I took a trip down to Tampa to check out how our "futures" team is doing.
Imagine this:
1. Bruney is firing that 96 mph heater in "non-throwing" 8th inning situations against imaginary Minnesota Twin sluggers, Justin Moreau and Joe Mauer.
Dr. Andrews is observing from a split-screen in Birmingham, Alabama.
2. Posada is currently the non-running DH, and is again showing "gap" power against an imaginary Scott Kazmir.
3. Nady is our non-throwing right fielder, practicing to be our right-handed DH against an imaginary Papelbom.
4. Jose Molina is our non-catching, non-squatting backstop, keeping runners close at first with his legendary " snap throws."
5. Melky showed up early this morning to stand in centerfield with his arm in an imaginary sling, waiting the call from Dr. Andrews.
6. Cody Ransom is our non running third baseman, flashing against bunts from an imaginary California Angel second baseman.
7. Andrew Brackman is our imaginary ace, not throwing against a fiesty KC Royals line-up.
8. Eric Duncan is our real second baseman, taking ground balls but having no where to throw them as he tries to justify his status as another Yankee number one pick bust.
9. Luckily, we have no simulated shortstops available.
So far, this simulated team is 1-5 in simulated games ( two of which were shortened by rain).
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Yanks Stay On Losing Streak In Simulated Games
Papi Uniform Being Reburied into New Yankee Stadium as Good Luck Charm
It's all we can do to thank him for the months of April and May.
Transcript of the future Sotomayor confirmation hearing.
Senator Sessions: Thank you for coming, Judge Sotomayor. Let me get to the questions. In 1995, your ruling against the owners pushed baseball to end its strike and play ball. Am I correct?
Sotomayor: Yes sir. I'm proud of that ruling.
Sessions: In other words, you sided with Carl Pavano?
Sotomayor: Well, in a way...
Sessions: You had a choice between Carl Pavano, the do-nothing slob whom the Yankees signed for $27 million, and Gene Autry, a truly great cowboy who sang "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," and you sided with the likes of Pavano. Am I correct?
Sotomayor: It was a rule of law.
Sessions: Isn't it true that Carl Pavano pitched 11 innings in 2007, even though he was paid $10 million?
Sotomayor: I don't... it... I don't remember.
Sessions: YOU DON'T REMEMBER? YOU FORGOT CARL PAVANO? ANSWER THE QUESTION!
Sotomayor: Yes. It is true.
Sessions: YOU CLAIM TO BE A YANKEE FAN. YOU PAVED THE WAY FOR CARL PAVANO TO BECOME A YANKEE! Twenty-seven million dollars down the drain! And what about last night, Judge Sotomayor? What happened last night?
Senator Schumer: I object to this line of questioning! The nominee is not responsible for the collapse of the Yankee bullpen last night in Texas!
Sotomayor: They sucked last night. I'm not afraid to say it. They sucked.
Sessions: Your team was in the game until the sixth. How much did you spend on bullpens, leaky bullpens, thanks to your 1995 ruling? Ever calculate how much?
Schumer: I object to the Yankee bullpen!
Sotomayor: The ruling didn't cause Yankee bullpens to be so lame. It was the lack of oversight for the last eight years. My ruling brought a string of four World Championships and the likes of Mariano Rivera-
GOP Senators: CARL PAVANO! CARL PAVANO! CARL PAVANO!
.
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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Who Should Be May Yankee Employee of the Month?
Mark Teixeira: Fighting through slump
Melky Cabrera: Walkoffs!
I Did Not See That One Coming...
After perusing the intra-web, I found a pretty interesting article on our old friend Lonnie Baseball in the Newark Star-Ledger dated back to July of last year. It's just an excerpt, but the highlighted parts are pretty interesting:
Yup-if Lonn Trost's dad couldn't afford tickets to see the Yankees play, then Lonn Trost will make sure nobody's dad can afford tickets.
And who in their right mind would give up World Series tickets? Oh, that's right, high paid lawyers. They're also the same people who gave away their tickets this weekend to all those Phillies fans we saw crawling around Gitmo North.
Jeez, does this make me wanna puke.
Adam's Analysis of Sterling Index
THIS FROM ADAM, regarding the New York Sterling Index (Posted below)
A linear regression on the NYSI versus winning margin shows a strong negative correlation between winning margin and posted NYSI index.
The equations are:
NYSI (win_margin) = (6.535 +/- 0.3) - (0.235 +/- 0.06) * win_margin and (where win_margin < 0 =" a">
NYSI (win_margin <>
The p-values are significant and an adjusted R-squared value around .5 makes me think that with more data the hypothesis will be confirmed.
We have nothing to worry about: the man just doesn't get excited about blowout victories.
Adding to the variability is the presence of an extra innings game, which would by common logic add to the excitability of one Mr. John Sterling and increase the NYSI assuming a Yankees win.
Testing for an "extra innings effect" in the variability of the NYSI shows, however, that due to a small sample size it is impossible to draw any significant conclusion with a p-value of .33.
Yankee fan who "saved baseball" steps up
Despite spending a number of years deep in redsock region, Pres. Obama called upon a member of the Yankeeverse when it came time to make a lifetime appointment.
Kudos, Barry, from your buds at IT IS HIGH...
And knock 'em dead, Sonia baby!
Letter to the Editor: Yanks win North Naples Little League
Naples Daily News (Florida)
May 23, 2009 Saturday
Dear Editor:
Congratulations to the North Naples Little League.
What a great season: total of 25 straight wins (undefeated).
Thank you to all the coaches for their time devoted to the teaching of these fine young men.
Good team work by everyone involved.
Yea, Yankees!
Nancy Savell
Naples
Hall or No Hall Part 2: Andy Pettitte
After IIH, IIF, IIc elected Bernie Williams into Cooperstown, Hall or No Hall will continue this week because the Yankees have rattled off a pretty solid week or two of winning since we started. And this week, we’ll take a look at the always durable, always reliable Andy Pettitte.
Good:
Andy’s been the symbol of consistency since he broke into the majors in 1995. A four-time World Champion, he has finished in the top 5 in the Cy Young Voting 4 times. Andy has claim to the award in 1996, although it wrongfully sits on Pat Hengten’s mantle right now. Andy has only appeared in 2 All-Star games. However pitchers have more difficult time getting into the All-Star Game because they cannot be voted on by the fans. A legitimate claim last year was that a .270 hitter had no right to start at shortstop in the All-Star Game and just got in on the benefit of the doubt from the fans because he’s one of the game’s biggest superstars.
But Andy’s regular season success pales in comparison to what he does in big games. Andy is one of the most dominant postseason pitchers in the history of the game. Although he has the benefit of starting more games and pitching more innings in the postseason than any other pitcher in baseball, the numbers that he put up are still quite impressive. 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA ranks up there on the all-time postseason lists. And his value in other must-win games is obvious: Pettitte is 17-2 in 24 starts when trying to prevent the Yankees from getting swept.
Bad:
Andy only one dominant season, 1996, and his numbers show a very good #2 pitcher. #2 pitchers don’t make the Hall too often. And in a comparison to Whitey Ford, another lefty who came up big in big situations, Andy’s ERA, baseball’s statistical crown jewel in determining a pitcher’s worth, was over a point higher than Whitey’s ERA (3.89 to 2.75). And Whitey pitched better in big games than Pettitte (Ford was 10-8 with a 2.71 ERA in 22 World Series games)
Ugly:
Andy is one of the many Yankees who were busted for using PEDs in the blatantly biased Mitchell Report. Before the 2008 season, he tearfully admitted to using HGH in an attempt to try to come back from injury. However, his notoriety isn’t nearly as bad as other steroid users because he was pretty straightforward in coming clean about his past.
And you can also make the case for most pitchers that their numbers are going to be a little bloated compared to pitchers of the past because pitchers in the 1990s had to go up against steroid swollen hitters.
Verdict:
Andy’s still a borderline candidate that probably won’t get in. The steroids issue will hurt him. But the main issue is his stats. He still needs to put up some quality years before he retires to better his chances, and I just don’t see that happening at the twilight of his career. But hey, Moose did win 20 games last year after a 2007 where he was banished to the bullpen…
Next Week Edition: Paul O’Neill
Christian Garcia is back, and nobody in AA can hit him
For now, anyway.
Over the years, various bloggers have gushed so blatheringly stupidly about Garcia's arm that it's likely to end up someday on the wall of the Yankee Steakhouse, bronzed and autographed by Sam Milletello, Ed Yarnell and Brien Taylor. They put him not only above Hughes and Chamberlain, but even Betances and Brackman! the living symbols of how mankind might evolve if we just eat enough mercury and lead-based paint chips.
They loved Garcia, even though he didn't really exist. He was merely a video game avatar in a Yankee cap, who occasionally appeared on some minor league team's disabled list. At times, he's had "an attitude," probably gained by reading blogs. He's also had arm issues. But he was always, always, always, our great pure arm, even if he was using it less to pitch than pleasure himself.
Well, he's back from the DL. Again. And hey... as Jack Skellington would say, "What's this?"
Nobody's doing anything against him.
Wait: I got an idea.
Let's rev up the old "Christian-Garcia-is-gonna-be-great!" routines, so he can read about himself and get hurt again.
A few more like this, and he could be a legend in Moosic.
Sterl Hurl Index in Roller Coaster Ride
After a wild weekend, when John nearly nailed a 7.00, the Index stands at 4.14, below levels attained during the 9-game winning streak.
Do we need a third voice in the booth?
Face it: Bruney may be done, and he'll have squandered his great talent
How often do we see this movie?
Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets TJ surgery.
Does anybody really think Brian Bruney will be back this year?
For the record: We want him back. He's a nice guy. He's a lugnut. He throws hard. You love him.
But now... some harsh words:
The guy wasted his talent. Until this winter, he never devoted himself to the level of training required to be an elite pitcher. For the last six years, the world say Bruney as a rolly-polly Fred Flinstone, throwing hard with a trailer of excess beef. And he was inconsistent. Lights out for a few days, then hammered.
This was the year he looked different. He took off the weight. He didn't even look like the same guy. He finally figured out what it takes to be a great pitcher.
Too late.
Again: WE LOVE THE GUY. WE WISH HIM THE BEST.
But I hope somebody, when talking to our Brackmans and Kontoses, points to Bruney and tells the story of a guy who squandered his potential.
Every guy has a certain number of pitches inside him. Once they're gone, they're gone. One day, it'll be too late.
And that's the Brian Bruney movie.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Two Memorial Day Weekend WinWarbles... Back to back and belly to belly
The thrill of victory and the agony of... victory.
John blew a 6.97 Warble Saturday on Melky's walkoff.
Today, he barely notched a 4.14.
Hear them both...
Saturday's Walkoff Warble: 6.97 seconds
Here's how it looked on the Warbleatron. (The middle bulge is his "thuuuuuuh.")
Two Against One: Syracuse to host both Scranton and Wilkes Barre
It's sad when two cities have to team up to beat one, but that's what's happening tonight.
Scranton - knowing it cannot win a fair tussle - is bringing its lacky, Wilkes Barre, to play Syracuse in a four-game series.
Frankly, I feel sorry for Wilkes Barre. They're the sherpas, the coolies, the servants, and they're probably getting paid the minimim wage, if not just receiving old newspapers and shoes. Scranton should be ashamed of itself.
If two cities want to play together, they should schedule Utica-Rome.
We must start rooting for Papi
The Redsocks are ready to drop him in the order.
He needs another home run to give them false hope.
Fingers crossed.
Just seeing John Mayberry Jr. invoked memories of Mayberry Sr., the rally-killer we signed at the end of his career. He murdered us, because now and then, he smacked one, causing us to keep him in the lineup.
We need Papi to get hot. A 3-4 day with a HR would probably last him through June 15.
Following Teixiera's broken bat HR: Future iconic home runs in the stadium
Yesterday, when Mark Teixiera homered with a broken bat, it was just another sign that this new stadium is the House of the Rising Run.
What other blasts should we anticipate?
The Check-Swing Home Run. (First base ump says the batter didn't go around, but ball goes out anyway.)
The Infield Fly Rule Home Run. (Ump calls batter automatically out, then ball lands in upper deck.)
The Bunt Home Run. (Enough said.)
The Whiff Home Run. (Batter swings, misses, but force of airflow whisks ball into seats.)
Hit By Pitch Home Run. (Pitch bounces off Youkilis' head, lands in seats.)
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