Thursday, June 9, 2022

The cows came home last night... in the first Yankee drubbing of 2022

It began in the fourth - bases loaded, one out - and Gleyber Torres grounds into a DP. Then Giancarlo Stanton botches the first of three catchable flies to right. And Nestor Cortez starts grooving gophers. 

Every beagle has its day, and last night belonged to Minnesota, the city of shopping malls and police beatings. So it went. So it goes. So, what? We got destroyed, dismantled, demolished, drubbed... but only one game. Nine innings. No biggie.  

Tonight, we bring out Gerrit Cole - to do what an ace is supposed to.

There is no reason to panic. 

Stay clam.

We knew the winning streak wouldn't last forever. We knew Nestor would eventually throw a clunker - and that a DH in RF makes a steady tick-tick-tick sound. We knew that sometimes you bag the lobster, and sometimes you catch the crabs. It's Minnesota, former home of the Homer Dome, where the ghost of Hubert Humphrey, the Happy Warrior, watched from the clouds.

We knew all this. Because we are educated. And there is no reason - none, whatsoever - to sit here and pine. In another season, I might pine my ass off.  I might pine myself into a froth, or a foam, or even a lather. Not this time. No pining whitecaps in sight. As a thinking fan, I know that blowout losses happen, and that - in fact - a laugher loss is actually preferable to the bullpen-blowing, walk-off, soul-crushing defeat.  

Last night, at the end, Aaron Judge was resting, Manny Banuelos was throwing, our star of the game was Aaron Hicks - (two for three, and a great throw from LF; he's up to .232; he is about to get injured) - and nobody needed to pitch the bottom of the ninth. All good. We could rest. No problem. If you saw me now - NBG -Nothing But Grin! Haha. NBG. All good. So, we got decimated? I say, ha.

Seven game lead over Tampa and Toronto - whom we face next week, launching 13 straight against the Rays, Jays and Astros. 

By then, we won't remember what happened last night.

Wait. I've already forgotten. Okay, Mr. Gerrit. It's all yours.

36 comments:

AboveAverage said...

fear not the gathering gloom

JM said...

There was a screen graphic last night that said--not counting last night--that Hicks had a .368 (or something like that...might have been .386) average in the last six games. Get out the stretcher.

Stanton's defense last night came directly on the heels of the announcers talking about how good an outfielder he is, something they said Boone was talking about to them. Kaboom.

ESPN.com had a light-hearted article about Nestor's mustache and its role as the secret weapon of his amazing turnaround success. Maybe it's time to shave.

What a sloppy game. Rizzo looked like a kid with ADD. Even Judge was basically silenced.

It's worth noting, though, that with the loss our winning percentage is .714. That's a number that will remain in our memories for all time, until we don't have memories anymore. The home run total of the Babe. The full season plus post-season winning percentage of the 1998 Yankees (maybe it was '99 or '97, my memories aren't what they used to be).

I want to get outta town and leave Minnesota. It's a bad vibe out there. Just never liked it, Homer Dome or this newer place.

BTR999 said...

I missed the game last night, though apparently the game itself won’t be missed. Several sources commented the Yanks were sloppy on defense and had the the unwelcome return of the RISP blues.

Duque, you are right on target about Cole - he is being paid (overpaid?) a kings’s ransom for situations like this. He should help us bounce back with a shutdown outing, and let the offense, led by the resurgent* Aaron Hicks do its thing.

*denotes satire

HoraceClarke66 said...

Good point about the .714, JM. And you're right to fear the place. It's where the late, great Yankees Dynasty came crashing down, both Elston Howard and Jim Bouton horribly injured on an Opening Day, 1965, played in the snow.

HoraceClarke66 said...

I'm still grousing over that Gleyber at-bat. Stupid to swing at the first pitch, and inexplicable how slow he is up the line. The ball went to Twins shortstop, who first looked toward second—only to see nobody there—and then trundled over to tag the bag himself, before throwing on to first.

Gleyber was still out.

As this is the anniversary of Secretariat's immortal win, I can only say, "He was running like a tremendous yutz."

Doug K. said...

Is this the year that the Twins actually beat the Yankees in a series, mid-season or otherwise?

Just wanted to point out that major a difference between the first game and the second was the presence of one, Carlos Correa - Yankee Killer.

Could he be the personal embodiment of Yogi Berra's, "We always beat these guys." as in, "I always beat these guys."?

Food for thought.

AboveAverage said...

its so quiet here you can hear a mouse fart

(ok - full disclosure for those of you that heard mouse farts before - they are a lot louder and more percussive than one would think - it was really more of the IDEA that I was trying to evoke)

Platoni said...

Gleyber outs on the first pitch are never not going piss me off

JM said...

And that's why Cole gets the big money.

Doug K. said...

Holy crap!

JM said...

"Ace."

Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside said...

I’ve never been more happy to see Gary Sanchez at bat. What’s that stat this blog made up about out sphincter clinching rate when someone comes up? We need an opposing team version.

Platoni said...

This "ace" of ours, eh? I miss those days when Sabathia would come in, knees made of churros and a belly full of beer, and put a stop to losses.

AboveAverage said...

I think that Cole is distracted by the twins behind home plate . . .

AboveAverage said...

TWITCH! TWITCH!!!

BTR999 said...

I’m not gonna sit here and outright knock a pitcher of Gerrit Cole’s caliber, but please don’t call him an Ace. An Ace comes up big when you need him to; still haven’t seen that yet from Cole.

JM said...

Like I said a while ago, more deucy than acey.

AboveAverage said...

Those twins behind home plate. Shame.

JM said...

That's four home runs, if you're counting.

AboveAverage said...

Luetge is growing himself a NastyStache!

DickAllen said...

Make that five…and counting. Who is this guy?

DickAllen said...


Where is Captain Hook when you need him?

Doug K. said...

I'm telling you its Carlos Correa. He's the true Yankee killer and he's infectious,

DickAllen said...


Doug, every year there’s a new one. Though he seems to be a particularly virulent one.

BTR999 said...

I got a gallon of sticky stuff on order for his next start.

Doug K. said...

2 HR's by Gallo WTF?????

DickAllen said...

It can only mean one of two things. Either he continues to be productive and becomes trade bait at the Deadline, Or he plays through the rest of the season, and we get to watch him shit the bed during the most important at- bats of his life in the playoffs

Doug K. said...

And now Hicks! (and yes I'm watching the hearings and the Rangers. ADD has its plusses.

JM said...

Astounding.

I was watching the Jan 6 committee. Hard to believe that shit happened in America.

DickAllen said...

And now Hicks is getting hot. We all know what that means

JM said...

Judge top of the wall. Just missed.

JM said...

And Duran Duran pitching.

Platoni said...

Let's hope they bring him in. That failure with man on 3rd and 0 out earlier was annoying

DickAllen said...


Nice little comeback that.

BTR999 said...

Another Happy Landing!

HoraceClarke66 said...

Next time, they best bring kryptonite!

Nice win. But boy, they wrecked the Cole Train.