Friday, October 4, 2019

Big Game Tonight!!

Well, comrades, here we are...

A hundred-sixty-two games, a hundred-and-four wins, a thousand tweaks, a million frayed nerves, a six month roller coaster of hope and despair, and there are no words - none - that matter.

Since late July, we've known this team was playoff-bound. The question was, who would be healthy enough to play? Now, we know: Almost everyone. It's too late to cry about Dellin Betances or Aaron Hicks; they're items for the hot stove. We know our rotation, we know our lineup, and we know our opponent. It's like Election Night, and all the polls, all the conjecture, none of it matters. 

Tonight, I will try to post something each inning, so if you need a primal scream, or to remind Cashman why we needed Patrick Corbin, the game thread should be piping hot. 

Rosters will be announced this morning. By the time you read this, they might be out. From where I sit, I'd prefer Mike Ford over Luke Voit - the monster lefty over the hernia-compromised Cool Bat Luke. But I won't quibble. Voit has been the Yankees' spirit animal, and it might be wiser to keep him. Also, the Twins lefty bullpen could negate Ford's platoon advantage. 

Frankly, the loss of CC Sabathia does not bother me. Lost in the talk about his bullpen conversion was his inability to field bunts and cover first base. During the regular season, nobody wanted to bunt on the Grand Old Man, who would likely throw at the next batter's head. But this is now. If I were facing CC, I'd make him field his position. His bullpen spot will be filled by a late season scrap heaper. If we see them, we will be far ahead or far behind. 

Edwin Encarnacion says he's ready. So does Giancarlo Stanton. Since July, this was a fantasy, the lineup we've barely seen all year. The planets have aligned, for better or worse.  

So, here we are, as Friedrich Nietzche wrote: Gazing into the abyss, as it gazes back into us. 

Back in college, a long time ago, I took a course in Nietzche. I know that you can't predict baseball, Suzyn, but Nietzche predicted a lot of things, almost to the exact timeline. He foresaw both World Wars, followed by a half-century of relative stability. Then he said humankind would face The Abyss: A dark, desperate, overwhelming cynicism, which would devour us. We would come to believe in nothing. Does anything better describe the state of our world? 

Well, I believe in the 2019 Yankees. It's a choice I'm going to make. I'm going to believe the Yankees win the World Series, and that our nation is going to not only survive, but repudiate The Abyss. Maybe it starts tonight. Or maybe none of my words matter.

Well, comrades, here we are...

28 comments:

JM said...

I minored in Philosophy but wasn't really much good at it, a C student usually. I didn't know the Nietch predicted the future. I thought that was Nosterdamous, or was it Nestor Chylack? Details, details...

I want us to win. I want my 95-year-old mom to see the Yankees win a World Series one more time, and doing it now would ensure that. But I'm worrying. The big boppers are so erratic. The pitching is so erratic. The field management is often idiotic. That's a lot of tics.

Almost 11 hours to go....tick tick tick...

JM said...

PS: I spelled Nostradamus wrong. Sue me, it's 8:30 in the morning.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

I have vacillated wildly with this team, when I've complexly given up all hope they have bounced back with games of great defense, epic small ball play, and some timely home run mojo. We could absolutely go all the way if (a big IF) those stars are in alignment. And whatever happens, I'd like to thank DJ and the other newbies for bringing a new ethos to this team, it truly feels like a team for the first time in many many years!

GoooooOOOO YANKEES!
LONG LIVE THE MASTER!
AND RAWK ME NOSTRADAMUS!




Anonymous said...

A Haiku to Commemorate the start of the playoffs.

The lats are unstrained.
Line up from the spring debuts.
Fear low and outside.

Doug K.

13bit said...

I walk among giants. That's all I can say after reading Duque's piece, Doug's haiku, and the posts by JM and Ken.

I was just trying to come up with some doggerel to share, but my brain is fried at the moment.

See you all at the ranch later on.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what Mike Ford has to do to get his due. The guy has been phenomenal. I like Luke Voit, but he's been terrible. I don't see that changing because I believe he is playing hurt. It obviously wasn't my decision (lol), but I believe leaving Ford off the roster in favor of Voit was a mistake. I hope it doesn't turn out that way.

Brett

Yankee Daddy Roger said...

What is the Woody Allen quote: "Hope is the thing with feathers?"

Maybe only applies if you are playing Blue Jays or Orioles.

KD said...

Let’s go Yankees!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Does anybody know what the rules are regarding injury replacements?

So, let's say Voit still can't hit and goes 0 for Games 1 & 2, can he claim injury and then the Yankees get to replace him with Ford?

If so, does that mean that Luke is out for that series or is it a ten day thing?

I know I could look it up myself. I'm actually mentioning it more to pose a scenario.

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

I hope you look it up because I don't know for sure. I'm certain Voit would be lost for the ALCS, but not sure about the World Series.

Since I've never been right on any prediction, I'm expecting Voit to hit .400 with six home runs in the series.

Brett

KD said...

Brett, please don’t sully your powerful reverse juju. Never having a correct prediction is a gift. Use it wisely!

Anonymous said...

Yankee Daddy,

"Hope is the thing with feathers?"

I believe it is, "a thing without feathers." Without Feathers is the name of one of his books.

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

Or in retrospect it's gotta be a bird without feathers. Which would make more sense. I refuse to google it or pull the book off my bookshelf. That kind of day.

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

TYLER LYONS.

LUIS CESSA.

KILL ME NOW.

GO YANKS.

ranger_lp said...

Tyler Lyons? Are you f'n kidding me? He's part of a future law firm Rosenthal and Lyons...at least that sounds like one. He better be only for mop up.

Anonymous said...

Tyler Lyons is their...

TOROFATALHBATFIOS

Two Out, Runners On First and Third, Left Handed Batter, After The Fifth Inning Only Specialist.

Sabermetrics baby!

Doug K.

HoraceClarke66 said...

It's "Hope is the thing with feathers." Woody was without hope, hence without feathers.

HoraceClarke66 said...

The roster choices were unbelievably stupid.

There is absolutely no reason to have Lasagne, Lyons, or Cessa on the team for October.

They should have dumped all three and put on the two Mikes, Ford and King, and The Red Menace. I'd rather have Higgy than Sancho, but I guess they had no choice there.

HoraceClarke66 said...

A-BYSS! A-BYSS! A-BYSS!

I hold by my prediction: Twins in three.

Scottish Yankee fan said...

I agree with M'Learned friend Horace

2 Mikes and The Red Menace should have been picked

Then again Im from Scotland and Bobby Thomson apart (born less than a mile away in Glasgow where I was born) I have no great knowledge of baseball like most of my compatriots but I do have a deep love and joy watching and talking about baseball though I will probably never see a game in person.

Anway Iwill be up till the wee small hours watching the games and hope the Yankees give me something to cheer.

Best wishes to my American friends on here and our Austrian friend as well

Anonymous said...

Hoss,

Thanks for clearing that up. Not big on Hope (unless he's with Crosby.)

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

GARDY BATTING 3RD?

STANTON READY TO LEAVE BOATLOADS OF GUYS ON BATTING IN THE 5TH SPOT.

KILL ME NOW.

GO YANKS.

13bit said...

Assfuck roster choices.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Thanks for sticking in there, Scotland! And yes, Thomson was nicknamed "the Flying Scot" (really!). His family settled in Staten Island, and the evening of the home run, after doing a paid radio appearance, he took the ferry home, unrecognized. I love that.

Austria's Only Baseball Fan said...

Let them live 'neath your spell
Do do
That Juju
That you do
So well

JM said...

Austria, you do something to me.

BernBabyBern said...

Just want to point out one thing ... ever since the IIH outing at the stadium, Paxson has been great. (Well, except for tonight's first-inning homer, of course).

I'm not saying the we are responsible for his stretch run, but ... well, actually, that's exactly what I'm saying. That was all us. Soooooo, let's see what playoff juju we can generate.

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