I don't think Duke Snider belonged in the conversation with Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle in Terry Cashman's iconic song from forty years ago.

"In the 50s in New York baseball, of course, the debate was about center fielders. It was about Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider, “Willie, Mickey and The Duke” in Terry Cashman’s iconic song,  'Talkin' Baseball'"

You sound like every Sunday morning WFAN caller

 "And by the way? If you don’t think Duke Snider belonged that in that particular conversation, go look at his stats, and see that he was the one who was the home run king of the city in that time, and by a fair amount, averaging 41 homers a year between 1953-57."

I stand corrected. 

"Now, all this time later, we have a different kind of debate, built around two pretty remarkable starting pitchers -- Jacob deGrom and Gerrit Cole -- one that makes you ask this question:

Who’s the ace of New York?"

I think deGrom gets the benefit of the doubt. 

I also don't think anybody cares.

"It happens to be the kind of conversation we haven’t had a lot with the Yankees and the Mets over the years. When Tom Seaver was at his most brilliant, the Yankees didn't have a comparable ace. When Ron Guidry was 25-3 for the Yankees in 1978, it was after Seaver had been traded to the Reds. But it is worth noting that when Dwight Gooden was 24-4 seven years later, the 34-year old Guidry was still around, and still had enough arm and stuff to go 22-6 that year."

 

Dwight Gooden mentioned in a Mike Lupica column. Huh.

 

A prominent pairing I can easily think of is Mattingly/Hernandez. 

 

Jeter vs. Reyes (and even Ordonez, believe it or not), though Jeter easily won the war.

 

I actually think an interesting present-day comparison, for those interested in that kind of thing, is first base. Voit led the league in HRs, though no one seems to care. 

 

If you compare their overall statistics ... meh ... does anyone do this anymore?

I didn't read the rest of the article, but I expect Cole to have a great year. Maybe win the Cy Young. Still, deGrom gets the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

 

 

Yankees are worried about the guy coming off a season with a WAR of -0.1 and an ERA or 5.89.

"'We are excited about O’Day and we’re excited about Justin Wilson. And we’re excited about obviously having Gardy returned as well and we’re hoping those players can help Aaron Boone and our staff hit that win column a lot,' Cashman said.

But he knows that having to potentially face Ottavino with the Yankees’ predominantly right-handed lineup, there is going to be a game where the pitcher he traded will hurt them."

So pinch hit a lefty and guess what?

Career OPS of .792.

You just made Mike Ford an all star.

 

I am quite confident Aaron Hicks will get 500 at-bats. Who's with me?

You lost me at Rotary Club.

It's time to burn it down all the old ways and start over.

Things nobody said.

"Wait a second, Yankee fans, if your team doesn’t make it to the Canyon of Heroes this season, it’s Aaron Boone’s fault?

Got it."

Not sure anyone is saying this. 

However, Boone has not done a particularly good job during his tenure. Please don't forget the main reason he was chosen over Girardi ... because Boone supposedly could communicate better with the young superstars.

How did that work out with, say, Gary Sanchez and his negative WAR?

 

"I’m still loving the idea of yoga turning everything around for Aaron Judge.

Because, let’s face it, if there’s a way to pull an oblique doing Downward Dog, No. 99 is going to find it."

Classy.

Again, no one is saying this. "Turn everything around." Never get injured again.

But it also sounds like a good idea to work on flexibility instead of size.

It sounds like a bad idea to act like nothing is wrong.

 

 

 

The three-batter rule ruined his career.

He's only good against righties. The splits bear this out.

I find it hilarious that the author remembered this tidbit about Babe Ruth:

"The Yankees had signed the Brooklyn native, who had boasted he’d strike out Babe Ruth every single time, to a three-year, $27 million contract in an effort to bolster their bullpen."

Lupica remembered to send a Valentine on Valentine's Day.

The headline should not say "no competition," because, even if deGrom is the best of the best, there are many pitchers in the discussion:

"First Matt Harvey, the Dark Knight of Gotham City, was supposed to be the great star of that rotation. Then along came Noah Syndergaard, with all that hair and another comic book nickname -- Thor."

I say something is "supposed to" happen.

When it doesn't happen, a normal person says "I was wrong," rather than "it was supposed to happen."

 

Also, as I've mentioned before, the only reason deGrom was largely ignored by the press, is because the press elevated Harvey and Syndergaard (among others) ahead of deGrom.

Why?

I don't have any idea why.

You tell us, Lupica.

Cool nicknames? 

Which you now mock?

 

"Dwight Gooden, of course, was spectacular when he was a kid, especially in 1985, when he finished 24-4 at the age of 20 and had a Bob Gibson-like ERA of 1.53."

No way. Dwight Gooden and Bob Gibson in the same sentence?

Do you know how long ago 1985 was?

Stop and think about how long ago 1985 really was.

I was on the phone with Sid Fernandez and Mike Scott; I was golfing with Mookie Wilson and Rick Honeycutt; I was spritzing in a sauna with Juan Beniquez and Teddy Higuera ...

Where was I? Oh yeah: Jacob deGrom is great. Which you already knew.

Current Champions and favorites to win World Series are ...

 ... in a position to win.

"Early Friday afternoon, before Trevor Bauer announced he would sign with the Dodgers, I texted manager Dave Roberts to take his temperature on what he thought might happen with Bauer."

Oh.

Hey, that's cool, man.

That's really cool.

You have the cell phone number of the manager of the Dodgers.

I was wondering what the purpose of this article could possibly be, and now I know. It's just a name drop.

There is no "title" of America's Biggest Sports Star.

On to baseball:

"If Noah Syndergaard is healthy by the summer, the Mets still might have a better team than the Yankees this season."

I don't think the Mets will win more games than the Yankees this season ... if that's what you mean by "better team."

Who cares, anyway?

I know how this works.

All the Mets get healthy and play well. All the Yankees stay injured. Mets win back the Big City. Mookie Wilson.

 

"It doesn’t change the fact that Trevor Bauer, in the end, wanted Los Angeles and the Dodgers more than he wanted the Mets and the big, bad city."

"If I’m the Yankees, I don’t extend Aaron Judge until he shows me he can stay on the field for about 150 games one of these years.

I’m starting to get the idea that only Stephen Hawking was more of a genius than Eric Cressey, the Yankees’ director of player health and performance."

Hmmm ... it will take a while to unpack that logic.

If Noah Syndergaard gets healthy and the Mets are better than the Yankees, then Trevor Bauer wouldn't want to go play for the current World Champion Dodgers?

It reminds me of the recent golf game I played with Noah Syndergaard Mookie Wilson Doc Gooden Madison Bumgarner Tony Lasorda.

 

"Incidentally? Give him and his agent all the credit in the world.

They played their hand about as well as it could be played.

They win and the Dodgers win.

 And baseball wins.

Because the Dodgers now officially become the Big Team, in all ways, that the sport hasn’t had since Torre’s Yankees."

For real?

From reading your columns, I would have sworn it was the Collins-era Mets.

 

"If I’m the Yankees, I don’t extend Aaron Judge until he shows me he can stay on the field for about 150 games one of these years.

I’m starting to get the idea that only Stephen Hawking was more of a genius than Eric Cressey, the Yankees’ director of player health and performance."

a) Thank the Lord you're not the Yankees.

b) We get it. Yankees injured, Mets healthy.

Maybe Cressey can get to work on Syndergaard ... so the Mets will be better than the Yankees ... and you can get an interview with Mookie Wilson.

Injured Stanton and Judge, along with a healthy Syndergaard, and the Yankees will still clear the Mets by ten games.

Yankees starting pitching ranked #4 by this guy, which I suspect is higher than most rankings.

His Top Sox list does not even include Severino. 

The Yankees may have the best starting pitcher in the league.

I am pretty sure they have the most starting pitching depth.

Unintended consequences, huh?

Opportunity cost is certainly a thing, and all contracts involve risk.

I'm just tired of 120 years of shock and outrage over player salaries:

"The first winner is Bauer, who turned brash self-promotion and two strong seasons into the two highest annual salaries in MLB history. This deal is the validation that baseball’s Mark Zuckerberg has craved all along. It’s a giant middle finger in the faces of all those who questioned his methods, the perfect mic drop for all those who dared to doubt him.

The second is the Padres, the pesky title-less franchise two hours down the coast (without traffic, anyway). Their brilliant moves this offseason baited the rational Dodgers, three months after winning the World Series, into overspending for a starting pitcher they don’t need. Even if the Dodgers are still the better team this season, such a deal could prove restrictive for them and give San Diego the advantage moving forward."

Sure.

Lots of things could happen.

I could use the same logic and say the real winner is the Colorado Rockies because both the Dodgers and the Padres overspent in the offseason.

Even though the Rockies lost Arenado, they got a lot of minor league players in return, and they probably also have a lot of the ever-so-popular "draft capital."

 

"None of this comes as a surprise to the Dodgers. Their willingness to tolerate Bauer will depend on how well he pitches and whether they win, neither of which are guaranteed."

I personally guarantee the Dodgers win the World Series the next ... let's say ... five seasons in a row.

 

"The Dodgers are making a lucrative investment in an iconoclastic 30-year-old with an inconsistent résumé. He better be worth it."

Or what?

They give someone else a lucrative contract and continue to win a lot of baseball games?

 

A baseball writer who still thinks a five-man rotation is a thing.

"There is a possibility that four-fifths of the Yankees starting rotation this year might be Corey Kluber, Luis Severino, Jameson Taillon and Domingo German.

Those four guys combined to pitch a grand total of one inning last season."

We presume Cole is the #1 starter.

Kluber, Severino, Taillon, and German are competing with Montgomery and Garcia for the other four spots ... maybe even Schmidt ... or maybe the Yankees go with a six-man rotation ... or maybe they prefer to start Green and Cessa like they've done in the past ... or maybe injuries and the coronavirus wreak havoc and they don't even have a starting rotation.

But, yeah.

If the Yankees could settle on a five-man rotation of Cole, Kluber, Severino, Taillon, and German ... it means talented players are healthy and they are pitching well.

If these players weren't pitching well, then they wouldn't be in the starting rotation.

Thanks, Mike Lupica! You've made me very optimistic with your assessment of the Yankees' pitching depth.

You're not helping, Bob.

Self-indulgent, quasi-poetic nonsense.

Hawkins is known in NY for briefly "stealing" Paul O'Neill's uniform number.

Except not even that, because that's mostly forgotten:

"My line of demarcation is clear:

If you were suspended for steroid use after 2005, once MLB actually implemented a rule it was going to enforce, you don’t get my vote. You got suspended and you damaged your team’s chances of winning."

Hey, everybody!

Bob Nightengale has a line of demarcation with regards to HOF voting!

LaTroy Hawkins has somehow ended up on the right side of that line, but it's hard to pay attention to any of it.

Schilling is a borderline candidate.

I think this is an accurate take. I think Schilling's personality and outrageous tweets are keeping him out of the HOF.

But Schlling is hardly a shoo-in.

He's Kevin Brown with memorable playoff performances. 

On the other hand, why isn't Orel Hershiser in if we care so much about memorable playoff performances?

 

I'll put this another way.

I tend to agree that Schilling had a better career than Brown and crossed a HOF threshold that Brown didn't cross. This is mostly based on Schilling's superior performance in playoff games. Small but important sample size.

So it's not that Schilling will make the HOF and Brown won't.

It's that Schilling gets to be outraged at receiving only 74% of the vote ... while Brown received 2% of the vote.

The sock game was worth 72 HOF percentage points?

Heck, clear the way for Hideki Matsui and David Freese.

 

Ultimately, it's hard to fit any HOF voting patterns into a narrative, because the votes are all over the place.

This is what happens when you let Jack Morris in; when you let Harold Baines in.

David Cone, Ron Guidry, Dale Murphy, Fred McGriff, Al Oliver, Jeff Kent, Lou Whitaker, and dozens of others are pounding on the windows and screaming that they have never even used twitter.

 

The Baseball Hall of Fame is a nice place to visit.

“Never have I been more uncomfortable voting for the Hall of Fame,” Rosenthal tweeted on Jan. 5, adding: “Right now I’m considering everything, including whether I still want to continue voting for the Hall of Fame.”

I think a lot of people feel the same way.

Just about the way the voters act, the inconsistencies, etc.

It's probably still the best HOF, but it has lost its luster.

Hank Aaron seemed literally immortal.

 Widely acknowledged as one of the best players ever, and may still be somehow underrated.

Skeletons in the closet.

Gary Sanchez seems depressed.

Sanchez is 28 as he enters 2021. By the time Rodriguez was 28 he had won eight Gold Gloves and an American League MVP Award. Rodriguez likes Sanchez and believes in his ability to bounce back.

“He’s a good kid,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a really good kid. He listens, he likes to be better. He wanted to be better. He wanted to come back and be the Gary Sanchez that a lot of people know, the player that he can be. But the first thing that he needs is to take that pressure part of the game away…and then let his ability take over.”

Optimistic, but I hope so.

"Ever."

Why would a national audience be interested in this recycled story about the Battle for New York?:

"It has been awhile since Cohen’s team has felt as if it were in the same league with the Yankees, even if the Mets have been to a World Series more recently than the Yanks have."

Facts don't matter.

Feelings matter.

 "Suddenly it feels as if Mets vs. Yankees is a fair fight again, as they get set to battle for the mythical city championship."

Ha ha ha. 

That really cracked me up.

It's mythical, alright. Indeed, it is.

If it's so "sudden," why do I read the same column every April?

"Mets fans feel the same way. There have been few times since the Yankees became the Yankees again under Joe Torre, in the mid-1990s, when the Mets have felt like anything other than the 'Other Team' in New York. They did make the 2015 Series, and they were a pitch away from the Series in ’06, when Carlos Beltrán took a called third strike to end Game 7 of the NLCS against the Cardinals, after the Yankees had lost an AL Division Series to the Tigers."

So ... it's not "never" that the Mets were in the same league as the Yankees. I didn't think so.

"But the last time the Mets owned New York in baseball, truly, was all the way back in 1986, when they were as big for that one season as any Yankee team had ever been."

Waaaaay back.

Imagine bringing it up in practically every column.

 

The acquisition of Lindor is great for the Mets. I see no down side.

But when Mike Lupica is talking about the Mets, you can expect him to be ... optimistic.

 

Is Lindor as good as Mookie Betts? No.

Is Lindor instantly the best player in New York? Well, no.

Better than deGrom? 

Better than Cole? 

Better than LeMahieu (free agency asterisk attached)? 

Better than a resurgent Gleyber (crossing fingers on that one)?

Better than Judge (if Judge stays healthy, of course)?

Lindor might be the best player on the Mets; the best player in New York; the best player in the National League.

His WAR last year was 1.1. Half an Urshela.

He hit 8 home runs in 236 at-bats. 29.5 AB/HR. A real Tyler Wade.

He had 6 stolen bases. As many as Mike Tauchman.

 

Lots of good players had bad years in 2020. It was a weird year. I totally expect Lindor to get back to relative greatness.

But if I was to use last year as a guide, Lindor was merely mediocre.

 

As for Lupica's prognosis ... best all-around Met ever? ... I'll bet the Fanboy "Frankie" stuff was similarly applied to Jason Bay and Jeromy Burnitz.

I also guess Lupica's just ignoring pitchers for some reason?

Can he do that?