Let's face it: Both teams are de facto shoe-ins for the 2024 postseason - fatted and drunken - able to infuse late summer rosters with prospects and returning vets. Cleveland may run away in the rot-gut AL Central, but the Yanks and O's will jockey through September, down to - nyuk, nyuk, nyuk - the Wire.
We'll host them June 18 with three games. They took three of four in early May, when Aaron Judge was hitting .198.
So, how do we match-up? As Warner Wolf, now 86, might say, "Let's go to the ether..."
Power couples: Rest assured, Baltimore has nothing like Soto-Judge. (SoJu?) But SS Gunnar Henderson has 19 HRs, two below Judge and two above Soto. With gimp-legged Giancarlo Stanton - the Smokey Burgess of modern times - the Yankees can start three hitters with 10 or more HRs. Baltimore can bring four. (The teams are tied for the MLB lead with 92 HRs; the Yankees have two more RBIs.)
Breakout stars: Anthony Volpe is quietly conjuring memories of Jeter.
(Your honor, I object. Invoking Derek Jeter can only prove detrimental to our subject. Why are we doing this to a fine young man?
(Your honor, I object. Invoking Derek Jeter can only prove detrimental to our subject. Why are we doing this to a fine young man?
Objection sustained. The blogger shall not raise needless comparisons with Hall of Famers. Strike the previous statement from the record.)
Anthony Volpe is quietly reminding us of Didi Gregorius, in a good way. Baltimore has Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle and 3B Jordan Westburg - basically, the entire team is comprised of potential breakout stars.
Reinforcements: We have The Martian - Jasson Dominguez, rehabbing in Scranton - and Gerrit Cole, best pitcher in baseball. They have the entire Norfolk roster, which includes three of the International League's top hitters.
All-Stars: We have Soto and Judge. They have catcher Adley Rutschman and probably Henderson at SS.
Disappointments: We have Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo, both who have stumbled offensively and defensively. They have Cedrick Mullins (.178) and Austin Hays (.209.) Dunno what happened, but it's hard to imagine them staying down forever. Baltimore also has Jackson Holliday, supposedly MLB's best prospect, who was sent down after hitting .059. I gotta a sick feeling he'll be back in September.
Starting pitchers: You'd think the Yankees had a huge advantage - four strong with Cole soon to return. (Fingers crossed.) Plus, the AL's breakout pitching star, Luis Gil. But - damn - they have six decent starters, including ace Corbin Burnes (2.26 ERA) and head-turning Albert Suarez (1.83 ERA).
Closers: As much as Clay Holmes can be shaky, (17-of-20 in saves) I'll still take him over the 36-year-old, creepy bird-postured Craig Kimbrel, (13-of-16.) Kimbrel hasn't struck fear in an opposing lineup since 2020. If he comes in with a one-run lead, I like our chances.
But but but... if we learned anything over these two glorious weeks, nobody else will tame Baltimore. To win the AL East, we gotta do it ourselves. They are for real. Are we?
Bitty, my Bitty?? Paxlovid will help. Keep taking it. Please recover swiftly and fully.
ReplyDeleteThe Human Waterfall threw pitches of 103 and 104 mph for Pittsburgh yesterday. I'm still glad he's not here.
ReplyDeleteI'm meeting an old friend for the June 18th game. We have standing room tickets, because he rarely sits down and likes to walk around the Stadium. So, I get some good exercise in. Hopefully, I'll see the game, too. More or less.
And Bit, please stop getting sick. We worry.
13bit and Rufus (and to Rufus's Margret DuMont as well.)
ReplyDeleteI hope you all recover quickly and completely.
Is Rufus sick, too? Man.
ReplyDelete1) Gleyber got a couple of RBIs last night on a ball he didn't bother to run out until he saw it bounce off the outfielder's glove. He also had one of his laxidasical throws in the late innings that was saved by Rizzo. This guy really needs to go.
ReplyDelete2) As to how we match up with Baltimore. In the end it probably comes down to health and will. Baltimore, being young and all, should have the edge health wise.
Oh, and I don't watch any Oriole games except when they play the Yankees so I couldn't say whether or not their manager is an idiot. Sadly I know the answer as far as the Yankees go. So that's an edge to the Orioles as well.
Last,
They delight in beating us which gives them an edge. They psyche up. The Orioles have been so bad for so long that the Yankees don't feel the passion like they do when they play the Astros. That's another edge to the O's.
I just realized that I used the word "edge" like six times in what I just wrote so clearly I have lost mine.
ReplyDeleteDoug - not to worry - just take your blades in for sharpening . . .
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't mention that guy who plays guitar for U2. Thankfully.
ReplyDeleteThe knife talk reminds me of this crappy feel good movie where this ex hockey player who had to switch to Olympic figure skating because of an eye injury asks his bitchy lady skating partner what she does in her spare time, "what do ya do for a hobby, polish yer knife collection?" I'm not sure if it was "polish" or "sharpen", but hell, I was like, holy shit, yeah, that's what I do! How did ya know?
ReplyDeleteAs Cheech and Chong put it in one of their crazy ass movies, a man's sword must be big and strong. And sharp, I might add!
@ JM, So I take it you don't like the U2 guitar, eh? I was never much of a U2 fan either. Most of their songs remind me of some kind of funeral dirge. "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...." Mayhap we could use their music for this year's Yankee funeral.
ReplyDeleteFunereal is a good description, Hammer. I did like their first album at the time, and saw them on their first US tour--in a small club that fit maybe 100 people, if that. They played their whole album, then got called back for an encore. The played one of the same songs, then left. I really thought that they just didn't know any other songs at that point.
ReplyDeleteThe guitarist is a master of the delay pedal. Never a great axe slinger, but he built a career out of delay. And reverb, of course. Check out the movie "It Might Get Loud," with Jimmy Page, Jack White, and the Edge. He doesn't last too long in the film, and Page seems puzzled by what the hell he's doing. Didn't fit in, to say the least. But Page and White are fantastic.
Volpe, if he hits over .300, will be as good as Derek Jeter, as long as he continues the onslaught in the postseason and racks up some World Series Championships.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that made Jeter a great player wasn't so much that he hit .300 or got 3,000 hits or that he was so consistent in the batter's box or at shortstop. Jeter was a great player because he upped his game in the playoffs and did whatever it took to help his team win. Qualities that don't register with the number crunching crowd. We had to watch him all those years to know how good he was.
Volpe has the skills to put up DJ type regular seasons. But is he a champion? Unfortunately for Volpe, he's playing against a stacked deck with HAL & Co. But we'll see.
I'll check that out, JM, thanks! Love Jimmy Page!
ReplyDeleteThat time McNulty and Bunk went to an Os game...
ReplyDeletehttps://oldtimefamilybaseball.com/post/73874479861/the-wire-baltimore-orioles
It is not as bad as the other time I had it, two years ago, when I lost my sense of smell and taste and actually spent almost a year dealing with severe fatigue. That’s a low bar, though. It still sucks. I hope the Pax makes a difference. Thank you for the encouragement, Winnie. I am dictating this, so please excuse any stupidity. I think God is punishing me for being the lone remaining nattering nabob of negativity on this blog.
ReplyDeleteIt’s looking like August 22 is a good day. The only 1 o’clock weekday game left in the season, aside from the Fourth of July, but I hate the idea of Hoss not being able to make it. Let’s reconvene on the time and date brainstorming in a few days, after the brain fog reveals how much I can still think and reason. I love you all.
And a couple of good months doesn’t excuse Cashman‘s existence.
Man for Man, the Birds are just better.
ReplyDeleteI love what the team has done so far, but a course correction is coming, perhaps starting as soon as this weekend. Doesn’t mean a collapse, more of a return to the mean.
JM, hope you feel better soon. As for U2, I saw them on their second-album tour, at the Orpheum Theater in Boston. Robert Ellis Orral (“Call the Uh-Oh Squad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEKQi6QX2n4”) & David Johansen (pre-Buster Poindexter) also played. Good show.
ReplyDeleteWell wishes for Bitty and Rufus! U2, greatly overrated. Duque, IF WE STAY HEALTHY, we can take the AL. But maybe I need a splash of Aqua Velva. Great column as always!
ReplyDelete