It's fun to see a liar's logical constructs collapse:
"But Monday is Aug. 1, and for now, Reyes is not just still the best player in town this season, he is the MVP of his league. He has the second highest batting average in baseball, after Adrian Gonzalez, who is the MVP for the American League so far. He has scored 78 runs, even though you know what the rest of the Mets batting order has looked like for so much of this season."
The Mets are tied for the 7th-best record in the National League (I will ignore the American League, since this discussion is about the NL MVP).
The Mets have the same record as the Pirates.
Jose Reyes has 4 HRs and 35 RBIs. (Yes, CitiField decreases HRs, but it also increases triples.)
78 runs is a lot; 23 stolen bases is a lot; Reyes gets extra credit for playing shortstop, even though he's been mostly a butcher with 12 errors already.
Consider the season that Curtis Granderson is having so far: .269/.363/.567, 28 HRs, 77 RBIs, 94 runs, 19 stolen bases.
So this is a CFer with 16 more runs scored and 42 more RBIs.
Reyes is (a lot) better in batting average and triples.
Granderson's team is (probably) going to make the playoffs.
So which player is having a better year?
The whole "team record" thing isn't my rule. It's Lupica's rule. It's a rule that applies to every MVP contest for the past 30 years, but it suddenly doesn't apply to Jose Reyes and the Mets.
"Oh, sure, there are other players with better across-the-board numbers in the National League, starting with Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles McCourts. Ryan Braun is having a big year for the Brewers, so is Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard always has the numbers with the Phillies, who still have the best record in baseball. Brian McCann of the Braves was in the conversation before he got hurt."
Oh, sure, across-the-board numbers don't interest me in MVP discussions.
Neither do team records.
Neither do injured players like McCann, with the exception of Jose Reyes, who missed three weeks.
"He has done that without hitting the ball over the wall, done that from leadoff, done that with all those multiple-hit games and all those triples, done that standing on second or third after blowing into one of those bases and smiling and clapping his hands. No one in the league has carried a team more than this."
It's probably true that Reyes has carried his team more than any other NL player. But now you're giving Reyes extra credit for playing on a bad team.
Also, this is the 700th column you've written about Jose Reyes.
The Yankees, 21 games over .500, 2 games back of the Red Sox ... they bore you that much?
The only mention of the Yankees in this three page column are (1) mocking ARod, (2) praising HOPE week, (3) an indirect knock that the Mets are the best story in New York, and (4) mocking the Yankees' chances in the playoffs vs. the Rangers.
Which makes no sense.
The Yankees are boring.
The Mets are the best story in New York.
When the Yankees are playing the Rangers in the playoffs, I want a profile of Lucas Duda. Or maybe you can caddy for the so-called NL MVP on the golf course.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
But ...
"There was supposed to be no season and there was supposed to be no Mets future and somehow now, at least in the short run, they might have both."
I dispute the notion that there was "supposed to be" no Mets season this year. They have a $115 million (?) payroll and that should allow for some roster depth in the event of injuries.
As for the idea that there was "supposed to be" no Mets future, how far in the future are we talking about? The Mets are not "supposed" to play .500 ball for the next fifty years?
It's difficult to decipher Lupica's unusual use of English words and verb tenses.
The idea that, in the past, a future event was not supposed to happen ... that's very confusing. Because I don't know if today's present is the past's future or if the future in question is an indeterminate point in time even further in the future. Which would mean it "is" not supposed to happen instead of "was" not supposed to happen.
But, yeah, I get the gist. The Mets are 3 games over .500, which is impressive to a lot of people who had low expectations.
"Maybe you still aren't sure about the future part, because you think the Madoff trustee, Irving Picard, is going to eventually shut the Wilpons down like a bank foreclosing on one more house. But all of a sudden that story isn't being covered the way it was for a long time, which means like a slam dunk, excluding the New York Times, of course."
The Mets will have a lot of money. If not from the Wilpons, then from someone else. They rake it in every time Chris Carlin uncomfortably corners a barfly in "Beer Money."
"They come into Thursday afternoon's game with the Reds two games over .500, even though there have been all the times SINCE they became a real team where we have declared them legally dead in the National League and in the wildcard race. They come into Thursday afternoon's game 7 1/2 games behind the Braves in the wildcard race and if you are a Mets fan, you know how close they are to being closer than that after the Braves stole one game against the Pirates and got a walk-off win in another."
But ...
They are already dead in the NL East race.
But ...
They were never declared legally dead in the wildcard race.
But ...
7.5 games behind the Braves is a heckuva lot, but that's not the most daunting task. They're also behind the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Pirates.
But ...
The game where the Braves won on the bad call at home plate? The Braves might have won that game, anyway, even if the umpire had gotten the call right.
But ...
You're criticizing the Braves for a walkoff win? Walkoff wins don't count as wins?
"Because you can keep saying this, again and again and again: If somebody had told you that everything that has happened to the Mets would happen to them - and that means apart from all the Madoff drama - you would have been sure that they would be the Cubs right now, or the Orioles, or the San Diego Padres."
Wow. You set the bar kind of low there.
The Cubs are only 13 games behind the Mets ... and if the Mets hadn't swept the Reds ... and if the Mets didn't have that walkoff win against the Yankees ... and if the Cubs had won some of the games they almost won ... blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
The Mets are just another Forced Underdog story because that's the only narrative that is palatable.
I dispute the notion that there was "supposed to be" no Mets season this year. They have a $115 million (?) payroll and that should allow for some roster depth in the event of injuries.
As for the idea that there was "supposed to be" no Mets future, how far in the future are we talking about? The Mets are not "supposed" to play .500 ball for the next fifty years?
It's difficult to decipher Lupica's unusual use of English words and verb tenses.
The idea that, in the past, a future event was not supposed to happen ... that's very confusing. Because I don't know if today's present is the past's future or if the future in question is an indeterminate point in time even further in the future. Which would mean it "is" not supposed to happen instead of "was" not supposed to happen.
But, yeah, I get the gist. The Mets are 3 games over .500, which is impressive to a lot of people who had low expectations.
"Maybe you still aren't sure about the future part, because you think the Madoff trustee, Irving Picard, is going to eventually shut the Wilpons down like a bank foreclosing on one more house. But all of a sudden that story isn't being covered the way it was for a long time, which means like a slam dunk, excluding the New York Times, of course."
The Mets will have a lot of money. If not from the Wilpons, then from someone else. They rake it in every time Chris Carlin uncomfortably corners a barfly in "Beer Money."
"They come into Thursday afternoon's game with the Reds two games over .500, even though there have been all the times SINCE they became a real team where we have declared them legally dead in the National League and in the wildcard race. They come into Thursday afternoon's game 7 1/2 games behind the Braves in the wildcard race and if you are a Mets fan, you know how close they are to being closer than that after the Braves stole one game against the Pirates and got a walk-off win in another."
But ...
They are already dead in the NL East race.
But ...
They were never declared legally dead in the wildcard race.
But ...
7.5 games behind the Braves is a heckuva lot, but that's not the most daunting task. They're also behind the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Pirates.
But ...
The game where the Braves won on the bad call at home plate? The Braves might have won that game, anyway, even if the umpire had gotten the call right.
But ...
You're criticizing the Braves for a walkoff win? Walkoff wins don't count as wins?
"Because you can keep saying this, again and again and again: If somebody had told you that everything that has happened to the Mets would happen to them - and that means apart from all the Madoff drama - you would have been sure that they would be the Cubs right now, or the Orioles, or the San Diego Padres."
Wow. You set the bar kind of low there.
The Cubs are only 13 games behind the Mets ... and if the Mets hadn't swept the Reds ... and if the Mets didn't have that walkoff win against the Yankees ... and if the Cubs had won some of the games they almost won ... blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
The Mets are just another Forced Underdog story because that's the only narrative that is palatable.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Burn it down.
The Tropicana Dome has a roof which is the color of baseballs. It's pathetic and embarrassing to major league baseball, the Rays acknowledge as much, and it is about to cost the Yankees a ballgame as Granderson loses a can of corn in the 7th inning.
Mets Stats of the Day.
- Since their 5-13 start, the Mets are 42-35.
- Including their 5-13 start, the Mets are 47-48.
- If the Mets win all of their remaining 67 games, they will match the record of the 1998 Yankees.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Ubaldo Jimenez isn't Uber-Anything.
Uber means Big and Great and Spectacular.
The only thing Ubaldo Jimenez is Uber at is being an average major league pitcher:
"So the first name floated this season is Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, a young righthander who came out of the blocks last season looking like the most unhittable pitcher anywhere."
The most unhittable pitcher anywhere?
So that's all it takes nowadays? You have a good month or two and you're something special? Call it Joba Syndrome.
"So Jimenez is the one who might be the game-changer for the Yankees, because there is supposed to be a game-changing pitcher almost every July. Whether the Yankees are in first place at the time or not."
Just randomly looking at the past 20 years. Starting in 1991. How many game-changing pitchers have the Yankees picked up in July?
David Cone.
Can you think of any others?
Denny Neagle? Cory Lidle? Esteban Loaiza? That's quite a stretch to consider them game-changers. Though Loaiza pitched pretty good in the playoffs for, you know, eight innings.
Did they get Sterling Hitchcock back one year? Yes! I looked it up! In 2001, in July, the Yankees traded Brett Jodie and Darren Blakely for Sterling Hitchcock. So there you go. Maybe Lupica thinks the Hitchcock trade Changed the Game. I know I've personally always thought that the Yankees soul has never been the same since they traded away Brett Jodie.
Actually, I thought of another one: Jeff Weaver. He was supposed to be a difference-maker. They traded Ted Lilly, who was decent.
There's a heckuva lot of turnover in the bullpen as Armando Benitez keeps the seat warm for Jeff Nelson, but that can't possibly be what Lupica is referring to.
I might be missing someone and I might be missing someone obvious. All the big names I can think of were free agent signings and or offseason deals ... Clemens I and II, Wells I and II, Key, Pettitte II ... ummm ... Kenny Rogers, Scott Sanderson, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Jaret Wright, Jon Lieber, Jack McDowell ... am I forgetting about some top-line pitcher?
Sometimes, they get lucky with Aaron Small, or whatever, but that's just scrapheap stuff.
Besides David Cone and Jeff Weaver, were there any bigtime starting pitcher the Yankees picked up at the trade deadline in the past 20 years?
Because Mike Lupica just said this happens almost every July.
"Last year, and famously, the guy who was going to make all the difference in the world was Cliff Lee, who ended up going to the World Series with the Rangers and might end up doing the same this year with the Phillies. The Yankees thought they had Lee locked down and then the deal got blown up at the end."
I agree that the Yankees expected to land Lee, but Lee was never on the Yankees. I'm a little mystified by the constant calculus where the Yankees supposedly lost something that they never had.
The financial flexibility is not such a bad thing.
They are in position to pick up (gag) Ubaldo Jimenez and a DH. Though I was hoping for Jered Weaver and a DH.
"The Yankees? They have gotten by so far, and pretty well, with Scrap Heap All-Stars like Freddy Garcia and Bartolo (Christmas Miracle) Colon."
What is the Christmas Miracle joke? Does anyone understand this joke? Because I don't understand this joke.
Did Colon undergo surgery on Christmas, or something? Is this common knowledge?
Or does Lupica just think it's funny to put the word "Christmas" in front of the word "Miracle"? Like, since Lupica is skeptical of Colon's credibility, why doesn't he just call it a "Miracle" instead of a "Christmas Mircale"?
Anyway, from a baseball perspective, I think Cashman got two vets on the cheap and got a lot out of them. That's shrewd. That also leave him money to pick up Jered Weaver and a DH.
"The Yankees are 4-1/2 games ahead of the Rays for the wild card, 5 ahead of the Angels, 6½ ahead of the Tigers. Are the Yankees and Red Sox better than all of those teams? Yeah, they are. Nobody really thinks, as we move up quickly on 100 games played, that the Yankees won't make the playoffs this season."
Ummm ... okay.
Maybe you don't know what uber means and you don't know what nobody means.
"But does anybody really think they win it all with a rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Hughes, Garcia and Colon? In a pitching year in baseball?"
1) In my entire life, I don't think I've ever seen a proposed five-man rotation for a playoff series.
2) Stop listing A.J. Burnett as the #2 starter.
3) Can they win it all with this rotation? Sure. I'd give them about a 15% change. Replace Colon with Zero Ring Lee and it probably would have jumped up to about 20%.
4) This rotation is instantly upgraded as soon as Aldo Nova is promoted.
5) Because they didn't spend money on Damon, Matsui, Werth, Crawford, and Lee ... now they can afford Jered Weaver and a DH.
6) A rotation of Sabathia, Weaver, Lee, and Jimenez does not guarantee a World Series title.
"Ubaldo Jimenez becomes the first name we hear this July. He probably won't be the last. Hughes is a kid. The rest of the current Yankee rotation is the 30-year-old Sabathia, the 34-year-old Burnett, the 35-year-old Garcia, the 38-year-old Colon. So far they have stood up better than younger guys with the Red Sox. We'll see about that the rest of the day.
But, yeah, the Yankee roster is not complete. Duh.
On a completely unrelated note:
"-- I don't want to make a big thing of this, because you know I'm a glass-half-full guy, but Mark Teixeira - at .240 - is hitting a snappy 43 points below his career batting average."
I actually have to give Lupica credit. He noticed that Teixeira is not that good. Giambi was considered a bust and Teixeira is considered an MVP candidate. Teixeira is basically Giambi with a glove.
The only thing Ubaldo Jimenez is Uber at is being an average major league pitcher:
"So the first name floated this season is Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, a young righthander who came out of the blocks last season looking like the most unhittable pitcher anywhere."
The most unhittable pitcher anywhere?
So that's all it takes nowadays? You have a good month or two and you're something special? Call it Joba Syndrome.
"So Jimenez is the one who might be the game-changer for the Yankees, because there is supposed to be a game-changing pitcher almost every July. Whether the Yankees are in first place at the time or not."
Just randomly looking at the past 20 years. Starting in 1991. How many game-changing pitchers have the Yankees picked up in July?
David Cone.
Can you think of any others?
Denny Neagle? Cory Lidle? Esteban Loaiza? That's quite a stretch to consider them game-changers. Though Loaiza pitched pretty good in the playoffs for, you know, eight innings.
Did they get Sterling Hitchcock back one year? Yes! I looked it up! In 2001, in July, the Yankees traded Brett Jodie and Darren Blakely for Sterling Hitchcock. So there you go. Maybe Lupica thinks the Hitchcock trade Changed the Game. I know I've personally always thought that the Yankees soul has never been the same since they traded away Brett Jodie.
Actually, I thought of another one: Jeff Weaver. He was supposed to be a difference-maker. They traded Ted Lilly, who was decent.
There's a heckuva lot of turnover in the bullpen as Armando Benitez keeps the seat warm for Jeff Nelson, but that can't possibly be what Lupica is referring to.
I might be missing someone and I might be missing someone obvious. All the big names I can think of were free agent signings and or offseason deals ... Clemens I and II, Wells I and II, Key, Pettitte II ... ummm ... Kenny Rogers, Scott Sanderson, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Jaret Wright, Jon Lieber, Jack McDowell ... am I forgetting about some top-line pitcher?
Sometimes, they get lucky with Aaron Small, or whatever, but that's just scrapheap stuff.
Besides David Cone and Jeff Weaver, were there any bigtime starting pitcher the Yankees picked up at the trade deadline in the past 20 years?
Because Mike Lupica just said this happens almost every July.
"Last year, and famously, the guy who was going to make all the difference in the world was Cliff Lee, who ended up going to the World Series with the Rangers and might end up doing the same this year with the Phillies. The Yankees thought they had Lee locked down and then the deal got blown up at the end."
I agree that the Yankees expected to land Lee, but Lee was never on the Yankees. I'm a little mystified by the constant calculus where the Yankees supposedly lost something that they never had.
The financial flexibility is not such a bad thing.
They are in position to pick up (gag) Ubaldo Jimenez and a DH. Though I was hoping for Jered Weaver and a DH.
"The Yankees? They have gotten by so far, and pretty well, with Scrap Heap All-Stars like Freddy Garcia and Bartolo (Christmas Miracle) Colon."
What is the Christmas Miracle joke? Does anyone understand this joke? Because I don't understand this joke.
Did Colon undergo surgery on Christmas, or something? Is this common knowledge?
Or does Lupica just think it's funny to put the word "Christmas" in front of the word "Miracle"? Like, since Lupica is skeptical of Colon's credibility, why doesn't he just call it a "Miracle" instead of a "Christmas Mircale"?
Anyway, from a baseball perspective, I think Cashman got two vets on the cheap and got a lot out of them. That's shrewd. That also leave him money to pick up Jered Weaver and a DH.
"The Yankees are 4-1/2 games ahead of the Rays for the wild card, 5 ahead of the Angels, 6½ ahead of the Tigers. Are the Yankees and Red Sox better than all of those teams? Yeah, they are. Nobody really thinks, as we move up quickly on 100 games played, that the Yankees won't make the playoffs this season."
Ummm ... okay.
Maybe you don't know what uber means and you don't know what nobody means.
"But does anybody really think they win it all with a rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Hughes, Garcia and Colon? In a pitching year in baseball?"
1) In my entire life, I don't think I've ever seen a proposed five-man rotation for a playoff series.
2) Stop listing A.J. Burnett as the #2 starter.
3) Can they win it all with this rotation? Sure. I'd give them about a 15% change. Replace Colon with Zero Ring Lee and it probably would have jumped up to about 20%.
4) This rotation is instantly upgraded as soon as Aldo Nova is promoted.
5) Because they didn't spend money on Damon, Matsui, Werth, Crawford, and Lee ... now they can afford Jered Weaver and a DH.
6) A rotation of Sabathia, Weaver, Lee, and Jimenez does not guarantee a World Series title.
"Ubaldo Jimenez becomes the first name we hear this July. He probably won't be the last. Hughes is a kid. The rest of the current Yankee rotation is the 30-year-old Sabathia, the 34-year-old Burnett, the 35-year-old Garcia, the 38-year-old Colon. So far they have stood up better than younger guys with the Red Sox. We'll see about that the rest of the day.
Jimenez is 27. You can see how this makes him almost irresistible. Somebody always is at this time of year at Yankee Stadium."
Just because Lupica said the Yankees are getting Jimenez, I really think they will not.But, yeah, the Yankee roster is not complete. Duh.
On a completely unrelated note:
"-- I don't want to make a big thing of this, because you know I'm a glass-half-full guy, but Mark Teixeira - at .240 - is hitting a snappy 43 points below his career batting average."
I actually have to give Lupica credit. He noticed that Teixeira is not that good. Giambi was considered a bust and Teixeira is considered an MVP candidate. Teixeira is basically Giambi with a glove.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Alex Rodriguez is old and on the DL. If he was young and on the DL, one might confuse him with Jose Reyes.
"This has been the Yankees season - and off-season before it - dominated by Derek Jeter. It started with his contentious contract negotiation, has continued all the way through 3,000 hits and through the, which he did not attend, citing exhaustion, because of the 3,000."
Years ago, I went to a movie theater and watched the first Harry Potter movie. I instantly became disinterested in all things Harry Potter.
The final Harry Potter movie is currently in theaters -- it's not called Harry Potter 8, but instead it's called Harry Potter 7, Part 2 -- and lots of people think it matters, but I don't care.
Kinda like the women's US soccer team. Don't even care enough to google the scores. Though it's nice to see Han Solo and Princess Leia's daughter doing so well.
You can choose to pay attention to what matters to you.
The Yankee season has been about a lot of things. Second place; Eighteen games over .500; 1-8 vs. Boston; A starting pitcher with 12 wins at the All Star Break; Granderson and Teixeira hitting HRs like Mantle and Maris; David Robertson; A team with an unusual combination of power and speed.
In my world, the first 88 games have not been dominated by Derek Jeter.
"A few years ago, coming out of the 2007 when Rodriguez hit 54 home runs for the Yankees, you could make a case that he was as big a baseball star as there was in the world, the way - who turns 36 at the end of this year - was still the biggest sports star in the whole wide world. Now it is the middle of the sports summer and A-Rod is out of action with a bad knee and so is Tiger Woods, who misses his second straight major because of injury, and might miss a third before the summer is over."
ARod is on the DL. Jeter just got off the DL. Wright and Reyes are on the DL. About 100 players are currently on the DL. Tiger Woods doesn't play baseball.
"The attention will shift to Jeter's right, where the third baseman will come back and move up the all-time home run list a little more. He is at 626 right now. Junior Griffey is at 630. So A-Rod will pass him at the end of August or in September. Next year he is scheduled to pass Willie Mays, who sits at 660. And he will be the next Yankee to get to 3,000 hits, either next season or the one after that."
How boring.
"Big numbers approaching for Alex Rodriguez, even as his numbers keep slipping. The Yankees are paying him big to play into his 40s, but ask yourself a question: Do you expect him to ever again carry the Yankees the way he did in the 2009 postseason?"
Sure, why not?
Edgar Renteria won the World Series MVP last year. Crippled Hideki Matsui won the World Series MVP the year before that.
"The Yankees paid him to carry the team and then, almost immediately, had to go get Mark Teixeira to help him carry the team. Think about that: They paid A-Rod upwards of $300 million to be The Man and then had to go pay Teixeira nearly $200 million to be his sideman."
This is a dig at ARod that makes no sense.
When a baseball team signs a big free agent, their game plan is not to never sign another free agent ever again. I can't really think of another instance where the Yankees stopped signing free agents.
Two players can be The Man. We'll call them The Men.
"Alex Rodriguez may retire with numbers across the board as great as anybody since Babe Ruth has had. The Yankees, bless their hearts, have him for six more years after this one."
Stupid Numbers as great as stupid Babe Ruth. Yawn.
Years ago, I went to a movie theater and watched the first Harry Potter movie. I instantly became disinterested in all things Harry Potter.
The final Harry Potter movie is currently in theaters -- it's not called Harry Potter 8, but instead it's called Harry Potter 7, Part 2 -- and lots of people think it matters, but I don't care.
Kinda like the women's US soccer team. Don't even care enough to google the scores. Though it's nice to see Han Solo and Princess Leia's daughter doing so well.
You can choose to pay attention to what matters to you.
The Yankee season has been about a lot of things. Second place; Eighteen games over .500; 1-8 vs. Boston; A starting pitcher with 12 wins at the All Star Break; Granderson and Teixeira hitting HRs like Mantle and Maris; David Robertson; A team with an unusual combination of power and speed.
In my world, the first 88 games have not been dominated by Derek Jeter.
"A few years ago, coming out of the 2007 when Rodriguez hit 54 home runs for the Yankees, you could make a case that he was as big a baseball star as there was in the world, the way - who turns 36 at the end of this year - was still the biggest sports star in the whole wide world. Now it is the middle of the sports summer and A-Rod is out of action with a bad knee and so is Tiger Woods, who misses his second straight major because of injury, and might miss a third before the summer is over."
ARod is on the DL. Jeter just got off the DL. Wright and Reyes are on the DL. About 100 players are currently on the DL. Tiger Woods doesn't play baseball.
"The attention will shift to Jeter's right, where the third baseman will come back and move up the all-time home run list a little more. He is at 626 right now. Junior Griffey is at 630. So A-Rod will pass him at the end of August or in September. Next year he is scheduled to pass Willie Mays, who sits at 660. And he will be the next Yankee to get to 3,000 hits, either next season or the one after that."
How boring.
"Big numbers approaching for Alex Rodriguez, even as his numbers keep slipping. The Yankees are paying him big to play into his 40s, but ask yourself a question: Do you expect him to ever again carry the Yankees the way he did in the 2009 postseason?"
Sure, why not?
Edgar Renteria won the World Series MVP last year. Crippled Hideki Matsui won the World Series MVP the year before that.
"The Yankees paid him to carry the team and then, almost immediately, had to go get Mark Teixeira to help him carry the team. Think about that: They paid A-Rod upwards of $300 million to be The Man and then had to go pay Teixeira nearly $200 million to be his sideman."
This is a dig at ARod that makes no sense.
When a baseball team signs a big free agent, their game plan is not to never sign another free agent ever again. I can't really think of another instance where the Yankees stopped signing free agents.
Two players can be The Man. We'll call them The Men.
"Alex Rodriguez may retire with numbers across the board as great as anybody since Babe Ruth has had. The Yankees, bless their hearts, have him for six more years after this one."
Stupid Numbers as great as stupid Babe Ruth. Yawn.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
I found a baseball columnist who is less talented than Wallace Matthews.
Critiquing this column is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
I know why David Ortiz missed Kevin Gregg's face, by the way. Gregg just made his face look like a curveball.
In 1999, David Ortiz was 0-for-20 with 12 strikeouts.
I'll bet one of my toenails that David Ortiz met a li'l helper named P.E.D. sometime between his .000 performance in 1999 and his 139 RBIs in 2004:
"In the four years before A-Rod became a Yankee, including the years when he says he was juicing in Texas, he averaged just about 50 home runs a year.
I'll bet one of my toenails that David Ortiz met a li'l helper named P.E.D. sometime between his .000 performance in 1999 and his 139 RBIs in 2004:
"In the four years before A-Rod became a Yankee, including the years when he says he was juicing in Texas, he averaged just about 50 home runs a year.
Five-oh."
Five-oh, yo, five-oh!
Lights flashing behind him / But they scared of Lupica, so they mace him to blind him
"In his first four years with the Yankees, he averaged 43."
Right, and the whole time, you basically said ARod wasn't any good.
"If he hits the same 30 this year he has hit the last two, he will have averaged 31 home runs for his second four-year term with our kids from the Bronx.
Stop me if you see a trend here."
Sunday, July 03, 2011
If you had to choose Dennis Rasmussen or Jeff Kent, but Kent had to bat left-handed, and the games were played underwater, which would you choose?
"And that makes for an intriguing question: if you could choose one or the other to put on your team for the rest of his career, which would it be, the Mets' shortstop - who had to leave Saturday's game after two innings his left hamstring tightness - or the Yankees' second baseman?"
That is not an intriguing question.
It's a moot question and a very dumb question.
But, if we're talking about right now ... as in July 3rd, 2011 ... I'll take the player who is not injured.
That is not an intriguing question.
It's a moot question and a very dumb question.
But, if we're talking about right now ... as in July 3rd, 2011 ... I'll take the player who is not injured.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
No Go, Nova.
"And still I think he's the one getting kicked to the curb to make room for Phil Hughes.
It doesn't seem fair, especially after Nova earned his eighth win of the season as the Yankees reminded the Mets which team in New York is the hottest, defeating their crosstown rivals, 5-1, Friday night.
But, in truth, there's no easy call for the Yankees to make as they suddenly find themselves with a surplus of starting pitching.
It's a nice problem to have, and it's about the only problem the Yankees have these days.
Still, with Bartolo Colon rejoining the Yankees' starting rotation Saturday and Hughes waiting in the wings, Nova may well have felt like he was pitching Friday night to keep his spot."
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Mike Lupica harbors a mystical love for David Ortiz. It's the only explanation.
I am pro-DH, probably largely because I'm a fan of an AL team. I can make a strong case that the NL should adopt the DH. Lupica simply seems angry that the Sox lost two out of three to Philly:
"This has to be the last season in which this system is allowed to exist in baseball, because the out-of-date rules about the DH now affect the integrity of the season and the schedule more than all the interleague baseball does. Your team is supposed to be your team."
Has to be?
Or what?
California will slide into the ocean?
"Before interleague play, the use, or non-use, of the DH only came into play in the World Series."
Regular season interleague play started in 1997. Fifteen years ago.
"For a long time, that seemed to be a bit of a novelty, teams only employing the DH in the American League park for two or three or four games in October. Only now there are all these interleague games every season. Why? Because baseball gets a spike in attendance out of them, that's why. I get it. This is about business."
Ummm ... why should the NL adopt the DH?
"And if there are two teams added to the playoffs, that will be about business, too."
Well, since you're the decider, why don't you tell us if two teams will be added to the playoffs?
"But this is about the business of baseball today, and I don't care what the records say about how the American League usually does against the National League in interleague baseball."
AL teams typically pound NL teams.
Still not sure what that has to do with anything.
Still not sure why you think the NL should adopt the DH.
"The simpler solution is to give everybody the DH, have everybody play the same rules the American League has been playing for years, no harm, no foul, we move on."
You, sir, are a dope.
"This has to be the last year where someone like Vlad Guerrero of the Orioles has to basically take a furlough from being a regular player when the Orioles play interleague ball in a National League park. Or David Ortiz of the Red Sox, the second-most important hitter on a team that thinks it has a chance to win the AL East and maybe the World Series this year, has a great season disrupted and not because of injury or a slump, because of the rules."
Again with the "has to be."
But this is really about David Ortiz, isn't it?
Lupica has a diary on his bedside table and he logs the at-bats of David Ortiz every day. When David Ortiz has zero hits, Lupica can't maintain an erection and the tension builds in the Lupica household. For this reason, Lupica has a sudden personal interest in the consequences of interleague play.
I apologize for being so vulgar, but it's the only plausible explanation.
It also partially explains why Lupica loves to refer to David Ortiz as "Big Papi."
"To get Ortiz back in the batting order the other night against the Phillies, Adrian Gonzalez - who IS the Red Sox's best hitter - had to go play rightfield for the second time in his career."
Lupica is completely nuts.
Adrian Gonzalez didn't have to play rightfield. They didn't have to get Ortiz back in the lineup.
It's maybe ironic that John Lackey had the only RBI for the Red Sox in that particular game?
I'm not really understanding what Lupica is getting at.
After 17 years of regular season interleague play ... after 40 years of the DH ... did Lupica just figure out that the AL teams often have to bench one of their big bats when they plan in NL parks?
More to the point, it's unclear to me why this particular incident stands out as the straw that broke the camel's back.
I mean, the Yankees benched the MVP in the 2009 World Series.
"Did the Red Sox lose two of three to the lowly San Diego Padres at home using the DH last week? You bet they did. Then they lost two of three to the Pirates in Pittsburgh and used Ortiz solely as a pinch-hitter. So maybe they would have lost those two of three anyway. But they should not have had to try. This is a system that has gone on for far too long and needs to be changed now, and the only way it gets changed is if everybody who loves baseball starts to make some noise about it."
Wow.
The beloved Red Sox had a bad week and Lupica wants to change the rules of baseball.
I mean, that's exactly what's happening in this man's mind.
"By the way? The Yankees would feel the same way about this if Alex Rodriguez were their full-time DH. But A-Rod is still a full-time position player at third base, at least for now, and this has been a season when a lot of guys have DH-ed for the Yankees. That isn't a team constructed around interleague play, that is just the way the Yankees have been constructed, period."
Remember when Lupica said ARod was going to move to CF or 1B? Still hasn't happened. Yeah, Lupica is really a dope.
By the way? [sic] Just exactly how do "the Yankees" feel about this? I haven't heard anyone from "the Yankees" give an opinion. But I'm sure "the Yankees" want to play their DH in NL parks. So Lupica's assertion is downright bizarre.
Jorge Posada is the Yankees' DH.
Jorge Posada hit .391 in June.
Why would the Yankees prefer to send Freddy Garcia to the plate instead of Jorge Posada?
"They are surely going to add a couple of teams to the playoffs and they might cut the schedule down from 162 games, and might move a team to the American League so we have leagues of 15 and 15, and go ahead and try to figure how interleague baseball is going to work with THAT."
It's a bad idea, but you still haven't explained why the NL should adopt the DH.
"I will give them all of that. But they have to give me something back. They've got to give me one set of rules for all of baseball, once and for all."
I know the "have tos" and the "give mes" sound like literary license.
But Lupica might be truly delusional. A Yankee-hating, Mets-and-Red-Sox-loving psychopath who thinks he's important because he once talked to Joe Torre.
After reading this self-absorbed nonsense, I really think Lupica may have lost his mind.
Lupica thinks the commissioner of baseball is asking him for his opinion.
Lupica thinks he's the commissioner of baseball.
Lupica thinks "the Yankees" are anti-DH because "the Yankees" were monitoring the Boston/Philly series and diabolically grinning when Adrian Gonzalez had to play one whole game in right field.
Lupica thinks the last 100 years of NL rules were a conspiracy to force Adrian Gonzalez to play one whole game in right field. A Yankee/NL/Bud Selig conspiracy which hands the AL East to the Evil Yankees.
"This has to be the last season in which this system is allowed to exist in baseball, because the out-of-date rules about the DH now affect the integrity of the season and the schedule more than all the interleague baseball does. Your team is supposed to be your team."
Has to be?
Or what?
California will slide into the ocean?
"Before interleague play, the use, or non-use, of the DH only came into play in the World Series."
Regular season interleague play started in 1997. Fifteen years ago.
"For a long time, that seemed to be a bit of a novelty, teams only employing the DH in the American League park for two or three or four games in October. Only now there are all these interleague games every season. Why? Because baseball gets a spike in attendance out of them, that's why. I get it. This is about business."
Ummm ... why should the NL adopt the DH?
"And if there are two teams added to the playoffs, that will be about business, too."
Well, since you're the decider, why don't you tell us if two teams will be added to the playoffs?
"But this is about the business of baseball today, and I don't care what the records say about how the American League usually does against the National League in interleague baseball."
AL teams typically pound NL teams.
Still not sure what that has to do with anything.
Still not sure why you think the NL should adopt the DH.
"The simpler solution is to give everybody the DH, have everybody play the same rules the American League has been playing for years, no harm, no foul, we move on."
You, sir, are a dope.
"This has to be the last year where someone like Vlad Guerrero of the Orioles has to basically take a furlough from being a regular player when the Orioles play interleague ball in a National League park. Or David Ortiz of the Red Sox, the second-most important hitter on a team that thinks it has a chance to win the AL East and maybe the World Series this year, has a great season disrupted and not because of injury or a slump, because of the rules."
Again with the "has to be."
But this is really about David Ortiz, isn't it?
Lupica has a diary on his bedside table and he logs the at-bats of David Ortiz every day. When David Ortiz has zero hits, Lupica can't maintain an erection and the tension builds in the Lupica household. For this reason, Lupica has a sudden personal interest in the consequences of interleague play.
I apologize for being so vulgar, but it's the only plausible explanation.
It also partially explains why Lupica loves to refer to David Ortiz as "Big Papi."
"To get Ortiz back in the batting order the other night against the Phillies, Adrian Gonzalez - who IS the Red Sox's best hitter - had to go play rightfield for the second time in his career."
Lupica is completely nuts.
Adrian Gonzalez didn't have to play rightfield. They didn't have to get Ortiz back in the lineup.
It's maybe ironic that John Lackey had the only RBI for the Red Sox in that particular game?
I'm not really understanding what Lupica is getting at.
After 17 years of regular season interleague play ... after 40 years of the DH ... did Lupica just figure out that the AL teams often have to bench one of their big bats when they plan in NL parks?
More to the point, it's unclear to me why this particular incident stands out as the straw that broke the camel's back.
I mean, the Yankees benched the MVP in the 2009 World Series.
"Did the Red Sox lose two of three to the lowly San Diego Padres at home using the DH last week? You bet they did. Then they lost two of three to the Pirates in Pittsburgh and used Ortiz solely as a pinch-hitter. So maybe they would have lost those two of three anyway. But they should not have had to try. This is a system that has gone on for far too long and needs to be changed now, and the only way it gets changed is if everybody who loves baseball starts to make some noise about it."
Wow.
The beloved Red Sox had a bad week and Lupica wants to change the rules of baseball.
I mean, that's exactly what's happening in this man's mind.
"By the way? The Yankees would feel the same way about this if Alex Rodriguez were their full-time DH. But A-Rod is still a full-time position player at third base, at least for now, and this has been a season when a lot of guys have DH-ed for the Yankees. That isn't a team constructed around interleague play, that is just the way the Yankees have been constructed, period."
Remember when Lupica said ARod was going to move to CF or 1B? Still hasn't happened. Yeah, Lupica is really a dope.
By the way? [sic] Just exactly how do "the Yankees" feel about this? I haven't heard anyone from "the Yankees" give an opinion. But I'm sure "the Yankees" want to play their DH in NL parks. So Lupica's assertion is downright bizarre.
Jorge Posada is the Yankees' DH.
Jorge Posada hit .391 in June.
Why would the Yankees prefer to send Freddy Garcia to the plate instead of Jorge Posada?
"They are surely going to add a couple of teams to the playoffs and they might cut the schedule down from 162 games, and might move a team to the American League so we have leagues of 15 and 15, and go ahead and try to figure how interleague baseball is going to work with THAT."
It's a bad idea, but you still haven't explained why the NL should adopt the DH.
"I will give them all of that. But they have to give me something back. They've got to give me one set of rules for all of baseball, once and for all."
I know the "have tos" and the "give mes" sound like literary license.
But Lupica might be truly delusional. A Yankee-hating, Mets-and-Red-Sox-loving psychopath who thinks he's important because he once talked to Joe Torre.
After reading this self-absorbed nonsense, I really think Lupica may have lost his mind.
Lupica thinks the commissioner of baseball is asking him for his opinion.
Lupica thinks he's the commissioner of baseball.
Lupica thinks "the Yankees" are anti-DH because "the Yankees" were monitoring the Boston/Philly series and diabolically grinning when Adrian Gonzalez had to play one whole game in right field.
Lupica thinks the last 100 years of NL rules were a conspiracy to force Adrian Gonzalez to play one whole game in right field. A Yankee/NL/Bud Selig conspiracy which hands the AL East to the Evil Yankees.
The anti-Mondesi.
For his career, Francisco Cervelli has batted .236 with the bases empty.
For his career, Francisco Cervellia has batted .383 with two outs and runners in scoring position.
For his career, Francisco Cervellia has batted .383 with two outs and runners in scoring position.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
My bad.
For the first time in my life, I briefly listened to Mike Lupica's radio show.
The initial attempt at humor was, "When I heard Jack McKeon was hired by the Marlins, my first thought was whether he got treatments at Bartolo Colon's Dominican doctor."
Implying with humorless humor that Colon's comeback is suspect and due to a treatment outside the purview of American laws.
Within five minutes, Lupica was claiming the Red Sox would beat the Yankees in the ALCS because the Yankees don't have Andy Pettitte anymore.
Mind you, this is June 21, 2011 and we're talking about Andy Pettitte and a fictional 2011 ALCS.
But, you know ... while Lupica is continually mocking the age of the Yankee players (such as Colon), he also criticizes the Yankees losing Pettitte, Matsui, and especially Damon ... though that criticism has died down as Granderson and Gardner have excelled in the plate, on the basepaths, and particularly in the field.
On the other hand, Lupica mocks the play of the youngsters on the Yankees, such as Nunez.
The narrative is that the Yankees have a deficient farm system.
So this narrative necessitates the dismissal of the contributions from Joba, Hughes, Robertson, Nova, Gardner, Cervelli, and even Cano.
The Yankees have nine guys in their bullpen with ERAs under 3.00. This is based on limited innings, of course, and ERA is not the be-all and end-all of pitching stats in general and reliever stats in particular.
But if Lupica is willing to pronounce Chris Young as the Mets' best pitcher after 20 innings, you'd think he'd notice the stellar performances across the board of the AAA Yankees.
Which is just a longwinded way of saying that Lupica is a hypocrite in various mediums.
The initial attempt at humor was, "When I heard Jack McKeon was hired by the Marlins, my first thought was whether he got treatments at Bartolo Colon's Dominican doctor."
Implying with humorless humor that Colon's comeback is suspect and due to a treatment outside the purview of American laws.
Within five minutes, Lupica was claiming the Red Sox would beat the Yankees in the ALCS because the Yankees don't have Andy Pettitte anymore.
Mind you, this is June 21, 2011 and we're talking about Andy Pettitte and a fictional 2011 ALCS.
But, you know ... while Lupica is continually mocking the age of the Yankee players (such as Colon), he also criticizes the Yankees losing Pettitte, Matsui, and especially Damon ... though that criticism has died down as Granderson and Gardner have excelled in the plate, on the basepaths, and particularly in the field.
On the other hand, Lupica mocks the play of the youngsters on the Yankees, such as Nunez.
The narrative is that the Yankees have a deficient farm system.
So this narrative necessitates the dismissal of the contributions from Joba, Hughes, Robertson, Nova, Gardner, Cervelli, and even Cano.
The Yankees have nine guys in their bullpen with ERAs under 3.00. This is based on limited innings, of course, and ERA is not the be-all and end-all of pitching stats in general and reliever stats in particular.
But if Lupica is willing to pronounce Chris Young as the Mets' best pitcher after 20 innings, you'd think he'd notice the stellar performances across the board of the AAA Yankees.
Which is just a longwinded way of saying that Lupica is a hypocrite in various mediums.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
That didn't last long.
Mets are stale:
"This day curdled early for the Mets - in the second inning, to be precise. That was when Jon Niese's recent stretch of dominance ended, and the Mets effectively fell to two games below .500. Now we ask: When does this dance with respectability cease to be interesting?
...
But their dead-energy 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels Sunday, which clinched a series defeat against a team stuffed with overpriced veterans and who-is-that-guy youngsters, offered a peek at the darker underbelly of where this could go.
Despite playing sharp baseball of late, the Mets are 10-7 in their last 17 games: Good, but not enough to muscle out of a losing record. The pattern has been, lose one, win three. Lose one, win two, lose one. Not sunk, but hardly soaring. And beginning to grow a tad stale."
They're the Rebecca Black of MLB.
Which actually got me thinking: Are the writers who cover MLB out of tune with the pacing of the game?
In the Internet meme / twitter / facebook age, is a 162-game baseball season filled with 3-hour games simply unable to keep their attention?
Does this explain why they're picking MVPs after two weeks and making up nonsense like "Power Ratings" and praising the Mets when they have a good week just to ridicule the Mets when they have a bad weekend?
"A clear-eyed look at Sunday's product could produce no other analysis: This team needs to be a bit better, if it wants to hold our attention."
Okay.
You're the sportswriter who's writing about the Mets.
I'm kind of embarrassed that I bothered reading the article about such a lame subject matter. I'll be sure to read the funny papers next time.
I don't necessarily think it's preferable to offer the Mets false praise ... which, actually, seems to be the typical tone for a $100-million team that's playing .500 ... Collins for Manager of the Year and such ...
I just don't understand why so many baseball columnists seem to dislike baseball so much.
Also, are the Angels really just a team of overpriced veterans and who-is-that-guy youngsters? If you're a baseball writer, why don't you explain to us who-is-that-guy>
"This day curdled early for the Mets - in the second inning, to be precise. That was when Jon Niese's recent stretch of dominance ended, and the Mets effectively fell to two games below .500. Now we ask: When does this dance with respectability cease to be interesting?
...
But their dead-energy 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels Sunday, which clinched a series defeat against a team stuffed with overpriced veterans and who-is-that-guy youngsters, offered a peek at the darker underbelly of where this could go.
Despite playing sharp baseball of late, the Mets are 10-7 in their last 17 games: Good, but not enough to muscle out of a losing record. The pattern has been, lose one, win three. Lose one, win two, lose one. Not sunk, but hardly soaring. And beginning to grow a tad stale."
They're the Rebecca Black of MLB.
Which actually got me thinking: Are the writers who cover MLB out of tune with the pacing of the game?
In the Internet meme / twitter / facebook age, is a 162-game baseball season filled with 3-hour games simply unable to keep their attention?
Does this explain why they're picking MVPs after two weeks and making up nonsense like "Power Ratings" and praising the Mets when they have a good week just to ridicule the Mets when they have a bad weekend?
"A clear-eyed look at Sunday's product could produce no other analysis: This team needs to be a bit better, if it wants to hold our attention."
Okay.
You're the sportswriter who's writing about the Mets.
I'm kind of embarrassed that I bothered reading the article about such a lame subject matter. I'll be sure to read the funny papers next time.
I don't necessarily think it's preferable to offer the Mets false praise ... which, actually, seems to be the typical tone for a $100-million team that's playing .500 ... Collins for Manager of the Year and such ...
I just don't understand why so many baseball columnists seem to dislike baseball so much.
Also, are the Angels really just a team of overpriced veterans and who-is-that-guy youngsters? If you're a baseball writer, why don't you explain to us who-is-that-guy>
Friday, June 17, 2011
The walk-off balk was compelling.
Another writer answering the question nobody was asking. Another baseball writer who's bored by a baseball team playing baseball:
"This was the backdrop to a get-away day game that would count in the standings but hardly seemed to matter in the grand scheme. By the time Brett Gardner’s broken-bat single in the 12th inning gave the Yankees a 3-2 walk-off victory, many of the 47,487 fans had already departed, but another regular-season game was crossed off the calendar.
"Ever since June 2, when they trailed the Pirates 7-0 before coming from behind to win, 9-8, Terry Collins’ Mets have been playing for their lives and become much more compelling to watch than the Yankees. Derek Jeter going on the disabled list Tuesday and taking his march to 3,000 hits off the schedule for a couple of weeks only served to accentuate the point. The Yankees are the Yankees for a reason. Over the course of a six-month season, everyone knows they’ll be fine.
By the way, there's no rule that says you can't pay attention to both teams.
"This was the backdrop to a get-away day game that would count in the standings but hardly seemed to matter in the grand scheme. By the time Brett Gardner’s broken-bat single in the 12th inning gave the Yankees a 3-2 walk-off victory, many of the 47,487 fans had already departed, but another regular-season game was crossed off the calendar.
And, for just a second, you could not help but think about the Mets coming home to play at Citi Field tonight, and how in the last two weeks theirs has become the more dramatic of the two local baseball stories."
Yesterday's Yankee win had about a dozen compelling storylines if you care about that sort of thing.
Sweeping the reigning AL champs; the converted outfielder starting pitcher guy; the Yankee bullpen pitchers with ERAs under 2.00; ARod not playing; Teixeira/Granderson HR race; a walk-off win; etc.
"Ever since June 2, when they trailed the Pirates 7-0 before coming from behind to win, 9-8, Terry Collins’ Mets have been playing for their lives and become much more compelling to watch than the Yankees. Derek Jeter going on the disabled list Tuesday and taking his march to 3,000 hits off the schedule for a couple of weeks only served to accentuate the point. The Yankees are the Yankees for a reason. Over the course of a six-month season, everyone knows they’ll be fine.
Not even losing eight of nine to the hated Red Sox could create much of a sense of urgency at the Stadium. Boston started the season 2-10 and now have the best record in the American League. The Yankees had a six-game skid in May and are right on Boston’s heels. Who doesn’t think they’ll separate from the rest of the American League by August? Gordon getting the start was more a curiosity than a cause for concern. The Yankees didn’t need the game."
Okay, so pay attention to the Mets. I'm a Yankee fan, so I'll pay attention to the Yankees. I hope you don't run out of Mets storylines.By the way, there's no rule that says you can't pay attention to both teams.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
I guess Dancing With the Stars must be a really, really, really, really good show.
What is more predictable?
A Mike Lupica article in which he mentions Dancing With The Stars or a Mike Lupica article in which he favors the Mets over the Yankees?:
"We talk and talk about shortstops this season in New York the way they once talked about Willie and Mickey and the Duke, though the conversation about them was mostly good. You really can't say the same about Jose Reyes and Derek Jeter, even if Reyes is the best player in town."I think it's kind of, well, lame to compare a 28-year-old athlete to a 37-year-old athlete.
A Mike Lupica article in which he mentions Dancing With The Stars or a Mike Lupica article in which he favors the Mets over the Yankees?:
"We talk and talk about shortstops this season in New York the way they once talked about Willie and Mickey and the Duke, though the conversation about them was mostly good. You really can't say the same about Jose Reyes and Derek Jeter, even if Reyes is the best player in town."I think it's kind of, well, lame to compare a 28-year-old athlete to a 37-year-old athlete.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Somebody, somewhere ask why Jeter didn't try to score on a fly ball in the first inning.
Yankees end up losing 1-0, fall to 7-11 in one-run games, and fall 2.5 games behind the Red Sox. The run was there for the taking, yet Jeter seemed unwilling to take it. A mental gaffe or lack of effort typical of the 2011 Yankees:
"Oh, by the way, the Yankees were blanked, 1-0, by the Indians as Asdrubal Cabrera's fourth-inning RBI single off A.J. Burnett stood up as the game's only run.
Yawn.
Baseball is boring, isn't it?
"Oh, by the way, the Yankees were blanked, 1-0, by the Indians as Asdrubal Cabrera's fourth-inning RBI single off A.J. Burnett stood up as the game's only run.
But enough about that. After a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox and three straight wins over the Tribe, this home stand has been all about Jeter and his pursuit of No. 3,000."
By the way, a baseball game was played.Yawn.
Baseball is boring, isn't it?
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Joe Girardi gets goes toe-to-toe with Manny Acta.
The question is, did Terry Francona give Girardi permission to act this way?:
"Yankees manager Joe Girardi was red in the face with anger, nose-to-nose in a screaming match with Cleveland counterpart Manny Acta after Mark Teixeira was whacked with a fastball.
Tired of getting hit by pitches - and losing to rival Boston - the fired-up Yankees took out their frustration on the skidding Cleveland Indians .
Alex Rodriguez hit a colossal home run, Curtis Granderson also connected and New York got back on track with an 11-7 victory Friday night in a game that quickly grew testy.
'Sometimes it doesn't really matter if it's on purpose,' Rodriguez said. 'There's no question, it was very important for us to bounce back and play our type of baseball.'
Girardi and Acta got into a heated argument when both benches and bullpens emptied after Teixeira was hit behind the shoulder by a second-inning pitch from struggling Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona .
No punches were thrown and there appeared to be little pushing and shoving - if any. Plate umpire Dale Scott issued warnings to both teams, and there was no further trouble.
'I have respect for Manny. I actually had a nice exchange with Manny at 3 o'clock today. But that doesn't mean there's not some feistiness in me and when my guys are getting plunked, I'm going to protect them,' said Girardi, who gestured angrily at Carmona on the field. 'I told him I thought he did it on purpose and I didn't like it.' "
So you got beaten up by your big brother Red Sox and you took it out by kicking the dog Indians.
"Yankees manager Joe Girardi was red in the face with anger, nose-to-nose in a screaming match with Cleveland counterpart Manny Acta after Mark Teixeira was whacked with a fastball.
Tired of getting hit by pitches - and losing to rival Boston - the fired-up Yankees took out their frustration on the skidding Cleveland Indians .
Alex Rodriguez hit a colossal home run, Curtis Granderson also connected and New York got back on track with an 11-7 victory Friday night in a game that quickly grew testy.
'Sometimes it doesn't really matter if it's on purpose,' Rodriguez said. 'There's no question, it was very important for us to bounce back and play our type of baseball.'
Girardi and Acta got into a heated argument when both benches and bullpens emptied after Teixeira was hit behind the shoulder by a second-inning pitch from struggling Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona .
No punches were thrown and there appeared to be little pushing and shoving - if any. Plate umpire Dale Scott issued warnings to both teams, and there was no further trouble.
'I have respect for Manny. I actually had a nice exchange with Manny at 3 o'clock today. But that doesn't mean there's not some feistiness in me and when my guys are getting plunked, I'm going to protect them,' said Girardi, who gestured angrily at Carmona on the field. 'I told him I thought he did it on purpose and I didn't like it.' "
So you got beaten up by your big brother Red Sox and you took it out by kicking the dog Indians.
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