Yep, I remember April. The Redsocks won on opening day, then lost eight of nine. They couldn't hit. They couldn't field. Marcelo Mayer was hurt. Roman Anthony was sloppy. They fired Joey Cora and his suck-ups. They were done, the season an official shit show.
Meanwhile, the Yankees won seven of their first eight, roaring from the gates, and awaiting the return of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon. It was a Yankee year. Remember how easily, how gullibly, we chased the bait?
Hook, line and sinker.
Welp, turn your head and cough. It's over. This plane don't fly.; this lineup don't score. Judge and Giancarlo were optical illusions. We're down to Luis Garcia Jr. and Heliot Ramos - with a disturbing Willie Calhoun/Franchie Cordero vibe. We've returned to bullpen meltdowns and the terrifying emptiness of a batter coming up with runners in scoring position.
We saw it again last night, against St. Louis - a tomato can that won two of three in our home park.
We're now tied with Boston in the loss column. Our next defeat - probably Friday night - will bring a giant WHOOSH, the sound that comes with settling into third. From there, our lone relief will be the astounding mediocrity of the AL. From there, we'll simply need to stay above .500, which is Brian Cashman's great skill.
In the race for that final wild card slot - and let's face it, that's been our objective all along - the Yankees lead Texas and Cleveland (both at 57-58) by eight games. And you can see Cashman's pipe dream: Get Judge and Giancarlo back, have Schlittler and Cole ready, and fortify the bullpen with Weathers and Warren. Unfortunately, it's a mirage. In this universe, there is no such thing as the Yankees at full strength.
Nope. You can feel the rumbling. Today's Gray Lady has a thumb-sucker about how stressful it is to be Cashman, with a fan base the doesn't appreciate him, the master of finishing above .500. You can feel the forces lining up to defend him, to extend him, the poor Yankee executive who always delivers a winner.
Royals fans would be thankful. You wouldn't hear Rockies fans complaining. Why can't Yank fans appreciate what they have?
Sadly, the Yankees used to be baseball's best team. No, check that: They were America's best sports team. Wait, no: They were the best in the world. They were the New York Fucking Yankees.
Whoosh.
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16 comments:
Somewhere way, way up in heaven, John Sterling is watching EVERYTHING on THE cloud saying to himself, “NOW Suzyn, now you can predict baseball. Yankees Baseball”
You know who does NOT have a stressful life, and who DOES, in fact, suck his fat thumb all day? Randy Levine. Can someone, ANYONE, tell me what he does in this life and why we have to tolerate his existence?
Mr Bit - to answer your question: That is because many years ago Mr Mr Levine and someone by the name of “Trixie” made a baby together and he was named Randy.
Won't be long before Boston passes the Yankees. Won't be long before Boston passes Tampa. When I watched that Red Sox game against the Dodgers, as I've said, Red Sox sure looked like the next World Series Champions. That game ain't the only evidence, the Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball. And it does not appear to be just a hot streak. They look for real.
When you talk about hot streaks in baseball, I always recall the 1984 Detroit Tigers opening the season 35-5. (That's .875 baseball.) They didn't maintain that pace; they cruised the rest of the way. And they did it in style to win the World Series.
That's one way to do it. The other way to do it is to find yourself midway through the season, put it all together, fire on all cylinders and just take off down the home stretch, and nobody has the horsepower to catch you. And that's what the Red Sox are doing.
Boston fired Alex Cora and brought in their minor league manager who knows all their young players. Their 4 game sweep of the Yankees was a stepping stone, and they're off to the races.
Most really good teams get better and better down the stretch run. Witness the cheatin' ASS=stros. They always start out slow, then get hotter and hotter in the second half of the season. How much of that is due to cheatin', I don't know. But hey, I suppose if you can get away with it, it'd be stupid not to cheat.
I heard about one Yankee game where our closer was struggling to get the last out. (I forget who that was.) Must have been two strikes. Manager Clyde King came out and put bubble gum on the ball. One pitch, and the game was ovuhhhhhh. And during the congratulatory handshakes, our catcher didn't take the ball out of his glove.
Ah, used AI to search the Clyde King bubble gum ball, and it says it happened when Clyde King was a pitcher - not when he was a manager. So I sit corrected!
I heard that story on tv, maybe from Phil Rizzuto, on a Yankee game broadcast back in the '80s. That's the way I remember it. AI says no, but AI can be inaccurate much of the time. It says Clyde King managed the Yankees in 1982. I don't even remember him managing the Yankees. I should, but I don't remember.
I guess we shouldn't feel like losers that the Red Sox swept the Yankees. Red Sox have been sweeping a lot of teams, including the Dodgers. Well, we are losers but we're not alone! Misery loves company!
I don’t think the firing of Cora has gotten enough praise..
Say , you don’t think if we fired our manager…Nah, couldn’t be.
Need to fire the GM as well.
Not coincidentally, the STL broadcast the other day featured Chaim Bloom being interviewed in the booth for a couple of innings.
He was/is just as much responsible for the current carmines team.
Year Age Team Managed G W L W% Finish PlyrMgr
1969 45 Giants 162 90 72 .556 2 N
1970 46 Giants 42 19 23 .452 3 N
1974 50 Braves 64 38 25 .594 3 N
1975 51 Braves 134 58 76 .433 5 N
1982 58 Yankees 62 29 33 .468 5 N
King's managerial stats...
Ilsa, we'll always have Paris.
Not to hurt them, physically. Can we break it over Genius Cashman and Clueless Hal's heads.
Because as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development under Ghouliani, he pushed through tax breaks very friendly to the Yankees. He knows about all the shenanigans the team was complicit in over the years and surely has evidence in a safe place, thus ensuring a job for life.
I say to all my RS friends that they should be on their knees thanking us for jump-starting the RS comeback by letting them sweep us.
God that sucked and God does this suck.
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