Bob Nightengale knows what is going to happen in a three-game series.

I think the Dodgers are sleeping giants and deserve the benefit of the doubt. But a few bad pitches to Soto or Alonso or Lindor and suddenly your entire season is sunk. A bad umpire's call. An unexpected fielding error at a bad time. A relief pitcher wipes sweat off his forehead with the bases loaded and it's a balk.

It would be funny. To me, it would be funny.

I don't even believe in the "Kings of New York" story line and I pay more attention to the Yankees than the Mets.

But with all the preseason and early season hype, it would be hilarious and just desserts if they missed the playoffs.

I also think they'll make the playoffs. Then they might even win the World Series. 

The Hall of Fame of Three-Pitch Strikeouts?

Stanton is playing much better this season than I expected and I look optimistically towards another season of Playoff Stanton.

But the Hall of Fame? 

The Hall of Fame of What?

The Hall of Fame of One-Trick Ponies? 

 

Indefensible.

For one thing, fans never need to relax.

Fans are fanatical and pro athletes should get down on their knees and thank the Lord we have an illogical passion for this stuff.

Furthermore, Sabathia's analysis is just provably incorrect:

" It’s hard to develop young talent here. Just because of the demand, right? We’re trying to win the World Series every year. You don’t have time for guys to go through growing pains.' "

Three full seasons is approaching veteran status. It isn't just growing pains.

 

"' If we were able to, as a fan base, as a city, let these kids go through whatever they’re going to go through.' " 

Players are judged by their performance on the field.

More than any other young player can remember, Volpe has been given a chance to prove himself.

 

" 'The game’s hard to play, man. It’s very difficult.' "

Correct. Playing professional baseball is difficult. Anthony Volpe has met his match.

He is unable to perform this particularly difficult task to the level of highly-paid professionals who are competing against him every game.

 

"Sabathia said that phenomenon — and the fact that it's impossible for Yankees shortstops to escape comparisons to Jeter — is what has fueled the negativity surrounding Volpe."

Nobody said it was easy to be a shortstop in the major leagues. The comparisons to HOFer Derek Jeter are foolish indeed. You may as well compare Greg Bird to Lou Gehrig.

As for the post-Jeter Yankee shortstops, that's also a cop out. It isn't the fan's fault. If you can't do it, then you can't do it. 

 

 

 

It's the umpire's fault.

"When you’re making good pitches, which I was, not getting those calls really changes the course of an at-bat,” Williams said. “Obviously, Correa hit the double, so I kind of had my back against the wall right away. Made some really good pitches to Sánchez, which [Walsh] missed two in that at-bat. You just keep going, right? But at the end of the day, that changes outcomes. I should have had Sánchez [who walked on five pitches] 0-2 instead of 2-1. ... The 2-0 pitch was a strike,” the right-hander said. “That turns into a 2-2 count instead of a 3-1 count.”

Frankly, given Williams's lack of professionalism, I'm surprised he understands the importance of throwing strikes. Though throughout his rant he displays a confusion about arithmetic, at least he understands the theoretical bedrock principle that strikes are good and balls are bad, from a pitcher's perspective.

From a pitcher's perspective, home runs are also bad. Runs. Hitting batters with pitches. 

So maybe there's a long way to go before he's a professional pitcher, but it's baby steps. 

He makes good pitches like Volpe makes good swings.

Volpe's 0-for-3 with 3 strikeouts was one of the most promising 0-for-3s I've ever seen, just given the subjective quality of his swings.

Same goes for Williams. If you ignore the two hits, the four walks, the four runs, and the 5.60 ERA for the season ... if you are fixated on the outcomes rather than the artistic aesthetic ... you may miss out on the true greatness of Devin Williams.