Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Going into the season, it appeared that this Yankees team just didn't have enough starting pitching to beat out Boston.  When the injury bug struck early, taking out for the year a player considered a key cog in the lineup, it looked like it was all over.

But playing with heart and pride, the team seemed to defy gravity, pulling into first place early and steadily widening its lead.  In a key early showdown with Boston, the Yanks put up a wild, unlikely win, defying all the odds, and stretched that lead to 8 1/2 games.

Then—the pitching just gave out.

It was clobbered in a series against a hated arch-rival, losing three, gut-wrenching games in a row.  Sure, the Yanks were still in first place by 7 1/2—sure, they still had a record of 50-29—but everybody knew they could not go on like this.

Total collapse was imminent.

Nah, I'm just messin' with you.

The team I'm talking about was the 2004 Yankees, and even though they shared many other similarities with THIS Yankees team—such as an incompetent field manager—they fought through, rigged up enough of a starting staff (thank you, once again, Original Famous El Duque) to finish the season nearly as well as they had started (51-32).

As we all know, that team came within a game of the World Series, and likely would have won it all, had not Joe Torre suffered a petite mal stroke during the ALCS that rendered him unable to speak, move, or in any way even call for a steal when the Sox had a guy out there throwing knuckleballs to a catcher who couldn't land one with a fishing net.

I bring this up because on this day in 2004, the Yanks gave up on Jose Contreras, "the Bronze Enigma Giant," dealing him for Esteban Loaiza.  This was necessary because Coops Cashman had let 700 wins walk off the team in the off-season without getting a blessed thing in return, and now his big Cuban signing was in a death spiral.

Contreras went on to stink up the rest of the season—before having the one and only outstanding second-half of the season with the 2005 White Sox, leading them to their one and only World Series title since 1917, when they were managed by a guy named Pants Rowland.

Loaiza also stunk, though he nearly stole an ALCS, extra-inning win for us.  After the season, Coops released him...and of course he had a pretty good season with Washington, going 12-10, 3.77.

I mention all this just to point out that, even before HAL replaced the Mad King, our Cooperstown-bound GM understood absolutely nothing about how to assess pitching, and was incapable of understanding its importance.

What's more, he has learned nothing even from his own past.

Sorry, (Somewhat Less Original, Less Famous, But All The Dearer To Us) Duque, but I just can't give the hollow-eyed little runt a pass, even today.  If he holds fire, and does nothing stupid in the next two hours—that is the best we can expect from him.











47 comments:

ranger_lp said...

Latest rumors: Ken Giles and/or MadBum.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Can't quibble with the quick hook of Tanaka. But why Green, why here???

HoraceClarke66 said...

Everything is up. If this Snakes guy had more self-control, he'd have walked by now.

But—there it is—a base knock.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Smart play by Maybin to get the force—but he probably should have caught that ball to start with.

Green still in...

HoraceClarke66 said...

Thunderstorm just HOVERING over the Stadium!

Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain...NOW!

HoraceClarke66 said...

A second hit. Guys in the booth are talking about how the Yanks can go "full bullpen."

I think Boone, on the other hand, is hoping to finish out the game with Green.

HoraceClarke66 said...

A walk. On four pitches. Mr. Sweatshirt emerges from the dugout. I don't believe it—they are actually going to leave him in.

I am beginning a ritual sacrifice for a miracle double-play—you know, line drive right to the first baseman, etc.

HoraceClarke66 said...

We are so fucked.

Hicks made a nice catch, then an awful throw into the dugout. Ball goes into the dugout, to make it 3-2, AZ. Gio looked like he might be seriously hurt coming down after trying to catch that ball, but is staying in.

Oh, and there's this...

GREEN IS STILL IN THE FUCKING GAME!!!!!!!!!!

HoraceClarke66 said...

I set the neighbor's cat on fire for nothing. Bummer.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Flyball to the warning track. Caught—probably blown down by the approaching thunderstorm, a little bit of karmic restitution for Game 7 in Phoenix.

Pouring here now in upper Manhattan. With a little luck, the storm will at least take Greinke out of the game. And Green. Nothing else in the world was going to do that.

HoraceClarke66 said...

ranger, as I understand it, Giles has been out for over a month and is still on the EL.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

WOW, another pathetic turn of events,,,, Elvis really did leave the building> the magic's gone gone gone!

HoraceClarke66 said...

Game continues, as Ma does not have the wits to try to stall.

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drown'd the cocks!"

Nope. The rain has come but the Yanks are up there swinging from the heels. Looks like they are determined to get Greinke another inning.

It would be nice to root for a team that has one intelligent person running it.

HoraceClarke66 said...

And...another unbelievably awful at-bat for Judge. Who should go to the EL now, and be dealt in the off-season.

ranger_lp said...

In Howard Cosell terms, "Judge is a shell of his former self"....

ranger_lp said...

Time for Rainout Theater.

SteveTrout00 said...

This season is over. We are counting on Lasogiona, who can't past the 4th inning, that's if he is healthy. A 19yr old kid who can't get past the 4th inning in AAA. And 2 guys who haven't pitched an inning this year. Maybe Greg Bird will come back and rip it up in Aug/Sept. Another great job by are HOF GM

HoraceClarke66 said...

And...there's enough rain, at last. Well, maybe that will wrap up the day for Greinke, who the Yankees, in Catfish Hunter's inimitable phrase, could not hit with a fucking paddle.

Hope springs eternal. Unfortunately.

JM said...

4 o'clock trade deadline broke Twitter.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

Looks like Red Thunder/Blunder/Wonder is staying, interwebs says CoopsTown didn't buckle on Rachel Ray,,,,,,

JM said...

Really. Dead Twitter.

Looks like we did nothing. Nada. Zilch. The empty set. Null.

JM said...

@JackCurryYES
·
2m
Being told the Yankees didn't make any moves to add any players to their 25-man roster. So they didn't add a starter before the deadline.

ranger_lp said...

Someone tweeted this:

The #Yankees have acquired Luis Severino (RHP) and Dellin Betances (RHP) in a trade with the Injured List for a player to be hurt later, per my sources.

JM said...

Sounds like they did get a AAA pitcher from the Rockies. Whoop.

JM said...

Cashman would not give up Clint or Deivi or Thairo.

ranger_lp said...

Looks like Cashman is NOT going to win Executive of the Year 2019.

Joe of AZ said...

I'm so fuckin sick of the rest of the leagues all-out attempt to fleece the Yanks
. The so+called "packages" these other teams get from one another are nowhere CLOSE to what they ask from the Yanks.

I'd rather the pitching staff resemble ice cream in 109 degree whether than pay any of what the 31 nutjobs are asking

JM said...

I don't know. He stuck to his guns, did not panic, and would not give up the young guys that everyone wanted.

That's OK in my book. We limp forward.

ranger_lp said...

@JM Rico Garcia is the pitcher they obtained...

ranger_lp said...

And I think the Yanks traded Joe Harvey in that deal.

Vampifella said...

Astros get Greinke. Well my hopes for the WS is all but gone. T_T;

13bit said...

I agree with JM here.

HoraceClarke66 said...

What, they got Rico? Why not Youngblood?

HoraceClarke66 said...

Agreed, JM: I have to finally give Coops the props that Duque was asking for him.

What's the old saying? "Don't just do something, stand there."?

Well, it was appropriate today. Any pitchers who could make a real difference were gone, and he hung on to the farm for a better, brighter day.

I don't know that we'll ever see another ring in my lifetime, considering what smart people run the Astros and the Red Sox now. But at least this made sense. Kudos to Coops!

HoraceClarke66 said...

The Greinke deal will at least help my second-favorite team, Not the Boston Red Sox. I think Not the Red Sox has a real shot at it now.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Turn it off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

JM said...

Headcase looked pretty good there for a few minutes. Now, double and balls...and a walk.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Holder warming up. This game is history.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

That was exciting in a not good way.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Exactly, Rufus!

Well, nice comeback. The magic number is 14.

HoraceClarke66 said...

And how nice of the Snakes to pitch Greinke against us even as they were trading him, the little shits. I wonder if they would have pulled him if it had not been for the rain.

So, just to get to the World Series, the Yankees would probably have to get past both of these staffs:

Verlander
Greinke
Cole
Miley

Price
Sale
Porcello
Rodriguez

No way that's happening. I guess we could get some lucky break where, somehow, they go tooth to tooth in a wild, five-game ALDS that leaves the winner battered and exhausted.

But I wouldn't even count on us being there.

ranger_lp said...

So my error: it's not Rico:

First, they traded 19-year-old lefty pitcher Alfredo Garcia to the Yankees in exchange for reliever Joe Harvey. Garcia was an international signee out of Venezuela in 2016. Garcia began the season in Asheville, but he most recently pitched for Short Season A Boise.

ranger_lp said...

So were are going to rely on some combination of Dellin, Sevi, Montgomery, and Deivi Garcia to help our staff. Hope you're right Cash.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Youngblood is out hunting down Nitty's boys.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Oh, good. And it was the end of Rico.

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