2. The ever-changing Zone of Death Abundance Damage went 5-13 and scored 4 runs. When Judge and Stanton homer in the same game, it's a foregone conclusion; it's Globetrotters v Generals, Roadrunner v Coyote, blood vessels v nose...
3. Okay, Giancarlo is officially hot: .412 with 2 HRs over last 7 games. Let's celebrate. He should carry this team, at least, through the tomato can ever-wily White Sox. The question, though, is simple:
How far will he go before the tweak? Is there any earthly reason to believe a barking gonad is NOT lurking around Stanton's corner, waiting to bite? The answer, sadly, is no. The problem with Giancarlo getting hot is that he ends up having to run the bases, where his hammies snap like rubber bands in a dryer. We'll see how far he goes. Right now, he's on a course to hit 40 HRs. Do we dare believe he'll hit 30?
4. Also, Aaron Judge is baseball's hottest hitter. Despite a dreadful opening slump, which had Yankee fans ready to leap into the volcano, he's now on a course to hit 46 HRs. He's tied for fourth in all of baseball, with 12. And rising.
5. Speaking of slumps, Juan Soto now dangling perilously below .300. (He's at .301.) Last night, he banged two drives to the wall, both long outs. Even when slumping, he barrels the ball.
6. In his minor league rehab, east of the sun and west of the moon, DJ LeMahieu played three innings, went 1-for-2 with a single, and played 3B. Apparently, that's where he will settle.
7. The Martian sat out another game in Tampa. Not sure why. Not worrying. Move along. There's nothing to see here.
8. Can't escape the feeling that we have been here before. Yeah. Sherman, set the Wayback to May 21, 2022, the Yankees - behind Nestor Cortes - beat the warring White Sox 7-5, running their record to 29-10. They were in first place by 5.5 games. Both Judge and Giancarlo were hitting over .300. Everything was - as the kids would say - groovy.
Well, we lost the next three, our first shitty streak of 2022, a harbinger of what was to come. The '22 Yankees won 99 games, wobbled to the end and fell over the finish line, winning the AL East and vanishing into the October rathole. Nothing lasts forever in baseball. I'm not saying this is 2022, just that we've seen this movie, and it's not starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan; in fact, it might be one of those Knives Out thingys where nobody is who they seem to be. Watch out. That's all I'm saying.
9. Is there a difference between now and 2022? Maybe. Let me give it to you in a word. Pitching.
Pitching, pitching, pitching. I don't know how the Yankees dug up this bullpen, comprised primarily of castoffs, and I wonder if they do have some advanced operation in Florida, squeezing the juice out of old rubber arms. Right now, everything is working, and Gerrit Cole might still be coming back. Don't mean to jinx it, but if there is one incredible difference between here and '22, it's that Cole could be coming back.
10. I hope this country can stem the terrifying rise in golf thug violence. These hooligans cannot be allowed to run wild.
DJ may be forced to play other positions. Such as second base.
ReplyDeleteThese are the salad days. We are protected by the Green Goddess and her handmaiden, Anna Maria Alberghetti. Ranch is for Philistines. Hidden Valleys are where losers hang their heads in shame. We drink from reusable Good Seasons glass cruets and sail the Seven Seas, our faces uplifted to the sun that shines so brightly on the Bronx.
ReplyDeleteAs Yankee fans our Good Seasons are defined by World Series.
ReplyDeleteFrom yesterday's conversation about lesser known Home Run Champs
ReplyDeleteThe Bronx's own Ben Oglive. Graduate of Theodore Roosevelt HS on Fordham Road.
1980 Milwaukee Brewers AL Home Run Champs with 41 dingers. Tied with Reggie Jackson.
Two straight shutout wins, followed by a squeaker over the lowly ChiSox. Hopefully, Yanks won't lose all the remaining games in this series.
ReplyDeleteIf Stanton is hot, the time to move that son of a gun is NOW. But they won't. We know Stanton will finish his contract here, even if he goes "O for" the rest of the way. Moving Stanton would solve a lot of problems. Judge could DH. Soto could DH. Judge and Soto could alternate RF/DH. That would reduce the chances of injury for both. It's a game of probabilities. Why not play the right hand, instead of merely hoping and reaching for long shots?
I think Judge was playing through an injury earlier this year. Maybe an abodminal issue. That's what it looked like to me. Now he's out of it. But yesterday, he tried to make a play with his left knee coming down hard. I didn't like that. Hopefully, he's not hurt again. Not a great idea to play your gold glove right fielder and the major league's biggest banger in CF, especially when he is a hulking 300 pounder. Asking for trouble.
MLBtv - as it always does, dropped 50% yesterday so NOW I can watch this miserable bunch of losers win more games in the year of the Jack Bauer.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, the funny thing is ~ IS that the point where I subscribe in the season (mid-May) is usually where everything starts to go tits up (to quote Harry Hart).
So allow me now to humbly apologize to allzyouz for my influence on what we have all come to expect as the inevitable Yankees mid-season collapse.
Shame, shame, shame on me.
Unwaveringly Uncertain
As Hoss pointed out yesterday, Bill Melton did indeed lead the AL in home runs with 33 in 1971
ReplyDeleteAsked no one in particular
In San Fran, Jung Hoo Lee got hurt trying to make a leaping catch at the wall. Looked like maybe a separated shoulder to me. They said season ending surgery is necessary for a torn labrum. And yeah, he was playing center field.
ReplyDeleteSomeone here once asked if there's a bigger potential for injury playing center than a corner outfield. I think it is definitely higher because of the bigger area, probably more balls hit there, more chance of a collision with an infielder or another outfielder. Not only more chance of traumatic injury but also more wear and tear.
But it got me looking:
ReplyDeleteOnce the Babe got going, the list of home run leaders was almost accidental/incidental. What intrigued me the most prior to his arrival were the glorious names of some of the previous single-season home run record holders, to wit:
1877 Lip Pike with 4
1885 Abner Dalrymple with 11
1902 Socks Seybold with 16
1913 Gavvy Cravath with 19 (and five more time!)
1915 Braggo Roth with 7
1918 Tilly Walker tied Babe Ruth with 11
We need better names for all our current millionaires.
I have no doubt that Hoss could add some color to those already colorful names.
ReplyDeleteAA, the military term is Tango Uniform (from the NATO alphabet). I always get a kick out of prissy types asking what it stands for.
ReplyDeleteAnd golf hooliganism is a major problem in this country. Almost as bad as chess club hooliganism.
RueFuss- you lost me
ReplyDelete@ AA...how much is MLBtv now, $ 200?
ReplyDeleteDo yourself a favor and buy an IPTV device and watch every sport for free every year. Plus most local channels nationwide, All premium channels, 12,000 movies, 13,000 On Demand shows, 100+ foreign stations. Dozens of pay-per-view events such as Tyson and that MMA guy, 300 porn, err, live "adult" channels. As I like to say, "Every fetish for every fanny"! No one should pay for cable in 2024.
We don’t have cable, CW of CT.
ReplyDeleteWe cut cable and Satellite about 8 years ago.
Mlbtv was $60.00*
We selectively stream content.
AA...If you're happy with what you pay and what content you receive, that's all that matters .
DeleteStanton actually ran and made it to second. Wow.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, we can only get Spectrum for Internet service, and if we drop cable we lose our bundle deal and pay a fortune for Internet. It's not worth cutting cable completely.
ReplyDeleteInternet service is a lot cheaper in Europe, but we don't live there.
Cheapie for Trevino!
ReplyDeleteThe more I watch YES with its ever changing variety of announcer combinations the more I realize that Micheal Kay is the problem. Kay plus anybody is annoying. When he's not in the booth the game is more listenable and informative.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Doug.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the Gil-Man is the real deal again
Yeah seriously Gil is dealing. 6 K's in a row and 11 overall. through 5.
ReplyDeleteThis seems almost too easy
ReplyDeleteSoto's a joy
ReplyDeleteSign him after the game to a twelve year deal - come on Hal.
ReplyDeleteSo the kid on Pittsburgh struck out seven in a row yesterday and had 11 total. Gil is also throwing 100 and has basically matched that. Six in a row and 11.
ReplyDeleteHe got number seven. Wonder if he'll get headlines like that other guy?
ReplyDelete14 Ks.
ReplyDeleteCole teaches- Gil’s interpreter appears to have a giant, super deformed head because of how tiny his neck and upper body are.
ReplyDeleteAA, are you talking David McCallum Outer Limits giant head?
ReplyDeleteAA, where did I lose you? At tango uniform or martini delivery?
ReplyDeleteIf you have internet already (and won't get soaked a la JM for ditching the bundle), Carl speaks the truth.
Gil gave up a run. I'm so disappointed with him. /s
Doug K, you are correct about Kay.
I think they might have enough of a lead to actually win.
only getting the play by play espn feed. Incredibly confused with birdie hitting and birdie pitching. Can't wait for the tab headline(s) bye-bye.
ReplyDeleteThuuuuuuuuh Yankees win!
ReplyDeleteOne goid thing about TMobile: MLB.tv is a free add-on.
ReplyDeleteSix in a row
ReplyDelete😄😄😄😄😄😄
YES JM - that sortahead size - DO NOT ATTEMPT to adjust your TV. Carl will know.
ReplyDeleteTango Uniform - R-Fuss
JM..What internet provider do you have and where?
ReplyDeleteRuphus....I watched the game on YES. That can be found on the " USA Sports" tab. Also, NBCSN-Chicago. If you don't see it listed, go up to " All" tab and then the search symbol in upper right-hand corner. Type in NBCSN or NBC Sports Network and choose the Chicago offering.
ReplyDeleteOr watch on the " MLB" tab to watch any/every game.
ReplyDeleteCarl, we have Spectrum. And that's the only one available to us.
ReplyDeleteAA,
ReplyDeleteIf you say Tango Uniform in a "respectable" setting, someone is bound to ask "what does it mean?" Followed by pearl clutching when you say tits up.
Carl,
YES network is first in my list of favorites. Easy peasy. Haven't been watching the games lately because I've been in Italy with the missus destroying our livers for our 30th anniversary.
Ahhh, nice! But what a great way to destroy your liver. Congrats!
ReplyDelete