Saturday, May 29, 2021

It's time to ask ourselves if the Yankees are worth following.

They say you can't predict baseball, Suzyn. But I can predict Giancarlo Stanton. Frankly, we all can. We've seen this movie, replayed over and over, since 2018:

For the next 10 days, he will slump.

Then, for about 10 days, he will go on a tear.

Then he will strain something and miss three weeks.

That puts us into July, when the cycle will repeat. 

Last night, Giancarlo delivered four strikeouts in five at-bats. The golden sombrero, which is what we see when he steps to the plate after returning from his latest tweak.  

I have a question for Giancarlo, and I don't mean to be impertinent, sir, because - alas! - who am I but a disgruntled fan, a bile-infused mouse, stupid enough to waste last night at home, when he could have been dancing at a TikTok disco rave or listening to a podcast - any fucking podcast, seriously, who cares? I have this one question, which accompanied me to bed and nagged me all night, during my sporadic wake-up calls to pee, and I offer it sincerely and earnestly, without rancor or accusation.

Could you have had that Golden Sombrero night in Scranton? 

Again, I apologize for the tone. I don't want to be Old Mister Meanie. But I didn't hear Meredith ask this question last night, and I'm afraid that my ability to root for this particular Yankee team is starting to wane. 

For 15 years now, I've been a faithful Yankee blogger. But blind loyalty doesn't last forever. And this question - well - it bugs me.

Couldn't you have had that night in Scranton? Isn't that what rehab assignments are for? 

Of course, when you're facing Koufax & Drysdale Manoah & Mize, I suppose a lineup needs all the firepower it can get.  

Reason I ask... you see, last year, well... the world changed. Suddenly, we were all reminded of how precious health is, how fleeting life can be, and how important it is to make the most of what time we have here on this earth. 

If there is a message from the last 12 wretched months, for me it is that we should embrace the things that bring us joy, and discard the things that turn us toward despair. 

Fun fact: Once upon a time, I was a huge Knicks fan. Willis, Clyde, the Pearl, Patrick, Oakley - I followed them relentlessly. Over the years, I jettisoned the Knicks, because they simply sapped all hope. Even now, I can't get enthused. They're just a team I used to follow, long ago, something I was better off without.  

I can't take this much longer. Life is too short.

37 comments:

Bayron99 said...

Agreed!

Pgpick said...

Is there a point where we should be looking at the coaching staff and wondering just what the hell they are talking about with these players? How can they stand by and watch the Yankee hitters flail away at the same pitches time after time.
And I thought analytics was supposed to make you smarter? Ha!

Anonymous said...

Watching Stanton last night swing and end up two feet from the plate every time was nothing short of infuriating.

Watching Frazier do his toe dance is infuriating.

That Gittens, a superior glove and probably a decent bat, sits at Scranton while DJ plays first instead of his gold glove position is infuriating.

I know how hard it must have been for Mr. Duque to write this. His comparison to the Knicks is spot on. Although I did start to watch them again this year - because they are/were/are most of the time, watchable.

The Yankees are not.

Mock me if you will (and at your own peril) but what I said about the Mets is true. If I were eight years old again and was going to pick a team, the future in Queens is brighter.

and that is the most infuriating of all.

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

Doug K.
Your analysis is correct.
This team is deathly boring and insipid .

I had a call with my college roommate from the mid-70's and explained it to him. Mind you we drove to Shea the two years they were there to watch the Yanks, that's what Yank-o-philes we were for years. 300 mile road trips from Oswego or Syracuse.
I skipped my first Law school Class in 3 semesters to watch the Bucky Dent game on a beat up Black and White in our house with 5 other Yankee lovers.

But now, I Told it to him like this;
I have been in love with the same woman for 42 years, can't imagine not being in love and could not understand people who say that they fall out of love after 15-20 years. I could not compute that- it made no sense to me.
Well now I understand . I used to love the Yankees. Now I have a passing interest. I like every human being, longs for love but now it is dead. I do not know if it can be resurrected, but. This Blog is all that gives me hope.
I will watch Pride of the Yankees and long for my younger naive days while I slowly sip the hemlock of modern professional baseball.
The Archangel

Carl J. Weitz said...

Duque, I pondered that exact same question after last night's game. My answer was a resounding " HELL NO!"

And that led me to another question: Do the hitters lack talent or are they just coerced by a foolish management that wants them to hit 3-run homers rather than take a good swing and make contact and let the homers develop naturally? They seem to strike out at least 10 times a game. I think the answer is both. Management, aka the Bloated Front Office needs to be thrashed within an inch of their lives. Or at least fired. I volunteer to partake in the thrashing.

JM said...

Remember how great things were a week ago? Beating the White Sox in three tight games?

Man, it's amazing how far this team can fall in a week.

Carl J. Weitz said...

LOLOL, Archangel. This blog gives you hope? Do you read the posts??

Anonymous said...

While we rant; Ponder the soon-to-be 34 yr-old Justin Wilson.
Basically mediocre for most of his career.
Has amassed career earrings of $22,889,500. plus money next year of at least 1.5 mil in a Yankee buyout.
Yet, Yankees felt they just had to have him. "We need someone for the 6th.inning."[Lindy McDaniel just rolled over in his grave] Then they cry poverty when obvious holes exist in the 25-man.
This fabulously wealthy young man does not have the pride to retire, but will continue to debase himself for money.
I cannot respect this whole cesspool.
I respected the guys I picked up garbage with in the summer of '78. Riding the back handles of the trucks when you had to get off the backend and throw the other people's refuse in the hopper. Came to work every day worked hard; froze and sweated depending on the season.
And they found ways to laugh every day.No soft tissue injuries for them. No "I took two weeks off to avoid perhaps a further debilitating injury later" crap.
Eureka!!!!!
Maybe that is why I CANNOT LOVE THE YANKS ANYMORE.
PS. FU Cashman, Hal, Boone and Stanton. and the polo ponies they you rode in on.

Anonymous said...

Carl, I read the posts and ,well, curmudgeons like us must retreat to the last redoubt and be prepared to blowup the ammunition and powder supply before we watch our last sunset. And I obviously have a very limited lifestyle.
NO SURRENDER, NO RETREAT. GET OFF MY LAWN.
Sometimes I feel like that T-Rex who looked up in the sky and said, "What was that flash and why is it snowing in the jungle?"
He who was formerly know as The Archangel.

Rose City Wobbly said...

Do I have a team for you? .... and they've got this guy named Tauchman :)

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2021/5/28/22459361/san-francisco-giants-dodgers-recap-mike-tauchman

Seriously - enjoy your holiday weekends. Your Yankees will rise again

Carl J. Weitz said...

Archangel....👍

Ken of Brooklyn said...

I'm feeling everyone's pain. My once maniacal all things Yankees recap mornings have been reduced to checking into this site, and this site ONLY. I only listen to the game by way of The Master and Suzyn, but lately I've haven't even been able to sit through an entire broadcast that due to the mind numbing /soul crushing boredom of this team. As Duque so aptly put it, this team has become horrifically predictable, in every facet of the game. Sure, there may be a few games that have a spark of excitement, but they seem to be few and very very far between.

FUCK HAL!
FUCK HAL!
FUCK HAL!
He's only interested in the bottom line of turning a profit. Many of you have stated this more eloquently than I ever could, especially the always brilliant Archangel and Bitty.
We're stuck on a cruise ship going nowhere, with dwindling provisions, commodes filled to the rim with excrement, and a captain that could care less because he was never ever on this ship to begin with.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Anon,

Thank you for the Lindy McDaniel reference. Reminds me that there were darker times in Yankee history. But not by much.

HoraceClarke66 said...

What a great post!

Ab-so-fucking-lutely, Duque!

Remember that stupid argument from a few years ago, off some Bill James remark, about who the game was all about? Was it the player, management, etc?

I think there's no question. We are the game. We, the fans. We're the only ones who pay attention. We're the only ones who care.

And I miss Lindy McDaniel, too!

Oasisdave said...

For all the previous comments on 'Falling out of Love' and the inability to follow the Yankees anymore. I'm a rabid Dallas Cowboys fan and can COMPLETELY understand those feelings. Basically you start to hope that somehow, someway, upper management/ownership changes and be it death, dismemberment, selling of the team. Who cares thinks need to change. Maybe one day Cheapskate Hal & Cashman will be partying with good Ole Jerruh and his son(or as I like to call them Dumb & Dumber) on Jerruh's fancy Yacht and it'll sink like the Titanic or get attacked by Pirates and we can all have some fresh starts instead of the same old wretched philosophy year after year.

DickAllen said...

Does this version of the New York Yankees team suck?

ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY SUCKS!


Is this administration of Harold, The Brain and Booooooone the worst we’ve ever seen?

ABSOLUTELY THE WORST!

Am I going to ignore them and go do something with my life? Or worse, become a Dodgers fan? (I live in LA)

ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOT EVER NEVER

Okay. I’m done now. You do what you want. I’m taking this shit to my grave.

Alphonso said...

One does wonder If Meredith or Aaron has a brain, and are permitted to use them.

Meredith, in her pre-game warm-up, told us of "the infusion of power" the Yankee line-up was getting last night.

Boone puts Giancarlo into the heart of the line-up.

Didn't both know, as we all did, that there was no chance in hell he would be ready for major league pitching?

As Duque posted, couldn't he have taken about three games worth of hacks in the minors? Or at least hit 9th in the line-up?

Instead, he is placed in the "rally-killer" position. Where he can do the most damage to the Yankee chances by failing.

I now believe Boone is told what to do. No one is that stupid.

Meredith should be selling large sized clothes instead of talking about baseball. Because anyone with a brain knew Stanton was going to embarrass himself and us. Anyone.

Anonymous said...

Duque, spot on as usual! That was a truly terrible loss to a horrendous team.

@Pgpick, the other day, Jordan Montgomery is struggling, and our pitching coach goes out to say something to him, the very next pitch is hit out of the park for a 3 run homer. I know, it could be coincidence, small sample size, maybe it was all Montgomery's mistake. But I still think it's a mistake for the NY Yankees to hire a pitching coach who never pitched at any professional level. It would be equivalent to the U.S. Olympic team hiring a diving coach from the local YMCA in Helltown, Arizona, population 32.

@Carl J. Weitz, "Management, aka the Bloated Front Office needs to be thrashed within an inch of their lives. Or at least fired. I volunteer to partake in the thrashing." Hey, that would be my job, as The Hammer of God, sent by heaven to deliver God's vengeance upon the unworthy sinners of this earth. And in the immortal words of our blessed and renowned vocal master John Sterling, these fools "should be whipped, flogged, and flagellated".

@JM, the sweep over the Chi White Sox put everyone in a euphoria, but it masked the biggest problem with this team. That it can't hit it's way out of a paper bag. That its all-right handed lineup can't hit righties, or lefties for that matter. And that our resident moron Booney continues to play old guys like Brett Gardner, hoping for some kind of miraculous fountain of youth to turn him into a young colt.

The Hammer of God

Anonymous said...

@DickAllen1964 Yeah, we Yankee fans will end up watching this shit show, regardless of what happens. We're Yankee fans.

@Alphonso, whoa, easy there on Meredith. She, as well as John Sterling, Susan Waldman, Michael Kay and all of these media people, can't very well come out and say the Yankees suck bat shit. They have a tough job. They can't say their true feelings like we do on this blog. They'd get canned within a few hours. Anyway, I like Meredith. Is she married? (I'd like to ask her out.)

The Hammer of God

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Stanton has the day off today. Must be tired from all the windmilling he did yesterday. Hope he didn't strain an oblique doing it. If we're lucky, he can strike out as a pinch hitter with the winning runs on 2nd and 3rd.

TheWinWarblist said...

Duque, that post is worthy of another book! That post gave voice to 20 comments, all lengthy, insightful and vitriolic! Even if I were to finally get out of this abusive relationship with these Fuckees, I will always love the franchise. They gave us the best years of our lives in the late 90s even if they are anathema to that now. Keep the blog. I shall always be here. It's my battered fan support group.

DickAllen said...

I’m powerless over the Yankees and my life is miserable.

Anonymous said...

Hammer,

Don't ask Meridith out. Let's say she says yes and you end up in a relationship...

Next thing you know you're sitting at home. She comes over. Like any good mate you ask her how her day was.. And it would be like watching the game TWICE!!!!! No one should have to suffer that much.

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

@The Hammer of God: “…the biggest problem with this team [is] that it can't hit it’s way out of a paper bag.”

We’ve all been saying that for what is now an insane number of years but, in 2021, I don’t think they could even find a bag to crawl into.

I am crossing a couple of lead items here but, after about 30 years, I really don’t go much farther than this perpetually glorious blog and a quick check of the MLB site (which defines morbid curiosity). I can’t recall when I made it through an entire game since the first weeks of April.

I even watched more in 2020 because there was something actually live happening during a very dark year spent mostly indoors and/or masked.

Something hit me with my review of the posts from the last couple of days: Hal is the Joe Manchin of baseball. He’s still prayin’ that he can find 10 good players (while staying within his measly budget), and he will never vote to make changes to keep up with reality.

The Hamper of Dog

13bit said...

1. Duque - We need you. Please.
2. I believe the Yankee/Juju gods will one day bless us again.
3. I think it's important to let the overlords on River Avenue know of our displeasure somehow.
4. The problem is that they truly think they are superior humans. this is a hard one to get around.
5. I will meditate on this and report back if I can come up with a plan.
6. I love you all.
7. I need you all.

TheWinWarblist said...

I love you too, bitty. You complete me.


Now about August 18th?

13bit said...

If I am in town, I will be there. Won't know until late July.

TheWinWarblist said...

Who's gonna organizer this?

Anonymous said...

duque -- if have the courage of your convictions, you will shut down the blog.

say what? said...

puckered,

if have (sic) the courage of your convictions, you'll never post here again.

Anonymous said...

PsychoNaught--if you have the courage of your convictions, you'll change your Pampers more than once a week.

13bit said...

Hey! Shout to all you nihilists! Just have a cup of mint tea and go to bed.

When the going gets tough, the Yankees crap the bed.

But at least they are not the Mets.

Anonymous said...

That's true. The Mets are in first place.

Anonymous said...

@ Doug K. Yeah, you're probably right about Meredith. What the hell was I thinking? I should stick to ordering hotties from the Emperor's Club.

The Hammer of God

Never ever root for the Mutts said...

Mutts would be in 5th place if they played in AL east. They still suck donkey dick.

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