Yes, that's right: he should try less hard.
Ma Boone summed it up, in his usual, trademark gobbledygook:
"Experience is your friend in that situation, understanding how to do that. [Bader's] athleticism is his calling card. You don't want to throttle him back too much. But there's also an experience factor of learning how to do it and how to go through it in certain situations. That experience certainly allows you to make smarter decisions within a game on particular players that come up."
Polonius could not have put it better.
Sure, instill in your centerfielder's head the idea that, on every play, he should be calculating not only whether he can catch the ball or not, but if he'll injure himself. What could possibly go wrong?
Beyond Boone's "neither a borrower nor a lender be" advice, lies the usual ineptitude of Cashman's decision-making.
Why, oh, why, oh-why-o do you trade for a guy whose skills are his athleticism and fielding...then tell him not to go too hard in the field? What else does Harrison Bader bring with him? His lifetime, .246 batting average? His 58 home runs in 7 major-league seasons?
Couldn't help but notice that Giancarlo Stanton, who is now a mind-bending 5-45 since his return from a month-and-a-half on the DL, got the night off last night against the Mariners' ace. Obviously, "Big G" needs at-bats, but instead, the brilliant strategy is to bench him against a hard pitcher.
Whatever. Yankees' management wields "The Medusa Touch." Soon, the whole team will be ordered to stand rooted like stone at their positions or in the dugout, unable to move lest they tweak something and vanish again for a month or two.
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66 comments:
We interrupt this freshly posted "Bader do Less than MO' " pOst with the following carry over from the Top of the Morning Post ----
AT carl & AT everyone else:
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2023/6/21/23767113/oakland-as-leaving-for-vegas-john-fisher-reverse-boycott
"Yankees' management wields "The Medusa Touch." Soon, the whole team will be ordered to stand rooted like stone at their positions or in the dugout, unable to move lest they tweak something and vanish again for a month or two."
Excellent wording there, Mr Hoss.
And you reminded me of that little underrated Richard Burton flickaroo from 1976, The Medusa Touch.
Quick question though.....hasn't at least half the team already been practicing this approach?
And look at the bright side. It may mean that in order to save some oblique strains, instead of hitting strikes hard the lineup may take on Dillion's new genius mantra - "Bunting Balls Soft"
Is that EDB's hair or Medusa's head?
I wonder how EDB will frame that complaint to the blog police? I just joined Arch in a tall glass of Boone's Farm and MD 2020. It's like the Arnold Palmer of very cheap wine.
Carl, that is hilarious! As for the drink, you guys need to go for a road trip in a Hellcat, yeeeeehaw! 😁😁😈😈
The whole organization’s motto should be “Less Is More”
@ AA....the author could well have included Peter Karamanos as another carpetbagging owner who took the Hartford Whalers to Charlotte, NC where they became the Carolina Hurricanes.
Thanks, AA! Just looked up that movie, which I had never heard of or forgot. Was there ANY script Richard Burton turned down? Oy!
Somewhere, ELlsburger is crying into his drink about this. "I was born too soon!"
HC . . . Richard Burton actually turned down a bunch of stuff for one reason or another.
Most notably, Ian Fleming originally wanted him for James Bond and he wasn’t interested.
@ Hoss, There used to be a pro wrestler called the Million Dollar Man. "Everybody has a price" was his calling card. Offer enough money and an actor will play a flea bag in a dog suit, with real fleas.
Another head scratching lineup, why play LH Bauers against a RHP in YS, right?
Stanton in RF, if he hits time the shills will squealing “See? All he needed was to play the field!”
1. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B
2. Gleyber Torres (R) DH
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) RF
5. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B
6. Billy McKinney (L) LF
7. Harrison Bader (R) CF
8. Kyle Higashioka (R) C
9. Anthony Volpe (R) SS
BTR999,
Jack Bauers can't be in tonight's game because he only has 24 Hours left to save the world from terrorists.
He's TOO hot guys! We brought Scottie in to tell Cashman that; "He's just teewwwww hot, Cashie! We can't handle him!"
Hope Bader doesn't go after too many balls.
And we just called up Cabrera to take Calhoun's place.
Playing for the Yankees is like being a horse at Churchill Downs. You are just going to break down.
Florial is just counting the days until he cam become a minor league free agent.
Bader will probably collide with Stanton tonight causing untold soft tissue injuries which will require calling up Chaparro and converting him to OF and signing Mike Zunino which will allow Higgy to follow his true passion of being a DH/LF.
The move will be wise because Hal will only have to pay the prorated portion of Zunino's MLB contract and he can resurrect his launch angle under the sage tutelage of Yankee hitting coaches.
Don't forget Brett Gardner, who I do not believe is yet 40.
Lots of bunting tonight, fellas.
And whilst bunting, the following will occur:
Fractured pinky for Glassman
Fractured thumb for Bader
Cracked pelvis for Donaldshun
Groin pull for Torres
RizzO will get hit during every AB (and will try to cover third on a ground ball to first in the seventh)
Volpe will show bunt and strike out, resulting in a strained oblique
A long time ago I had a precision production job in an well-established company run by its founders. At the time and now looking back at management's ideas and executions of them I'm still not convinced the whole thing wasn't a "Candid Camera"-type stunt. It was something far beyond stupidity and waste and negligence. So foolishly handled by the brass that you could later state the facts of any given workday and draw laughter from anyone not enduring its idiocy. It seemed impossible that they could have meant it to be that way.
It reminds me a hell of a lot of this team...but I'm going to keep tuning in The Master and Suzyn because I know that deep in their hearts they must feel this too. As I'm pretty sure every writer and reader here does. And if something seems as colossally fucked up as this deal it's cool to know you're not alone in knowing.
TLDR: Thanks to everyone who contributes to this blog. Your intelligence and humor don't go unnoticed.
Oh well, game over in the first.
"Are you throwing, Dr. Woo?
Every pitch we will swing through..."
No sweep tonight…
But Carl - come for the slaughter, stay for the injuries
5-0.
Bader can take a deep breath.
No need to take a risk tonight.
Cool Shoes!
Laugher territory…
7zippah
Stanton's at-bat:
—Takes a pitch for a strike. In fairness, it was a little outside.
—Takes a second pitch right down the middle.
—Swings and misses at another strike down the middle.
"That was an explosive fastball. Yes, it only clocked in at 95. But it was really explosive."
Listened to the Hal Steinbrenner interview on Kay's radio show - bottom line is none of this is going to change. He had the audacity to push back on the perception that the Yankees generate revenue! He cried the blues about bond payments, taxes and payroll which is laughable.
Even Kay, ever a Cashman/Steinbrenner apologist, admits with the Yankees valuation, TV deals, nightly gate there is no need to change the formula. The Yankees are worth a fortune, Hal is rolling in the riches and us fans are stuck on the outside looking in.
Donaldson pops out.
Michael Kay, sock puppet: "Fans just lying in wait for Donaldson to make out. They're giving him the Aaron Hicks treatment."
Sigh.
Yes, Michael, it's called professional sports. We cheer when athletes do well. We boo when they don't do well. See how it works?
Incidentally, this is Woo's 4th start in the majors. He is 0-1, with a 7.33 ERA.
Guy Caballero was more entertaining on SCTV.
Kay apologist for Jackie. "Last year he was great defensively, Gold Glove caliber." He didn't notice the botched double play balls at key game moments, I guess.
This is pathetic. German hurt, do you think? Pitching like shit lately.
"Last week in Boston he allowed 7 runs in 2.0 innings. Tonight he allowed the 7 runs in 2.1. So, there's progress there. What he's doing is working."
-Boone, after the game
Pathetic observation:
The Yankees are closer to the *SECOND PLACE* ORIOLES than they are to last place.
German isn't hurt, just less sticky.
If Boone leaves him in for a few more innings and he gives up a few more runs that will trigger a mental health watch.
The Yankees are going to lose to boo-boo boo-hoo.
Little Tony drew a walk! Build on that Little Tony! Go Little Tony, go!
Unwavering positivity.
DJ swung so hard at that strike he nearly fell down.
Still on the under .100 watch for Son of a Donald.
Niner Niner Niner - call Dr Ruth!
I think the German experiment may be over. What do you think?
Well, there is one thing you can say about the Mariners tonight.
They're hitting strikes hard . . .
What happened to the savages in the box? Have the all gone to Seattle? Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our IIF nation turns its lonely eyes to you ...
Woo, woo, woo.
I’m gunna
Root
Root
Root
For a
No-No
Cause we
Don’t hit
It’s a shame
Cashman, Hal, Boone and Kay, quaff like
the aroma of dead fish left in the July sun in the Keys.
My 6 year old grandson is spending the night and wanted to watch baseball. He wants to know why the Yankees are so bad . What do I tell him?
Teachable moment about the cruelty of life?
Pro sport are actually meaningless?
Your grandfather can't tell you why with all their resources they suck ?
That your grandfather has wasted hundreds of hours since 2001 watching mostly forgettable baseball and he can never get that time bacK?
The Yankees are actually a Right Wing Conspiracy?
Tell him that life is but a walking shadow
A rich player that swings hard at strikes
And gets hits no more
It is a team run by idiots
Full of milk fart fury
Arch: maybe (depending on the grandson) tell him this is what happens when people who never really cared about something are entrusted to run it and do so with their own wishes in mind.
Then play catch.
Not perfect but it's one way, maybe.
Cashman, Hal, Boone and Kay, quaff like
the aroma of dead fish left in the July sun in the Keys.
---Put that on a T-Shirt!
To The Archangel - what to tell your grandson? Stories of the glorious past, bobblehead giveaways, and Steinbrenner riches. What child wouldn't be happy with that? Easier to explain quantum mechanics that explain what is going on in the field. I feel for you....
Here comes the extension for Torres - 12 years 115 million
If ever there was a reason to root for a meteor to hit the Tampa Yacht Club, this debacle is it.
I saw Bader risked death by throwing out a runner at second.
Big G 0-3. Three hits in all—and three errors.
This looks like yet ANOTHER night on which nobody is trying very hard. I would be enraged if I'd actually shelled out for tickets.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hoss, it just looks like they aren't trying. In fact: they are trying their hardest and giving their best. They aren't any good. They are bad. Terrible. That's what we are seeing. A bad, maybe a legendarily bad, Yankee team doing their absolute best.
This game is what their best effort looks like. It looks like this.
Unwavering positivity.
AA,
My friend (who will be in da bronx 8-24) is bringing his granddaughter to a couple of Atheletics games with the yankers next week. She doesn't drink bourbon, he does.
PS unwavering negative negativity. They just suck at attitude.
A glimmer with squeaky Cole, but otherwise, no heart, no soul, no guts, no reason to root for other than the linen.
RooF - maybe its a good time to start her on the Bourbon
Thank Yahweh I didn't watch the game.
What.
The.
Fuck.
IKF is now the Yankees':
emergency pitcher
emergency catcher
emergency third baseman
emergency second baseman
emergency short stop
FUCKING REGULAR CENTER FIELDER
emergency right fielder
emergency left fielder
These assholes have mailed in the season.
There will be a marketed game late in the year about adding to this historical anomoly:
https://www.mlb.com/news/players-to-play-all-9-positions-in-same-mlb-game
AA,
If not for the mother, he would try.
I do think he has her practicing pole dancing as an exercise routine.
Apparently that's the seventh inning stretch these days in Oakland
Warbler, I think there are always games in the long season that even the best teams—well, maybe not the very best—but damned good teams, at least, are still not up for.
It's understandable. It's a long season, and it's hard to get up to full gear for every game. And particularly when your starter goes out there and gives up 4 runs in the first inning.
But that's where the manager has to be able to keep them on their toes. That's where he's got to get them—somehow—to focus, to try to get back in the game one run at a time, or whatever cliche he wants to use. I realize it's harder, now that he can't fine or sit them with impunity. But there has to be something more than games like this—and games like this happen regularly now, shut down by nothing pitchers, embarrassing night in the field, just a total lack of concentration.
The local news had IKF pitching—and homering!—and all the guys in the dugout laughing their asses off. Yeah, hahaha. THEY didn't have to pay major bucks to see that shit show.
I don't know what these guys are thinking, turning in an effort like that. I don't know what Boone and Cashman are thinking, accepting it.
Somehow getting pummeled and laughing is indicative of the modern game. They get paid no matter how bad they play.
FYI, I sang show tunes for my grandson,
"Tomorrow"
"Oklahoma" in homage to the Mick
"Les Mis"
and the title song from "Waiting for Godot, The Musical."
Interesting tidbit.
IKF goes down in Yankee lore as being the first pitcher of record getting a HR since Lindy McDaniel did it in 1972.
Perhaps they can give him a bobblehead night.
P.S., I thought of that myself, so I could be wrong and I wasn't watching so I don't know if one of the talking heads said it too.
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