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Tuesday, April 10, 2018

The trip to Boston comes just in time

At first glance, you wonder why we should even play tonight? Have you seen that 8-1, first place Redsock powerhouse? Straight to Cooperstown, I say! Look at these anemic Yankee numbers. Lambs to slaughter.


(Note the high BB totals for Didi and Judge, who sit between the Stanton and Sanchez glory hole. For starters, it's amazing that pitchers are walking Didi - the lone drawback to his game has been the lack of walks. Thus far, with Stanton and Sanchez sucking so badly, opposing pitchers can walk Judge and pay no price. Stanton's greatest value has been to divert attention from Sanchez, who has been unspeakably terrible, after being touted all spring for a renewed commitment to the game. Strange, eh?)

So why act hopeful about a trip to Boston?

For starters, back in the days of The Bambino Curse, the Redsocks regularly ruled the month of April. Our first trip to Fenway always sputtered, rousing Redsock fans to believe this was their year... which it never was. The losses hurt, but we knew the slow start simply meant more Yankee momentum later... which always came.

But but but... that was before The Curse ended, plunging the Yankiverse into darkness. Now, in the post-Bambino, post-Papi phase of history, juju demons have brought chaos to the world. You could almost call it a - (product placement here) - infinity war. Considering the financial straightjackets imposed by MLB owners, and the failure of the players union to fight payroll caps, it's likely the Yankees will never again be able to buy success. (Even if we spend the farm next winter, we will be docked draft picks and bonus slot money, which eventually take a toll.) The Boston-NY rivalry will remain, fueled by fiery fan bases, but the past no longer is prelude to the future. If we lose this week, there's no guarantee we will come back in July.

Thus, this trip to Fenway could not have come at a worse better time for the Yankees. Boston is hot, clicking on all cylinders, while we are hobbled and horrible. 

There are plenty of reasons to fear the 2018 Redsocks, but nothing will be settled this week. It's strange, but considering the recent play of both teams, Boston needs to win this week more than we do. A Yankee win tonight would really push a pin into their grand opening. Every lamb has his day.

6 comments:

Local Bargain Jerk said...


Every lamb has his day.

Just ask UMBC.

But, then again, we haven't shown UMBC's heart thus far...

HoraceClarke66 said...

Great piece, Duque.

But I have to disagree. A sweep in the Fens would put the Yanks 7 back in the lost column, and teams very rarely come back from 7 down against good teams, even from mid-April.

The sort of collapse that all the JuJu omens are pointing to up north would mean a season trying to hang in the Bud Selig One-Game Wild Card race against Minnesota and the Los Angeles Angels of Tarzana, and that ain't good.

Not, of course, that The Paper of Record is going to cover that. Sure, there was a big, gloating piece on Stanton, our Pig-in-a-Poke (PIAP)—Can he strikeout SIX times in a game? Break the record for strikeouts in April and May? In the playoffs?

But much more space was devoted to the deathless story that is FIFA corruption, and a long feature on whether or not a Jamaican player in the Bundesliga will play for Jam-down or Jerry. I know this keeps me up at night.

Soccer 55, Yankees 50.

JM said...

Guys, you're dancing around what needs to be done. The Yankees have to secede from the AL and join the Bundesliga. Sure, Stanton and Sanchez can't hit anything...WITH THEIR HANDS. But what about their feet and noggins? Maybe a chest here and there to reel in a pass?

Our pitchers won't have to pitch, they can be goalies. And we only need one or two--freeing up roster space for more exciting position players and youngsters who can run rings around our former baseball opponents. Remember, they don't have to hit. They just have to kick.

Think of the fun when Stanton and Judge headers perplex the shorter players on other teams. When guys like Ells fake injuries and writhe on the ground to draw penalites, instead of actually being injured. We're tailor-made for fussball. I bet Andujar grew up playing it as much or more than baseball, and he's probably not the only one.

Of course, we'll have to drop CC. There are no fat guys with bad hips in soccer. None.

Think about it. This is our chance. We can be heroes, for more than a day.

Alphonso said...

This is all a different way of saying: we suck.

This will be embarrassing to watch.

Like being stripped naked today ( at our ages ) in front of a High School Class in Newport Beach, Ca.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Wow, Aphonso, that is an incredible idea for hell! Are you sure you're not secretly an agent of Dr. Bodagun?

John M., I LOVE the idea!

We already have the ridiculous New York F.C. playing in Yankee Stadium (actually, they're the only first-place team there), and we can easily fold the Yankees into them.

Aaron Judge has a perfect goalkeeper's physique, and soccer balls are very large and only bend so much. There will be no walls for Red Thunder or McKinney to bang into. Jacoby Ellsbury, formerly the king of drawing catcher's interference calls, would be PERFECT at diving to get penalties called, an important soccer skill.

Sure, there would be no place for the likes of CC. Or, for that matter, Tyler Wade, missing two games and counting with "flu-like symptoms." But everybody else would do much better just running up and down the field, and not having to produce any particular, hands-related skill.

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