Tuesday, August 15, 2023

A Manager for Us

 


I had to miss that mighty Yankees effort last night because...truth is, there were actually interesting things on TV.  Oh, well.

But I did get to watch a little of the Braves taking apart the Metsies over the weekend. They are the best team in baseball right now, and I will be very surprised if they don't take it all. 

Atlanta plays baseball like it oughta be, to steal an old Queens slogan. They steal bases, bunt, hit to the opposite field...and in general PAY ATTENTION. The poor Mets were starting some much-traveled journeyman out in left field, his first game in the majors this season. Nonetheless, the Braves knew that he had a weak arm, and ran on him mercilessly.  

What I liked about the broadcast, too, was the Mets' television crew, who are light years ahead of our bland and humorless bunch. The Mets' guys—Cohen, Darling, and Hernandez—are funny, frank, and very smart about the game.  


Darling, for instance, had talked with Braves third-base coach Ron Washington before the game, and related what Washington had told him about handling rookies. That is, that when a guy first comes up and is very good at something, that is what the team should emphasize. That is what they should let him do, and praise him to the skies until he builds some confidence.

Only after he has confidence and is established—if at all—should they try to do something like "improve his launch angle."

Darling completely approved of that approach, which is pretty smart for a Yalie. And I want Washington for our manager.

Yeah, the guy's 71. So what? He's still full of enthusiasm for the game, and he's obviously enjoying himself out there. In his one, 8-year managerial stint, with the Texas Rangers, he won 2 division titles, finished second 4 times, won 2 pennants, and came within 1 pitch of winning a World Series.  

After which...he never got another opportunity, which is all too common for Black guys in baseball (sympathizing with you, Willie Randolph).  I would give it to him, on the basis of that little nugget of wisdom alone.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming, which is the Yankees getting their heads bashed in by a competent (or incompetent) organization.







45 comments:

  1. I'd love to have Ron Washington as our manager. But would he want the job, and would HAL/Cashman hire him? Probably, both answers would be "no".

    If I was Washington, I don't know that I'd want the Yankee job because Cashman wants a yes man, and I'm getting too old for this corporate bull shit.

    And HAL might think that hiring Washington might actually produce a championship. Too risky; finances might blow up and cause a lot of problems that his accountants would have to scramble to solve.

    And Brainless would think that this guy is not a good interview. He doesn't say "yes" to everything. He's not going to be a puppet. One of Brainless's objectives is to always have people underneath him who are more stupid than Brainless. That way, if things go to hell, like this year, he can always blame others and throw 'em under the bus.

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  2. Ron Washington had a couple of well publicized "missteps". That combined being a brother have likely kept him out of the manager's office since.

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  3. Ron Washington is perfect for the job...but he doesn't fit the Yankees profile...you can take a long read into that...

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  4. Looks A1 Padel is more important than baseball to the Yankees..season is officially over…

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  5. Sigh. I'm afraid you guys are right. But still—we have to keep the pressure on!!!

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  6. Michael Kay just threw it commercial by saying, “coming up …. Lineups! First pitch! Baseball!”

    He sounded exactly like Joe Piscopo’s old sportscaster character on Saturday Night Live.

    It’s odd the things you notice when you’re not preoccupied by a competitive baseball team.

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  7. The over-under on Braves runs in the first inning must be about 3.5

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  8. It's almost impossible to be this bad!

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  9. Excellent first inning for SBS. Only 34 pitches. He might last 3!

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  10. Ron was a light hitting middle infielder. You'd think he must know how to play if he hung around the Majors as long as he did.

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  11. BTR,

    Third inning?

    You’re quite the optimist. I’m actually shocked he got out of the first.

    IKF might have to toss about 6 innings tonight.

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  12. Bader hits into a lot of double plays doesn't he?

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  13. Bu bu bu BUT BADER IS SO VERY FAST AND ATHLETIC !!!

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  14. The stat mavens claim he has the best mouth-guard numbers in the majors.

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  15. Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster simultaneous sighting. A 1-2-3 inning. Just as rare.

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  16. I remember a game during the last dynasty. Jeter was leading off and Knoblauch was hitting number two. Jeter took 10 pitches and worked a walk. Knoblauch took 11 pitches and also drew a walk. The opposing pitcher had thrown 21 pitches to start the game and all he had to show were 2 very fast runners on 1st and 2nd. With the very beefy meat of the order coming up.

    That team wore out opposing starters. Because they had talent and smarts and could play.

    The opposing bulk middle inning pitchers were pretty worn out too.

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  17. Haiku Tuesdays - Tuesday Edition

    Lose Lose Never Win

    Holy Cow They Really Suck

    Please Sack Aaron Boone Tonight

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  18. Sevy still in the game…who would have thunk that…

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  19. I stand by my prediction of 79 wins for These Our 2023 New York Yankees.

    But I am reserving the right to downgrade my prediction.

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  20. Well, we are 4.5 innings into this game, and Sevy has allowed five times more runs than the Yankees have hits.



    G
    I, for one, am shocked.

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  21. Bern,

    The crack(head) ANAL-ytical team says hits don't matter. It's all barrel rate, launch angle, exit velo.

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  22. I should have taken the locked down commenting as a cue to ditch this season, ditch this team, and ditch the misery. For how many years can we be kicked in the balls and told it’s a hand job? I need a some new garage background sound because the thought of turning on this game is keeping me from my other interests.

    The Yankees are a seriously bad depressant.

    We need to break up.

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  23. Rufus,

    Don’t forget “good at-bats” — I wish I had a buck for every time Boonie talked about all the good at-bats the team has in every game they lose by a half-dozen runs.


    I will give the Yankees some credit, though. They are a very balanced team. They can’t hit, they can’t pitch AND they can’t catch the fucking ball either. They are shitty in all aspects of the game.

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  24. Bern,

    I stand corrected. I forgot about 'good looks' and 'good swings'. It's very important to be on the verge of actually getting a hit. That's what counts.

    More errors than hits. Reminds me of a little league game.

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  25. Yet one more horrible aspect of the new Selig/Manfred game is that it is impossible to calculate the tragic number for this team. Just to do some scoreboard watching. Although I will never, ever root for the carmines.

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  26. Is there a rally...

    fuck no. Goodnight all.

    I'll look in the morning to see if they doubled their hit total.

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  27. Yankees have made it to .500! Woo-hoo!

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  28. FanGraphs now has Yanks at 4.8% chance of clinching a playoff spot…

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  29. Ranger, I will not be satisfied until it reaches a Flounder like Zero point Zero.

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  30. These are Our 2023 New York Yankees. 6.5 WCGB, but only 6 in the All Important WCGB loss column.

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  31. Torres 6 games in a row GIDP…

    4.8% with a rope and a concrete block in the water…

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  32. What is the dress code for next week's game?

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  33. 3.2 % now…

    Dress code? I think you need to wear clothes…not optional…

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  34. Didn't watch again (yay me!). But told Torres made something like 9 outs by himself? What a putz.

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  35. Didn't watch again (yay me!). But told Torres made something like 9 outs by himself? What a putz.

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  36. @ Warblist....It was the future Sen. Blutarsky that had a 0.0 GPA, not Flounder!

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  37. If Ron Washington isn't available, I say recruit U.L. Washington.

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  38. U L has had extensive minor league managing experience. Below is his finest managerial moment, LOL.

    "In 1989, while managing the Welland Pirates in the New York-Penn League, Washington was suspended after knocking the home plate umpire to the ground during an argument."

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