Whatever I ever said bad about him - (in the heat of battle, a general sometimes must berate his lieutenants) - I take it back. Three HRs? That's a grand night! Hip hip! (!!!) Hip hip! (!!!) Hip Hip! (!!!) Forhe'zajollygoodfellow, forhe'zajollygoodfellow, forhe'zajollygoodfelloooo, which nobodycandeny! It's been a while since a Yankee brought felony-grade, Old Testament, Liam Neeson vengeance upon a former team - (I recall a shutout over the cheating Astros by Gerrit Cole) - and it's refreshing to know that other teams piss off players, too. It's not just us.
So, in case you're scoring at home, a great Yankee night...
1. Three HRs puts Bellinger at .285, with 16 HRs and 54 RBIs - which stacks up against Mr. Met Money (.265, 22, 54), and with a clear defensive advantage. (Remember the shoestring catch he converted into a DP against the Mets?) The moment that Juan Soto signed his mega-deal, he stepped into an ugly, joyless realm that will forever inspire unfortunate comparisons, and whenever one pops up, I shall lord over the bum and roil the heavens like Betty White after a 30-rack of Labatt's Blue.
2. Yes, the Cubs were demoralized, but Carlos Rodon - with 8 shutout innings - wins an All-Star designation. Along with whatever bonus money is involved - which is always a thing - this should lessen the publicity burden on Rodon, due to his big contract. After a crapola first season in NY, he has quietly become a crucial cog on the Yankee staff.
3. The Yankees have now won five in a row. They remain two behind Toronto, but the recent streak has spared them from being bypassed by Boston - which has now won 8 straight. Yank fans should be very, very afraid. The Redsocks are young and hungry. Cross your fingers that DJ LeMahieu doesn't somehow find his way to Boston. This might be one of their years.
4. Down in Scranton, the emerging titan, Spencer Jones, hit another HR - his sixth since being promoted to Triple A, a three-run shot that broke open the game. (Note: He fanned twice, still a sucker for something.) But with each passing game that he stays above .400, the buzz becomes a roar. We are entering the Jones Conundrum: The more he hits, the more we want to see him in Pinstripes, and the more we'll get for him in a trade.
Today, 1:05 p.m. We're closing in on the break. Last year, we crapped the bed against Baltimore - an omen of the World Series finale. Maybe this year, we stick the landing?
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Just checked. NYYs right now are 53-41, 2 games out of first. After same # of games in 2024, NYYs were 56-38 -- 2 games out of first.
Apparently, Hal was some kind of genius to walk away from Juan Soto. I admit, I did not think that was the case at the time.
Yeah, but you know what’s going to happen, don’t you?
In November, The Intern is going to sign Cody to a six-year deal and then DFA him (or consign him to the the Ellsbury Memorial Retirement Home) for the last two years.
The Yankees are assembling an all-star team of Cripples.
Somehow, the AL East has become a more powerful, competitive division,
Upon reflection, the “somehow” is revealed as the overall sorry state of most MLB teams.
It’s refreshing to see so many good young players coming to fruition.
But we need to temper the enthusiasm about Jones. All those K’s indicate a big hole in his swing.
Juan Soto does not like rent free in my head. Just another ex-Yankee to me.
Enough; keep the red hot Bellinger in the lineup and let’s win this one today.
Yep, Cody Bellinger is having as good a season at the plate as Soto, and a considerably better one in the field.
The only trouble? Juan Soto will still be doing this 10 years from now, when Cody is busy coaching the next in the Bellinger dynasty—Clark? Cattywumpus?—through high school...
I really don't think we should get too excited about this five-game run. Boston has won eight in a row, and Toronto, thirteen of fifteen. To quote the Stooges, we will fall.
...But as usual, our Peerless Leader has been brilliantly woven together two, seemingly unrelated strands of Yankee thought.
The Yanks acted like a small-market team—very much like Soto's previous two teams, the Padres and the Nationals—in giving up a fine pitcher and 3 pitching prospects just to rent him for a year. I thought it was ludicrous—and indicative of the ludicrous way that Hal thinks of the gold mine he inherited.
But I say that, for once, if the Yanks are going to do something, DO IT...
...Stick with Spencer Jones. Hug that prospect! I thought, when Jones was first picked, that he was one of the very few good first-round picks that Cashie had ever made. Then, I figured that the Yanks' crack de-valuating team had done him in. Somehow, Judge-like, he seems to have (maybe) survived them. I say, KEEP HIM!
He's not going to draw anything that great, anyway. Nobody is going to give the Yanks a first-rate starter, closer, or third baseman for him. And in just a year or two, Bellinger will be gone and Judge will be slowing. KEEP HIM!
From the Estimable Keefe:
If a midsummer swoon under Boone is tradition then a disastrous weekend heading into the All-Star break under Boone is one as well. In 2021, they led the Astros 7-2 in the ninth, but gave up six runs, including a three-run, walk-off home run to Jose Altuve to lose 8-7. In 2023, they held a 4-1 lead over the Cubs in the seventh, but allowed six runs over the final three innings to lose. Last year, the Yankees had the humiliating loss in Baltimore to end the first “half” when Volpe and Alex Verdugo misplayed balls that would have ended the game. Let’s not do that again. How about a nice series win to go into the break? How about a sweep to keep the winning streak going? Let’s do that.
A little fight at the end, but a lot of swinging early in the count like they couldn’t wait to get off the field and into the AC. So who is this team? The one that won 5 in a row, or the lazy, uninspired bunch that sleepwalked through today’s game?
You were dreaming. The Yankees offense gets shut down too easily.
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