Friday, September 24, 2021

10 Questions for the season's final 10 days (Note: Some are not questions)

 1. Will Boston fans give Brett Gardner a nice ovation in his final at-bat in Fenway? Ever since they started ruling the "rivalry," the Redsock fan bros have sought to be magnanimous with retiring Yanks. (Two caveats. A, They are still assholes. And B, are we sure Gardy will retire?)

2. Is the Yankee-Redsock thing an actual "rivalry" any more? Boston crushed us this year. We remain the "2009 World Champions." Considering the near brawl yesterday between the Rays and Jays, that playoff match-up looks far nastier. Let's face it: The Yankees - 2009 World Champions - and the Redsocks are comprised of millionaires who golf together over the winter.

3. Should we bother to opine about winter moves until a new collective bargaining agreement takes shape? Baseball is probably headed toward a strike or lockout. The players union is still boiling over how the owners turned luxury taxes into a salary cap. Without their financial advantage, the 2009 World Champion Yanks have surfed mediocrity now for 12 years. Until the new contact is set, why waste valuable drinking time by pondering Trevor Story? (Whom I pray we don't sign, by the way.)

Joey Gallo
4. Oh, fuck dat, let's speculate. They'll have to sign somebody, just to save face. Still, aren't the 2009 World Champion Yankees' hands tied this winter? Nobody - not even Elon Musk - would want to assume the contracts for Giancarlo Stanton, Aroldis Chapman and DJ LeMahieu - and that's $60 million. Add Gerrit Cole, whom they must not trade, and there's $96 million - half the payroll -  tied up. They can write-off Zack Britton's $15 mill, but Aaron Judge's payday is coming. Plus Jigsaw Gallo? Yeesh. It's a mess. 

5. Isn't Cole just two quality starts away from the 2021 AL Cy Young Award? Right now, it's Cole or Robbie Ray of Toronto. If Cole beats Boston and the Blue Jays, he wins, hands down. Look at the numbers. No contest. Unless he gets blasted...  

6. After an uneventful premier season, will Jasson Dominiquez - our favorite Martian - maintain his fantastical prospect status? This year, age 18, he hit .252 with 5 HRs at low Single A Tampa. It wasn't terrible. It wasn't Mantle, either. The Yankees relentless hyped this kid through 2020, and I believe they used him to justify draining their farm system in August. (They kept assuring us they were keeping their best prospects - him and Anthony Volpe.) Well, is he real, or is he Melian? (Jackson Melian, look him up.)

7. Am I alone, or is the Redsocks' willingness to wear those silly yellow uniforms - which they are associating with a seven-game winning streak - a sign of nerves? Are they really choosing superstition over tradition? If so, all we need do is win tonight. Maybe it's their turn to ride the roller coaster.

8. Until Aroldis Chapman pitches a strong ninth in Fenway, he remains a dice roll. Frankly, I'd prefer Wandy Peralta. Still, let's give el Chapo credit: He's third in the AL in saves, with 28, and most ordained "nine-inning closers" have less than 20. This season has been a killer for closers.

9. Will John and Suzyn return in 2022? I have a feeling - a tingling spider sense - that this it, win or lose. That flood event, when Ricky Ricardo rescued The Master, was a warning sign. The guy is 83. He cannot be dealing with traffic jams and air travel. I think Suzyn would retire with him. We might be seeing the end of an era. Roll the tape recorders.

10. Should we not assume that, by now, every MLB player playing in October has been vaccinated? Would it not be crazy if a team - (looking at you, Tampa) - is decimated by Covid quarantines in the post-season? 

16 comments:

Dantes said...

Well, one and nine are fairly similar. Gardner and Sterling have both had glimpses of their former glory this season but are largely past their expiration dates, and neither has that obvious replacement. Can Florial hit enough to be Gardner? Does Ruocco take the booth? This off-season will be an entertaining train wreck

JM said...

Not Ruocco, Ricardo. He's the obvious and best choice on the horizon. And it's fitting that he saved the Master from the flood, since he should now step in and save Yankees baseball on the radio. Ricky, from his fill-ins earlier this year, even shares some of the Master's cadences and, to various degrees, his vocal qualities. When I first heard him doing a game, I didn't know he was filling in and I was confused for some time as to whether or not it was Sterling at the mike. That cinched it for me.

Gardner is playing too well to retire, but overall, not well enough to take up a roster spot on the Yanks. Florial or Allen, sure, but the OF should be Gallo-Judge-Stanton, every day.

Of course, Boone shouldn't be the manager, either, so we know how likely all that is.

ZacharyA said...

Gerrit Cole
169.1 IP
231 K
3.03 ERA

Robbie Ray
182.0 IP
238 K
2.72 ERA

Certainly looks like Ray's Cy Young to lose at this point.

Cole has a 5.19 ERA in 5 career starts at Fenway, so I'm not holding my breath that he gives us a good performance tonight.

ZacharyA said...

Oh wait I forgot to include Cole's postseason start at Fenway. He actually has a 5.34 ERA in 6 career starts at Fenway.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone actually believe that Cole will pitch the Yankees to a win tonight? Talk about David and Goliath. And we all know which one the Jaundice Hose are.

The Hammer of God

Celerino Sanchez said...

Let's see if Cole can top Big Game James Paxton, when they are playing for all the marbles. Until this team wins another WS, the Red Sox rivalry is bet tepid right now. If they miss the playoffs they will sign Story and some loser pitcher who hasn't pitched in two years, but has tremendous upside. Forget about Melian, will Dominiquez be as good as Florial? As for Chapo, my guess is his GF/Wife is in for a bad weekend.

ranger_lp said...

Okay what's the over/under for home runs Cole gives up tonight? 3?

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


I have an idiotic 11th question (sitting around babying myself after surgery replacing the pacemaker battery) --

If/when The Master retires, does the name of this blog change?

HoraceClarke67 said...

"The Red Sox bros have sought to be magnanimous with retiring Yankees"?

Duque, what the hell are you drinking? Yeah, real magnanimous: a highlight reel for The Great One of every time they beat him. Hahahahahahahahaha. Hell, we should've mooned Big Juicin' Papi.

HoraceClarke67 said...

But yeah, this promises to be a disaster of major proportions. Cole can't pitch in Fenway. Chapo...I don't even want to think about it. Michael Kay was shouting, "The stare is back!" the other night, when Chappie finished off the Texas Rangers with a four-run lead. Yeah, tell me when the 105-mph fastball is back.

The way I see it is, the Yanks' only possible chance is if the hitters suddenly light up—a spontaneous combustion that sometimes happens at Fenway Pahk.

But I'm talking everybody together, even the long somnolent-to-dead: Rizzo, Torres, DJ, etc. Hasn't happened all year and chances are it won't this weekend. But we have, as they say, a puncher's chance.

Anonymous said...

Ten Thoughts on El Duque's Ten Thoughts

Think of it as a BOGO of thoughts.

1) The Red sox fans that I know describe Brett Gardner as a pesky kind of player. They actually fear him.

Therefore Brett Gardner will get a HR tonight by hitting the pesky pole.

2) It will always be a rivalry. Didn't we continue to hate them when they were irrelevant? As it turns out these games actually matter.

3) Opine? Wasn't that Andy Taylor's kid?

4) Opine? As in, after this weekend the Yankees playoff hopes will be opining for the fjords?

5) Robbie Ray potential Cy Young winner! If only we got pitchers like that. Oh wait...

6) Jasson is what, twelve? I'm not thinking about him as any kind of Yankee savior for at least three years. Eight if you count how long they keep good players in the minors.

7) The Sox winning streak - I think the Red Sox wearing the yellow uniforms is a brilliant move. They are so amateurish and stupid looking that the opposing team can't help but thinking they are playing an exhibition against a junior college bunch of yahoo and consequently don't play hard.

Or maybe they've been playing the Mets.

8) Wow. This is a lot of writing.

9) As much as I prefer the sound of his voice I'm ready for John to retire. As I've said before, I have to watch the video of the game at the same time because he's inaccurate or gives a partial explanation too often. It's time.

Suzyn will be fine. She will retire as well and be offered the role of Tevye in a geriatric gender bending Off-Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.

10) I would love, LOVE for that to be the case. I think JM mentioned that it is odd that the Rays, playing in the most affected state, are the least affected team. Yet several teams have had outbreaks after playing there. I don't wish lasting harm, obviously, but having them play in a diminished capacity? Oh Yeah.

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

The worst possible outcome is Cole losing tonight (which we all expect), yet the Yankees back into the 2nd Wild Card thanks to a Toronto collapse. Then, even though our ace will get beat again in Fenway in the WC, management/ownership will still crow about the "great season" and "making the playoffs."

-Melquíades

JM said...

I think Boone is playing mind games. "Look! No lineup! (snicker snicker)"

As Tiant once said, it's great to be with a wiener.

HoraceClarke67 said...

Hilarious on the Opioids, Doug K.!

Also, I think we need some ominous Dylan for this weekend. Maybe "One More Cup of Coffee":

"Your daddy he's an outlaw
And a wanderer by trade
He'll teach you how to pick and choose
And how to throw the blade

"He oversees his kingdom
So no stranger does intrude
His voice it trembles as it calls out
For another plate of food

"One more cup of coffee 'for I go
One more cup of coffee 'for I go
To the valley below..."



HoraceClarke67 said...

C'mon, sing it! Everyone!

"Your sister sees the future
Like your momma and yourself
You never learned to read and write
There's no books upon your shelf

"And your pleasure knows no limits
Your voice is like a meadowlark
But your heart is like an ocean
Mysterious and dark. [A line written for this Yankees team]

"One more cup of coffee for the road
One more cup of coffee 'for I go
To the valley below."


Anonymous said...

Voit is a Red Sux killer. He's got to play tonight. Maybe at DH. Outfield can be Stanton, Judge, Gallo.

The Hammer of God