Sunday, July 31, 2005

Lupica begrudgingly admits 400 homeruns is good.

"I think Alex Rodriguez is a truly great baseball player, with truly great numbers at the age of 30."

That must be tough for Lupica to admit.


"This is about more than numbers and always has been and always will be.

If you're old enough, here's a question:

Has watching A-Rod play baseball ever given you the same thrill you got watching Willie Mays?

Of course A-Rod isn't the one saying these things about himself, and nobody would disparage the amazing career he's had to here.

But if he's the best player ever, then what is Barry Bonds?

Have you ever really watched him and thought that he's Secretariat-lengths ahead of the rest of the field the way Babe Ruth was?

I sure haven't."


Well, no. Alex Rodriguez is not Secretariat-lengths ahead of the field the way Babe Ruth was. Alex Rodriguez may not even be as great as Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.

So Lupica has really proven his point.

No way is ARod the best player ever. Just the fourth-best.

It's actually quite an upgrade. Last year at this time, Lupica was comparing ARod unfavorably to Alfonso Soriano and Aubrey Huff.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Peter Gammons allowed into Hall of Fame without buying a ticket.

Heck, I'm a little bit surprised they'd let him into the Hall of Fame even if he did buy a ticket.

Isn't there some kind of morals clause they could invoke to deny entry to people who write stuff like this after the local team loses the World Series?:

"We have postponed autumn long enough now. There are storm windows to put in, wood to chop for the whistling months ahead. The floorboards are getting awfully cold in the morning, the cider sweet. Where Lynn dove and El Tiante stood will be frozen soon, and while it is now 43 years for Thomas A. Yawkey and 57 for New England, the fugue that was the 1975 baseball season will play in our heads until next we meet at the Fens again."

How poetic. Meanwhile, half the people in Southie are writing letters to the Globe complaining that one of their writers used the word "fugue" in the Sunday 'paper.


Dan Shaugnessy suggests the following box-o'-laffs in his tribute to Gammons:

"Fortunately, a lot of people who read these pages are old enough to remember when Gammons was the Globe's Red Sox beat guy and master of the Sunday notes column. For those who missed it, may I suggest a trip to the Boston Public Library. Get any summer month between 1972 and 1986 (skip '76 and '77, when Gammons went to Sports Illustrated for the first time) and start reading Gammons's daily game coverage."

Don't forget the cyanide pill.


There is little doubt that Gammons was better at writing about sports than he is at analyzing sports on ESPN. How could he be any worse? Gammons is always wrong.

If Gammons predicts your team is out of the race, get optimistic. If Gammons claims a trade is pending, it isn't. If Gammons reports that Carlos Zambrano won the game, it was probably Victor Zambrano.


The only guy with a lower hit rate is Fox announcer Joe Buck.

This afternoon, while discussing the possibility of the Mets acquiring Manny Ramirez, Buck once again described the Mets as a team poised to win their division. Last year at approximately the same time in the season, Buck said the same thing about the Mets.

The Mets ain't winning their division. It's just a dumb thing to say on the air.

Seven games back is not the whole problem. The other problem is the whole "last place" thing. Because it means there are four teams ahead of the Mets in their own division.

The Mets have been a .500 team all season long and even if they put together a surprising run in the second half, the only way they'll manage to play seven games better than the Braves (eight games better with the tiebreaker?) is if Braves hit a major losing streak.

But if the Braves are losing, then somebody is winning. More specifically, the team that is winning is the team that is beating the Braves. If that somebody is from the NL East, then the Mets aren't gaining any ground.

Now, it's not impossible for the Mets, mathematically speaking, with or without Manny.

Mathematically speaking, the Yankees might still match their win total from 1998. They just need to go 59-1 in their last 60 games.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

The dark side of catchers' ERA..

Nice game by Unit last night, but I'm concerned about one of the potential effects. Every time Unit pitches well while John Flaherty is catching, it increases the possibility that, if the Yankees make the playoffs, the guy with the .154 batting average will be the starting catcher in games 1, 4, and 7.

Friday, July 22, 2005

Your 2005 American League Manager of the Year.

It had to happen. The $200 million underachieving bozos somehow re-imagined as gritty comeback kids ... because they spent a whole day in first place:

"After a miserable start, the Yankees have reined in the Red Sox, quieting their demanding owner and their worried fans. Manager Joe Torre has had better—and certainly healthier—teams, but he may never have done a better job."


As of this morning, the Yankees are 51-43. They are in second place in their division. They are 1 1/2 games behind Boston and only 1 game up on Baltimore. Roy Halladay's injury probably hurts Toronto's chances and will allow the Yankees to hold onto third place when all is said and done. The Yankees are also 1 game behind Minnesota in the wild card standings.

Obviously, this is the best season for Joe Torre, if not the best season in Yankee history.


" ... Torre, arguably, has done his finest job this season when he has been forced to overcome a Job's plague of pitching injuries. If I had known that age and aches would reduce Randy Johnson to a somewhat smaller unit and that Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, Kevin Brown and New York's top pitching prospect, Chien-Ming Wang, would all be sidelined, I might have expected the Yankees to be in a basement duel with Tampa Bay rather than neck and neck for first place with the defending champs."

The Yankee offensive resurgence strangely coincides with the benching of Tony Womack. But Torre should not be praised for finally benching Womack, he should be crucified for starting Womack for half the season.

Those are games the Yankees can't get back. Those are games that will likely cost them a playoff spot.


As for the Yankee pitching injuries, "Boo freakin' hoo." Every team suffers injuries and it is quite clear that the Yankee injuries in 2005 have not been particularly devastating vis a vis any other year or any other team.

The awful overall performance of the pitching staff is not entirely Torre's fault. There is lots of blame to go around and most of it goes to the players themselves.

But Torre doesn't seem to understand his players' capabilities and seldom optimizes his team's chances to win. "I know we've hit 100 homeruns in the last two weeks, but what we really need is more hit-and-running!"


But this post is not about Torre's lineup or strategic decisions. To varying degrees, I could pick apart just about every game. (Bubba Crosby can hit a light .250 like every other stiff Torre has tried in CF. Except Crosby can actually catch the ball, too!)

More alarming is Torre's overarching lack of urgency. Funny how Mark Starr kinda mirrors the attitude by effusively celebrating a one-day half-game first-place cup of coffee.

Torre is completely satisfied with his team's (under)performance. Torre is still pushing this Calm & Patient shtick even though this team clearly needs a kick in the butt. "We're 5-3 on this tough road trip so far. Good job, fellas! Take the rest of the week off."

I thought maybe Torre had turned the corner when he actually got off the bench and cheered a Mussina strikeout last week in Boston. It was like watching Paul Sorvino argue with the first base umpire in "Mr. 3000." But a week later, I'm seeing Buddy Groom in the seventh inning of a tight game vs. the Angels.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

The element of surprise is gone when it comes to baseball.

Joe Torre shows an astonishing degree of loyalty and admiration for a guy with a 12.27 ERA:

"I thought he pitched well last night. He had one bad pitch."

Again, with the "one bad pitch" nonsense. I can understand if Torre wants to defend his player, but I don't think that's what he is doing. I think he seriously believes Franklin only threw one bad pitch.

(Wayne Franklin actually described the pitch to Blalock it as the worst pitch he has ever thrown.)


"We used him in key situations."

Yes, this much is true. Franklin kept failing in key situations, but you kept using him.


"But you make a bad pitch and it negates all the positives that came on with the first three hitters. But that's the nature of the game.''

Let's examine all the so-called "positives" of the first three hitters:

The first hitter singled (one bad pitch). The second hitter singled (two bad pitches). Franklin then fell behind 3-0 to Teixeira before getting the miracle double play on the 3-0 pitch and putting Buck Showalter one step closer to the insane asylum.

The next batter hit a homerun (three bad pitches).

That's at least three bad pitches, even if the pitch to Blalock was, like, the worst pitch in the entire history of Wayne Franklin's life.

Seriously. You guys don't even know what a great pitcher I am. That was the only time that ever happened to me:

"It's not like I don't belong here. It's disappointing," Franklin said. "The element of surprise is gone when it comes to baseball."

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Randolph finds cleanup hitter.

Indeed, it seems like just yesterday that Willie Randolph was seeking a cleanup hitter other than Mike Piazza. Randolph was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Where can a manager turn? What can a manager do? Mike Piazza is a a good hitter. Mike Piazza is an all star.

But yesterday, Randolph finally found a #4 hitter who isn't Mike Piazza, even though this newfound #4 hitter wasn't on the All Star team.

Eureka!

Randolph also found a #5 hitter who isn't Mike Piazza, even though this newfound #5 hitter wasn't on the All Star team.

Now if only he could find a legit #3.

Bullpen Status: Rested.

Except for Wayne Franklin. Whatever shall Torre do tonight if he needs to get a lefthanded batter out?

Sure, lefthanded batters are batting .556 off Franklin, but that's a small sample size.

Hank Blalock is a lefty and Wayne Franklin is a lefty. Don't you know anything about platooning?

Tom Gordon was going to pitch the ninth and get three outs. How can he be expected to get four outs? Especially since Hank Blalock is a lefty and Tom Gordon is a righty?

But the Yankees got the best possible outcome. Sure, they lost the game, but Gordon didn't even have to pitch in the bottom of ninth inning, because there was no bottom of the ninth. As a result, Gordon is even more well-rested.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Golden Boy hits .167 in series at Fenway.

3-for-18, no walks, no runs, one rbi.

Throw in a .233 with runners on base and a .214 with runners on base with two outs and I'm forced to wonder what the word "clutch" even means.

Actually, I don't wonder. Jeter has a well-deserved rep that he can't always live up to. His performance goes unexamined and unquestioned because he's the Golden Boy.

As Mark Twain said, "Give a man a reputation as an early riser, and that man can thereafter sleep until noon."

Friday, July 15, 2005

Shame on you, Jacob Luft.

After Curt Schilling gives up a homerun to Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning, Jacob Luft predicts Curt Schilling will have trouble closing games for Boston.

The reason?

Because Schilling will probably give up too many homeruns:

"The Curt Schilling-as-closer experiment is off to a shaky start in Boston, and I can't say I'm surprised. Even a healthy Schilling -- and clearly, he is not 100 percent healthy -- wouldn't be suited for the closer role, to say nothing of a hobbled one. The most effective closers have two things going for them:

1) Control.
2) Keeping the ball in the yard."


Jacob Luft totally knew this was gonna happen. He was thinking it the whole time. He was gonna say.

What's Wong with Wang's Wing?

Ken Davidoff and Jim Baumbach present a bleak scenario:

"Chien-Ming Wang could miss the rest of the season and beyond, and Carl Pavano delayed his return by at least two weeks from today. So the Yankees are down to two healthy starting pitchers - last night's starter, Mike Mussina, and tomorrow's starter, Randy Johnson - with recently acquired righthander Redding set for tonight. Sunday and Monday? They're wide open.

The developments will intensify the Yankees' efforts to find a starting pitcher from outside the organization. A team official confirmed that they will discuss Al Leiter, designated for assignment by the Florida Marlins yesterday. Furthermore, they will continue negotiations with the Colorado Rockies about Shawn Chacon and Jason Jennings."



I won't criticize Dan Graziano's stick-in-the-mud article too much, because he's right. One win vs. Boston doesn't solve the Yankees' problems. There aren't any available pitchers in the whole wide world who are going to significantly help the Yankees.

Still, how can you trust a guy who describes Sean Henn as "promising"?:

"So they should not trade a promising 24-year-old left-handed pitcher like Sean Henn for Shawn Chacon, whose record includes two failed drug tests and one arrest for assault. They want to sign Al Leiter? All right. But they shouldn't give up a darn thing for him, because a 39-year-old who has allowed 60 walks and 88 hits in 80 innings in the easier league this year is not worth forsaking even a minimal part of the future."

So, what do the Yankees do? They wait for the return of Brown and Pavano and hope they can contribute.

Or they turn back the clock and beat Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

Or they turn back the clock and bench Womack sooner.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Lupica unsure if Yankees/Sox is a big series.

"Somehow the Red Sox are still in first place as they begin the only four-game series they will play against the Yankees this season. Because of Schilling alone, the Red Sox have had to overcome more than the Yankees. Unless you consider the loss of Kevin (Game 7) Brown and Jaret Wright to be devastating body blows."

What's with all the boxing analogies, anyway?

Somehow, the Red Sox rose to the top of the AL East with their $130 million payroll.

Somehow, a team with four starters in the AL lineup has managed to hold off the Orioles and the catatonic Yankees.

The Red Sox are just a bunch of James J. Braddocks and the Yankees are ... the Yankees are ... that other guy. The guy who Braddock beat for the title. You know, the guy who had killed two people in the ring and was a total dick in the restaurant. That's who the Yankees are ... since we're using boxing analogies.


Nobody considers Kevin (Game 7) Brown to be a "devastating" loss, but Kevin (Game 7) Brown is still better than Darrell (Game Over Before It Starts) May and Sean (Cornish Game) Henn.


Even though Lupica makes this breathless pronouncement on Thursday, explaining the importance of the upcoming series ...

"Maybe the real Yankees are the ones who don't have the starting pitching and don't have the set-up men and aren't going to win the East this season. We will see about that, starting tonight. Real Yankees don't stand up against the Tigers and Indians and A's and Mariners. They do it against the Red Sox."

... just a few days ago (four days, to be exact), he was pooh-poohing the hype of the upcoming Yankees/Sox series ...

"This is the last Yankee-Red Sox series before September. They end last season against each other, they start this season against each other, they start the second half of the season against each other, they end the regular season against each other. One is written off. Another is written off. One won't make it. The other won't make it. They both won't make it.

Here they are. You know when one of them puts the other one away?

In Game 7, that's when."

This series means everything, this series means nothing. Lupica is downright Dickensian.


In typical Lupica fashion, he invents a non-existent storyline, so he can discredit it:

"Apparently the current storyline, and a pretty dumb one, is this:

Boy oh boy, the Red Sox should have put away our Yankees when they had a chance.

As if only the Yankees have had to overcome anything this season, as if Jaret Wright spending as much time on the disabled list as he has is somehow comparable, in the grand scheme of things, to the Red Sox having gotten exactly three starts out of Curt Schilling so far, and having Foulke blow up the way he has, time after time after time. Yeah, what can the Red Sox possibly be thinking, not being 10 games ahead by now?"


This is not the current storyline.

A prevailing observation is that, mathematically speaking, the Yankees are "lucky" to be in the mediocre AL East. They have played so poorly that they're "lucky" to be so close in the divisional race. The White Sox have already buried any contender that is just six games over .500. The Red Sox have not quite buried the Yankees.

This observation is not a sympathy grab. Nobody anywhere is claiming the Yankees have had to overcome any disastrous injuries this season. The Yankees haven't experienced any hardships other than their own disgusting play on the ballfield.


As for this upcoming series? Of course it's a big series. When a team is in third place in mid-July, every series is a big series. Game Seven of the ALCS won't mean much to the Yankees if they don't even make the playoffs.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Word Up, Sheffield.

As a Yankee fan, am I supposed to be upset when a Yankee player:


1) Demands to stay with the Yankees?

2) Expresses his desire to win a World Series with the Yankees?

3) Makes the Yankees a priority over some stupid World Baseball Tournament?

4) Tells the Red Sox to watch out next time they get into a fight with ARod?

5) Hits 54 homeruns and drives in 189 runs in a year-and-a-half with the team?


If this guy is a malcontent, then this team needs more malcontents like him.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Hunter teaches teammates to keep their eyes on the balls.

Just please don't teach them how to choke up:

"What did Torii Hunter do after arguably the Twins' worst game of the year? Grab a bat and helmet -- and head for the shower.

The outfielder, with encouragement from catcher Mike Redmond, stripped down to his socks, put on the helmet, grabbed the bat and walked into the shower. ...

So he went into the shower, swinging a bat and making teammates scramble. Still lacking clothes, he then marched down to the coaches room to ask for extra batting practice. ...

Redmond once took batting practice naked while with Florida in order to keep things loose. On Thursday, he offered to pitch to Hunter, naked.

'Whatever it takes,' Redmond said."

Womack Benched; Tries New Career as Stand Up Comedian.

The most effective Yankee offensive weapon since Henry Rodriguez is apparently on the trading block:

"I didn't create this situation. It wasn't of my doing. I know I can play. That's all that matters."

Ba dum bum.


Tony Womack has one extra-base hit in his last 194 at-bats. It was a triple against the A's on May 13th.

Yet, it seems like just a few weeks ago that Joe Torre was still defending Womack, insisting that Womack was having good at-bats and further insisting that Womack was going to continue to bat second.

Let me check ... it was about two weeks ago.

Maybe Torre should buy a computer. The bloggers knew Womack stunk after about ten games.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Japanese Baseball Fans Determine Mets Batting Order.

"Piazza is 2-for-22 without an RBI in his last six games, and is mired in an 0-for-13 skid. But when Randolph was asked after the game about dropping Piazza in the order, he grew defiant.

'Then who do I bat fourth?' Randolph said. 'Mike's going to the All-Star Game. He knows how to hit. That's why I have him in the fourth spot.' "

Who do you bat fourth? I know, I know! This is an easy one.

"David Wright."

Do I pass Managing 101?


Nice decision with the Daubach pinch-hit, too. Even the guys at ESPN laughed at that choice.

It's nice to learn, once again, that you're your own manager, not bound by stupid things like batting averages and statistics and junk like that. You're in the dugout. You probably have a feeling that Daubach would come through.


Maybe I shouldn't question Randolph's batting order.

But a day after Randolph is praised for finally lowering Reyes to seventh in the order, one is forced to wonder why Reyes has batted leadoff for 76 games out of 82.

Also, if Mike Piazza is Randolph's only choice for a cleanup hitter, then one would be forced to wonder why Piazza has batted cleanup only 33 games this season.

But, hey. What do I know?

Piazza is an all star. A million computer geeks in Japan can't be wrong. All our base are belong to them.

The resurgent Mets are only two games worse than they were last year. Living up to the Art Howe legacy is not an easy job for any manager.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Hardboiled NY Sportswriter Praises Worst Manager in NL.

The Mets may have a great future. I don't know, I've heard it all before in the past few seasons. Willie Randolph may one day win ten rings and go into the Hall of Fame.

Objectively speaking, however, Randolph's first half-season with the Mets has been awful.

Lupica's cuddly take on Randolph?:

"He has moved on. He manages his team, his way. Carlos Beltran hasn't hit yet. There have been injuries at second base, injuries at first base. Mike Piazza is in decline. You see what the Mets' bullpen is like. No Steve Trachsel. Somehow his team stays in there. Sometimes it seems Randolph's Mets have a much better sense of who they are than Torre's Yankees."

That's one way to look at it. I'll present another perspective:

The Mets have the highest payroll in the National League. They added Pedro and Beltran (the five-tool, $119 million player who apparently can not run down to first base on pop-ups). Reyes is healthy and has another year of experience. Wright has another year of experience (though he just can't seem to get out of the seventh slot in the lineup). Floyd is having an MVP-caliber season.

With all of those things in their favor, they're still in last place, under .500, and ten games out of first place.

Is Lupica actually bringing up injuries as an excuse? That weak as Womack.

Look around, Lupica. Every team has injuries and most of the injured players are better than Doug Freakin' Mintkayvitch and Kaz Freakin' Matsui. Those puny injuries are the reason the team with the highest payroll in the NL is in last place? That's a knee-slapper.

Jeez, I thought youze writers in New York were tough. You're all treating Randolph with kid gloves.


Are the Mets as disappointing as the Yankees? No. The Yankees are the most disappointing team in baseball.

Torre is the worst manager in '05; Randolph is the second-worst.

But who cares, anyway? The Mets don't compete head-to-head with the Yankees. Keep pushing the Battle of New York all you want, but the fans don't buy it. Every Yankee fan I know is more concerned about the Red Sox, the Orioles, the Twins, the Rangers ... heck, the Blue Jays are as good as the Yankees.

If both teams play .500 for the entire season, the winner of the Battle of New York gets nothing but a booby prize.


Why is Randolph complaining in the first place?

Randolph probably was next in line to be Yankees' manager. I certainly wouldn't criticize Randolph for becoming impatient. It's a free country and Torre looks like he is going to outlast all the Supreme Court Justices. But that's the primary reason that the Yankees didn't make Randolph manager -- somebody else had the job.

It was never an act of disrespect towards Randolph, it was just an act of respect towards Torre.

In the words of a certain grizzled sportswriter, "Here's a headline for you, Randolph: 'Get over it.' "