Saturday, July 2, 2022

A Saturday Fourth of July weekend double-header: What could be grander in a Syracuse Summer!

What a beautiful day for a ballgame. Let's play two.

The Yankees didn't play last night and still gained a half-game on the Redsocks and Devil Rays. The only reason the BJ's picked up a half-game on us: They played Tampa, and somebody had to win. Toronto has 14 games left with Tampa, and nine with Boston. They will beat each others' brains in.

Aroldis returns today, and before we worry about his velocity, his command, his sweat glands, his stare... let's recognize that El Chapo isn't replacing Clay Holmes; he's replacing Brian Weber or Ron Marinaccio. It's a huge uptick, and one of these days, hopefully, Jonathan Loaisiga will join him. 

Despite his recent setbacks, Nasty Nestor Cortez ranks 5th in the AL in Earned Run Average and is tied for 10th in wins. He is, without a doubt, a bona fide all-star game pitcher. Isn't that wonderful?

In ERA, all five Yankee starters rank in the AL top 20. (Actually, the top 18.) Nestor, Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery could all rightfully make the all-star roster. Sevy and Tailion aren't far behind.

Estavan Florial, with the eyes of the Yankiverse upon him, is on a tear: 3-4 last night with 3 doubles, his average now .301. Even if the Yankees have no plans to elevate him, his trade value keeps rising. 

Today, I'm going Joey Chestnut on Hofmann Hot Dogs, best damn dogs anywhere, made right here in Syracuse - home to the German Frank and the Snappy Griller. And I'll add some locally made Middle Ages Brewery Impaled Ale and Wailing Wench beers, because - holy crap - it's a Syracuse Summer!

79 comments:

Rufus T. Firefly said...

How did I miss Bobby Bonilla day? The gift that keeps on giving.

Mets Moronic Madoff Money Management Maneuver

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


If you like doubleheaders, you'll love Cleveland. From Mlb.com report:

-- --

The Guardians will now play three doubleheaders in one week after playing two against the Twins on Tuesday and already having a twin bill scheduled for Monday in Detroit. Saturday will mark Cleveland’s sixth doubleheader of the season.

BTR999 said...

We are eligible to add a 27th man to the roster for today’s twin bill

Will it be Andujar?
Will it be Florial.
Will it be LoCastro?
Will it be one of the faceless 28 year olds that permeate that permeate that crappy roster?

Rufus T. Firefly said...

AnDUjar batting 5th. Rizzo sits. He's tired from running around the bases in Houston.

Mattingly's Mustache said...

Mother nature kicked in a day of rest last night, for all the handwringing on the Astros series, let's not forget the grinder of this brutal June schedule that the Bombers still closed out with .800 ball. Hopefully, with the All-Star break and some better scheduling in the second half, we'll hear Suzyn talking less about the team "getting in their beds at 5am this morning." Back to Houston, while the grind is part of the sport for all teams, the erstwhile NLers did have 2 extra days off, if i counted the rows correctly on baseball-reference. Their division is also utter garbage, so yes while they step it up against the Yanks (as they justifiably should given their pedigree), let's acknowledge that the overall body of work for our Bronx team this season has been much stronger than the 'Stros.

Looking to the second half, roster moves aside, Boone's ability to manage focus is key. Most of the non-NYC media is talking about this wonderful season so far, but let's be real, if there's no ring attached at the end, we'll all be jilted lovers. It'll be a long winter if this team gets filed away with other great failures a la the 18-1 patriots, 116W mariners, and so on.

Not that they will ever publicly admit it (whatever happened to athlete bravado, Namath and Messier, a city turns its lonely eyes to you), but I'd love for the team to set high benchmark goals (117W, Maris' AL HR record, Eckersley's closer ERA benchmark, a .180 target average for Gallo) to keep the truck moving towards a ticker tape parade.

The Archangel said...

Good thing that you got your dogs roasting today cuz,

The Yankees are NOT playing on the 4th. of July...

Just let that percolate for a moment.

That tremor you just felt was all the true blue Yankees fans rolling over in their graves en masse
.
It's the end of the world as we know it.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Callo has 188 ABs for Yankees in 2022, same as 2021.

GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS WAR

2021:
58 188 33 30 7 0 13 22 37 2 88 0 0 .160 .303 .404 .707 0.4

2022:
63 188 24 31 4 0 9 18 29 0 85 1 0 .165 .276 .330 .606 0.0

(excuse bad formatting, I'm lazy)

8 fewer walks and 4 fewer HRs this year, but otherwise very similar. What's amazing is that he actually had a positive WAR last year (proof that it is a flawed stat) and it is at zero this year and not negative.

FWIW, AnDUjar has 0.3 WAR this year, despite the vast majority of his time in AAA.

Gary Frenay said...

Thanks for the song plug, Duque!!

"Summer days and summer evening,the memories of summertime you save...!"

AboveAverage said...

For the record, Gentlemen - and as a reminder:

George Michael Steinbrenner III was born on July 4th, 1930 in the state some call Ohio.

So perhaps the Yankees players and their fans can silently remember the BOSS on this off day whilst they thrust multiple beef and by-product weiners down their pie holes.

Thank you



AboveAverage said...

"Didn't you mean to type . . . AMERICAN PIE HOLES?"

. . . why YES, I did.

The Archangel said...

Isn't our TRUE Fearless Leader, the Master Warbler himself born on the 4th?

I may be confused though.

Carl J. Weitz said...

Well, Duque...no mention of little old ladies or surfing. But the song definitely has a Jan & Dean or Beach Boys vibe to it.

As far as hot dogs are concerned, who could forget the predecessor to El Duque, Mr. Luis Tiant shilling Yankee Franks hot dogs on TV. I scoured the internet for his commercial but it must have been scrubbed from existence. However, there is still a picture of him in the ad:

https://twitter.com/bighairplasgras/status/505473811366440960

"It's great to be a weiner".



Carl J. Weitz said...

Ahem, I meant to say-"Eet's great to be weeth a wiener!"

JM said...

We have, what, seven games with Boston coming up before the break. It would be great if we basically could bury them and put more distance between us and them. But I'm thinking more 4-3, 5-2 if we get on a tear.

It still pisses me off that we can't beat Houston. That one really sticks in the old craw, not to be confused with the Old Crow, coaching at third and providing a link to the really old days of baseball.

Now let's sweep the Guardians (still the dumbest name ever).

AboveAverage said...

I personally would have preferred the Cleveland Franconas - but it was apparently already taken.

JM said...

Our ace is down 2-0 in the second. Just walked his second batter.

Ace.

JM said...

Cleveland Rocks would've been great, but I guess too close to the Rockies.

JM said...

Back to back home runs. Ace.

Doug K. said...

It's to be expected. His routine was disrupted by the rainout. Sigh. plus the umpire is WAY off.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

JM,

I have to differ on this one. The redskins/commodores.

They will be forever the "Washington Commies"

JM said...

You have a good point, Rufus.

Cole might be lucky since this Cleveland pitcher looks far from acey himself. Nice opp field HR by DJ.

JM said...

Hit for Miggy, RBI. How can they not put him in left and bench Joey?

JM said...

Hicks knocks in two more. Wonders never cease.

Doug K. said...

Miggy >>>>>>>>>> Gallo.

How hard is it to figure out?

JM said...

DJ showed why he should be the everyday third baseman. Great play.

Parson Tom said...

DJL is pretty good at baseball. Great guy to have around.

HoraceClarke66 said...

"Cleveland Rockers" was the obvious call. I guess they were afraid it would be associated with Champion Turd, John Rocker.

Personally, I had hoped they could go back to "Cleveland Napoleons," which they were once called, in honor of Napoleon Lajoie.

"Napoleon" once meant "best" or "supreme" in popular slang. But yeah, I have to admit, slaughtering a generation of young men for your own self-aggrandizement is looked on badly these days.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Archie, for the record:

El Duque=Peerless Leader

Alphonso=Dauntless Leader

If you want The Warbler to be Fearless Leader...I'm jiggy with that, as the kids adamantly refuse to say these days. Though wouldn't "Wailing Leader" or "Exclaiming Leader" be more appropriate?

Parson Tom said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JM said...

I'll stick with The Master.

I think we might win this one. Castro is on paternity leave, so we could be okay.

JM said...

The Trevino Magic is gone.

JM said...

Here comes Chapman.

JM said...

And....a leadoff walk.

Not a good sign.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Package Chapman with Callo. Call them the C & C boys. Because you'll need a lot of CC watching them.

Amazon audio feed vs. FAN. Both guys are awful. At least Suzyn is on FAN.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Cole wants to come back in.

At least Castro is on paternity leave.

JM said...

Another walk. He can't throw the fastball for strikes. Just like before the rehab.

He's a mess.

JM said...

He's the Knoblauch of pitching.

ranger_lp said...

Another Rolaids popping appearance...FFS...

JM said...

Three walks, and looks terrible. Wow.

BTR999 said...

Right JM. - totally cannot locate his fastball. He’s starting to sweat like a whore in confession.
Get him out of there, and by there I mean NYC.

JM said...

At least Boone takes him out. But that was awful.

JM said...

By the end, couldn't control the slider, either.

ranger_lp said...

3 more regular season months and counting....October can't get here soon enuf....

ranger_lp said...

Time to put Rolaids on the 90 day EL with the "Sucking at baseball" ailment...

BTR999 said...

Ranger can we do that with Gallo too?

ranger_lp said...

At least we can trade Joey Whiffs for a case of rosin bags…

BTR999 said...

Both runs charged to Crapman. His ERA now an unsightly 5.14.

AboveAverage said...

"ESPN believes that Hidrosis Chapman is losing too much of his "chi energy" in his sweat and has recommended that he coat his body in anti perspirant prior to each game. Sounds like it might be his solution.

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


I guess the next time we'll see AC is when the NYYs have a 15-run lead.

ranger_lp said...

It’s HR Derby now…

JM said...

Lugnut stretching out the inning here. Two singles and now a walk. Full boat, one swing and it's 11-8.

JM said...

K. Nice.

JM said...

This is silly. Reminds me of Rocky Colavito pitching for the Yankees.

ranger_lp said...

Yankees Win!!!

JM said...

Haven't even started the bottom of the ninth yet on Prime.

JM said...

Can't be that far behind. Can it?

JM said...

Game ended on TV now.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Sorry, Archie, I thought you were referring to The Win Warblist. I agree: "The Master" is best for he who binds us all.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Cameron Maybin basically calling for Joey, King of the Whiffs to be dropped in favor of Miggy and Carpenter.

I love the guy more already.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Also, TB beat the BJs in the first of two. Lovely.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Stanton didn't hurt himself, did he?

Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside said...

I listened to the second half… In post game Seeeney said the name of the Substitute announcer. I don’t remember it, but it was not Shakil, which left me surprised. I figured the generic voice is heard was Shakil. They all sound the same. The 4th without John Sterling :’(

BTR999 said...

Don’t think so Hoss…The team doesn’t want Stanton to run the bases, he helps out by never running hard.

AboveAverage said...

game two on deck - come on Mr Cortez - deliver us some NASTY!

ranger_lp said...

Brendon Burke did the game on radio. He does play-by-play for the NY Icelanders. I hate the Icelanders but Burke is a good announcer. reminds me a bit of Gary Cohen for some reason..I could see him get this gig...

JM said...

Miggy gets the start in left instead of Hicks. But Donaldson at third, so DJ at second. No Torres, who had three hits in game one. If DJ is at third, where he should be every day, Gleyber is at second. But no, we have to play the inferior Donald Duckinson.

Also, Gallo in right. Why? Who knows?

Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside said...

Well this Burke guy ain’t too excited about baseball.

Publius said...

I wonder if John negotiated the rotating fill-ins. "Sure, I'll cut back. But no exclusive fill-in. No heir apparent you can shove me out the door for." Savvy, if so. Ricky's the only real option. Which means they'll go with some bland any-baritone.

Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside said...

Rather than a hockey guy calling baseball…. Out about John calling basketball?

https://youtube.com/shorts/T4YDHD8sikc?feature=share

Or a mix of the two…

https://youtube.com/shorts/T4YDHD8sikc?feature=share

(He’s having a hard time faking it there)

ranger_lp said...

I remember John doing basketball AND hockey back in his WMCA days...

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Callo has his July hit already. According to the radio, he's out of his slump.

We need the Master back, even if it is broadcasting from Edgewater.

Publius said...

A Gallo single. That'll get him to the All Star break.

JM said...

Yankees can't hit a guy with a 7.20 ERA.

JM said...

The Rizz!!

JM said...

Stantonian!!!

Doug K. said...

hoss started a clean thread

Rufus T. Firefly said...

I have a potty mouth (don't tell Cardinal Dolan), but I'll go there anyhow.

HoraceClarke66 said...

You have a dispensation, Rufus. But I can still see those impure thoughts!

BernBabyBern said...

Question: Is Utica Club an acceptable beer for a "Syracuse summer"? It's only an hour up the Thruway. It's not an extra-hazy-juicy-double-IPA aged with goat's milk, but it's good.