Nope. I hallucinated it. Last April, Volpe emerged from spring training in a sleepwalker trance. He got 2 hits in his 2nd game, then turned icy. He finished April at .217, then hit .174 in May. (He whacked 6 HRs that month, a power surge that - in retrospect - seemed to turn him into a Rob Deer, ruining him.) His claim to fame - 13 straight SBs - ended in June, and he soon stopped running. By July, he was the subject of whispers, though with Oswald Peraza perpetually injured, the Death Barge had no SS replacement. It was Volpe or nothing.
Look... it's early - (small sample, yatta-yatta) - but in five games, Volpe has already outhit himself for most of last April. If Volpe '24 is real - not an acid flashback - the Yankees might actually bring live bats to the bottom of their lineup, something we've not seen since 2019. (Sanchez, Urshela and Tauchman.)
Last night, Volpe went 4-4, propelling the Yankees to their fifth win. Damn. Five and oh! Right now, it's easy to imagine everyone hitting - even Oswaldo Cabrera.
But but BUT... one earmark of Yankee teams in this decade has been their absolute adherence to Newton's Third Law of Motion:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Basically, they follow up winning streaks... with losing streaks.
Not saying we should whine or worry. The best part of being an old fan should be knowing when you've got it good. Today, everything is clicking. And if Volpe has really improved, well, then so have the Yankees. That's no hallucination. That's huge.
Haiku Tuesday - April TwoZday Edition
ReplyDeleteOz Vo Soto Too
Grinning from Winning is Cool
Hey Jesus Eclipse !
I can always count on you for a "half-empty" reaction...lol...
ReplyDeleteOh! Oh! My nipples explode with delight!
ReplyDeleteVolpe is red hot
ReplyDeleteToo bad Judge is so very blue
Spring has wide range temperatures
Judge looks bad. Stanton looks...well, like Stanton has looked. Soto went 0-3. But damn if Gil didn't look great and Volpe and Oz looked pretty good, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to enjoy this for as long as it lasts.
If we can get off to a 20-5 or so start, we may be able to fend off the Birds for the next five months. Maybe.
You are all getting bent over and lubed up for a prostate massage with a pineapple. I cannot prepare you physically, but I can warn you, mentally and spiritually, that bad stuff is coming down the pike. Don’t get too excited. These wins are a false flag operation.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, false flag operations are a false flag operation.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, as Edward G. Robinson said in The Ten Commandments, "How do ya like your Moses now?" https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-04-02/column-its-not-just-shohei-a-massive-scandal-involving-sports-betting-is-just-around-the-corner
Duque, "everything is clicking"? Well, not Judge. He did get a hit, but still waiting for the long ball.
ReplyDeleteGil might be the new ace. I don't remember him throwing quite that hard before he got hurt. Triple digits from a starter?
ReplyDeleteAnd Burdi in the bullpen. Once again, may have to give Dumbass Cashman props for that pickup.
I may have underestimated this team. Didn't even watch spring training, so wasn't even aware of a lot of these guys. If these guys are for real, they could win 100 games. If, if, if ....
Just thinking of Ba-Boone makes me temper my enthusiasm, how-eva. They almost blew that game with this Weaver guy throwing at-em balls. They were lucky to win that game. Boone should've brought the hook when Weaver was struggling. Some strange lack of urgency there. Well, maybe not so strange, that's classic Ba-Boone, right? The more he wins, the more he tends to manage like it's house money on the table. Do you feel lucky ... PUNK?
ReplyDeleteHaiku Tuesday - Captain’s Edition
ReplyDeleteHe with the sore core
Is due to do so much more
His verdict is clear
KaBoone!!!
ReplyDeleteWatch my bubble, Hammer.
It tells all !
It sees all !
Given the age of some of our veterans, we may be able to look forward to the Sore Core Four.
ReplyDeleteRight now, Soto, Volpe, Cabrera are doing all the hitting. The BP has been a little shaky, but has held together.
ReplyDeleteI’m just enjoying this start. Tough times are coming soon enough.
1) "Sore Core Four"
ReplyDeletegood one.
2) Soro's O'fer.
He was jobbed by the ump a number of times. (who was terrible BTW - for both teams)
3) The Japanese kid
It's amazing how uniformed both Kay and Come were when they talked about him. First they said he was a free agent. Then they were corrected by Joel Sherman to say he's not a free agent. Then they said he's negotiating to become one. He's not.
He is going to go the Ohtani route and be subject, not to a bidding war, but to taking the limited bonus pool signing money like Latin American 16 year olds do. That's why the Yankees keep acquiring extra bonus pool money in trades.
By free agent I mean with an unlimited bidding war like for Yamamoto. He can choose what ever team he wants to so in that sense he is a free agent.
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe this team is for real.
ReplyDeleteBig question is: Judge, just cold, or injured? I fear the latter, but who knows? If the big dawgs can start barking, too, my prediction of 69 wins is going to look awfully silly. Which is fine by me!
Also, need those Mets to keep looking less and less attractive to a certain Mr. Soto.
Meanwhile, a very sad day: Count Floyd is dead. Joe Flaherty, one of the stalwarts of the amazing SCTV, gone at 82.
ReplyDeleteRIP, Guy Cabellero.
ReplyDeleteSCTV a forgotten gem. Always funnier, and a 1000 times wittier than SNL.
ReplyDeleteJudge / Stanton is a mini black hole in the middle of the lineup, 6-38 (.158) with a 38% K-rate. Stanton should be batting no higher than 7th.
ReplyDeleteListen people! It’s the second day of April. We have garbage pitching. Do I have to put saltpeter in your food to quell these ridiculous boners?
ReplyDeleteOooooooh scary... and sad. RIP.
ReplyDeleteTo temper the giddiness here-- the last time the Yankees started 5-0, they finished the season with a losing record.
ReplyDeleteShit. Well, Count Floyd will live forever in my mind, and in 3D.
ReplyDeleteI also quite enjoyed the National Lampoon Radio Hour - of which he wuz a part.
ReplyDeleteMLB.com:
ReplyDelete"...Yankees signed Phil Bickford to a minor league deal, a former first-round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants back in 2015.
Now 28 years old, Bickford has pitched 180.2 innings at the MLB level, sporting a 4.43 ERA. Last season, he tossed 67.1 innings between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets"
I guess the plan is to rotate the back of the bullpen between the Bronx and SWB.
Sad news about Joe Flaherty. To balance the scales, Larry Lucchino died today too.
ReplyDeletehaiku tuesday - mortality round
ReplyDeleteDeath comes for all, yep
You could be next on the list
There you g o o o o o - SEE YAH!
The G-men are continuing their 2023 seasons nicely. Gleyber and Glassman.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they could be traded for a 3rd starter.
Naw, that would take a smart GM.
Look at the bright side - at least we know that we’ll finish the season with four wins.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cash and Hal!
First pitch, "get my first one over in my Yankees debut", to a slugger sitting dead red. Questionable decision making runs in the family.
ReplyDelete