Saturday, July 23, 2011
Clash of the Titans set for Sunday in Moosic
In one corner, it's Chien-Ming Wang, ace of the Yankee staff, if not for the barbaric National League rule that requires pitchers to run. When will the "leaders" of this nation put aside their differences and unite for meaningful change!
Facing him, power forward Andrew Brackman, ace of the Yankee staff, if not for the ludicrous rule that requires strikes to come within six feet of home plate.
Yes, it's our forgotten past squaring off against our former future. It's Chinese sinkerballs against the wild pitches of Borneo. It's the two warring dimensions of the Yankiverse, colliding like Bubba Crosby and Gary Sheffield, in those lost mudflats between Scranton and Wilkes Barre.
Today, Wang pitches for the Syracuse Chiefs, a farm club of the Washington Nats. Tuesday, Superfrankenstein and I scouted him when he came to the Salt City. We're still waiting for the stool sample analysis. He looked regal, like a once great artist who had been reduced to sketching $10 caricatures at the county fair. The game's second batter homered; it was his second HR of the year. But Chien-Ming battled, surrendered only three runs in five innings, and struck out his last batter on a pitch that was summoned through time, via 2005.
Brackman's year has been a complete, George W. Bush-level fiasco. He cannot throw strikes. If he were an NFL quarterback, he would lead the lead in interceptions. The Yankees relocated him to the bullpen, hoping it would help. No dice. Now, they're retrying him as a starter. God knows what he'll do. It's like inviting Godsmack to play a concert in Watertown. The world might end.
If the world ends Sunday, remember: You heard it here, first.
Yanks Defeat A's 17-7
Friday, July 22, 2011
Yankeetorial: There is one man the Yankees MUST obtain for the stretch
Last night, we ended our dismal sojourn to the domed city of Tampa, a hellhole of arttifcial turf and noises, unable to add a few carlengths between us and the former Devil Rays in the race for the AL Wild Card.
But Tampa time is running out. Once the NFL players start baby-shaking their brains again, Tropicana Field will take on the excitement of a grain elevator, and the billionaire ownership will start poormouthing and jettisoning expensive players.
Hence, the deadline deals that annually ruin our long-term plans.
I hate deadline deals. The seller creates a bidding war, the writers gin it up, and we give up our future for players past their primes. The list of bums we've acquired - from Raul Mondesi to Travis Lee to Jose Canseco to Estaban Loaiza - stains Yankee history, and it only hurts more if we follow the youngsters we dealt away, to the joyous approval of the media echo chamber.
But this year, one player needs to come home. We can use his bat. We can use his guile. We can use his personality. Johnny Damon proved his loyalty last year, when he declined a chance to return to Boston in a trade. In that moment, he declared himself a Yankee for life. He took the extra step. Now, it's our turn.
Free Johnny Damon from the artificial turf hellhole of Tampa.
Let Johnny come marching home again!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
John And Suzy's Tampa Vocation
Culled from recent Sweeny Murti segments on Boomer and Carton's Show.
Ignoring the obnoxious Carton, Boomer may be on to something regarding Tex. The guy does look awkward at the plate. Regardless of the power numbers, which seem to often come in non-clutch situations, the guy should be hitting better than .240. Kind of wish we had waited for Adrian Gonzalez.
Hugo and Eric Chavez: The Comeback Cousins
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez indicated he retains key powers even after delegating responsibilities to aides as he approved a budget from the hospital in Cuba, where is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
News from Yankee Country North: A city debates Godsmack
Watertown is a pro-Yankee city wracked with anguish, as its citizens ponder the pros and cons of welcoming the rock band Godsmack into its womb.
Everybody knows what happened recently when the Tragically Hip came, temporarily setting the town's Wayback Machine to the 1923 anarchist riots.
"Port-a-pottys were big issues. You turn 6,000 people loose at Tragically Hip, open the gates, the first thing they've got to do is go to the bathroom. That was a problem."
Damn straight, you've got a problem. You might as well be hydrofracking Lake Ontario! But wait, there's more....
After the Hip Concert a city DPW truck also disappeared. It was later found that a city employee left the keys in it and a drunk concert-goer drove off with the vehicle.
Monsters! Before OKing any "show," the Watertonians are vowing to make every potty ready, every truck secure. They will decide this weekend. Stay tuned up.
Bakers Dozen !!
Eduardo Nunez, the major league's worst fielder ( based upon errors/chances ) logged his
Yankee- leading 13th error in yesterday's win.
As long as Yankee pitchers toss shutouts, Nunez's incompetence with glove and arm can be overlooked.
If Nunez was a pitcher, and errors/chance were the equivalent of strikeouts/innings, he would win the Cy Young.
Chickenbone Chavez swings bat four times, without shoulders exploding
Full disclosure: I've been a Nuni man from the gitgo. We need youth. But this Edward Chopstickshands bit is growing old. The guy can hit, rare for a Chico Escuaila, but his glove is as soft as Rebekah Brook's teeth. His problems could be mental. Maybe we're spoiled by Jete and Arod. I dunno. But can he really be this lame in the field? How could Nuni have gotten past Trenton, the way he Buckners grounders? Considering the angst over Jesus Montero's defense, could we really have promoted a shortstop to The Show, when he can't make a routine grounder?
Right now, there is no such thing as a routine grounder, when it is hit to Eduardo Nunez. No way he can even serve as a late-inning defensive replacement, the original plan.
So we're back to Chickenbone's rehab.
He went four for five yesterday in the Tampa 22-and-under league. That's good. I like Chavez. He grew up loving Mickey Mantle. Last spring, he became our position player version of Bartolo Colon. Then... snap, crackle, pop. Let's hope he's back. Those matchsticks that he runs on are the only thing standing between four weeks of Eduardo and another horrible, deadline Mark Melancon giveaway -- (so long Andrew Brackman?) -- for a Lance Bergman, or a Melvin Mora, who won't do the job, either.
Take calcium, Chavez. And hurry home.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
50 years Ago: Ty Cobb Dies
cobb-dies
It's interesting that most polls 50 years ago would have ranked Cobb as the #1 greatest player. Now he's #2 or even less (# 7 in SABR poll). How about that story of Stengel's of Cobb tagging up from 3rd on an infield pop up! As for Cobb's advice, Mick didn't listen and according to Jane Leavy it may have cost him the HR record in 1961
A "vitamin" injection - likely prompted by an attempt to treat gonorrhea, also known as the clap - by the infamous amphetamine dispenser Dr. Max Jacobson, derailed Mantle's 1961 chase for Babe Ruth's home run record and left him with a massive infection.
Derek Jeter 3K To Air On HBO On July 28th
With the cooperation of Derek Jeter and the Yankees, MLB Productions gained extensive access to Jeter both at and away from the ballpark. For the first time ever, Jeter wore a microphone during two games including the one where he reached the 3,000 career hit milestone. He also allowed MLB Productions camera crews to follow him on multiple occasions and in a variety of settings, including in his home and during rehabilitation from a calf injury. “DEREK JETER 3K” also will feature exclusive interview footage with the Yankee captain which was recorded shortly after he became only the 28th player in MLB history to achieve the milestone.
Girardi And Yankees Follow Road Sign to Stupidity
Ivan Nova, the Yank's best young pitcher in years, demoted to Scranton to make room for Phil Hughes, has rolled an ankle in a meaningless game, and is likely gone for the season.
This is Chin Ming Wong all over again.
At least we can't trade Nova to the Red Sox now.
However, our starting pitching depth is now destroyed, and the urgency for a stupid trade of our remaining young talent for some over-the-hill pitcher in the National League grows.
Stupidity rules.
There is one pitcher out there for which I would trade prospects, and I hereby direct the entirity of our IT IS HIGH Yankiverse connections toward the pursuit of this individual, who is not only a great hurler but a good sport and one clearly destined to someday wear Pinstripes
50 Years Ago: Mantle Hits HR 35 Against Senators
mantle-35-1961
Another era in our respect for politicians. During the pre-game festivities Mantle
homers for and wins a season's pass for his "partner" Congressman Ed Dooley (see pic insert) from Mamaroneck! I wonder if Dooley had been a Dodger fan since he was born in Brooklyn in 1905.
Yankeetorial: We have the leading basestealer in the American League batting eighth
We haven't scored seven runs since.
On most teams, the league-leading base-stealer leads off. Not on the Yankees.
Last night, in the ninth inning, the Yankees had one real hope: (Well, the truth is, we always insist on the fourth-grader hope that somebody will hit a homerun, but it's getting lame.) That Brett Gardner would get on base, steal second, spook the pitcher and wrangle a run. The only problem: Gardner was batting eighth, so low in the order that he never got to the plate.
John and Suzyn hate, I mean absolutely HATE, Tropicana Field
Monday, as John was trying to tell a few interesting stories, the jarring, annoying RUGGARUGGARUGGA sound effects of the P.A. system, announcing each Ray batter, destroyed his focus and nearly made announcing impossible. He finally conceded. We never did hear John's stories!
But that's nothing, compared to last night. Oh, no. Last night, that godforsaken puss- bubble of a ballfield cost us a game. Everybody knows it. Even those stupid cownose rays in the centerfield fish tank know it. Anywhere else in the world, that routine fly to Curtis Granderson is caught. But there, where the Rays have a huge advantage of getting used to the ceiling, the ball blended into the scaffolds and fell for a hit.
Nowhere has indoor baseball flourished, nowhere! And John knows why. It's not the same game. You can have a game stolen from you, yes, stolen!
That ridiculous monstrosity of a park cost the Yankees a game! And the problem is Major League Baseball's. What if that park someday costs a World Series? What then?
And why the jarring sounds? At Yankee Stadium, the sound levels are loud, but it's the musical noise of people's voices. John and Suzyn have had enough.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Someday, centuries from now, when the earth is parched and we are but forgotten memories, Baltimore will actually give Boston a game
Yea, it shall happen. This I do decree: Before the end of time, before life as we know it ends on this paradise planet, there shall come to pass a day, or a night, in which the Orioles actually beat the Boston Redsocks.
Nonsense! you say? Never happen! The Baltimore species simply isn’t designed for that kind of capability. For Baltimore to lose to Boston, without a whimper, is like the bunny rabbit succumbing to the rattlesnake, like the marshmallow melting in the fire. But it will happen someday. We must never give up hope. As long as we can dream, we must not abandon hope.
We will not live to see. Nor will our children. But our grandchildren’s grandchildren... who knows?
IIHIIFIIc Trade Package For Ubaldo Jimenez
Rupert Murdoch pied after walkoff journalism victory before British Parliament
Shortly after Murdoch began speaking, he received a joyful in the face from Yankee pitcher AJ Burnett.
The move delighted Murdoch and his wife, Lil Papi, who also received pie. Both said they had heard of the Yankee victory tradition but never believed they’d be lucky enough to experience it firsthand.
“I was watching out for Tex or Robbie,” Murdoch said later, still licking foam from his liverspotted lips. “But darn it all, AJ just snuck up from behind me. Not to worry, though, I’ll get him back next week by having someone accuse him of steroid abuse, or something, ha ha.”
Yankeetorial: Yet another game won by Brett Gardner
For years, a chorus of amateur bloggers and pro sportswriters regularly have ginned up the echo chamber about the aging contracts we could wrangle from the likes of Milwaukee or Houston, if only we throw in Gardner, who - after all - will never hit 30 homeruns. Nope, he'll never have that .330, 30 HR, 120 RBI season - the Mendoza line for Yankee outfielders. Trade him, they said. We can get, o, maybe Derek Lowe! or Bobby Jenks!
Early this season, when Gardner seemed to have lost his ability to hit and run the bases, the yelling re-emerged. Jettison him, they said. We can Dopy Dildox, whose having a great year in Pittsburgh or San Diego!
Last night, Gardner again showed why he is our best lead-off hitter. He bewitched a young pitcher, drawing two walks -- (why they cannot throw strikes to him, nobody knows, but they cannot) -- and stole his 27th base, his 14th straight. When a pitcher walks Gardner, twigs snap in his head. He knows his manager is kicking the water cooler. He knows he just disappointed his dad. He knows Gardner will steal. And he knows a rally is coming.
Thus, every time Gardner strides to the plate, the opposing pitcher faces a crisis. Aww, shit, this guy again. And they walk him.
After the Yankees face their next slump, or if they get bombed again by Boston, Joe Girardi will move Gardner to the top of the order. He cannot do this until the situation becomes dire, because it means dropping Derek Jeter 3000 to seventh. Thus, we must wait. That's OK. Jeter has earned it.
But while we wait, let us ponder all the misbegotten trades we might have made, all the bums we might have attained, for the guy who won last night's game.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Badges? We don need no stinkin' badges
Wow. I could become a Bronze Badge-holder in Baseball!
Something to dream about.
Posada Passes Dickey: In More Ways Than One
If the Blue Jays were hacking into Yankee signs, their players and owners should be prosecuted
New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said his team needs to use multiple signs even when there is no one on base at Rogers Centre because the Blue Jays "could be" stealing signs using illegal methods.
It's time for the Canadian government to step up to the plate and investigate media giant Rogers Communications, who thinks it's running the country and can get away with sign-hacking. This is not the work of rogue coaches. This goes straight to the top of the Maid of the Mist.
A prayer to save the Yankees
Please, please, please, I beg of Thee...
Help the needy children of this world, bring a lasting peace unto all of humankind, and don't let the Yankees trade their finest seedlings for some pitched-out Colorado reincarnation of Jeff Weaver (a rather forgotten creation of Yours), and destroy the garden of prospects that Your wall-climbing ward, Brian Cashman, hath tended for the last 10 years.
Save the children, end war, and -- not to belabor point No. Three -- but I'd like to elaborate, while I have Thee on the line. (And let me again thank Thee for Thy support in assembling 27 World Championships.) But grant us Thy wisdom to not sacrifice long term prospects for used-up pitchers, such as Ubaldo Jimenez (another creation of Thine). Thy Redsocks and Rays -- formerly the Devil Rays -- have too many resources for us to squander youth in a midseason bidding war that is relentlessly ginned up by phone-hacking sportswriters and bloggers seeking to increase traffic during the July-August lull -- who are, I believe, creations of the devil.
O, Lord, put Thyself in my sandals and thinketh with me:
If the Rockies of Colorado really thought Ubaldo Jimenez was their ace, they would keep him. But he's been hitteth hard, and now, after two semi-decent starts and -- poof -- they're offering him aroundeth like a hookah full of arregano. What does that sayeth? They want our Ivan Nova. If we maketh that trade, what in the name of Ian Kennedy would we be thinking?
Please, O Lord, use Your powers of persuasion, or love, or whatever - I'm even saying to break out Thy death ray, if necessary - to not let this trade come unto creation.
Good night, Amen and Good luck.
This day in Yankees history: Remembering when Jack McDowell became 'The Yankee Flipper'
Yes, it was the summer of 1995 when Jack McDowell earned his place in Yankees' lore by telling fans in his own unique way that they were No. 1. He just used the wrong finger, that's all.
For those wondering why this event is worthy of celebration, just remember ... after this grand release of tension, the Yankees went on a 7-game winning streak to get over the .500 mark, and won 16 of the next 20 en route to the team's first Wild Card Championship. The next year, the team won the first of four titles in five years. This was more than just a player flipping the bird ... it marked the start of a new Yankee dynasty!!
It's a crying shame the Yankees are on the road ... imagine the celebration the Yanks could have had marking this historic day!
Just think of the special celebrity guests -- Bud Adams, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mike Ditka. The possibilities are endless.
Think of the giveaway potential! Foam fingers for the kids!
Why, Lady Gaga could have sung the National Anthem!
The highlight would have been be a performance from the great band The Baseball Project, singing "The Yankee Flipper," which tells the real story behind the grand gesture from old Blackjack.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Proposed: A three-way deal that would help all involved
The Yankees would trade all-star centerfielder Curtis Granderson, while he is riding his current hot streak, to Detroit.
The Tigers would send Max Sherzer and Dan Schlereth to Arizona, to shore up their young staff. Arizona would obtain Edwin Jackson from wherever the hell he is, and ship him to Detroit.
We would obtain Ian Kennedy, a young starter who is getting rave reviews, a lefty bullpen pitcher named Phil Coke, and an speedy, slick fielding outfielder named Austin Jackson. Kennedy would go into the rotation, Coke would anchor the bullpen, Jackson would be a defensive specialist, with Brett Gardner playing CF.
Every team would improve. Why has nobody thought of it?
Well, would it work?
Brian Cashman in His Idiot Garb
Brian Cashman may not be a total idiot but he acts as such when it comes to trading young Yankee pitching prospects.
His success record in this franchise-destroying ( or franchise-building, if you are on the other side of a yankee deal ) endeavor is less than Ramiro Pena's batting average.
Right now , today, we have to watch the following young, former prospects, blossoming for other teams:
1. Tyler Clippard
2. Jeff Karstens
3. Ian Kennedy
4. Marc Melancon
Meanwhile, Ivan Nova ( the best young prospect we have seen in years ) is looking for a clean towel in a cinder block shower room in Scranton, desperately hoping to be traded along with Montero, Noise, Vasquez and Banuelos for some has-been, pre-surgery flop on the Rockies.
A guy, by the way, who appeared to be a talent, then crashed, then put together two decent outings, after which the Rockies decided they could deal him. What does that tell you?
It tells me they know he is about to break down, but they got lucky two games running. The obvious answer: pretend we are out of this year's race and deal him to some idiot general manager, from whom the Rockies can steal away their best young talent in the process.
Quick: "Call Brian Cashman!!!"
Every single team knows to do this at this time of year.
The best deal the Yankees can make is to let Cashman walk somewhere else.
70 Years Ago Today: Joe Dimaggio's Hit Streak Ends
On the right, Joe D and Ken Keltner at an old timer's game. On the left, Joe has different reasons for strangling Nuni.
It was 70 years ago, on a mild and misty night in Cleveland, before the largest crowd of the 1941 baseball season -- 67,463 in Municipal Stadium -- that Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak came to an end. The game became, in today's parlance, an "instant classic." It would have been destined for countless airings on many sports channels had only there been footage to air.
Baseball held the line on Rupert Murdoch
So sad. So sad. But he has promised it shall never happen again. So sad...
For the last 20 years, whenever I saw Rupert Murdoch, one thought emerged:
There is no God.
Nope. None. Can't be. The most power media magnate in the world could not be this man. God would not let it happen.
Well, last week, it almost appeared as though the world finally figured out what this guy -- backrolled almost entirely by those lovers of free speech, the royal Saudi family -- did to journalism: He figured out a way to turn reporters into bullets and fire them at his enemies. He used newspapers like Gatlin guns, and when anyone got in his way, well, let's just say he had an army of scumbags with their own certain ways of learning secrets.
Until last week, Major League Baseball was the lone Waterloo in Rupert Murdoch's quest to buy the world. In 1998, he bought the Dodgers, then the gold standard of the National League. He paid $311 million, twice what MLB teams were said to be worth. Within three months, he fired the top brass. He went through three managers in six years, never reached the post-season, let attendance tumble, sold to Frank McCourt -- the current scumbag -- and in the name of Kevin Brown, the Dodgers have never been the same.
Baseball held the line.
Last week, we got to see another grand spectacle: The payroll toadies of Fox News were whining about the media "piling on" their beloved boss. These are the same people who signed call girl Ashley Dupree - the idiotic one-time former mistress to Elliot Spitzer - to become a regular news commentator. These are the people who for two years routinely troweled up "experts" to question whether the President of the United States was a legal citizen. These are people who still refer to Rep. Anthony Weiner as "a rat." These are the people who never retract their mistakes, but just pretend nobody notices and go on to the next one.
Well, you can't kill the boogeyman. Watch Murdoch's apology be accepted. Write this down: In five years, he'll own that sky network that the Brits now deny him, because humans are unfailingly gullible, and his enemies will be wondering why their VoiceMail is acting strangely. Sorry, folks, but if this guy is our species most powerful voice... if in the end, savagery and evil always win, well, sorry, if I sound cynical...
But baseball held the line. He may have destroyed the Dodgers, but he couldn't ruin baseball.
So in moments of weakness, or anger, excuse me if I retreat there.
And in the meantime, let's demand that Murdoch can give back those Pulitzers.
Huh? O, sorry. He never won one.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Live From Enemy Territory
The family is up for a short vacation in Cape Cod. Lovely beaches, rip off restaurants,
and for those that play on the other team, plenty of bear hunting in Provincetown.
Speaking of bears, one can't avoid the presence here of Big Papi. Plus, for those who dare to criticize John and Suzy, no one sucks more than Jerry Remy.
Letter to the Editor:He's trying to sew the seeds of discontent in our clubhouse
Buffalo News (New York)
July 10, 2011 Sunday
Dear Editor,
July 10, 2011 Sunday
Dear Editor,
Mike Harrington writes that Derek Jeter is "nowhere near the player he once was, both at the plate and in the field." I agree with most of what Harrington writes. None of this takes away from Jeter being one of the great players of all time, but his pride and refusal to recognize his own decline does.
When A-Rod came to the Yankees, Jeter should have volunteered to move to second or third (this was before Cano had become a star) because just about everyone in baseball said A-Rod was the better SS. But Jeter not only refused to move, the story coming out of New York was that he told management A-Rod had to agree to move to third and also take less money from the Yankees than they were paying him (and A-Rod agreed to both terms, with Texas making up the difference on his contract where it exceeded Jeter's pay).
Harrington grossly exaggerates Jeter's lack of range at short, but his range -- especially to his left -- is sub-average. If Nunez improves his fielding, keeping Jeter at short will become harder to justify.
Now that Jeter has reached 3,000 hits, as Harrington writes, reality will begin to set in and some awkward situations develop. Perhaps the way out for the Yankees is to go after Jose Reyes in the offseason and get a new star for shortstop -- the guy A-Rod
recently called the best player in the game. Richard F. Teetsel
Tonawanda
Yankeetorial: No, NO, NO!!! on a trade for Urbaldo Jimenez
Wow. Hold me back. He started last year's All-Star game. For the National League, no less. Yep, in spring of 2010, Urbaldo Jiminez was the Second Coming of Sandy Koufax. Thus, we will trade for him -- Jesus Montero or Betances or Banuelos -- we will the World Series.
Yeah, right.
Jesus, God, Jesus, noooooooooooooo. Please, I'm begging you, no.
Listen: This year Jiminez has pitched like the Second Coming of Sandy Duncan -- except for a few recent starts. Yep. He's pitching well, so they want to deal him ASAP. What does that tell us?
Baseball history is filled with guys like Jiminez: A magnificent two months, loss of speed, smacked around, brief resurgence, shoulder surgery, mediocrity. Nothing here says he'll be better than Ivan Nova, whom we -- unlike everybody else in baseball -- seem obsessed with disregarding. (Hello again, Sergio Mitre!!)
Today, we hear that Kansas City is scouting our system. What are we thinking? We'll trade for Grienke?
Listen: I donno much about arms. Obviously, you trust your baseball scouts, and I am not one. But here's a thought that baseball scouts might not be having:
We can never measure up to the amount of money we spend until we start looking long term, not just for the next few weeks.
And deadline trades always give the sellers the advantage.
Last winter, the Redsocks dished prospects to get Adrian Gonzalez. They did it the smart way, at a time when the buyer has the advantage (if any advantage exists at all.) Today, if Colorado puts Jiminez out for bids, it's because they know what he's got, and they want to deal it, and they know they'll get the best deal possible for the long run.
The long run. Let me repeat those words. THE. LONG. RUN.
We cannot continue to trade the future for the past. How much better would we be this year if we had not traded Mark Melancon for Fat Elvis Bergman. To win, to dominate, to build a dynasty, we must develop our prospects and sign the occasional free-agent. Do NOT trade the kids. Let them evolve.
Today, there seems to be a bandwagon saying that 1) Jesus Montero will never catch, and 2) he's not playing well. Thus, say the experts, trade his fat ass -- yes, when his stock is low.
Please, nooooooooooooooooooo. Folks, this is exactly why we should NOT trade Montero. He's 21, a catcher, in Triple A. This is great. The fear all along was that his bat would propel him to the majors before his glove was ready, thus, he'd never find a position. This year, when he hasn't been knocking down fences -- (BTW, he's "only" batting .290) -- has been a godsend. It's given him another season to learn the position. In other words, he's doing fine. If we trade him to Colorado for a slab of used up meat, we will watch Montero star for 10 years, while we lick our wounds and think, "What if..."
Listen: This was a rebuilding year. We knew this. We signed Colon and Garcia. We kept our stud prospects. We're within striking distance of the mighty Socks. The playoffs will be a crapshoot. We could win it. We could lose it. But we'll win with what we have, not with what we trade for.
Oh, and you know who else was the stud pitcher in early 2010? His name was Phil Hughes. He's back. If he's got it, he's better than Jiminez. If not, we're screwed. Wither goest Ivan Nova? Helloooooo, Serio Mitre?
Friday, July 15, 2011
Am I Starting To Be Proven Correct?
You all know that I have been concerned about this team since I returned from Tampa.
I feared injury, talent depreciation, and aging ( in general) to be the biggest opponents this year.
We are all seeing it unfold. I don't need to name the names and the days missed ( or scheduled as such ) by individual players.
I also worried about the depth and quality of the Yankee's minor league system. As for position players, we have no one apparently ready ( i.e. Jesus ). Pena can't hit .125 and has lost his golden glove.
Nunez is a liability in the field, let's be honest. An he is, nonetheless, hitting better than Jeter.
Cirvelli is terrible, even while I love his spirit and grit. He has contributed, to be sure. But he is close to an automatic out, and a below average catcher, overall. It is better when he doesn't throw to second in a base stealing situation, than when he does.
We always knew we were rolling the dice in a high stakes game when the best we could do was sign Colon and Garcia to round out our starting pitching staff. In the first half, they have exceeded expectations. But as the second half begins, we see back-to-back wipeouts against each of these new Yankees. An aberration? We hope.
Phil Hughes has still not matched the efficacy of Ivan Nova, and I have serious doubts that he will. Meanwhile, we start to "lose" Nova.
The relief pitching staff is still looking to regain it's grounding.
Alex is out. Nunez is in. Lot's of responsibility now shifted to Cano, Tex and Grandy.
Jeter will help, but not at the level of these three. Same for Jorge.
Meanwhile, AAA home run leader Vasquez (Scranton Yankees) eats at Taco Bell and figures he'll never get a call-up. And how he can do any better? When does he start to get depressed and lose hope?
We have reason to worry.
We are aged, injured, tired, slow, not very deep and vulnerable.
Jeter and Posada Pass Gehrig and Lazzeri (In More Ways Than One)
There's certainly no good news coming from Toronto tonight, so instead.......
Last night, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada set the Yankee record for most games played together by a pair of Yankees. They passed Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri by playing for the 1,660th time together in a regular season game.
I couldn't find a pic of a young Mrs. Lazzeri, so it is possible that Mae (pictured above at the 1991 Hall of Fame Induction), could have been once a fox. Lazzeri was an often overlooked, great Yankee.
Two Quotes From Two Yankees, Said After Thursday's Loss
"If you’re not making errors, you’re not playing.” -- Eduardo Nunez
"If you're not cheating, you're not trying." -- Russell Martin
Source
The Real Reason We Have Sergio Mitre
From a Yankee poll
Who would you most want at your side in a brawl?
Winner: Sergio Mitre
Runner-up: Russell Martin
The shocker of the survey came when deciding who could be counted on when fists fly. The 6-foot-7, 315-pound CC Sabathia? Thanks, but no thanks. The ripped, 6-foot-3, 230-pound Rodriguez? Nah. Instead, the Yankees overwhelmingly picked Mitre, a quiet, not overly muscled 30-year-old relief pitcher. Huh?
"That's a big secret," Mitre chuckled. "A lot of people don't know. But if anybody's in trouble, you want me there."
Mitre explained that he grew up on the streets of Tijuana, Mexico, where street fighting was an unavoidable fact of life.
"Long story short, I grew up fighting. My dad got tired of me coming home, shirt ripped, always bloody. So he put me into martial arts—Chinese Kempo, boxing, wrestling. I have a full, well-rounded education," Mitre said.
Mitre says once he began learning—he trained for six years and competed in tournaments—nobody wanted to fight him anymore.
Mitre proceeded to demonstrate several techniques on this reporter, whose thumb, elbow, and ribcage continue to feel the effects several days later.
Mitre hasn't been in a fight since high school and has never had the chance to run in from the bullpen and show off his moves. Red Sox, consider yourselves warned.
Also receiving votes: CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada
Nunez Earns 11th Loaf
The worst fielding utility infielder ever to don a major league uniform struck early and often last night.
I had already called the bakery to ready a 12th loaf for him, but his second blunder of the night was ruled something other than an error.
A human failing? Just a mistake? A play anyone could screw up?
Predictably, he balanced his cement glove by failing 4 times at the plate, dropping his batting average toward the heavily mediocre range.
With a bench like this, we can afford to keep an aging Andruw Jones to hit meaningless homers, once a month.
Perhaps our signing of the latest 35-36 year old pitching cast-off from the Washington Nationals will help turn things around for us.
Maybe he can play third.
Harry Potter fans flock to Yankee game Thursday night to see end of Lord Bartolomore
Yes, the true believers of Yankeedom last night got to see their hero Muggle - our hero - perhaps fling his final spells unto the batting orders of the AL East. Let's not count him out - the Bartman has a few incantations left in his third chin o' tricks - but his future increasingly appears captured in the way Harry would describe to the ever-ripening fruit known as Emma Watson, after their ship, the Enterprise, survives a Klingon attack: "He's dead, Jim."
Only one spell now can save the Yankees spaceship from disaster: The reappearance of a magical, distant Nova.
NOTE: This, students of journalism, is called "Yankeeizing the national story."
Yankeetorial: Believe it or not, yesterday was a good day, because....
The judge ruled "Mistrial."
He meant, "Mistake."
OK, I'm preaching to the hell choir, because everybody - seriously, everybody, even your dog! - instinctively recognized here a waste of taxpayer time and money up there with Alaska's Bridge to Nowhere and America's War on Drugs. But it had a secret purpose:
It was the Yankee season-killing bomb.
Yes, over the next month, the Clemens monstrosity would explode every day, with shrapnel always catching Yankees. We'd see Andy Pettitte - and, yeesh, his wife! - lugged into court and tazer-prodded into reliving the past. It would always be about the Yankees. How else does baseball in America make headlines anymore?
Listen: Roger Clemens deserves to feel the cold touch of history's protology thumb. He should be ridiculed, mocked, hissed - with flaming bags of dogpoo set on his doorstep. No, here's something worse: He should be forgotten, ignored, cast aside - because he wouldn't, or couldn't, tell the truth under oath. I can understand why prosecutors would use such a bum to set an example about lying. But whatever happened to those cigarette company executives? Has Monsanto been called to testify lately? Would Rupert Murdoch ever trowel up fiction with a hand on the Bible? Do any of those rough, tough feds ever tangle with somebody with the political juice to attack back?Bringing the Rocket before Congress to talk steroids was like asking Lindsay Lohan, during a chlamydia hallucination, to sit still with a vial of crack in front of her. Of course, he was going to deny it! Everybody knew this. Pitching is lying. You pretend you'll throw a fastball, and you throw a change-up. You lie. Want to tally the lies we eat every day? Try measuring the red dye No. 2 on Murdoch's Medussa, that utterly evil, she-lizard, Bozo-haired editor, Rebeka Brooks, who is now making the media rounds like a diseased plate of talking clams at a backyard barbecue.
Yesterday, the Clown Court prosecutors did exactly what the judge ordered them not to do: They showed a video of Andy Pettitte's wife. Mistrial.
I'm figuring this kicks the can down the road at least six months... to winter. When it can't do Yankee damage.
Does anybody believe this trial will ever occur during the winter? Of course not.
If they can't bust the Yankees in a pennant race, they won't give a damn about it at all.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
50 Years Ago: Two All Star Games
Imagine a Mantle, Maris, Colavito OF? Rocky played in both all star games in 1961.
In game two he hit a homer.
Colavito grew up in the Bronx as a devoted fan of the New York Yankees, particularly Joe DiMaggio. By age nine he was playing semipro baseball, and he dropped out of school at age 16 to pursue his career; Major League rules required him to wait until his school class graduated before signing, and only a special appeal allowed him to go pro after a one-year wait. The Yankees expressed little interest in him, and the Philadelphia Athletics had to bow out due to financial problems; the Cleveland Indians finally signed him in 1950, with two-thirds of his signing bonus deferred until he progressed in their system. He spent most of the next six years working his way up. With the Indianapolis Indians in 1954, Colavito would hit 38 home runs and accumulate 116 RBIs
Despite two years of mixed reactions from the fans, the League decided to maintain the doubleheader format splitting the games between two of the most popular ballparks; Candlestick and Fenway.
Although it would turn out to be one of the most exciting and historical seasons in baseball, the fans had not yet fully accepted that baseball legend Babe Ruth's incredible sixty-home run record was legitimately under attack by Yankee teammates, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Both of the M&M boys headed up another roster full of Yankees including starting pitcher Whitey Ford.
The National League maintained a 3-1 lead into the top of the ninth only to have the American League tie the score as Candlestick's trademark winds began to kick up. In the top of the tenth the American League took a 4-3 lead, but the National League came back against the knuckleball master Hoyt Wilhelm. Hank Aaron singled, went to second on a passed ball and tied it on Willie Mays' double. Then, Wilhelm hit Frank Robinson putting runners at first and second. Pirate legend Roberto Clemente singled to right, scoring Mays with the winning run.
Unlike the first game, the second one showcased some classic pitching as the National League only managed five hits and the American League four. The American League scored right off the bat on Rocky Colavito's first-inning homer and later in the sixth, the National League matched them after Eddie Mathews walked and was batted in by Bill White. Unfortunately, this game never reached a decision as it was called after nine innings because of a downpour. It was the first, and until 2002, the only Midsummer Classic that has ever ended in a tie.
Eight ways to make the All-Star Game more interesting
2. Whenever a player gets on firstbase, to maintain his spot, he must fight the firstbaseman.
3. Bikini supermodel umpires.
4. Never again play it in Arizona, a city that would celebrate its only World Championship ever by mocking the team that has heroically raised the soul of the nation, following a terrorist attack, by playing "New York, New York" on its p.a. system in the moments after victory. Such a franchise -- which funneled more money to the Republican Party ($217,900, in the 2010 Congressional elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics) than any others sports team -- should never be chosen to host the event.
5. Have Tim McCarver give "tickle attack" to each pitcher while warming up.
6. Emimem performs new theme music for each batter at the plate.
7. Somehow incorporate Nancy Grace. (Bud Selig should be able to figure out something.) (NOTE: This is NOT an offshoot of No. 3.)
8. Replace event with actual regular season game between Yankees and Redsocks.
Letter to the Editor: Christian Lopez merely needs a good tax attorney
July 13
To the Editor:
I am not a tax professional, but it seems obvious to me that the guy who traded Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit ball for some Yankees memorabilia and game tickets should be able to claim a tax loss rather than owe taxes. The ball will be worth a lot more that $50,000, which is the conservative estimate of the value of the items the Yankees gave him. I hope he gets some legal tax advice.
Jeanne Fleet
Syracuse
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Found: A new reason to resent Arizona
Yes, they had the nerve to raise their voices against Yankees.
Shortly after their team won the 2001 World Series, their front office played "New York, New York" on their public address system, guaranteeing that each member of the Arizona crowd that night would spend eternity in Hell.
And they have the unmitigated audacity to boo Yankees?
Satan, feel free to sharpen your ice tongs, and set a few more wildfires. Mwahahahahaha.
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