The coolest part of visiting St. Louis this weekend was how the hometown crowd greeted Harrison Bader. When he stepped to the plate, a long and loud ovation began, so boisterous that their catcher called time and sauntered to the mound, just to let the crowd roar run its course. Classy gesture from my wife's home town.Baseball Ref still hasn't updated Hicksy's cap.
Bader had been a fan fave, and it wasn't his fault that Cooperstown Cashman valued him over Jordan Montgomery, their great young pitcher. Cashman's inability to judge pitching is as legendary as - well - Clint Frazier's bat speed. St. Louis showed that it remembers Bader, and frankly, it was the best thing that happened to the crap-the-bed Yankees all weekend.
Hicks is hitting 75 points above his meager average when the Death Barge jettisoned him May 20.
A golfer to the core, he has refused to rag at his old team, saying what they did was just baseball: "They loved Oswaldo Cabrera and they loved the guys they had in the minors like Jake [Bauers], and Jake is doing phenomenal. Those are the guys they wanted to go with. I knew it.”
Or maybe Hicks is just cutting his losses. Over his last five games, he is 2-15 with one RBI. It's his first mini-slump since joining the O's. And like Joey Gallo before him, Hicks had plenty of opportunities to win the Yankee LF starting job. He just didn't hit.
Tonight launches a four-game holiday series against Baltimore, a team we've owned for the last decade. Back in the old days, we'd greet them at the airport with dog collars and horse laxatives, and we'd pencil in a sweep, or at least three of four.
That was then. The O's are no longer a tomato can - we are far closer to that distinction - but we can still be classy. Hicks deserves to hear some love. I hope the crowd gives a nice ovation, loud enough to warrant Higgy or Jose calling time and sauntering to the mound.
Is it unreasonable, or uncharitable, to entertain the possibility that Aaron Hicks dogged it this year in order to be released? On the one hand, shame on him. He's supposed to be a professional. On the other, can you blame him? Boyhood fantasies aside, imagine having to walk into Cashman's clubhouse day after day? No doubt guys are sitting in their late model, high end SUVs and sportscars in the players parking lot until the last possible moment before they have to trudge into work.
ReplyDeleteThey shouldn't boo. But cheer? Nah.
ReplyDeleteI think the difference is that the Cardinal fans actually liked Bader and were sorry to see him go even as they upgraded elsewhere.
We were all done with Hicks way way before the trade.
I don't cheer mediocrity.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do expect my wife to cheer it.
“ I don't recall him ever jogging out a grounder…” but I recall him dogging it in the OF, don’t you? So boo him, cheer him, who gives a shit? He’s in our rear view mirror.
ReplyDeleteCurrent question, how to get rid of Stanton? YGY theorized a trade to the Dodgers in the offseason if we eat some of his salary. I say add a mid-level prospect (or 2) to the deal, and for christ sake let’s move on. Are we really going to roll out the same sad ass team again next year, just everybody older and slower?
Ohtani
ReplyDeleteUnpopular take: I would sign Ohtani in a heartbeat 💓
ReplyDeleteBTR, the worst thing about Ohtani, as far as I can see, is that he isn't a Yankee.
ReplyDeleteAs for Stanton, he is not aging well and will not be a major leaguer much longer. No one will take him in trade; no other GM is as stupid as Cashbrain. He will be released and the Yankees will pay what's left on his contract.
ReplyDelete"Unwavering positivity."
Nobody owes a ballplayer the cheers that Bader got. Bader earned that. Hicks hasn't. I'm glad his career has revived. But I'm even happier that he's on another team. There are a few other Cashman prizes I'd like to have the same fate.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm even happier that his bad attitude isn't on the Yankee roster, except as a paycheck to remind everyone what terrible coaching, managing and executive leadership the Yankees have.
Saw an article today where Boonie was saying that Torres should be on the All-Star Team.
ReplyDeleteThere are two schools of thought on that.
One is that Boone is an absolute idiot.
The other is a sly way of trying to boost him before they trade him.
I hope it's the latter, but fear its the former.
I fear you're right, Archie. I heard Kay quoting that on the broadcast. He said the numbers might not represent it, but that Gleyber is doing very, very well.
ReplyDeleteSorry, you cannot go and build this sorry-ass excuse of a team on the numbers, and then say they don't count. And if anything, The Gleyber daily plays WORSE than the numbers indicate.
The Archangel, I believe both are true. The problem with any trade is Cashbrain. He's a moron. So any trade will be to the detriment of the Yankees. We'll lose a serviceable infielder and get nothing worthwhile in return; Cashbrain will create a new problem.
ReplyDeleteBecause he's a moron.
"Unwavering positivity."
That's pretty funny, AA.
ReplyDeleteAnd Ohtani? Yeah, I'd sign him, too. But that's not happening.
Ohtani made it clear when he signed with the Angels that he had no interest in New York. That seemed to absolutely flummox Cashman. And the idea that the Dodgers will take on Big G so we can do that?
No, man. The Dodgers will make their own bid for Shohei—and if things are anywhere near equal, he'll pick them over the Yankees. Why would he not?
I disagree, Duque. Bader was a crowd favorite before he was traded, so it makes sense the crowd in St Louis would cheer wildly. As opposed to Hicks who couldn't hit a lick or play a solid defense in the last several years. This year, Hicks was especially petulant and his act in the Bronx grew old very quickly. So, no- boo the crap out of Hicks!
ReplyDeleteWhat concerns me a bit as we begin to see the trade deadline rising up on the horizon is our Ghidorah of general managers.
ReplyDeleteI’ve mentioned this before here (and over there next to our basket of unsorted socks) but its worth repeating:
Cashman and Sabean and Minaya, oh my!
We put them on the payroll and haven’t really heard a peep or a poot from them since.
Is that the rumble of great thunder I hear in the distance or the troubling coupling of double bubble and seeds that Meredith’s hand mic picked up yesterday during Milk Fart’s post game, post ejection presser.
I’m not sure I wanna know.
(PS - I’ve temporarily changed my avatar in celebration of what would have been George Michael’s 93rd birthday tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI still want a DNA test for HAL. Can't be Mad George's progeny. Had to be a bastard child of a second assistant bookkeeper in the Tampa office.
ReplyDeleteBoone is an idiot. Cashman is a moron. Hal is a money grubbing billionaire.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, we're good. Except for half the roster. Reasons for which seen in sentences above.
AA, "Ghidorah of general managers". LMAO!
ReplyDeleteThe problem with signing a guy like Ohtani is that you pay for a man who is both a star hitter and a star pitcher. And his agent will want him paid as a "double player". But when his arm goes, which it could at anytime, what then? And if he needs surgery for anything, especially his arm then you lose two players. I'm not knocking him as a player, but I'd rather see him stay with the Angels, or the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteDuque:
ReplyDeleteYou posted Barren Hicks lifetime stats. Anyone who reads the stats can see that Hicks clearly is not that good. Only an moron or a Genius GM who is also a Geek, would extend this mediocrity of a Baseball Player. The fans should not be cursing at Hicks and booing is their perogative. They should instead boo the GM whose incompetence had made the Yankees what they are today. In The NHL like MLB, there are loads of mediocre or bad teams that The Yankees will beat up on. The Yankees will make the playoffs and tell us how good they are and boast about their string of Playoff appearances. Boo The ownder and The GM. Finally, The Yankees have become the Mets. A video tribute to a stiff of a ballplayer. A Yes highlight clip during the game. Too bad STD Stud To Dud Sanchez was not on the Padres when they came in. He might have had a tribute. Perhaps one day, Donaldson will get a tribute. This used to be the Yankees. Not anymore. Thanks Hal, you Putz.