Captain? Here, you had a veteran lineup, full of stars, and the last thing it needed was somebody acting like King Tut. He didn't ask for it. They just anointed him.
(Maybe they should have named Tarik Skubal "Admiral." Maybe he would have pitched one more game?)
Early on, they asked for a speech. He hemmed and hawed. They were like wedding ushers, banging spoons against the snifters. They demanded a speech, which he botched.
Their reaction: More hype. Heavier praise, grander accolades, more crapola. Now, he wasn't just the best player on the Yankees, or the best hitter on Team America, or the best slugger slugger in baseball. He was the best ever, the greatest of all time, and we should open the Hall now, rather than wait.
Then came his final game in the WBC: 0 for 4 with three Ks and enough stranded runners to win the tournament.
And then came last night's new incarnation: A return to California as the prodigal son, and poster boy for a Netflix cultural power grab.
And here's what America saw:
Bad Aaron.
Yep. We saw Judge, lunging at balls in the dirt, watching strikes right down the middle, unable to check faulty swings, then trudging back to the dugout, bat in hand, turning once to acknowledge his hopelessness.
The Judge we've seen, off and on, throughout his career.
The dirty little secret about baseball's greatest player: He goes through stretches where he couldn't hit your Aunt Gladys's fastball with a tennis racket. It's a lucky game when the Yankees can absorb a Judgean 0-for-5, and still win. And really, let's be thankful that, last night, he didn't waste a 9th inning HR to make the score 8-0. Those are the events that drive Yank fans crazy.
Judge will come around. But clearly, the World Baseball Classic - and the overbearing hype of playing opening day in his geographical back yard - has messed him up.
As for Netflix, what did you expect? Everything was hype. Everything.
At one point, around the 5th, they wheeled in Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of Hell, to be interviewed by CC Sabathia and Hunter Pence, swooning like OAN interns at a Melania photo-op. They were literally giggling with anticipation, claiming to have stayed up the previous night - I'm not making this up, they had been like first-night college freshmen, going over the pig book - thinking of great questions to ask. Then Manfred sat down, and the interrogation began:
Do you remember your first Opening Day?
My God. They didn't ask about rule changes, which now happen every season. They didn't ask about the impending lockout next winter, which threatens the future of baseball. They didn't ask about expansion, or salary caps, or A.I. umpires, or elbow surgeries, doctored bats, lost statistical frameworks - whatever you wanted to hear about - they didn't ask it, and their reaction to whatever Manfred blathered was to act the San Diego Chicken oogling a cheerleader.
Insert sigh here.
Well, here's what we can say about last night.
1. We won.
2. Judge got it out of his system.
3. It's over.
First place in the AL East, baby. Check it out!
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14 comments:
Everyone's allowed a bad game. I'm not gonna worry too much about Judge in game 1. He has off games like this every now and then.
Funny thing is: if Judge had swatted a couple homers last night and the Yanks won like 12-0, people would be complaining this morning that he only performs in low-leverage, blowout games. That he was padding his stats.
But I think overall that was a great game. Offense scored 7 runs on 10 hits, while the pitching staff threw 9 shutout innings. Hard to complain, outside of the atrocious Netflix coverage. Genuinely awful stuff.
Right on, ZacharyA! It was a superb game. Complete domination WITHOUT a home run or anything from their best hitter.
As for Judge, I think he gets frazzled when the umps clearly don't know what to do with his strike zone. The first pitch to him was up around his eyeballs, and the ump—one Bill Miller—called it a strike. Judge has got to adjust to that stuff, I know—but what a putz the ump was.
As for Manfred...I purposely did not watch it. But I'm sure you're right, Duque.
My line of questioning would have been something like:
"So, are you really going to let Donald Trump force men who fixed games and consorted with gamblers into the Hall of Fame?"
"Under exactly what definition of 'small government conservatism' does the president of the United States get to dictate who a private industry honors, and why?"
"Can you tell us where this stops? For instance, if tomorrow, President Trump should decide that no players from the old Negro Leagues should be in Cooperstown, would you remove them? How about if he decides to overrule your suspensions of A-Rod, and declare him the actual, all-time home run king? Would that stand?"
"How about if the president demanded that baseball give him yet another 'Peace Prize'? What would that look like? Just asking for all those curious viewers out there?"
My question, Hoss, is how any major league ump doesn't know what to do with Judge's strike zone. It's been 10 years already, and he still gets calls that are completely ridiculous. And it's not like he's the only really tall guy playing baseball, either. Stanton is in the same territory, and that's just on the Yankees.
So why are umps still unable to properly call balls and strikes when Judge is at the plate?
I wonder if Robbie ran into Barry Bonds, who was there for the postgame discussion. The highlight of which was Austin Wells calling Albert Pujols "Mister Pujols."
Self Absorbed ?
Racist ?
I loved how Manfred ignored CC's handshake as he removed his interview cans from his big, big, head.
My car's getting bigger (big time)
My house getting bigger (big time)
My eyes getting bigger (big time)
And my mouth (big time)
My belly's getting bigger (big time)
And my bank account (big time)
Look at my circumstance (big time)
And the bulge in my
Big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big
BIG !
I don't think Judge will ever challenge a call. He's too crestfallen. From the dugout, Boone is going to have to demand that he taps his helmet.
The entire presentation by Netflix was atrocious. Childish and immature.
Yes, Judge looked terrible. I do believe the WBC was disruptive. (I’ll refrain from further comment about the WBC, which I abhor).
Overall, the offense looked good against the Giants’s mediocre pitching. Stanton showed some hustle! But I was most impressed by Max Fried, who turned in an ace-like performance. Jake Bird turned in a great inning. This early Bird caught the worm. We need some of those bullpen lugnuts to continue to step up.
Judge - I'm not worried about. Bullpen - we were spoiled for life by Mariano. That being said, Boone and Cash, the vaudeville duo, completely ruin these guys every year by the break. They overwork the living shit out of them. We need starters with longer legs. I don't care who's in the bullpen, if you're asking 4 or more innings from them EVERY FUCKING GAME
I got cut off - if you overwork the bullpen, it will always explode. Rule of the universe. Bad team construction, bad management, bad use of analytics, bad mojo.
Don't worry, the home run derby will fix Judge's swing.
Seriously, here's hoping he got his first slump out of the way during meaningless games.
Don't worry, the home run derby will fix Judge's swing.
Seriously, here's hoping he got his first slump out of the way during meaningless games.
I'm just glad Judge and the other Yankees didn't get hurt. I didn't waste a minute on that stupid WBC. This idiotic exercise is at best a distraction from getting ready for the season and, at worst, a boneyard that destroys player's season before they begin. Get rid of it, please.
If I were a coach or manager on the Yankees, I'd be working to get his head screwed on straight and centered when he comes to the plate. Yankees mess up players with their idiotic and hyperbolic PR machine.
I'm sure their feverishly pumping out more PR bullshit to celebrate the win and paper over Judge's performance. That will be all the help he's going to get.
But hey, Maybe Hal, Randy and Lonn can use their insider advantage to make some money on the prediction markets.
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