It's Better to Run to Toronto Than to Run to a Team You Don't Want to! Yanks Edge Jays, Remain Tied for First.

The virtual New York Yankees, wracked once more with injuries and running low on pitchers, got a sturdy six innings from Mike King, then hung on for 5-4 win in Toronto.

King allowed three runs and nine hits, but was able to repeatedly pitch in and out of trouble.  Adam Ottavino came on to allow a massive, upper-deck home run to massive, Vlad the Lad, Jr., but Aroldis "Cool Hand" Chapman managed to wriggle out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth inning, striking out Brandon Drury to end the game.

Home runs by Walkie Tauchman and Thairo Estada, and a pair of booming doubles by D.J. "Jazzy" LeMahieu provided all the runs the Yankees needed.

The Yankees arrival in Toronto was delayed when manager Ma Boone's luggage was searched, and he was detained and charged with attempting to smuggle rare indigenous artifacts across the border.  The object in question was later found to be simply one more of the incredibly popular, "Thairo the Pharaoh" Egyptian headdresses sold at the Stadium earlier this year.

"Sure, that's what it was," said Boone, his eyes darting around furtively at a press conference.  He also denied that, when apprehended, he had surreptitiously swallowed a sacred Egyptian scarab.

Informed that no one thought he had by a puzzled press, Boone walked off the podium, visibly glowing and with his irises turning a flaming red color.

"Well see that you DON'T!"  he snapped, before his head transformed into that of a jackal's.

Yankees trainers later confirmed that they were monitoring the situation, but would not provide any further information.

How Not to Run an Organization.

So when Brian Cashman was looking to replace Joe Girardi, who never did anything but win, he put all the managerial candidates through a test.  He gave them the Yankees' roster, with names removed but all the numbers included, and asked them to make up a lineup for a theoretical game.

The guy who did it the best—or rather, the guy who matched up best with how Cashman would've chosen that lineup?  Aaron Boone.

"He got 'em all right!"  exulted Cashman, like a father kvelling over a son who had just aced the SATs.

Because, of course, that's what you want:  everyone in your organization thinking alike, in lockstep with a philosophy devised by individuals who, almost to a man, never played the game.

No creative tension.  No challenging input.  Just someone who is a mental extension of yourself in the dugout.

I don't want to blame yet another Yankees meltdown on Boone, who seems to be a good clubhouse manager, which is often more important than being a great field manager.

But hiring people who think just like you—or, more likely, simply have sussed out exactly how you think—is not the way you ever get better, it's not the way you ever think out of the box when things go wrong.

It's happening... the crash.

Britton out.

Gleyber out.

Paxton MRI.

Swept by Tampa.

Embarrassed at home.

Mets game called for COVID.

News Flash : The Yankees Will Not Win The World Series This Covid Year !

 

Even with our $300 million ACE on the mound, we cannot beat the Tampa Bay Rays.  We can't even get a lead. 

Our line-up is pretty lame.  A few examples should suffice:

1.  We have a .100 hitting catcher who specializes in long home runs, strike outs, grounding into double plays and passed balls.  His arm is becoming suspect as well. 

2.  We have a back-up catcher who has not hit a ball hard since he was in his mid-thirties.

3.  We have an experiment at shortstop that is beginning to look as though it won't earn CDC approval for phase 2 trials. 

4.  We have one left fielder who may have crossed his sell-by date, and another who looks like he is playing with flippers on. Neither are hitting.

5.  Our centerfielder, a tradition of speed, defense and power for the Yankees, is batting .220, and has  a history of injury once he begins to swing the bat. 

6.  The team is missing its best two players ( LeMahieu and Judge ), and now we are down our best closer.  (That other $300+million guy is also on the IL but no one really cares ).

7.  We are getting more than we had a right to expect from Urshela and Voit. Although Urshela's offense has faded since Boone hit him at clean-up.  He is a great hitter in the 7th or 8th spot.  Not in the middle of the line-up.  

7-A.  Our current DH ( Ford ) is a .200 hitter ( when hot ) who has good power at the stadium. 

8.  Suddenly, a team that got so much from its youth last year, is getting nothing from its youth this year.  Unless, that is, we consider "Red Thunder" a youth. And the Yankees still show no confidence in his defense. 

9.  The guys who call the game ( Cone, Kay and O'Neil from his basement ) keep praising Boone, but the Yankee manager has made numerous mistakes...in a short season... that have cost us games.   He is managing at a " C" level....a long way from an "A."

A team can't win like this.  Cole gave up only 2 runs and that was far too much. It was the margin by which we lost. 

So forget about flying another World Championship flag this year.  We won't even be at the game. 

"Curt Schilling" is trending. What could it mean?

 

How did we lose last night? Let us count the ways...

With 37 games remaining in this snapshot of a season, the Yankees - still technically in first, and still owning, mathematically, the second best record in baseball - seem to have found their true, psychic level: 

They are the second-best team in the AL East, a solid light year behind Tampa.

Last night, they achieved a perfect choke tri-fecta: They didn't hit the clutch, didn't didn't hustle in the clutch and didn't think in the clutch. They managed to make defeat into an art form. How, you ask? Well... 

Hitting: To illustrate this, we can choose from almost every at-bat with runners on base. But I select Miguel Andujar's ninth inning strikeout - three pitches, so quickly and efficiently performed that it evoked memories of Jose Canseco's appearance in the 2000 World Series. One-two-three, and he was marching to the dugout. 

We all want Miggy to recapture the glory of 2018. And I suspect he will... someday, probably in another uniform. Right now, no Yankee looks more lost, both in the field and at bat. In left field, he's a certifiable Curt Blefary. At the plate, he's over-matched. I wonder, was he crushing balls in those fake games at Scranton? Because right now, he's hopeless.  

We could add to the file Brett Gardner's ninth inning fly to center - on a 2-0 count, from a struggling Chaz Roe - while the defensive alignment openly dared him to bunt. Gardy's supposed to be our best bunter. He didn't try. Gardy turns 37 on Monday. He's hitting .176. Maybe he'll get hot. Or maybe, this isn't a slump. 

Either way, want to unhinge the Yankee bats? It's easy. Just put runners on base.

Hustling: Zack Britton's muff of a soft toss to first base opened the flood gates, and Tampa doesn't forgive other teams' mistakes. But when that ball bounced out of Britton's glove, my immediate reaction was that the catcher would grab it, backing up the play, holding the runner on first.

Today, I wonder: Why would I think such a thing? The replays showed our catcher, the beloved Yankee, Gary Sanchez, standing at home plate, watching the play unfold in his usual, seemingly constipated state. 

Long long ago, in a Yankiverse far far away, I recall catchers running down the baseline, backing up potential errant throws to first. Clearly, that's not the case anymore. Still, on balls hit down the first base line, is it too much to expect your catcher to at least trail the play, in case the throw goes wide? 

Sanchez was nowhere, the Ray took second, and he then took third on one of those wild pitches that seem to happen to Gary five times a night. 

I have a feeling that next year, the Yankees' Gary Sanchez experiment will have ended. And not necessarily on a good note. 

Thinking: Today, we learned that Britton strained a hammy, and he'll be out for several weeks, which means - well - maybe the rest of the season. Typical. Until last night, he was our best hope out of the bullpen.

Let the record show that last night, manager Aaron Boone - for the first time in eons - asked Britton to come in, record an out, go sit on the bench, then return for a second inning. He broke all the routines that Britton - a one-inning workhorse - has developed, asking him to deliver the equivalent of a four-out save. 

In his second inning, Britton looked completely out of sorts. He constantly fell behind the batters. They hit him hard. Nothing seemed right. And now he is gone.

Heck of a job, Boonie.

Virtual Baseball: Cole Train Runs Down the Rays. Weird Atmospheric Configurations Frighten Fans.

Virtual Gerrit Cole pitched his league-leading, third complete game of the season tonight, topping the Tampa Bay Annoyance Rays, 5-2.

After an upper-deck home run by Luke Voit, and an inside-the-park job by Aaron Hicks, the winning shot was a titanic, three-run dinger by Clint Frazier, in the bottom of the ninth.

But the real highlight for many of the fans—or rather, "fright-light"—was the dry thunder storm that filled the air above the Stadium with forks of blue lightning, and assorted apparitions.  One fan swore that he saw the bronzed face of George Steinbrenner, from his Monument Park plaque, hovering over the field, and dripping red tears of blood.

Others were certain that they could hear, above the echoing thunder, the voice of John Sterling, still in his medically induced coma at the Hebrew Home for the Aged, decrying, "There's no predicting bizarre aerial portents!"

And at the very height of the storm, Challenger, the Yankees' patriotic pander-eagle, broke loose from his cage somewhere in the depths of the Stadium and soared back and forth above the infield.

Some players on the field were certain it was crying out, "Didi!" though others thought it might just be squawking, "Feed me!"  In any case, general manager Brian Cashman covered his Eagle Protection Helmet with his black cloak, and fled in terror.

"It is the part of men to fear and tremble when the most mighty gods by tokens send such dreadful heralds to astonish us," explained Dr. Egon Spengler of Hudson University, just back in New York after his fruitless search for Giancarlo Stanton in the rubble of the "Field of Screams" in Iowa.

"But such portents as these?  They generally appear only when two worlds run close together," Dr. Spengler explained.  "When there is a confluence of this earth with other Yankees worlds unknown to us, and where we can only shudder to think of the horrors that might lie therein—such as the Rays winning."

In this world, at least, New York were tied for first again, after taking the win.

Things Brian Cashman Does Not Understand About the Game of Baseball

One pitcher does not constitute a starting staff.  It was great that the Yanks signed Gerrit Cole, price be damned, and he has generally lived up to advance billing.

But by himself, Cole is not a substitute for a five-man staff.  Or a four-man or a three-man staff.  Despite all the evidence that you have to have the big starters to get through the playoffs, Cashman keeps hoping that he can do it on a wish and a prayer.  Tanaka—much as I love him—Paxton, and Happ are simply not playoff-quality starters.

Most relief pitchers are not Mariano Rivera.  They are not effective for more than a few seasons, at most.  Which is why you need to be constantly replenishing the pen.

Going back to the days when he thought he could get by with Gordon and Quantrill as the bridge to Mo, Coops has once again always tried to substitute wishin' an' hopin' an' prayin' for live arms.  It never works.

Injury-prone players do not get less injury-prone as they age.  Nuff ced.

You will never beat the Tampa Bay Rays playing their game.  For many a year now, perhaps to prove his prowess as a general manager, Cashman has tried to show us that he is also a master of Sabremetrics, Moneyball, and all the other assorted, money-saving devices that cash-strapped teams use to play above their heads.

It's as if the U.S. military tried to win WW II through guerrilla warfare tactics, instead of simply unleashing all the firepower that the world's greatest industrial power could furnish on those dirty Axis bastards.

If you have no talent for developing players—as Mr. Cashman surely has proven he has not—then you need to go out and bury the opposition with money.  Adopting their same concept of the game will not only fail, it will advance the Rays' seeming mission to make watching baseball as boring as possible.

Mr. Cole, you're needed...

 It's finally here. For the first time since July 27, the MLB season actually feels like a pennant race. And tonight brings us the sense of a game the Yankees must win. 

Of course, it's not real. It's Memorex. .The Yankees could lose all three to Tampa this week and remain comfortably on course for the post-season. In fact, they host the Rays again in two weeks, another three-game tea party, and by then, this series will seem a COVID fever dream, a distant memory of Jimmy Carter and John Kerry. Nevertheless, here we are: Sending out our ace tonight in a game that seems more critical than anything thus far in 2020.

More than ever, we need Gerrit Cole to throw a sopping blanket over Tampa, so that our continual losses to the Rays don't become a "thing." Win tonight, and we can take the series tomorrow. Win tonight, and Tampa can leave NYC with a worse record than when they arrived. Win tonight, and we have our weapon, a pitcher who might start three times in a best-of-seven bloodbath, which this year eventually will boil down to. Win tonight, that's all. Win tonight...

Some thoughts on last night...

1. It's nice to see Luke Voit celebrated in the lead-off slot, but it represents a complete abandonment of speed as an offensive weapon. It's not that DJ LeMahieu was a base-stealing threat, but he's a smart runner - a la' Jeter - while Voit, despite his Jenny Craig weight loss, still seems to be plowing a cornfield as he moves. Voit and Gio Urshela leading-off reminds us of all the talent on the IL. Moreover, the Yanks will need everything they've got to beat Tampa, and that might include a SB here or there.  

2. The endless wait for Aaron Hicks is growing old. Last night, another 0-for-4, right in the heart of the order. He's hitting .220, which frankly is not far from his output last year - .235. We've been patient, hoping that someday, he'll return to that neo-all-star form he briefly showed in 2017. But the truth is, he gets hot, and then he gets hurt. We have two other CFs - Gardy and Tauchman. Soon, Boone will have to make a decision. 

3. Boston's tanking has begun: The Redsocks are reportedly dangling Humphrey Bogaerts in trade talks. If they deal him, they would surely seek a boatload of prospects, while ensuring that the team continues to fade, looking to finish last and draft high next June. Boston is playing a brutal, cutthroat, scorched-earth strategy with their stars - similar to what Tampa does annually. It is the modern way to build sports franchises: Show no loyalty to your stars, and don't worry about how the fans will react. 

Christian Vazquez was quoted the other day making light of the fact that Boston has more rings of late than the Yankees. Fans reacted furiously on Twitter, but the comment drew blood from me. Vazquez is right, and if the Yankees botch this season, within two years, Boston could be in the World Series, while we are paying off aging salary dump black holes. At some point, Cooperstown Cashman might have to consider trading off all that aging talent in the OF - Hicks, Stanton, Gardy, Tauchman, even Judge - not for aging pitchers, but for next year's Austin Meadows. 

4. Last night, Clint Frazier came within an eyelash of homering. His drive down the right field line kicked foul by inches. The guy can hit to the opposite field. How refreshing is that? He belongs in this lineup every day. Am I right? 

Virtual Baseball: In Again Out Again, Up Again Down Again! Yanks Fall Out of First. Rats.

In Virtual Baseball tonight, the virtually lifelike Tampa Bay Rays, the Jimmy Young of baseball teams, managed to bob, weave, and outpoint their way to a 4-3 win over the Yankees.

New York starter Clarke Schmidt showed flashes of brilliance once again, in his exciting rookie year, but was undone by a bad fourth inning. After Yoshi "The Unpronounceable" Tsutsugo hit a gift triple over the head of a stumbling Clint Frazier, Schmidt's next pitch got past catcher Gary Sanchez, allowing Tsutsugo to tscore.

The passed ball seemed to unnerve Schmidt, who walked the next two batters, and then was betrayed by his defense once again, when Gleyber Torres threw a tailor-made double-play grounder by Ji-Man Choi into right field, and Luke Voit then botched a routine grounder from Manuel Margot.

When the dust had cleared, the Yanks were in a hole they could not quite climb out of, despite a long home run by Voit and a two-run double from "Walkie" Tauchman off TB starter Blake "The Poet" Snell, that finished Snailie's night in the seventh.

The Bombers almost rallied against TB closer Nick Anderson in the ninth, loading the bases—only to be thwarted on a magnificent, diving catch in centerfield by Kevin Kiermaier, which robbed second base sub Thairo Estrada of what would have been a walk-off, extra-base hit.

Afterwards, front-running Yankees fans littered the field with their Pharaoh headdresses in disgust, and the Rays celebrated by collectively mooning the Bronx unfaithful.

"What sort of insane perverts would even think of doing such a thing?" wondered Yankees heir(or) Hal Steinbrenner.

Virtual Baseball: Tanaka Insists on Pitching, Beats Rays! Yanks Back in Tie for First!

By HoraceClarke66 (not 666) 

The Virtual New York Yankees today edged out the Tampa Bay Thoroughly Annoying Rays, 4-3, on a tremendous, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning by Luke Voit.

But the real story was the Iron Man, Masahiro Tanaka, "our fine fellow," who not only went the distance for the second time this season but also cold-cocked Mike Brosseau, in a bench-clearing brawl that followed the end of the Rays' ninth.  

Tanaka had finished striking out Brosseau when the chirpy Ray got on Masahiro, on his way back to the bench.  A single punch from the Japanese hurler was all it took to knock the outfielder on his keister and out of the game, bringing a full house of Yankees fans to their feet.  Hilarity ensued.

Voit then led off the bottom of the ninth against Rays reliever Aaron "Garou" Loup, pinch-hitting for Mike Ford, who had already homered earlier in the contest, as had Andujar and the Oft-Injured Hicks.  Voit slammed a hanging curve into the top deck in left, making for the perfect ending to a rousing contest.  Rays players ran for their lives, as soon as the ball was over the fence.

Afterwards, Tanaka told reporters that he may have broken his hand on Brosseau's jaw, but that he had often pitched through worse.

Aroldis Chapman returns to make us remember the wages of sweat

Last night, once again, we could relive The Terror.

You know - the anxiety, the unease, the dreaded pandemonium - as glistening armies of perspiration tumbled off the chin of Aroldis Chapman, while the tattooed titan closed out the ninth with - as always - a runner on second and the chilling sense that we were but a hanging slider away from disaster. 

I'd almost forgotten how to panic. 

That's what El Chapo does to me. He marches in, stares up into the lights, walks a couple batters, throws a few to the backstop, and sweats like Trump on the 13th fairway. Did I mention that Chappy sweats? He sweats a keg of beer. He sweats a small child. When done, you'd think he just took the Ice Bucket Challenge. He needs a new nickname, and I'm hereby taking nominations. Here are some to prime the pump:

1. The Fountainhead
2. Niagara Falls
3. Charybdis
4. Rain Man
5. The Johnstown Flood
6. Chap the Dripper

I could go on. I got a million of 'em. But that's not the point.

For the first three wonderful weeks of 2020, the exceedingly boring Zack Britton handled our ninth innings, often retiring the side one-two-three. Grounder, grounder, grounder. No drama. No excitement. Nails un-bitten. Now, the quiet Britton will pitch the eighth, as a prelude to El Chapo's theatrics - which don't always work out the way we wanted. 

Does the name Rafael Devers ring a bell? 

Don't get me wrong: I'm glad Chapman is back. He's a stoic old soul, a good teammate, and the Death Star is certainly more deadlier with him. Remember: He's not replacing Britton. He's replacing the lowest rung on our bullpen, somebody already on the Joe Biden shuttle to Scranton. El Chapo adds a powerful layer of intimidation, and hopefully this short season will add to his Hall of Fame creds. No kidding: He's got a shot at Cooperstown. He just needs another ring.

But here's the problem: Were I an opposing manager, I would give my batters firm instructions on what to do. I would tell them, "Don't swing at a single fucking pitch he throws. If he's got command of his shit, we're done. But if he doesn't - and he often doesn't - he turns into Chuck Knoblauch. Just stand there and dodge the balls aimed at your head. Don't help him. Don't swing. He'll walk you. He'll walk the bases full. And then - THEN - he'll groove one." 

I hate to say this, but for the last two years, I've been dreading the ninth with El Chapo. The reality is that no lead is ever safe. Last fall, after DJ LeMahieu's clutch homer tied the game against Houston, my first thoughts turned to Chapman, and the euphoria began to subside. We'll never know if Jose Altuve was cheating, but who will ever forget that lunatic smile on Chapman's face, as water cascaded off his chin. 

He's back, and - look - let's be positive here. The Yankees signed Chapman to win this year. He's had COVID. He should be immune. He's got six weeks to go, and then the post-season. If he's dominant, we have an incredible weapon. If he pitches us to a World Series, there will be no asterisks on this site. All will be forgiven. Chap the Dripper? Who's got the name?

Virtual Baseball: Tanaka Insists on Pitching, Beats Rays! Yanks Back in Tie for First!

 By HoraceClarke66

The Virtual New York Yankees today edged out the Tampa Bay Thoroughly Annoying Rays, 4-3, on a tremendous, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning by Luke Voit.

But the real story was the Iron Man, Masahiro Tanaka, "our fine fellow," who not only went the distance for the second time this season but also cold-cocked Mike Brosseau, in a bench-clearing brawl that followed the end of the Rays' ninth.  

Tanaka had finished striking out Brosseau when the chirpy Ray got on Tanaka, on his way back to the bench.  A single punch from the Japanese hurler was all it took to knock the outfielder on his keister and out of the game, bringing a full house of Yankees fans to their feet.  Hilarity ensued.

Voit then led off the bottom of the ninth against Rays reliever Aaron "Garou" Loup, pinch-hitting for Mike Ford, who had already homered earlier in the contest, as had Andujar and the Oft-Injured Hicks.  Voit slammed a hanging curve into the top deck in left, making for the perfect ending to a rousing contest.  Rays players ran for their lives, as soon as the ball was over the fence.

Afterwards, Tanaka told reporters that he may have broken his hand on Brosseau's jaw, but that he had often pitched through worse.

The New Parity

by HoraceClarke666 

To take a cue from our Dauntless Leader, Alphonso: injuries are the new parity.

Looked at in a certain (all right: paranoid New York) way, the whole history of major-league baseball since 1965 can be seen as a battle to rein in your New York Yankees. 

It was no coincidence that that was the year the majors introduced their first ever, amateur draft. Out went the incredible, nationwide scouting network the Yankees had built over the previous 45 years. Their crack minor-league organization was already falling into line, to be more like every other farm system. 

Scouting combines would soon follow, along with secondary drafts, just in case all the loser organizations needed a do-over. Players who didn’t want to belong forever to the team that drafted them had a choice: they could sign for what they were offered, or they could go play in Japan, or maybe Mexico.

That plan succeeded in keeping the Yankees nicely in check for the next ten years. Then, much to the dismay of the lords of the game, baseball players won for themselves the right every other American has, to work for whoever they want.

After that, the leash was off, and it was only the arbitrary and dictatorial nature of George Steinbrenner that kept the Yankees from utterly dominating, year-in and year-out, beyond even what they had accomplished before.

The corporatized “MLB” fought back with lockouts, luxury taxes, salary caps, and added playoff rounds, until they had finally pushed the Yankees more or less back into line—this time, with the help of “the new George’s” incompetence.

But now comes the ultimate check on the Yankees and anybody else:  the way the game is played today.

Sure, the Yanks continue to get injured more than anyone else—how’s that investigation into the team’s training going, Brian?—but that will even out. In the new parity, everything evens out.

With all players over-trained and injured all the time—with nearly all the stud hoss starters replaced by an endless succession of middle relievers who take up most of a roster—it’s all but impossible for anybody to form a dynasty anymore.

This mangled, misbegotten rump of a season, fitted to a plague year, is exactly what MLB sees as its ideal—minus the cardboard cutouts in the seats, of course. 

A season in which the constant injuries ensure that all the players are more or less the same as everyone else. A season in which everyone pitches a good 1-4 innings, no more and no less, and all the games are the same length, and the playoffs are as long as the regular season, with almost everyone invited.

Welcome to the future.

Virtual Baseball: Happ Pitches Well But Gets White-Socked. Moncada Pulls It Out for ChiSox. So Much for First Place!

by HoraceClarke666 

 The virtual J.A. Happ showed signs of being his early-season self again, holding the Pale Hose to just three hits in six innings.  But they included a two-run homer from the seemingly invincible Yoan Moncada, whose ninth inning blast off Aroldis “Cool Hand” Chapman pulled out a 4-3 victory for the Second City’s second-favorite team.

The Yanks led most of the way, thanks to home runs by D.J. LeMahieu, Mike Ford, and Clint Frazier.  But with one out in the ninth and Nicky “The Head Waiter” Delmonico on first, Moncada took Chapman deep, and made a winner out of Dylan Cease “And Desist,” who threw a rare complete game for the Colorless Stockings.

“You know, there are some people who say we should have signed Yoan Moncada,” manager Ma Boone remarked after the game. 

The lost series put the Yanks back in second place again, just a game behind the Tampa “Won’t Go Away” Rays, with a big showdown series in the Stadium this week.

Redsocks unmasked and in turmoil: "The season’s going to happen, whether we want it to happen or not."

Tonight, the Death Star can win its 10th straight over Boston, a dominance not enjoyed since the dawn of Howdy Doody Time, and the o-so-sad Redsocks have already coughed up an excuse.

COVID. Masks. Distancing. Washing hands. The awfulness of everything...

It's ruined the season. It just ain't right. Jesus never wore a mask. It's wrecked our freedoms. It's wrecked our bars. The Founding Fathers wouldn't allow this. George Washington. Thomas Jefferson. Paul Revere and the Raiders. Before you find out it's too late, girl you better get straight!

Yesterday, Boston held a team meeting. Later, OF Kevin Pillar told the Herald.

“You ground out to first base or third base, you come off the field and moments after you catch your breath, you’re required to put a mask on. It’s not what we’re accustomed to doing, and if you allow that sort of stuff to frustrate you even more, you’re kind of already behind the eight ball.”

I get Pillar's frustration. I hate wearing a mask. It scratches. I have to enunciate my words carefully. It must ruin quality infield chatter. With such a weird, short season, you must feel like phoning it in. When Boston lost Eduardo Rodriguez to the heart ailment, I think it freaked everyone out. In a normal season, this slow start would be a hiccup. This year, it may already be too late. And the Redsocks look awful. 

Rafael Devers is hitting below .200; worse, his throws to first are sailing. JD Martinez looks lost; he'll soon be traded. The staff is all-Pawtucket after Nathan Eovaldi; the other night, he gave up eight. I can't remember in the last 20 years when Boston looked so poised to lose. Last night, in the ninth, they mounted a mini-threat against Zack Britton. In the old days, smelling a rally, they'd grind out a 12-pitch walk and drive us crazy. Last night, they went down swinging at balls in the dirt.

Were this a John Wayne movie, you'd listen to the crickets and say, "Things are quiet, too quiet." Tonight, expect Boston to storm the barricades. This may be their last stand. Eleven in a row would sure feel sweet. A Yankee win could effectively kill them in 2020. 

Quickies: 

1. Last night, John Sterling summoned-up a serviceable, four-second WinWarble, easing concerns about his state of mind. Saturday night, he didn't bother, leaving panicked fans to WTF? across the Yankiverse. Some suggest it's the lack of fans in the seats. Some worry that The Master is calling in pain. We are monitoring the situation. 

2. Miguel Andujar is back, at least for the time being. I still believe he and Clint Frazier are the two most important batters in the lineup. Each needs 100 plate appearances in this quickie season. Each could replace Giancarlo Stanton, whom the Yankees must trade over the winter. Hal Steinbrenner must throw a shitload of cash toward any team that will take Stanton. The worst thing we can do is let him stand in the way of Andujar or Frazier.

3. Certainly, a lot will change between now and Oct. 15. But does anybody else feel that this season is fated to boil down to the Yanks v Dodgers?

I Was Forced To Wake Up And Do The Math....

Using the 2.7 " normalization  factor" established for the Covid season, the Yankees are now out of starting position players .

Here is the calculation :

Three starters are now on the IL ( Judge, Giancarlo and The Machine ) X 2.7 ( ratio of 60 games to 162 games ) = 8.1 on IL ( number of starting positions, excluding the pitcher).

So we are having a worse year...injury-wise..than last year....  which set records... and turned my feathers grey ( or gray).

Covid Baseball 2020: Fake Crowds, a Buck-less Fox, and no Thuuh.

(I started this post early this morning shortly before Duque alerted everyone to the same thing.  I made some other observations about last night's game so even though I'm sorry for the repetition, I'll let these thoughts stand.)

I have friends visiting for the weekend.  The friend is a lifelong Yankee fan.

We watched the game last night on Fox.  It was the national MLB feed.  We clinked glasses when we realized there was no Joe Buck behind the mike.

We marveled at what Clint Frazier was doing.  It was very fun to see.

As the innings went by, we noticed a player's batting average was NOT displayed anywhere on Fox's on-screen graphics during each at bat.  Fox was showing just the batter's name and not something useful like "Urshela, .270".  The below is a screen shot taken during Frazier's home run.

I never realized how much the real-time BA adds to the enjoyment of the game.  A newly updated BA allows you to marvel at some players ("Frazier, .636") and rightfully gnash your teeth at others ("Sánchez, .111").  Not knowing the hitter's batting average when he's standing at the plate felt like the times where you're outside and lose track of the time of day and somehow don't even have a guess.  While Fox would display the BA at the start of some at bats, at least half the time they didn't.  My friend's wife opened up her smart phone and began calling out the average when each player stepped into the box.

We also had a good time laughing at the Fox fake crowd noise track.  Fox pumped in "boos" when the away pitcher tried to pick off the runner at first and cheers when the home team pitcher did the same.  I laughed at the CGI crowd that was painted into the stands ... but only after a big hit.  At other times, the stands were shown completely empty.  When Frazier hit his home run to right, the ball went through someone's face.  Then, for reasons unknown, Fox held the camera on the painted in crowd for a fairly long time as the "fans" deliriously "celebrated".  After about 10 seconds, you could see that the crowd scene was in a loop.  The faux fans looked like the quasi-real crowd they bus in to dance the pogo in front of the stage at the concert events during Super Bowl half-time.  

In the bottom of the ninth when there were two outs and two strikes on Devers, my friend turned on his iPhone's speakerphone and brought John Sterling into my living room.  My friend said, "We need to hear him say 'Thuuuh Yankees Win!'."

Devers made the last out and John spoke the words, devoid of any passion: "Ballgame over.  The Yankees win." He said this in a completely normal voice. No exclamations, no drawn out "Thuuuuh", no nothing.  He said the words like a court stenographer reading back some fiery bit of testimony in a flat professional voice: "Yes.  He beat me.  With a hammer.  I was distraught.  And scared.  For my life."  

I looked at the iPhone on the coffee table as though seeing the device might help me to better hear what wasn't coming out it.  We were shaken.

Maybe it was all the Sangria we had.  Maybe we were tired.  Maybe John was tired.  But we couldn't figure it out.

I'll turn it over to IIHIIFc's readers: Has Thuuh-less Yankee baseball been going on for a while and I've missed it?  Or did it just appear last night?  

What are we to make of this?

Transactions...

 

WTF? NO WIN-WARBLE LAST NIGHT?

A musician friend reports...

"Just heard the end of the game in the car on the way home from a very rare gig tonight. Last out, game over and NO WIN WARBLE! WTF?! How long has this been going on???"

Did anybody else hear this? What is happening?