A train derailment of Wally Pips.
The fragile Anthony Rizzo. The elderly DJ LeMahieu. The Green Bay Packer, Luke Voit. The Princeton Tiger, Mike Ford. And the future star, Greg Bird. (I'll never understand what happened, but in a happier, much kinder Yankiverse, Bird is still holding the position.)
Once upon a time, 1B was the domain of a Tino or a Tex, but in this real world, the brain trust turned it over to Overbay, as in Lyle. (Don't mean to belittle Overbay, but he was probably the most ineffectual Yankee 1B in this millennium. Wait? What's that? Tyler Austin and Chris Carter have entered the chat.)
And regardless to how you assign blame, the Great 2024 Moment of Shit (TM) took place at first base: a routine grounder that neither Rizzo nor Gerrit Cole, steely students of baseball and life - could decipher. You know the play. If the Yankees made it, the Dodgers would have ended the fifth with no runs. Ah... why torture ourselves? That's for another happier, kinder Yankiverse - and the galaxies are moving father apart, not closer.
When the Yankees play LA tonight, despite their slightly better won-loss record, everybody will remember Cole's failure to cover - along with Aaron Judge's botched fly and Anthony Volpe's 30-foot throw - and see the game as a mismatch.
Which brings me to the the biggest Yankee improvement in 2025. (Max Fried and Carlos Rodon have left the chat.) I mean Paul Goldschmidt, who is chasing not only a ring but a plaque.
Of course, it's May. Not long ago, Rizzo was wowing us in just such a month. Not long ago, we still awaited Bird to break out, or Chris Carter to do something. In May, we hadn't yet stared into the open jaws of hell, otherwise known as Lyle Overbay. (Whom I don't mean to criticize; he was what he was.)
Last October, it was the overwhelming difference at first base - they had Freddie Freeman; we had the Rizz - that killed us. This year, maybe a change?
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18 comments:
Rizzo was a failure? I never saw him that way. Kind of fragile, yes. The botched play in the Series, sure, though I blamed Cole, really. He did good, I thought, at least for a coupla/few years.
Goldschmidt is having a great year so far. Yes, outstripping anything Rizz was able to do. But I don't think Rizzo was a Chris Carter or Lyle Overbay kind of failure. I wouldn't lump him in with those guys.
I have a hangover, so I'll just slink back to my hovel...
I do not want Chisholm back. At all.
Didn’t Chris Carter at least give us The X-Files?
We’ll alway have that, right?
Sculder and Moldy, skulking and snooping around, hobknobbing with aliens?
Now bequeathed to Ryan Coogler for the upcoming reboot?
At the end of the day we’re all sinners but we’d never be nuthin if nobody ever got to first base.
Sometimes a vapor lock or two is necessary to get the juices flowing.
Chisholm and Stanton and Gil, oh my.
Oh poor Lyle. And poor Big Tony scrabbling away at the end of his career.
JM, I thought Rizzo was quite good, subbing in at the end of 2021, a nice pick-up. But then, inevitably, the Hal & Pal combination did him—and us—in...
...First, there was the decision to save some money by re-signing The Rizz when Freddie Freeman was a free agent. Idiotic—and all too typical. Add Freeman to the ever-growing, Dayenu List of guys who if we had just had him, and him alone, we would've won a World Series...
...Next came the idiotic, Pal decision to keep playing Rizzo even though he was clearly hurt. And then, finally, the decision not to bring up poor T.J. Rumfield last year, when Rizzo was obviously past it...
...Frankly, JM, I blame that infamous play on Rizzo. No way in hell that Cole is beating Betts to the bag, and The Rizz should have seen that. He needed to charge that ball. If Rumfield is out there...maybe he would have.
Incidentally, checked into the RailRiders game on YES last night. Rumfield is still at first, still hitting .296 with a little pop, fielding his position well. Should he be playing over Goldschmidt or Rice? No—but then he should have been dealt.
This is more of the endless idiocy of Brian Cashman, and why he is the biggest thing wrong with your New York Yankees: the continual torture of young players by hanging them out to dry at Triple-A, because he's afraid they'll do well somewhere else. Rumfield should have been given a shot or traded—period. Such a waste!
Oh, and thanks so much, guys, for all the kind comments about the Mantle post!
When do we get your post on Mickey 17?
Duque - "Greg Bird. (I'll never understand what happened," I seem to recall that he kept breaking his foot or feet. :)
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I watched a big chunk of the Somerset Patriots game while waiting for the Knicks.
George Lombard Jr. made a play that I liked so much I actually called a friend after it to tell him what I saw.
Guy on first. Easy pop up to short (Lombard) so the batter doesn't run it out fully. Lombard let's it drop. Fires to first for the force.
The guy who was on first got a late jump because he had to hold on the bag for the pop out that didn't happen. The first baseman fires to second for the tag and the double play.
Not sure why it didn't meet the criteria for the infield fly rule but it didn't. Great heads up play because Lombard recognized that the batter was jogging and went for it. He's only nineteen.
https://www.nj.com/yankees/2025/05/yankees-top-prospect-gets-ultimate-compliment-after-wowing-with-rare-play.html
Also Rafael Flores the Patriot catcher look VERY good. .293 10 HR 34 RBIs (184 AB)
So did the Knicks.
I guess Cole is less likable, so it was easier to blame him.
This.⬆️
Remember, Greg Bird had major shoulder surgery. Shoulders are tricky.
I’ve been waiting for the Knicks for fifty years. I’m not standing on that rug anymore.
Kevin - Yikes. When you see it all in one place...
2016 - Shoulder
2017 - ankle
2018 - ankle
2019 plantar fascia tear,
2020 with Texas Bird suffered an injury before he could appear in a game, and was designated for assignment on August 11
Québec Capitales
On August 22, 2023, Bird signed with the Québec Capitales of the Frontier League.[39] In 11 games for Québec, Bird hit .293/.341/.390 with one home run and four RBI.[40]
Melbourne Aces
On October 17, 2023, Bird signed with the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League.[41] In 40 games for Melbourne, Bird hit .277/.348/.539 with 40 RBI and eleven home runs, the most in the entire league for the 2023/2024 season.[42]
Charros de Jalisco
On February 26, 2024, Bird signed with the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican League.[43] In 72 games for Jalisco, Bird hit .317/.399/.580 with 18 home runs and 51 RBI.
Algodoneros de Unión Laguna
On July 22, 2024, Bird was traded to the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna of the Mexican League in exchange for Steven Fuentes.[44] He did not appear in a game for Laguna.
Bird re-signed with Laguna for the 2025 season.
Doug, do you have some kind of obsession with Greg Bird? Just kidding! LOL
Hoss, no question, that play was on Rizzo. And might I add, it was also on Boone. Because the entire playoffs and World Series, Rizzo had been making errors (and errors that were not errors), balls going through his legs, and so on. Boone doesn't have the eyeballs or the backbone to sit Rizzo down and put Cabrera at 1B. If that had been Cabrera on that play, that's a can of corn for Cabrera. But the Cashman Yankees way is to play the guy making the big salary, no matter how old or ineffective he's become. And they paid the price for it.
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