Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Few Mid-Season Ramblings

Do not ruin my day by thinking or saying, " It's not close to mid-season. It's not even mid-June."


I have a different calendar from most, and it is time to speak up. So here we go:

1. I think we should all send a note of condolence to El Duque, whose half brother recently committed an insane act in Florida. His other half-brothers, Livan and Orlando, are in shock as are their half mothers and dads.

Our own El Duque, according to authorities, has not been questioned in this horrific incident. He has no close relationship with the half-brother involved, whose name is partly Geraldo.

Reports from the governor's office in Arizona suggest that if all the ladies at the restaurant had been wearing loaded side-arms, fewer innocents would have been slaughtered.

2. The Yankee brass is claiming that Cito "Gulp" Culver will not wind up playing point guard for Kansas State, or any other big 12 school for that matter.

He was drafted in the first round despite being rated the 168th best prospect. Apparently, there were no other position players available at that high draft spot. Luckily, the Yankees don't need any young pitchers as we have so much talent in the Yankee pipeline with the likes of Andy Brackman, Dillon Bettances, Marc Melancon, Jonothan Albaladejo, and Kei Igawa.

The Yankees sent "100 years of scouting experience to see this kid," said Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankee's VP of amateur scouting.

He neglected to mention how many hundreds of years of amateur scouting experience the Yankees expended on the number 1 pick who went to UCLA, the SS playing point guard for Kansas State, Andy Brown, the Brackman surgical experiment, or the Bettances flop.

3. In five years , the Yanks will bid against the Red Sox for then free agent Strasburg. The asking price will be $500 million for 5 years.

4. Just when Tex shows signs of life ( do hits really count against the Orioles?), Gardner is starting to feel twangs in the same thumb that cost him 40 games last year. If we have to use Marcus as an outfielder, we can all start following soccer.

5. Sorry folks, but the Russo experiment is going to yield a .200 singles hitter who, following in the Yankee's great recent tradition for prospects, has no viable position on the team.

Here is the truth; no current prospect will ever get a shot on the Yankees if he plays the infield. Luckily, we have no prospects.

6. I like Phil Hughes. As I watched him pitch last night, it was clear he didn't have his best stuff and command. But he battled for 6 innings, and kept the game in Yankee control. After the game, he was honest in assessing his performance, " I feel like I shouldn't have won this game."

7. Don't get too excited about last night; the Orioles are not a major league team.

7. While we all love Francisco Cervelli, I think he'll be hitting in the .230s by mid-August.

8. Who can tell me the name and ingredients of the "race day " drink at the Preakness?


4 comments:

Joe De Pastry said...

Wow, somebody's even more pessimistic about Cervelli than I am. [I've been saying .260 by August.] I guess that why you're called El Duque and I'm not.

JohnF said...

Anyone who thought Cervelli was going to continue hitting was not paying much attention. Cisco was insanely lucky on balls in play, and that kind of luck can't last. He seems like a nice kid, but he has no power and little patience. Plus his defense and pitch-calling don't knock you out. He allows passed balls and steals just as much as Posada does.

Anonymous said...

Black eyed-susan....has rum, juice and leaf on it as a garnish I believe.

Joe De Pastry said...

Cervelli has caught 139 more innings than Posada this year. Their PB+WP totals: Cervelli 10; Posada 11. Cervelli is a better receiver, but I'm not smart enough to tell who is better at calling pitches and handling pitchers. Of course there's no question about who the better hitter is.