Mercy. It's been a hard year for Mr. Cora, whose had to watch
a) Chris Sale rise
b) Bobby Dalbec not rise
c) his team play at 78-78.
Their breakout hitter - Tyler O'Neill, with 31 HRs - is 29, and looks way too much like Luke Voit. Trevor Story has played in 21 (twenty one) games. Even Brigadoon Refsnyder's been hurt. Boston's best move last winter may have been to cut bait on Alex Verdugo. (Flopsie still can redeem himself in the playoffs; but he'll be gone in November.)
The Yankee magic number is one. That means one thing:
Don't get swept. That's all. Don't get swept. Not at home. Not by Baltimore. Not by Pittsburgh. Win one game. That's all. Don't get swept.
Honest to God, as a Yank fan, raised on M&M, I sometimes can become - well - a bit glutinous. I demand outlandish outcomes. I concoct my personal vendetta list, which calls for terrible things to happen to those who have - well - left me miffed.
I'm not proud of this. I don't mean to crow over Boston's misery. It's sad, terrible, awful - what happened to Mr. Cora yesterday. Yes, he cheated a few years back. I'm sure he feels terrible about it. I ask you: Is any one of us perfect? Have none of us never done nothing wrong? Does that mean we forever demand that a fellow suffer?
In the name of Eugene V. Debs, when anyone anywhere suffers indignity, is it not a strain upon each and every one of us?!
To our friends in Boston, may October bring you sweet cider and pumpkin spiced brewskies. Go Patriots! You're better off without Brady!
If this is to be a Yankee year - (Note to juju gods: I said "IF," I'm taking nothing for granted) - here is our current 2024 punch list.
1. Toronto collapses, misses postseason. CHECK.
3. Tampa collapses, misses postseason. CHECK.
3. Boston collapses, misses postseason. CHECK.
4. Mets collapse, missing in postseason. PROCESSING.
5. We beat super future dynasty, Baltimore. PROCESSING.
6. We beat Houston, avenge their cheating. PROCESSING.
7. We beat LA, avenge Japanese stars who scorned us. PROCESSING.
We have a long way to go. Just don't get swept. For god's sake, don't get swept.
Oooohh may the vitriol flow like the blackest most purulent bile.
ReplyDeleteFuck them all.
Checking the scheduled, I have suddenly become a Padres and Cardinals fan.
ReplyDeleteP.S., the Jets (the Just End The Season JETS!) smoked the beaneaters team this week. That was sweet.
Deleteel duque...it was even worse than that with Cora. The call wasn't reviewable and Cora basically was automatically ejected when he argued the call. Cora just needed to look up the rule...but he hasn't exactly followed rules in the past...so there wasn't any need to do that...
ReplyDelete"he hasn't exactly follow rules in the past"...nice burn.
DeleteThis really has been the year for me where I've divorced myself from following the machinations of Yankee Bullshit Management Co. Have only been following the box scores or highlight shows. Still catch parts of an occasional game, but it's been a great vacation from the bullshit. As noted by Captain Willard in the film, "Yankee Apocalypse Now", here in Yankee Wonderland, "the bullshit piles up so high that you need wings to stay above it".
ReplyDeleteI'm not so far behind you. Listening to the excuses as to why needed players aren't bought or traded for pisses me off in so many ways. "We couldn't sign anyone because it didn't make sense", a line IMHO that lives in infamy.
DeleteWhat really did it for me was when fucking Boone replied to a reporter that management will do whatever the hell it wants because it's their team and that, if you want to manage a team, get your own. (I paraphrase, of course.)
ReplyDeleteOkay, so it looks like all us predictors of doom and gloom were having some kind of Edgar Allen Poe or Dario Argento fever dream nightmare. I'm glad our team is on the verge of clinching the A.L. east. (I'm sure even these fucking Bronx Bums can't snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory this time.)
But how 'bout getting to the fucking World Series this year? How 'bout winning the fucking World Series this year? I'll believe it when I see it.
The Third Yankee Funeral for 2024 has not been scheduled, yet. But we'll see about that ....
Dario Argento! Damn! In a league of his own!
DeleteThey brought up The Martian waaaayyyyy too late in the year. He should've been up here, learning on the job as soon as his oblique was ready. Of course there will be growing pains. There always are with just about every player. The question now is whether he'll have enough experience to get the job done in the playoffs. Something the fools in Yankee management could've mitigated but for their stupidity and greed. Because it was all about saving another year on The Martian's free agency status. Isn't it glorious to know that your team's management values financial gains over maximizing its championship chances?
ReplyDeleteThey’ve overachieved as far as I’m concerned, greatly aided by an Orioles collapse. If they don’t win one more game this week, I may go berserk, a la Billy Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu0B8wOtR3Y
ReplyDelete@ BTR999, Billy Jack, you crazy Indian! Hey man, I love that movie! Hot chick too. Too too bad she wasn't in many more. Only had a bit part in "Vanishing Point" as a police dispatcher lady.
ReplyDeleteMagic # at 1, with six to go. Only need one out of six. Anyone wanna play Russian Roulette? Six chambers, one cartridge. (Spinning the cylinder now ... dddddrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhh.) Perhaps we can get Monsieurs Boone, Cashman, and HAL to join in on the fun. Like Cashman always says, pulling the trigger is a crapshoot.
ReplyDeleteOh, that was the third Billy Jack movie, I think. With the school. I was thinking of the first Billy Jack, with that hot chick on the motorcycle. The whole Billy Jack collection is really cool.
ReplyDeletePretty soon, it won't just be Japanese stars who scorned us. Juan Soto will scorn us. Fucking everybody who is anybody will scorn us. Who the hell would wanna play where the number one priority isn't winning? Nobody worth his salt.
ReplyDeleteJimmy, we hardly knew ye.
ReplyDeleteFrom Pinstripe Alley:
ReplyDelete2B Caleb Durbin 3-5, 2B, RBI, K, SB, CS — .867 OPS in 82 games at Triple-A; might be in the infield conversation next season since the Yankees like him a lot
3B Jorbit Vivas 0-4
DH Ben Rice 1-4, HR, 4 RBI, BB, K — if this is it for Rice’s 2024, a grand slam is a nice way to close out a statement season that really inspired hope for his future
SS Oswald Peraza 2-4, HR, RBI, K, 2 SB — nice finale, but ends the season at a .735 OPS in Triple-A... murky future in pinstripes
Can we have Caleb next year, please? And Rice again, give him another shot? And Peraza?
Oh, and Spencer Jones hit a home run, too.
Sadly, with exception of the Martian we don't have ONE SINGLE PLAYER in the top 100 list in any of the major minor league publications. After all these years of "building a strong farm system". Of course some of these players WILL jump up and surprise. And Spencer Davis, er Jones looks like next year better be the "quantum leap". He's starting to get old to be a major prospect.
DeleteAnd Greg Allen continues to languish. For good reason, but I feel for the guy. He obviously refuses to give up, though.
DeleteSo here's a thought...if the Yanks sign Soto, the rest of the roster will be these AAA players and young roster players. Torres, Rizzo and Vertigo will be gone...for starters...
DeleteI could live with that.
DeleteGreg Allen is like the Paladin guy in "Have Gun, Will Travel". Lots of guys like that in the minors, or on the fringes of MLB. Have Bat & Glove, Will Travel. He'll probably be a coach after retiring from playing. Hope his playing career still has a loooooooong ways to go.
ReplyDeleteAh, Schadenfreude Week! Oh, baby, I love it.
ReplyDeleteYes, always good to dance on the Red Sox' grave for the season (Though interesting that Devers is out for the rest of the season with an injured shoulder. Oh, Flouncy!). And great—so far—to see how the rest of the AL has broken.
Can't root against the Mets, though. I just don't hate them that much. Also, a Subway Series would mean they've knocked off the two best teams in the NL, Dodgers and Phillies...
Speaking of which...weird moment on some sportscast yesterday, I think ESPN. They had in one corner a score that read, "LA 2, NYY 1, 11 innings, Final."
ReplyDeleteI cannot understand what that was about. But if we lose to the Dodgers, 2-1 in 11, in the 7th game of the World Series, I'm going to start visiting palm readers.
Well, the Yanks certainly did a lot better than I thought they would. Did they overachieve? Hard to say. Speaking of Durbin, Rice, Spencer Jones, The Martian, and Peraza—not to mention Cabrera and Effross—it's simply amazing that the Yankees could play most of the season like an extended spring training and NOT give any of the above a chance to challenge the likes of Volpe, Gleyber, Holmes, and Vertigo. But that's our Brian.
ReplyDeleteNot sure Os are a future super dynasty. They've been terrible for a little while now. Obvious flaws in a lot of places. Youth and talent, yes, but not overwhelming and TBD whether organization has the resources and know how to build around the youthful talent.
ReplyDeleteDon't write them off just yet. Their pitching staff was stranded by the injury jockey, and key position players got hurt as well. They are still loaded with talent down on the farm. Now it comes down to their GM making better moves than The Brain....
DeleteIf you thought you had a bad day...
ReplyDeleteEarlier today, RHP Ron Marinaccio was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox.
But think of his good fortune: he could become part of the team with the worst record in modern baseball. His name would go down in history. And I thought no one could top (bottom) the 62 Mets
ReplyDeleteFucking disgraceful that a big market team could be allowed to get so bad. If I were a fan they could kiss my ass forever. This idea of "parity" is no more than socialism being exhibited in the sports industry. An excuse for mediocrity and a great way to make money by doing nothing. And considering for a moment that Public money under writes these fuckers their legal monopoly should be yanked. And it's more likely that the participants on this blog will populate a MLB roster than for that to happen....
DeleteKevin, I'm glad they stink.
ReplyDeleteHaven't been in a few years (thanks covid!), but a great place to see a game. Fly into midway, uber to the game, stay at midway and fly out the next morning. Kinda like Baltimore used to be, but closer to the airport.
Comiskey II sucked when they first opened it, but the remodel made it a pretty good stadium.
Anyway, if they stink, it's easy to get tickets. Selfish, but I like it.