Sunday, April 8, 2018

It's been awhile since anyone argued that Ellsbury is better than Gardner

Long, long ago, in a Yankiverse far far away... Redsock fans mocked the notion that Yankee fans would prefer Brett Gardner to Jacoby Ellsbury. 

Their boy was a first-rounder, a future Boston legend, maybe a Hall of Famer, and ours was a slappy little fast guy, the baseball version of David Slade. Both had skeletons made of cardboard; bones snapped if they ran against the wind. But in 2011, it was no contest: Ellsbury hit 32 HRs, 105 RBIs and batted .321 - and it remains a mystery how he didn't win MVP. (The answer: Justin Verlander.) When Yankee fans argued for Gardy, (who that year led the AL in stolen bases, with 49) - it was, to say the least, an uphill slog. We were just arguing out of passion.

Well, eight years later, guess what: We were right, sort of. Not that it matters, because the joke's on us. Ellsbury tortured us as a Redsock, and now he's torturing us as a Yankee. (Sort of a Carl Pavaro vibe; who killed us with the Marlins and then in NY. What is it with certain Yankee nemeses, who are predisposed to always kill us, even if we trade for them? We better answer that question before signing Manny Machado.) But if their careers ended tomorrow, here are the stats:

Ellsbury: 104 HRs, 512 RBIs. 343 SB, .284.
Gardner: 85 HRs, 408 RBIs, 241 SB, .263.

Clearly, Ellsbury has better numbers. But yesterday, with Gardy leading the Yankees in a win as critical as they come in April, (a mere 154 games remaining,) it was hard to even remember that Ellsbury is part of this team. 

Of course, The Chief has committed the mortal sin of getting hurt while healing - (You had ONE job, one!) - on top of that onerous, soul-crushing contract, which the Yankee brass tirelessly pretends not to mention. It's hard to see Gardner overtaking Ellsbury statistically this year, as it is hard to imagine him playing for the Yankees in 2019. By this time next year, Ells surely will still be in pinstripes, (and probably still injured,) while Gardner - a free agent next winter - will be playing elsewhere. 

But by 2020, Yankee fans will be vindicated; we were right all along... just not in the way we hoped. 

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

DON'T FORGET MUCH OF THOSE COMPILED STATS HAPPENED AT THAT JOKE OF A PARK THEY HAVE IN BOSTON.

EVERYBODY, AND I MEAN EVERYBODY HITS THERE.

ELLSBURY....

REMEMBER BILL MUELLER?... .280-.290 HITTER, BUT NOT SUPERMAN....I REMEMBER ALMOST .330 IN BOSTON ONE YEAR....THAT'S SUPERMAN.

SO MANY OTHERS TOO, BOATLOADS OF HITTERS TURNED SUPERMAN WITH THAT LITTLE LEAGUE LIKE FIELD.

LOVE WHEN BOSTON FANS COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW OUR RF PORCH IS A JOKE.

THEY'RE JUST DEFLECTING.

Anonymous said...

BTW, JUST READ THAT DRURY HAS BEEN HAVING MIGRAINES FOR "YEARS".

HARD TO BELIEVE ARIZONA HAD NO IDEA OF THIS WHEN THEY DECIDED TO DEAL HIM....IT'S ALL BECOMING CLEAR NOW.

DID CASHMAN DO HIS DUE DILIGENCE ON THIS TRADE?

THERE GOES 2 MORE PROSPECTS, DOWN THE DRAIN....AND THAT NICK SOLAK COULD BE A HUGE REGRET. (MAYBE EVEN WIDENER TOO).

LET'S JUST KEEP CALLING HIM "COOPERSTOWN".

JM said...

Excellent point about the Boston Bandbox. As for Drury, picking up a guy who gets migraines isn't, or shouldn't be, an issue. They aren't like a debilitating condition that's always there. They come and go. That's why the ten-day thing worries me.

Migraines aren't Lou Gehrig disease. In fact, if Lou had only suffered from migraines, he might still be batting .340.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

Unrelated note, The Master is taking calls now on his 'show' on FAN, whoooooop

Ken of Brooklyn said...

And he has another call for Stanton that he'll unveil,,,, heart be still!

Publius said...

Ellsbury is not hurt. He simply does not want to stand underdressed outside for hours every day in April in the northeast United States. Can you blame him? He'll be back, and surprisingly, pleasantly productive around Cinco de Mayo.

HoraceClarke66 said...

I agree completely about Coops, ALL-CAPS. If the migraines were already a thing, that's general managing malfeasance. And yes, John M., they're not 10-day DL stuff...which leads to the worry that they're not really "migraines" at all, but an indication of some deeper problem.

No wonder they were willing to let this guy go no matter how much the sportswriters raved about him.

Ellsbury and Mueller were transformed in Boston, ALL-CAPS...but I wonder if the secret was something more than the wall.

After all, Ellsbury's a lefty and Mueller is a switch-hitter. And in their best Boston years, Mueller hit very well on the road, too—.309 as opposed to .342 at Fenway, but with 13 homers to 6—while Ellsbury was nearly as good in other cities.

The real key? Well, both players went into Boston at a time when the Sox—much like the Yanks, I'll admit—had a huge juicing culture.

Ellsbury's great year is such an anomaly that it smells heavily of the one-season juice to up all future paydays (see Boone, Brett), while Mueller went from a guy who could barely hit in bandboxes such as Wrigley or Coors, to someone you could not get out in key situations.

Hmmmm...

HoraceClarke66 said...

Watching Montgomery slowly give back this game is like death by water torture. How we possibly think this guy has the stuff to be a top major-league pitcher is beyond me. He has middle-innings mop-up guy written all over him.

And again, we're not doing the little things right. Well, at least Andujar managed to ground a seeing-eye single through the left side...

Leinstery said...

"You should be whipped and beaten, let's face it" - The Master to his Lady when she forgot part of her Drake's Cakes plug

HoraceClarke66 said...

I think we should call 2018 "The Year of Nothing But Pineapples."

Leinstery said...

Agreed Horace. 5 run lead in the first, down the shitter because nobody can pitch. And how about the best lineup in the league? Outside of the top 3 guy it looks like something straight out of 2013.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Hoss,

I didn't realize the Chinese year was pineapple. I always thought they stuck to animals.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

If they somehow win today, it will still feel like a loss,,,,, if they lose, it's beyond pathetic!

HoraceClarke66 said...

Yes, you have to be able to win games where you score 7 runs.

But...the individual at-bats are terrible. Judge, who's looked pretty good, had one where he got up there, took two straight fastballs down the pike, then swung at the third pitch, predictably out of the zone, and fanned.

Neil Walker, the guy we had to get because he had so much power, led off the 11th trying to get down a surprise bunt.

Terrible. No one has a clue.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

MOUNT SUCKMORE PINEAPPLE EXTRAORDINAIRE!
Bases loaded 0 outs and they blow it!
Stanton 5Ks AND hits into a BP for the day

I'm taking a break from this madness, URGGGGGG!!!!!

HoraceClarke66 said...

One almost has to tip one's hat in admiration to OMUMODU for just how exquisitely crafted that particular pineapple was to cause maximum pain and bleeding.

An insurmountable lead...gone by the seventh. A comeback—that wasn't quite comeback enough. Constant mental and physical errors by the Orioles...that we completely failed to capitalize on.

And in the end...that last inning. An idiotic decision by Gardner or Boone to bunt with two strikes...that caught the O's completely by surprise.

And then Judge. All he needed to do was put the ball in the air, and it's a tie game again. Even a double-play ball up the middle. But no. The worst possible outcome; I'm just surprised the Orioles didn't try to turn three.

And then Stanton. Actually, the truly perfect, painful moment would be if he had hit the flyball we needed. A rare mistake by the gods—but then, they know what they're doing. I'm sure that the strikeout did its work toward making sure that Stanton's ego is all the more demolished.

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