Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Six home games left. Let John Sterling manage one.

It's been a tough year for John Sterling. A dreadful year, actually.

He missed games with various illnesses. Against Boston, he took a foul ball to the head. He had to watch a particularly gruesome Yankee team. He had to exude hope, when there was none. 

Let Sterling manage!

He's 84. Damn. All bets are off. Every win-warble could be his last. He probably won't travel for the season's final two series. He cannot go on forever. And, for better or worse, we will never see another like him.

Let Sterling manage!

This week, Arizona comes to town. Fuck them. They hate the Yankees with the heat of a billion suns (which was their recent summer, ha ha.) When they beat the Yankees in 2001 - with 9/11 still smoldering - they mockingly played "New York, New York" on the P.A. system. Never forget. The Yankees need to beat their asphalt-burned asses. Boone won't rally this team. They'll need a boost. And they will play hard for The Master.  

Let Sterling manage!

Let Suzyn coach third. Or stay in the booth. Often, she's worked with young announcers this year. Last weekend, when John missed the road trip and she stayed home for Rosh Hashanah, it was the first time in decades that neither voice held the booth. Let me repeat: They cannot go on forever. 

Let Sterling manage!

For 40 years, he's told us what he'll do. He'll move runners, base to base. He'll play "A-B-C baseball." He'll call for a bunt. He'll manage a tight game. He'll put his theories, his strategies, to the test. Once and for all, he will stare into the gaping jaws of Hell and ask the ultimate question: 

Can you, or can you not, predict baseball?  

Let Sterling manage!

Lately, we've had little reason to give a whit. For a few games, there was The Martian. We wrecked his arm. Now, we have Gerrit Cole. God help us if we wreck his arm. Frankly, there hasn't been anything else. This, however, would be a keeper. This would be a game for the ages.  

Let Sterling manage!

It's not as if the Yankees this season haven't scrambled normalcy, when it suited them. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has pitched in four games. (A 2.25 ERA, by the way)  Josh Donaldson threw an inning. They played Anthony Rizzo for six weeks despite signs of a concussion. Good grief, these September games are practically Scranton exhibitions. 

Let Sterling manage!  

The franchise recently celebrated Old Timers Day. They brought out players from the late 1990s. Everyone received a well-deserved hand. John Sterling called those championship games on the radio. He is as much a part of our memories as many of the players. We hope he'll be back next September, when - again, hopefully - the games will matter. But there are no guarantees. 

Let Sterling manage, dammit!

26 comments:

  1. In other news, the Reds released Chasen Shreve. Wonder if the Genius will end up signing him again.

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  2. And yes, let the Master manage. it's getting late early with him.

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  3. Can Suzyn be GM for a day then?

    Can she?

    Pretty please?

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  4. Amen, Duque.

    And the games won't matter in September again for a long, long time.

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  5. Absolutely, Duque, let Sterling manage!!!! We've been saying that for a long while now. He should get the last home game. Who knows, he might even retire after this season. It could be the last chance. You can't predict baseball.

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  6. @ JM, Given the Cashbrain's basic instinct to bring back guys for second and third helpings, I would not be surprised in the least if Chasen Shreve came back.

    And if he does, it would be sort of like trading Jordan Montgomery for Chasen Shreve. Because we gave up Monty for Master Bader, who was waived and picked up by the Reds. And now if we pick up Shreve, who was waived by the Reds, Shreve becomes the end product of the Monty trade.

    It's like the fairy tale with the apprentice fool who receives a piece of gold as big as his head, after serving his master for many years. The fool then goes on to trade the gold for a donkey, or some such, and he goes on trading his way all the way home, each time giving up much more than he gets back, until he's left with absolutely nothing when he gets home.

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  7. Well of course: Let Sterling Manage.

    That would be a crazy game. Hit and running. Steal attempts. Judge batting clean up. Bunting in the first inning. Maybe a suicide squeeze?

    It would be a wild merry-go-round of fun!

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  8. CAshBrain is beyond incompetent. He's like a cancer; a malignant tumor that destroys all the healthy parts of the organization.

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  9. Hammer- I read today that Bader played poorly for the Reds and is now out with a groin injury. Amazing!

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  10. Hammer, that's a great way of looking at it. Monty for Shreve.

    The Genius has not lost his touch.

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  11. There seems to be a spate of stories this week about Michael King becoming a starter. Which is great, imo, but next year we'll still have Rodon and Nestor will still have injury difficulties, so...

    Does that make Cole, King and Schmidt the most reliable slots in the rotation?

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  12. So then, JM - I say, forget about managing - - - - LET STERLING PITCH, DAMMIT!

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  13. I still think King should be the next closer. He seems to have the composure for it.

    Making him a starter is just hastening his next injury.

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  14. So Schmidt has two out, nobody on, top of the fifth, and gets the batter to 0-2. Then the ump ruled he juuuust missed with a ball that was right on the edge. Next thing you know, he's walked the batter, and given up a two-run homer.

    The maturity and composure on this ball club is a wonder to behold.

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  15. Yes, let the Master manage.

    Let Suzyn buy the team and set up the front office.

    With !Showtoons!

    And let her be vindictive at anyone that doubts her omniscience. (bye-bye stat nerds!)

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  16. Hoss,

    The entire Yankee medical team is hastening *everyone's* next injury.

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  17. So apparently Pereira tweaked a hammie walking down the dugout steps at Fenway?

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  18. So much for the deception of McAllister…

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  19. My scrotum hasn't been this deceived since the Halloween Eve party at the Commons when I was a junior.

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  20. Another stinker.
    It’s almost over…

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  21. 999, I was so flabbergasted by that Pereira item that I had to look it up. It's true!! He "slipped on the wet dugout steps" at Fenway, and pulled his hamstring.

    Yeah, I remember the last time I slipped and pulled a hammy, which was never. Holy shit, these guys are ridiculously overmuscled!

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