Never a basketball school (football either) he at least had them winning for a few seasons. So there's that.
(I live in the sprawling mountains north of Montoursville in an area known as "Where The Fuck Are We?", which is how I know this.)
@Hoss, I was never one for reading those interviews, so I never even knew about Mussina's finger pointing at Rivera, until I heard from you about that several times. That was truly terrible, abominable tongue wagging by Mussina. I know these guys are just ballplayers, not lawyers or diplomats, but man, what a disgusting thing to say about a teammate. If he thought it over more carefully, perhaps he would've said "we gave it our all, but it just wasn't in the cards for us, and gotta give credit to the teams that beat us". Some people just don't think about the feelings of others.
And of course, his answer wasn't even the truth. The truth was that (1) Mussina wasn't good enough. And (2) those teams were not good enough. And (3) their manager wasn't good enough.
And what a dumb question by the reporter, why didn't he win a championship? What the hell is Mussina supposed to say? The reporter probably was happy about Mussina's fingerpointing. It's controversial, newsworthy. Whereas a diplomatic answer would be "boring".
Anyway, I hope Mussina apologized to Rivera. But sadly, I'd be surprised if he ever did apologize. Sourpuss, indeed! And a lousy teammate.
And I should add, as the Good Book says: What defiles a man is not what goes into his mouth, but what comes out of it. We should send a postcard to Mussina. He should be ashamed of himself. In the immortal words of the Master, Mussina "should be whipped, flogged, and flagellated".
@Mildred Lopez, No doubt the guy had brainpower, but apparently, he missed the classes on "What It Means To Be A Teammate" and "How to Look in the Mirror and See the Truth". LOL
Hoss, I did not LOVE Moose, but I did respect him. Same with Cole. I also felt as though each did try his best. Let's put it this way: they were not Carl Pavanos.
That being said, I'd rather have other people out there on the mound. A guy like Monty, say...
Can't let that one go.
And I also trash anybody at any time, so don't listen to me when I trash the trashers. I'm full of trash.
Trashily yours,
Bit the Garbageman
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