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| How did I win a gold glove? I make easy plays look hard. |
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Football is not like baseball.
A football coach is not like the owner of a baseball team.
Rex Ryan is not like George Steinbrenner.
So this is the start of Mike Lupica's Sunday article:
"In so many ways, and not even in town four full seasons yet, Rex Ryan is as close as we have come to a new Boss. As in Steinbrenner."
If you can read that introductory sentence and masochistically continue with the rest of the article, then you're a stronger person than I am.
Rex Ryan is not like George Steinbrenner.
So this is the start of Mike Lupica's Sunday article:
"In so many ways, and not even in town four full seasons yet, Rex Ryan is as close as we have come to a new Boss. As in Steinbrenner."
If you can read that introductory sentence and masochistically continue with the rest of the article, then you're a stronger person than I am.
My blogging of this particular article must therefore abruptly end.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Felz Small Sample Size Stats of the Day.
- Madison Bumgarner is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in World Series games.
- Miguel Cabrera has a .172 batting average in World Series games.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Subway.
I have to admit, these greedy attempts to rip off the average fan have finally backfired:
"The highest payroll in baseball did not help the Yankees in their failed bid to make the World Series. Charging as much as $58 to park has not helped the company that runs the parking lots around Yankee Stadium, either.
Bronx Parking Development Company, the operator of the lots, has defaulted on nearly $240 million of its bonds because of overambitious forecasts and less expensive transportation alternatives for fans, like the subway and Metro-North Railroad."
This goes way back to the first day of economics class when you learn about the price sensitivity of the demand for sugar and high fructose corn syrup. It's why the label on the soda says sugar "or" high fructose corn syrup.
"The highest payroll in baseball did not help the Yankees in their failed bid to make the World Series. Charging as much as $58 to park has not helped the company that runs the parking lots around Yankee Stadium, either.
Bronx Parking Development Company, the operator of the lots, has defaulted on nearly $240 million of its bonds because of overambitious forecasts and less expensive transportation alternatives for fans, like the subway and Metro-North Railroad."
This goes way back to the first day of economics class when you learn about the price sensitivity of the demand for sugar and high fructose corn syrup. It's why the label on the soda says sugar "or" high fructose corn syrup.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
I actually agree that Yankee image has been tarnished.
This is why Jeter is worth his salary even if his on-field performance diminishes:
"This regime has tasted playoff failure before. Yet there’s a difference coming off the Yankees’ pathetic offensive performance against the Tigers. The Bombers were humiliated in the ALCS. The team was booed out of New York. Instead of taking it on the chin and walking away the players whined, showing just how fragile their egos are.
They were shocked the 'faithful' turned on them. Was this a delayed reaction from the fans? Or was the level of disgust building before the postseason even began?
The empty seats at the Stadium during the regular season and playoffs do not provide conclusive evidence. That’s partly a residue of an anemic economy. Many fans cannot afford spending food or rent money on a Yankees game, even if the tickets are deeply discounted on Stub Hub."
I agree that the brand has been somewhat tarnished.
The
corporate crowd at the New Stadium backfired, too. It's Saturday
night, Jeter is out of the lineup, we can't name three players on the Tigers, ARod is
hitting on that other lady: Let's go to a martini bar instead.
"This regime has tasted playoff failure before. Yet there’s a difference coming off the Yankees’ pathetic offensive performance against the Tigers. The Bombers were humiliated in the ALCS. The team was booed out of New York. Instead of taking it on the chin and walking away the players whined, showing just how fragile their egos are.
They were shocked the 'faithful' turned on them. Was this a delayed reaction from the fans? Or was the level of disgust building before the postseason even began?
The empty seats at the Stadium during the regular season and playoffs do not provide conclusive evidence. That’s partly a residue of an anemic economy. Many fans cannot afford spending food or rent money on a Yankees game, even if the tickets are deeply discounted on Stub Hub."
I agree that the brand has been somewhat tarnished.
It was also weird scheduling, a spoiled fan base who isn't particularly impressed by the playoffs anymore, and the negative aftermath of Jeter's injury.
The ALCS didn't help, because it's the only time of the year that people are actually watching baseball games.
"The Yankees’ TV ratings on the Yankees Entertainment & Sports
Network are a better indicator of fan dissatisfaction. The Bombers
averaged a 3.92 rating, down 8.3% from 2011 and YES’ lowest Yankees
household rating since 2003. The nine-year low came during a season in
which the Yankees battled Baltimore down to the wire to win the AL East,
which should have driven the ratings to an all-time high."
The AL East's down-to-the-wire wasn't really as intriguing as Raissman seems to think (sorry, Bud Selig).
I think the fans really like winning. But, after so much winning, they get spoiled.
The
rivalry with the Red Sox was mostly absent, the rivalry with the Mets
was mostly absent, and the other rivalries -- even down to the wire with
the Orioles -- are fabricated.
"At the time we first reported the ratings drop, the thought was that
more fans take it for granted the Yankees will punch their October
ticket, so why watch? Considering the fan backlash and the Yankees’
reaction to it, maybe a negative perception had already caused these
fans to turn off YES.
All of those old-grinder Paul O’Neill teams are now completely in the rear view mirror, finally replaced by a different breed of player, some of whom are perceived as selfish whiners. Players who went through the motions when their backs were to the wall.
How will this play on YES during the 2013 season? If the Yankees continue to be viewed as aloof and unlikable, if they give off an uncaring vibe, like Robinson Cano, the brand will be further tarnished. Like it or not, the current face of that brand is Alex Rodriguez."
The face of the brand is definitely still Jeter.
All of those old-grinder Paul O’Neill teams are now completely in the rear view mirror, finally replaced by a different breed of player, some of whom are perceived as selfish whiners. Players who went through the motions when their backs were to the wall.
How will this play on YES during the 2013 season? If the Yankees continue to be viewed as aloof and unlikable, if they give off an uncaring vibe, like Robinson Cano, the brand will be further tarnished. Like it or not, the current face of that brand is Alex Rodriguez."
The face of the brand is definitely still Jeter.
Jeter's absence from Game Two certainly added to the foul mood (and the Bleacher Creatures oddly blamed Jeter's injury on Swisher, because of the botched fly ball in RF which extended the 12th inning).
As for aloof and unlikable players, I'm not sure that's affecting the ratings so much. Cano has been aloof and unlikable for seven years in a row and the fans love it as long as he hits.
ARod may be a jerk, but he draws crowds. Raissman said it himself -- the ratings haven't been this low since 2003. No coincidence that ARod showed up in 2004.
So the ratings were high for a long time with Cano and Rodriguez, but it's the presence of ... ummm ... let's see ... it's the presence of Cody Eppley in 2012 that was the last straw? I don't think it's quite that simplistic.
The Yankees won zero titles in the 1980s, while George Steinbrenner was the owner.
In the early 1990s, George Steinbrenner bragged about the fact that the Yankees had a high regular season winning percentage in the 1980s. He said that he wanted to win the World Series, but he had delivered a winning team in (something like) 10 out of 14 regular seasons.
This explanation is known as spin.
Only when Steinbrenner was briefly exiled was a longterm winning strategy implemented. Supplemented, of course, by the emergence of Pettitte, Jeter, Posada, Williams, Rivera, and others.
Steinbrenner enjoyed winning the World Series, of course he did. Winning the World Seriers undoubtedly boosted his considerable ego.
Mostly, though, winning the World Series made him a lot of money money money money money:
"Once the bottom line for Steinbrenner the Elder was winning it all, or else. For his heirs, it seems the bottom line is more about profit and loss, and that sure doesn’t mean the kind of loss the Yankees just suffered at the hands of the Tigers."
Don't you remember when the Yankees lost Game Seven of the World Series to Arizona? Steinbrenner said they were going to come back with a vengeance.
They didn't.
I don't know what Angry Steinbrenner could have accomplished this playoffs or this offseason.
It's like people are buying into Steinbrenner's own self-perpetuated myth. The same people who were ridiculing him when he was ranting and raving.
"You better believe the Yankees are the most successful regular-season team of all time, even more successful than the Atlanta Braves were when they kept making the playoffs in the 1990s. And the Braves, by the way, didn’t just make the playoffs, they made it to four World Series in that decade, even if they only managed to win one."
The Yankees are also the best postseason team of all time.
It's not even really close, is it?
I mean, that has no impact on the 2012 ALCS, and why would it?
"This is 2012. Starting in 2002, the Yankees have made it to the World Series twice over the past decade, have won one. The people in charge still make it sound as if the Yankees not making the Series is some kind of aberration. Actually it’s become the norm. In that decade we’re talking about, the Yankees have lost in the first round five times."
Yep.
It's really amazing when fans, writers, analysts, announcers, players, coaches, managers, general managers, opponents, owners ... anybody ... talks about the present-day Yankees as if they're some sort of juggernaut.
This has been going on for about a decade and a half ... really starting in earnest in 1998.
I know a lot of this delusion is based on the relative payrolls of the teams, but it's still a lazy and hackneyed analysis.
Every time the Yankees start a playoff series against a superior opponent, their opponent is shoehorned into an underdog role. It's silly after a while.
The Tigers had Verlander going twice and the Triple Crown Winner.
The Yankees counterbalanced these advantages with home field advantage, a superior bullpen, and (theoretical) advantages at ss and 2b (advantages which were quickly eliminated as the series progressed).
I did not identify a single game where the Yankees had a noticeable starting pitcher advantage.
So why were the Tigers considered underdogs in the first place?
Because people act as if wearing a pinstriped uniform fills a player with the spirit of Babe Ruth. They believe the hype, and Lupica is a hypocrite because he holds the Yankees to this same silly standard.
It's like complaining that Carleton Sheets's No Money Down System didn't really help you make a fortune (with no money down!).
"We keep hearing that they’re going to get the payroll down to $189 million by 2014 to avoid serious luxury-tax penalties, but that is a bit of a hustle, too. The next year they can go right back to outspending everybody (well, maybe not the Dodgers going forward) if they choose to."
The smartest thing Lupica has ever said!
The Yankees are not going to try to get the payroll down to $189 million, and why should they?
But here's the part I don't get: If you know you're being hustled, then why are you acting all shocked and offended?
The 2012 Yankees were a good team, not a great team. The Yankee Brand is cashing in on the reputation of Long Ago players who wore the same uniform.
It's a hustle, it's a con, it's a grift. In other words, it's marketing.
I want the Yankees to win the World Series, of course I do. In that regard, I agree with Yankee brass.
I don't think the 2012 regular season and ALDS were useless because I invested a lot of time and emotion into the 2012 regular season and ALDS. In that regard, I disagree with Yankee brass.
But I'm not particular offended by the Yankees' spin because I know what it is.
It's no different than a Mets fan at Spring Training 2013 when they hear promises of meaningful games in September.
It's a lesson I learned long ago when I purchased Sea Monkeys and discovered they were not quite as anthropomorphic as promised in the back of the comic book.
This explanation is known as spin.
Only when Steinbrenner was briefly exiled was a longterm winning strategy implemented. Supplemented, of course, by the emergence of Pettitte, Jeter, Posada, Williams, Rivera, and others.
Steinbrenner enjoyed winning the World Series, of course he did. Winning the World Seriers undoubtedly boosted his considerable ego.
Mostly, though, winning the World Series made him a lot of money money money money money:
"Once the bottom line for Steinbrenner the Elder was winning it all, or else. For his heirs, it seems the bottom line is more about profit and loss, and that sure doesn’t mean the kind of loss the Yankees just suffered at the hands of the Tigers."
Don't you remember when the Yankees lost Game Seven of the World Series to Arizona? Steinbrenner said they were going to come back with a vengeance.
They didn't.
I don't know what Angry Steinbrenner could have accomplished this playoffs or this offseason.
It's like people are buying into Steinbrenner's own self-perpetuated myth. The same people who were ridiculing him when he was ranting and raving.
"You better believe the Yankees are the most successful regular-season team of all time, even more successful than the Atlanta Braves were when they kept making the playoffs in the 1990s. And the Braves, by the way, didn’t just make the playoffs, they made it to four World Series in that decade, even if they only managed to win one."
The Yankees are also the best postseason team of all time.
It's not even really close, is it?
I mean, that has no impact on the 2012 ALCS, and why would it?
"This is 2012. Starting in 2002, the Yankees have made it to the World Series twice over the past decade, have won one. The people in charge still make it sound as if the Yankees not making the Series is some kind of aberration. Actually it’s become the norm. In that decade we’re talking about, the Yankees have lost in the first round five times."
Yep.
It's really amazing when fans, writers, analysts, announcers, players, coaches, managers, general managers, opponents, owners ... anybody ... talks about the present-day Yankees as if they're some sort of juggernaut.
This has been going on for about a decade and a half ... really starting in earnest in 1998.
I know a lot of this delusion is based on the relative payrolls of the teams, but it's still a lazy and hackneyed analysis.
Every time the Yankees start a playoff series against a superior opponent, their opponent is shoehorned into an underdog role. It's silly after a while.
The Tigers had Verlander going twice and the Triple Crown Winner.
The Yankees counterbalanced these advantages with home field advantage, a superior bullpen, and (theoretical) advantages at ss and 2b (advantages which were quickly eliminated as the series progressed).
I did not identify a single game where the Yankees had a noticeable starting pitcher advantage.
So why were the Tigers considered underdogs in the first place?
Because people act as if wearing a pinstriped uniform fills a player with the spirit of Babe Ruth. They believe the hype, and Lupica is a hypocrite because he holds the Yankees to this same silly standard.
It's like complaining that Carleton Sheets's No Money Down System didn't really help you make a fortune (with no money down!).
"We keep hearing that they’re going to get the payroll down to $189 million by 2014 to avoid serious luxury-tax penalties, but that is a bit of a hustle, too. The next year they can go right back to outspending everybody (well, maybe not the Dodgers going forward) if they choose to."
The smartest thing Lupica has ever said!
The Yankees are not going to try to get the payroll down to $189 million, and why should they?
But here's the part I don't get: If you know you're being hustled, then why are you acting all shocked and offended?
The 2012 Yankees were a good team, not a great team. The Yankee Brand is cashing in on the reputation of Long Ago players who wore the same uniform.
It's a hustle, it's a con, it's a grift. In other words, it's marketing.
I want the Yankees to win the World Series, of course I do. In that regard, I agree with Yankee brass.
I don't think the 2012 regular season and ALDS were useless because I invested a lot of time and emotion into the 2012 regular season and ALDS. In that regard, I disagree with Yankee brass.
But I'm not particular offended by the Yankees' spin because I know what it is.
It's no different than a Mets fan at Spring Training 2013 when they hear promises of meaningful games in September.
It's a lesson I learned long ago when I purchased Sea Monkeys and discovered they were not quite as anthropomorphic as promised in the back of the comic book.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Let's get players who hit well in the playoffs. Duh! Brian Cashman is so stupid!
The Yankees fans, press, and players are all crazy right now.
Mark Teixeira said the Yankees live and die by the homerun. Mark Teixeira actually said this.
Alex Rodriguez compared his 2007 MVP comeback season to his upcoming 2013 season. Alex Rodriguez also said he had a good at-bat last night. He hasn't hit a HR in a month and he hasn't had a hit off a righty in a long time.
So no matter how you analyze this ALCS collapse, the proposed fixes are bordering on the bizarre:
" 'We are still executing the Gene Michael playbook, which is predominantly left-handed hitters that take walks,' Cashman said the other day. 'They are selective. They’re typically big, hairy monsters, as I describe them, that hit the ball over the fence, hit doubles, singles, can hit home runs.
'What you are seeing right now is not a reflection of that. These guys are better than this. And you’ve seen it and we’ve seen it. We have a lot of guys that got cold at the wrong time and it looks bad, but this is not a reflection of who they are.'
Maybe you agree with that. Or maybe you think he’s delusional, because for more than six weeks now, the only thing we’ve seen is a lineup filled with 30-somethings who cannot hit situationally if their lives depended on it."
They're not taking walks, not hitting singles, not hitting doubles.
This has been going on all season, not just the past six weeks.
"The first three we’d choose: move A-Rod any way you can, and say sayonara to Swisher and Russell Martin. Our one concession to age is to give Ichiro Suzuki a reasonable deal — and we don’t care if he turns 39 on Monday, he had 73 hits in 67 games here and hit .322."
These moves may occur.
"It’s time to recognize Granderson for what he is: a No. 7 hitter who struck out 195 times and was erased from the lineup at the moment of truth. Guys who put up 84 homers and 225 RBI over two seasons don’t grow on trees, so some team should be willing to surrender a power-hitting third baseman and a young arm for him."
Wrong. No team would be willing to surrender a power-hitting third baseman and a young arm.
Besides, how many teams have both a power-hitting third baseman and a young arm?
How many teams have a power-hitting third baseman?
Who is this power-hitting third baseman?
Texas is going to give the Yankees Adrian Beltre for Curtis Granderson? Cool!
"It’s time to pursue guys who have October résumés — Torii Hunter, A.J. Pierzynski, David Ortiz — who can fill in your gaps in right field, behind the plate, and at DH. Yes, they don’t make the team any younger, but they’re all winning players who know situational hitting, which nobody but Jeter and Ichiro ever grasped on the present team."
Surrrrrrrre ... Torii Hunter, A.J. Pierzynski, and David Ortiz. Get Ortiz some steroids a time machine to 2004 and we'll be all set.
The Yankees going to acquire all three and win the World Series next year. Oh, and don't forget Adrian Beltre. He'll also win the World Series with the Yankees next year.
Yay! Mission accomplished.
Also, the analysis is all wrong. Jeter and Ichiro are poor situational hitters.
If you load the bases with one out, Jeter will k or GIDP.
Ichiro abandoned small ball like every other Yankee. Ichiro struck out, like, once in his first 50 Yankee at-bats. Then, he hit two HRs in one game against the Red Sox. After that, he was swinging like Alfonso Soriano.
Don't you remember how many times, in September, Ichiro failed to move a runner over or failed to get a runner home from third base? I remember, because I lost a year off my life every time it happened.
Don't you remember Nix's leadoff double? In the playoffs? In a close game? Followed by three ks in a row ... Jeter, Ichiro, and "Tex" the Gunslingin' Overweight Cowboy?
Just because a player avoids HRs does not mean that player is good at situational hitting.
Just because a player has a decent playoff batting average doesn't mean they can come to New York and pound Verlander in the ALCS.
You know, it's weird. These writers sound stupid when they're vague -- "get a power-hitting third baseman." But then, when they're specific -- "get Ortiz, Hunter, and Pierzynski" -- they sound even stupider. When they get specific, they sound like they're swapping baseball cards instead of trading actual real-life players.
Mark Teixeira said the Yankees live and die by the homerun. Mark Teixeira actually said this.
Alex Rodriguez compared his 2007 MVP comeback season to his upcoming 2013 season. Alex Rodriguez also said he had a good at-bat last night. He hasn't hit a HR in a month and he hasn't had a hit off a righty in a long time.
So no matter how you analyze this ALCS collapse, the proposed fixes are bordering on the bizarre:
" 'We are still executing the Gene Michael playbook, which is predominantly left-handed hitters that take walks,' Cashman said the other day. 'They are selective. They’re typically big, hairy monsters, as I describe them, that hit the ball over the fence, hit doubles, singles, can hit home runs.
'What you are seeing right now is not a reflection of that. These guys are better than this. And you’ve seen it and we’ve seen it. We have a lot of guys that got cold at the wrong time and it looks bad, but this is not a reflection of who they are.'
Maybe you agree with that. Or maybe you think he’s delusional, because for more than six weeks now, the only thing we’ve seen is a lineup filled with 30-somethings who cannot hit situationally if their lives depended on it."
They're not taking walks, not hitting singles, not hitting doubles.
This has been going on all season, not just the past six weeks.
"The first three we’d choose: move A-Rod any way you can, and say sayonara to Swisher and Russell Martin. Our one concession to age is to give Ichiro Suzuki a reasonable deal — and we don’t care if he turns 39 on Monday, he had 73 hits in 67 games here and hit .322."
These moves may occur.
"It’s time to recognize Granderson for what he is: a No. 7 hitter who struck out 195 times and was erased from the lineup at the moment of truth. Guys who put up 84 homers and 225 RBI over two seasons don’t grow on trees, so some team should be willing to surrender a power-hitting third baseman and a young arm for him."
Wrong. No team would be willing to surrender a power-hitting third baseman and a young arm.
Besides, how many teams have both a power-hitting third baseman and a young arm?
How many teams have a power-hitting third baseman?
Who is this power-hitting third baseman?
Texas is going to give the Yankees Adrian Beltre for Curtis Granderson? Cool!
"It’s time to pursue guys who have October résumés — Torii Hunter, A.J. Pierzynski, David Ortiz — who can fill in your gaps in right field, behind the plate, and at DH. Yes, they don’t make the team any younger, but they’re all winning players who know situational hitting, which nobody but Jeter and Ichiro ever grasped on the present team."
Surrrrrrrre ... Torii Hunter, A.J. Pierzynski, and David Ortiz. Get Ortiz some steroids a time machine to 2004 and we'll be all set.
The Yankees going to acquire all three and win the World Series next year. Oh, and don't forget Adrian Beltre. He'll also win the World Series with the Yankees next year.
Yay! Mission accomplished.
Also, the analysis is all wrong. Jeter and Ichiro are poor situational hitters.
If you load the bases with one out, Jeter will k or GIDP.
Ichiro abandoned small ball like every other Yankee. Ichiro struck out, like, once in his first 50 Yankee at-bats. Then, he hit two HRs in one game against the Red Sox. After that, he was swinging like Alfonso Soriano.
Don't you remember how many times, in September, Ichiro failed to move a runner over or failed to get a runner home from third base? I remember, because I lost a year off my life every time it happened.
Don't you remember Nix's leadoff double? In the playoffs? In a close game? Followed by three ks in a row ... Jeter, Ichiro, and "Tex" the Gunslingin' Overweight Cowboy?
Just because a player avoids HRs does not mean that player is good at situational hitting.
Just because a player has a decent playoff batting average doesn't mean they can come to New York and pound Verlander in the ALCS.
You know, it's weird. These writers sound stupid when they're vague -- "get a power-hitting third baseman." But then, when they're specific -- "get Ortiz, Hunter, and Pierzynski" -- they sound even stupider. When they get specific, they sound like they're swapping baseball cards instead of trading actual real-life players.
Mess.
One of many over-the-top observations regarding the 2012 Yankees. This by renowned Yankee-hater Peter Abraham:
"We are coming up on the two-month anniversary of the Red Sox trading Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only now, thanks to the Yankees, can the true value of that trade be fully realized."
Because the Tigers swept the Yankees in the ALCS ... James Loney is suddenly a good baseball player?
"Derek Jeter will have surgery on his fractured left ankle on Saturday in North Carolina, then face 4-5 months of rehabilitation. The Yankees hope he will be back for Opening Day, but admit they have no idea to what degree the surgery will affect his ability to play shortstop.
Jeter, who turns 39 in June, worked hard in recent years to improve his range. Now he faces the hurdle of playing with a surgically repaired ankle. Jeter has $17 million on his contract for 2013 and an $8 million player option for 2014.
Then we have the latest drama surrounding 37-year-old Alex Rodriguez. He has looked helpless in the postseason and the Yankees aren't interested in giving him a chance to work it out. Rodriguez has been pinch hit for three times in the postseason and benched three times.
The most expensive player in baseball has become almost useless to them -- and he has five years and $114 million remaining on his contract. On Wednesday, before the postponed fourth game of the American League Championship Series, the Yankees talked about A-Rod like he was some scrub call-up from the minors."
When do you get to the part about the Red Sox?
"The Red Sox avoided this kind of mess when they unloaded Beckett, Crawford, and Gonzalez on the Dodgers."
The Red Sox are in a last-place mess.
Mess, therefore, not avoided.
"Instead of watching the 32-year-old Beckett throw 91-mph fastballs the next two seasons and become increasingly recalcitrant, they can go get somebody younger, better and more team oriented."
Imaginary Beckett Replacement will probably win the Cy Young Award in Unknown Year.
"Instead of counting how many surgeries Crawford has over the length of his seven-year deal, they can invest that money in a player entering his prime."
Imaginary Crawford Replacement who will be the First Player Ever to avoid injuries and also the First Player Ever to live up to his long-term free agent contract. He will probably win the MVP in Unknown Year.
"And while Gonzalez was a hefty tariff to pay for unloading Beckett and Crawford, his diminishing power and problems hitting at Fenway Park are troubling signs.
Now, thanks to the Dodgers, the Red Sox have incredible roster and payroll flexibility.
Unless they pull off their own miracle trade, the Yankees are stuck with an aging and expensive roster."
Yeah, but ...
1) Roster flexibility does not necessarily equal a good roster.
2) The best players on the Yankees this postseason were all old.
3) The Yankees make so much money, they're not particularly hampered by these expenses. So the Yankees have plenty of roster and payroll flexibility.
4) The Red Sox have 26 games to make up just to match the Yankees' record.
"The Red Sox were a wretched team and finished in last place, a whopping 26 games behind the first-place Yankees. But the Sox might actually have the advantage moving forward.
Seeing Jeter go down and watching the Yankees wrestle with Rodriguez only confirmed that idea."
"Might actually" is about as vague as it gets.
"Might actually not."
"We are coming up on the two-month anniversary of the Red Sox trading Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only now, thanks to the Yankees, can the true value of that trade be fully realized."
Because the Tigers swept the Yankees in the ALCS ... James Loney is suddenly a good baseball player?
"Derek Jeter will have surgery on his fractured left ankle on Saturday in North Carolina, then face 4-5 months of rehabilitation. The Yankees hope he will be back for Opening Day, but admit they have no idea to what degree the surgery will affect his ability to play shortstop.
Jeter, who turns 39 in June, worked hard in recent years to improve his range. Now he faces the hurdle of playing with a surgically repaired ankle. Jeter has $17 million on his contract for 2013 and an $8 million player option for 2014.
Then we have the latest drama surrounding 37-year-old Alex Rodriguez. He has looked helpless in the postseason and the Yankees aren't interested in giving him a chance to work it out. Rodriguez has been pinch hit for three times in the postseason and benched three times.
The most expensive player in baseball has become almost useless to them -- and he has five years and $114 million remaining on his contract. On Wednesday, before the postponed fourth game of the American League Championship Series, the Yankees talked about A-Rod like he was some scrub call-up from the minors."
When do you get to the part about the Red Sox?
"The Red Sox avoided this kind of mess when they unloaded Beckett, Crawford, and Gonzalez on the Dodgers."
The Red Sox are in a last-place mess.
Mess, therefore, not avoided.
"Instead of watching the 32-year-old Beckett throw 91-mph fastballs the next two seasons and become increasingly recalcitrant, they can go get somebody younger, better and more team oriented."
Imaginary Beckett Replacement will probably win the Cy Young Award in Unknown Year.
"Instead of counting how many surgeries Crawford has over the length of his seven-year deal, they can invest that money in a player entering his prime."
Imaginary Crawford Replacement who will be the First Player Ever to avoid injuries and also the First Player Ever to live up to his long-term free agent contract. He will probably win the MVP in Unknown Year.
"And while Gonzalez was a hefty tariff to pay for unloading Beckett and Crawford, his diminishing power and problems hitting at Fenway Park are troubling signs.
Now, thanks to the Dodgers, the Red Sox have incredible roster and payroll flexibility.
Unless they pull off their own miracle trade, the Yankees are stuck with an aging and expensive roster."
Yeah, but ...
1) Roster flexibility does not necessarily equal a good roster.
2) The best players on the Yankees this postseason were all old.
3) The Yankees make so much money, they're not particularly hampered by these expenses. So the Yankees have plenty of roster and payroll flexibility.
4) The Red Sox have 26 games to make up just to match the Yankees' record.
"The Red Sox were a wretched team and finished in last place, a whopping 26 games behind the first-place Yankees. But the Sox might actually have the advantage moving forward.
Seeing Jeter go down and watching the Yankees wrestle with Rodriguez only confirmed that idea."
"Might actually" is about as vague as it gets.
"Might actually not."
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Cover your ears! ARod just used a cuss word on live TV!
He unconvincingly said "I don't give a [brown word] about the gossip pages."
He also made it clear his relationship with Girardi is on the skids.
A week ago, I would have said this observation is crazy. Now I agree:
"That said, not one of those clubs is likely to consider Rodriguez at the full retail price. But the Yankees have a history of unloading high-priced talent by continuing to pay part of the bill and estimates the team would have to fork over somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of his salary for the next five years aren't necessarily a deal-breaker. Not after this postseason.
Recently, Yankees President Randy Levine was asked whether he thought A-Rod would still be wearing pinstripes when his current deal ended in 2017. He told ESPN Radio in New York, "That's like one of those questions: Where's the stock market going to be in 2017, who's going to be president on Nov. 15?
'If I had crystal ball to predict all of that stuff, I'd be a lot smarter than I am,' he added. 'I'm not going to go there.'
Not yet, anyway, and not before this season comes to a merciful conclusion. But Rodriguez lost the fans long ago, and from the sound of things Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman might not be too far behind."
He also made it clear his relationship with Girardi is on the skids.
A week ago, I would have said this observation is crazy. Now I agree:
"That said, not one of those clubs is likely to consider Rodriguez at the full retail price. But the Yankees have a history of unloading high-priced talent by continuing to pay part of the bill and estimates the team would have to fork over somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of his salary for the next five years aren't necessarily a deal-breaker. Not after this postseason.
Recently, Yankees President Randy Levine was asked whether he thought A-Rod would still be wearing pinstripes when his current deal ended in 2017. He told ESPN Radio in New York, "That's like one of those questions: Where's the stock market going to be in 2017, who's going to be president on Nov. 15?
'If I had crystal ball to predict all of that stuff, I'd be a lot smarter than I am,' he added. 'I'm not going to go there.'
Not yet, anyway, and not before this season comes to a merciful conclusion. But Rodriguez lost the fans long ago, and from the sound of things Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman might not be too far behind."
Balls.
I guess this is true:
"Slumping slugger Alex Rodriguez zeroed in on fan Kyna Treacy, a leggy 33-year-old, in the ninth inning of his team’s crucial playoff game against the Detroit Tigers, openly flirting with her and getting her phone number even as he was yanked from the lineup and the Bombers struggled to stay alive."
In the ninth inning of a playoff game?
Bob Klapisch may not be over-reacting:
"What happened next said everything about the mushrooming cold war between Joe Girardi and Alex Rodriguez. The manager decided to not pinch-hit for Ibanez against Coke, even though Ibanez batted only .197 against southpaws this year.
Why would the normally conventional-thinking Girardi allow himself to be caught in this trap? Because his reservoir of faith in Rodriguez has gone dry. Not only did Girardi bench A-Rod and Nick Swisher for Game 3, he specifically refused to use A-Rod for Ibanez because, '[the Tigers] were going to bring in [right-hander Joaquin] Benoit.'
A little background here: earlier on Tuesday, the New York Post reported that A-Rod was seen flipping baseballs in the directions of two female fans near the dugout during Game 1. The paper said the baseballs were inscribed not with Rodriguez’ autograph, but a request for the women’s numbers.
A-Rod and GM Brian Cashman refused to discuss the story, but the organization was deeply embarrassed by it, especially since the Yankees were in the midst of getting swept in the first two games at home. And Rodriguez himself was playing himself out of the starting lineup by going 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handers.
So while Girardi insisted his decision to bench A-Rod was strictly a baseball-related move, his refusal to use the slugger in the ninth inning was unquestionably a smack-down for his behavior in New York. It’s anyone’s guess whether A-Rod will start tonight against Max Scherzer in what could be the Yankees’ final game. Regardless, whether they get swept or Sabathia can keep the series alive one more day, the relationship between Girardi and Rodriguez will never be the same. Good luck trying to figure out how the two will co-exist in 2013 and beyond."
"Slumping slugger Alex Rodriguez zeroed in on fan Kyna Treacy, a leggy 33-year-old, in the ninth inning of his team’s crucial playoff game against the Detroit Tigers, openly flirting with her and getting her phone number even as he was yanked from the lineup and the Bombers struggled to stay alive."
In the ninth inning of a playoff game?
Bob Klapisch may not be over-reacting:
"What happened next said everything about the mushrooming cold war between Joe Girardi and Alex Rodriguez. The manager decided to not pinch-hit for Ibanez against Coke, even though Ibanez batted only .197 against southpaws this year.
Why would the normally conventional-thinking Girardi allow himself to be caught in this trap? Because his reservoir of faith in Rodriguez has gone dry. Not only did Girardi bench A-Rod and Nick Swisher for Game 3, he specifically refused to use A-Rod for Ibanez because, '[the Tigers] were going to bring in [right-hander Joaquin] Benoit.'
A little background here: earlier on Tuesday, the New York Post reported that A-Rod was seen flipping baseballs in the directions of two female fans near the dugout during Game 1. The paper said the baseballs were inscribed not with Rodriguez’ autograph, but a request for the women’s numbers.
A-Rod and GM Brian Cashman refused to discuss the story, but the organization was deeply embarrassed by it, especially since the Yankees were in the midst of getting swept in the first two games at home. And Rodriguez himself was playing himself out of the starting lineup by going 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handers.
So while Girardi insisted his decision to bench A-Rod was strictly a baseball-related move, his refusal to use the slugger in the ninth inning was unquestionably a smack-down for his behavior in New York. It’s anyone’s guess whether A-Rod will start tonight against Max Scherzer in what could be the Yankees’ final game. Regardless, whether they get swept or Sabathia can keep the series alive one more day, the relationship between Girardi and Rodriguez will never be the same. Good luck trying to figure out how the two will co-exist in 2013 and beyond."
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
I don't agree with today's benching ...
... but maybe Chavez will surprise me:
"The New York Post reported that Rodriguez was openly flirting with two blonde female fans sitting near the New York dugout during Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium last Saturday night.
Rodriguez had plenty of time on his hands Tuesday -- he was benched for Game 3 of the ALCS at Comerica Park as Eric Chavez started in his place at third base against reigning AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.
The Post reported that he pulled one of the oldest tricks in the baseball handbook to picking up ladies by sending an autographed ball to them in the stands that included his phone numbers."
I guess this story could be true. It seems like a lot of people would have noticed.
If it's true ... if ARod acted petulantly and unprofessionally during a playoff game, well ... maybe it's time to eat $100 million and send him to Toronto for a few prospects.
"The New York Post reported that Rodriguez was openly flirting with two blonde female fans sitting near the New York dugout during Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium last Saturday night.
Rodriguez had plenty of time on his hands Tuesday -- he was benched for Game 3 of the ALCS at Comerica Park as Eric Chavez started in his place at third base against reigning AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.
The Post reported that he pulled one of the oldest tricks in the baseball handbook to picking up ladies by sending an autographed ball to them in the stands that included his phone numbers."
I guess this story could be true. It seems like a lot of people would have noticed.
If it's true ... if ARod acted petulantly and unprofessionally during a playoff game, well ... maybe it's time to eat $100 million and send him to Toronto for a few prospects.
Monday, October 15, 2012
A lot changes in one game, huh?
"Gone are mystique and aura, the two temptresses of the
Bronx, who blessed old Yankee Stadium with kismet and joy and brilliant
baseball. In their stead are apathy and malaise, a couple of hags from
Yonkers. They embody the new Yankee Stadium, a sarcophagus if ever there
was one: no matter how gorgeous and ornate the outside, it remains
filled with lifelessness.
No wonder Game 2 of the ALCS featured thousands of empty seats, like Game 1 before it, and like the do-or-die Game 5 of the ALDS, too. New Yorkers understand a fraud when they see it. They pay for expensive seats, drink overpriced beers, buy exorbitant merchandise and fund a $200 million joke, a team that for the second straight game couldn't score a measly run off the Detroit Tigers' Nos. 3 and 4 starting pitchers. These Yankees earned every last boo."
The Yankees are going to lose in the ALCS.
This $200 million joke won 95 games, won the AL East, and won the ALDS.
It's not satisfying for a fan base which expects a lot.
But I'd only take Passan seriously if had written this article in the top of the 10th inning on Saturday night. Mystique and aura are gone from the new Stadium, except when Sabathia throws a complete game in Game Five and when Ibanez's two-out, ninth-inning HR clears the fence.
No wonder Game 2 of the ALCS featured thousands of empty seats, like Game 1 before it, and like the do-or-die Game 5 of the ALDS, too. New Yorkers understand a fraud when they see it. They pay for expensive seats, drink overpriced beers, buy exorbitant merchandise and fund a $200 million joke, a team that for the second straight game couldn't score a measly run off the Detroit Tigers' Nos. 3 and 4 starting pitchers. These Yankees earned every last boo."
The Yankees are going to lose in the ALCS.
This $200 million joke won 95 games, won the AL East, and won the ALDS.
It's not satisfying for a fan base which expects a lot.
But I'd only take Passan seriously if had written this article in the top of the 10th inning on Saturday night. Mystique and aura are gone from the new Stadium, except when Sabathia throws a complete game in Game Five and when Ibanez's two-out, ninth-inning HR clears the fence.
The gloves come off.
When I attend a Yankee game with my friends, we usually play some side games, one of which is to take gentlemen's bets on how far Robinson Cano will run on a ground ball before he starts breaking it down.
The choices are 30 feet, 45 feet, 60 feet, and 75 feet.
90 feet is not an option because I don't know what kind of odds that would require, even for a gentlemen's bet:
"Didn't his middle-of-the-infield mentor, Derek Jeter, teach this guy anything? In fact, Jeter has tried over the years to convince Cano that he needs to run out every last dribbler, dive, get his uniform dirty, play the game like Jeter does, like Pete Rose did."
Well, no.
Jeter has not taught Cano anything about hustle and smarts.
"The manager also swung and missed -- like his star-studded sluggers who managed a grand sum of four hits -- when asked about Cano's hustle, or lack thereof. Girardi claimed he had no problem with Cano's hustle, or lack thereof.
'Robbie plays fine for me,' Girardi said. 'And I am sure he is frustrated and I understand that. You work really hard to get to this point, and you want to be a part of the winning and contributing, and it is frustrating when you don't.' "
Girardi benched Cano once, years ago, when Cano turned a one-base error into a two-base by loping after a botched ground ball.
That was the beginning and the end of the disciplinary response to Cano's slack.
"In the sixth inning, after Ichiro Suzuki small-balled his way onto first with a slow hopper that Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez couldn't handle, Cano offered something closer to a swinging bunt.
Cano had just watched Suzuki race down the line as if his Hall of Fame candidacy depended on it, his foot speed and competitive will leaving the rushed Tigers to fumble and bumble their way into trouble. Cano had also watched Jeter for years force infielders into hurried and errant throws by honoring DiMaggio's dogma of playing every game as if someone in the crowd is observing for the first time.
So what happens here in the middle of a scoreless game with the Yanks already down in the series, and down a captain? What happens when one of the sport's most talented hitters -- a player who should be desperate to deliver something, anything, of substance -- sends this potentially tricky bouncer to Sanchez's left?
The pitcher feels so comfortable fielding the ball that he throws the kind of underhand lob that a father might toss to his 4-year-old child. The pitcher does this because he knows Cano is running, and because he knows Cano doesn't run Ichiro/Jeter hard to first.
It didn't matter that the underhand throw was Charmin-soft, and it didn't matter that Cano -- nobody's idea of an Olympic sprinter -- might not have beaten it out at full blast. It did matter that Sanchez and the Tigers felt unburdened on the play because they knew Cano would take a lunchtime stroll down the line."
This is hilarious to me, the sudden outrage at Cano's slack.
It's like a New York sportswriter woke up this morning and got angry because the subway doesn't take tokens anymore.
The choices are 30 feet, 45 feet, 60 feet, and 75 feet.
90 feet is not an option because I don't know what kind of odds that would require, even for a gentlemen's bet:
"Didn't his middle-of-the-infield mentor, Derek Jeter, teach this guy anything? In fact, Jeter has tried over the years to convince Cano that he needs to run out every last dribbler, dive, get his uniform dirty, play the game like Jeter does, like Pete Rose did."
Well, no.
Jeter has not taught Cano anything about hustle and smarts.
"The manager also swung and missed -- like his star-studded sluggers who managed a grand sum of four hits -- when asked about Cano's hustle, or lack thereof. Girardi claimed he had no problem with Cano's hustle, or lack thereof.
'Robbie plays fine for me,' Girardi said. 'And I am sure he is frustrated and I understand that. You work really hard to get to this point, and you want to be a part of the winning and contributing, and it is frustrating when you don't.' "
Girardi benched Cano once, years ago, when Cano turned a one-base error into a two-base by loping after a botched ground ball.
That was the beginning and the end of the disciplinary response to Cano's slack.
"In the sixth inning, after Ichiro Suzuki small-balled his way onto first with a slow hopper that Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez couldn't handle, Cano offered something closer to a swinging bunt.
Cano had just watched Suzuki race down the line as if his Hall of Fame candidacy depended on it, his foot speed and competitive will leaving the rushed Tigers to fumble and bumble their way into trouble. Cano had also watched Jeter for years force infielders into hurried and errant throws by honoring DiMaggio's dogma of playing every game as if someone in the crowd is observing for the first time.
So what happens here in the middle of a scoreless game with the Yanks already down in the series, and down a captain? What happens when one of the sport's most talented hitters -- a player who should be desperate to deliver something, anything, of substance -- sends this potentially tricky bouncer to Sanchez's left?
The pitcher feels so comfortable fielding the ball that he throws the kind of underhand lob that a father might toss to his 4-year-old child. The pitcher does this because he knows Cano is running, and because he knows Cano doesn't run Ichiro/Jeter hard to first.
It didn't matter that the underhand throw was Charmin-soft, and it didn't matter that Cano -- nobody's idea of an Olympic sprinter -- might not have beaten it out at full blast. It did matter that Sanchez and the Tigers felt unburdened on the play because they knew Cano would take a lunchtime stroll down the line."
This is hilarious to me, the sudden outrage at Cano's slack.
It's like a New York sportswriter woke up this morning and got angry because the subway doesn't take tokens anymore.
Don't ya know?
"The ball squirted up and out of Robinson Cano’s throwing hand in the seventh, sabotaging a potential inning-ending, double-play relay while Quintin Berry scooted home from third base for the first run in a 3-0 loss to Detroit.
Cano betrayed no emotion, because he never does.
'I didn’t get a grip on the ball, but I think he would be safe anyway,' he said."
Cano will win a Gold Glove, but it's fraudulent. He botches plays in the field constantly ... often due to his laziness and lack of fundamentals ... and the accolades he receives are mostly due to his penchant for making easy plays look hard.
"Cano didn’t run hard to first on a soft, swinging bunt to the pitcher in the sixth."
Cano didn't even run hard to assist Jeter.
I just think he hit a weird slump at a bad time.
It is important, however, for him to hustle. Do it once, for me, so I can see it with my own eyes. Run 90 feet to first base one time in your career.
Cano betrayed no emotion, because he never does.
'I didn’t get a grip on the ball, but I think he would be safe anyway,' he said."
Cano will win a Gold Glove, but it's fraudulent. He botches plays in the field constantly ... often due to his laziness and lack of fundamentals ... and the accolades he receives are mostly due to his penchant for making easy plays look hard.
"Cano didn’t run hard to first on a soft, swinging bunt to the pitcher in the sixth."
Cano didn't even run hard to assist Jeter.
Jeter must have been 90+ feet away.
"He didn’t protest much later, either, when Omar Infante was called safe at second base by ump Jeff Nelson on a clear tag-out, turning the eighth inning into a two-run fiasco.
Cano was cool as an October night, even as his manager was ejected for arguing the botched call, very nearly blaming the umps for losing both Games 1 and 2."
Cano argued with the umpire a little bit.
I don't think it's important for him to change his demeanor. Cano was cool as an October night, even as his manager was ejected for arguing the botched call, very nearly blaming the umps for losing both Games 1 and 2."
Cano argued with the umpire a little bit.
"The stats are mind-numbing, archeologically significant. After grounding out harmlessly to first base in the eighth inning, Cano left the stadium 2-for-32 (.063) in the 2012 playoffs and on an 0-for-26 streak, the longest postseason slump in the team’s long history.
No Yankee has been this bad for this long in October, ever."
No Yankee has been this bad for this long in October, ever."
It's the longest single-season postseason hitless streak in MLB history.
He was robbed of a single on a bad umpire call, to be fair. On the same play, however, he didn't run hard out of the batter's box.
"Cano is in the middle of everything, spurring nothing. He leaves runners on base. He is deceptively efficient in the field, yet his nonchalant style does not endear him to fans."
He is not deceptively efficient, he is lazy and fundamentally unsound.
He is not deceptively efficient, he is lazy and fundamentally unsound.
As for his nonchalant style, nobody complains because he hits .300. Nobody besides me.
"Is it the pressure, the responsibility of being the club’s very best hitter?
'I don’t put that in my mind,' Cano said.
Maybe he should."
'I don’t put that in my mind,' Cano said.
Maybe he should."
I just think he hit a weird slump at a bad time.
It is important, however, for him to hustle. Do it once, for me, so I can see it with my own eyes. Run 90 feet to first base one time in your career.
It was fun for a while.
"But the always gregarious Swisher couldn’t let it go, especially since
he believes some fans made it personal with verbal attacks this weekend
aimed at him and several inappropriate tweets about him to his wife,
actress JoAnna Garcia.
'(Saturday) night was pretty big. A lot of people saying a lot of things that I’ve never heard before,” Swisher said. 'Prime example - I missed that ball in the lights and the next thing you know, I’m the reason that (Derek) Jeter got hurt. It’s kind of frustrating. They were saying it was my fault.'
Swisher, who may have played his final home game as a Yankee if the series doesn’t return to New York, normally does an emphatic military salute to the Bleacher Creatures during their customary first-inning roll call, but he admittedly took warm-up throws closer to the infield and noticeably toned down his interaction with those fans during Sunday’s 3-0 loss.
'That’s the last thing that I ever thought would be in this ballpark, that people would get on you that bad,' said Swisher, who is an unfathomable 1-for-34 with runners in scoring position in his postseason career. 'Especially your home, where your heart is, where you’ve been battling and grinding all year long. It’s just frustrating, man. You never want to be in that spot. It’s not like you’re trying to go out there and do bad on purpose. It’s just tough, man.' "
'(Saturday) night was pretty big. A lot of people saying a lot of things that I’ve never heard before,” Swisher said. 'Prime example - I missed that ball in the lights and the next thing you know, I’m the reason that (Derek) Jeter got hurt. It’s kind of frustrating. They were saying it was my fault.'
Swisher, who may have played his final home game as a Yankee if the series doesn’t return to New York, normally does an emphatic military salute to the Bleacher Creatures during their customary first-inning roll call, but he admittedly took warm-up throws closer to the infield and noticeably toned down his interaction with those fans during Sunday’s 3-0 loss.
'That’s the last thing that I ever thought would be in this ballpark, that people would get on you that bad,' said Swisher, who is an unfathomable 1-for-34 with runners in scoring position in his postseason career. 'Especially your home, where your heart is, where you’ve been battling and grinding all year long. It’s just frustrating, man. You never want to be in that spot. It’s not like you’re trying to go out there and do bad on purpose. It’s just tough, man.' "
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Quick review of NYY 2012 playoff stats.
Alex Rodriguez: 2-for-19 with 10 ks.
Robinson Cano: 2-for-28 with 4 ks (and 1 walk).
Nick Swisher: 3-for-23 with 6 ks.
Curtis Granderson: 3-for-23 with 11 ks.
Eric Chavez: 0-for-11 with 6 ks.
Fab Five: 10-for-104 with 37 ks.
I still say play Girardi may as well play ARod and challenge ARod to show some pride and guts.
By the way, teams are winning playoff games every day by hitting singles with RISP.
Kevin Long tried to save this team in early September by imploring more attention to small ball. Girardi dismissed the idea and the team didn't listen to Long.
Fast forward six weeks: What would this team do to go back and get a few well-timed RBI ground outs?
If I am allowed to pick the critical at-bats ... and all I'm asking for is a sac fly or an RBI ground out ... a chopper to second base ... then, the Yankees have not lost a playoff game in 2012.
Yeah, yeah, I know it's a ridiculous exercise ... fallacy of pre-determined outcome ... one-sided perspective.
But it's a professional embarrassment to witness a team completely unwilling to play the game properly, even in the playoffs, even with the game on the line.
I have trouble believing that Alex Rodriguez lacks the ability to chop a grounder to 2b off of Doug Fister. He's trying to hit a 3-run HR and, when he fails to hit a HR, he's got nothing. That's the story of the 2012 Yankees.
Empty seats at Yankee Stadium.
"For the second consecutive playoff game, swaths of empty seats filled
Yankee Stadium, entire rows without a single fan. And on Saturday night,
instead of letting them sit embarrassingly open for Game 1 of the ALCS,
ushers were told to fill them with fans from other sections."
Part of it is a problem with MLB's weird scheduling, but it's mostly an unenthusiastic response by a spoiled fan base.
"Indeed, the face-value ticket prices are exorbitant. Seats for Sunday's Game 2 against the Detroit Tigers are available on the Yankees' website for between $113 and $688. The Legends Seats – behind home plate and the surrounding areas – range from $860 to $1,715. A spokesman for Major League Baseball said the league offers a variety of potential ticket prices to each team, which then chooses its desired pricing for its LCS home games."
It's noticeable.
One-percenters showing up in the playoffs, talking on their cell phones, and acting entitled to a walk-off grand slam.
Part of it is a problem with MLB's weird scheduling, but it's mostly an unenthusiastic response by a spoiled fan base.
"Indeed, the face-value ticket prices are exorbitant. Seats for Sunday's Game 2 against the Detroit Tigers are available on the Yankees' website for between $113 and $688. The Legends Seats – behind home plate and the surrounding areas – range from $860 to $1,715. A spokesman for Major League Baseball said the league offers a variety of potential ticket prices to each team, which then chooses its desired pricing for its LCS home games."
It's noticeable.
One-percenters showing up in the playoffs, talking on their cell phones, and acting entitled to a walk-off grand slam.
Last season, Granderson led the league in RBIs and runs scored.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't:
"It has now been three seasons since the big three-way trade among the Yankees, Tigers and Diamondbacks in which the Yankees sent rookie Austin Jackson and lefty reliever Phil Coke to Detroit and righthander Ian Kennedy to Arizona to land Granderson, a four-tool All-Star.
Two years later, all three teams maintained it was one of those rare deals where everyone came out a winner. Granderson had a breakout season last year for the Yankees with 41 homers and a league-leading 119 RBI. Kennedy led the National League in wins with 21 and, running away with the AL Central, the Tigers got a 15-9 season out of Max Scherzer, the pitcher they got from Arizona, while Jackson, despite a 44-point drop in average, provided superb center field defense.
But trades are ever-evolving in determining who got the best of them, and Jackson’s emergence as a .300 hitter this year after working to eliminate a hitch in his swing that had accounted for Granderson-like 170 and 189 strikeout totals his first two seasons, has prompted the thinking that, when it’s all said and done, he may prove to be the best player in this deal."
Madden writes another woulda-coulda-shoulda article the day after he says the Yankees shoulda traded for Miguel Cabrera.
Yesterday, Madden chastised the Yankees for refusing to trade their prospects in an imaginary deal. Today, he chastises the Yankees for trading their prospects in a real-life deal.
"So this ALDS will be the latest referendum on the big trade. Much as they loved those 43 homers and 106 RBI from Granderson, the Yankees winced at those 195 strikeouts which helped account for a .232 average and .319 on-base percentage (as opposed to Jackson’s .300/.377). They hold a $13 million option for next year, but with that $189 million luxury tax threshold hovering in 2014, it is doubtful they will sign him long-term. More likely, they will try to trade him this winter. If Granderson helps them win it all, they can consider themselves winners in the deal for the short term, even though most scouts will tell you that, already, Jackson is the better player."
1) This "ALDS" [sic] is a lot of things, but it's not a referendum on the big trade. Nobody cares about the big trade.
"It has now been three seasons since the big three-way trade among the Yankees, Tigers and Diamondbacks in which the Yankees sent rookie Austin Jackson and lefty reliever Phil Coke to Detroit and righthander Ian Kennedy to Arizona to land Granderson, a four-tool All-Star.
Two years later, all three teams maintained it was one of those rare deals where everyone came out a winner. Granderson had a breakout season last year for the Yankees with 41 homers and a league-leading 119 RBI. Kennedy led the National League in wins with 21 and, running away with the AL Central, the Tigers got a 15-9 season out of Max Scherzer, the pitcher they got from Arizona, while Jackson, despite a 44-point drop in average, provided superb center field defense.
But trades are ever-evolving in determining who got the best of them, and Jackson’s emergence as a .300 hitter this year after working to eliminate a hitch in his swing that had accounted for Granderson-like 170 and 189 strikeout totals his first two seasons, has prompted the thinking that, when it’s all said and done, he may prove to be the best player in this deal."
Madden writes another woulda-coulda-shoulda article the day after he says the Yankees shoulda traded for Miguel Cabrera.
Yesterday, Madden chastised the Yankees for refusing to trade their prospects in an imaginary deal. Today, he chastises the Yankees for trading their prospects in a real-life deal.
"So this ALDS will be the latest referendum on the big trade. Much as they loved those 43 homers and 106 RBI from Granderson, the Yankees winced at those 195 strikeouts which helped account for a .232 average and .319 on-base percentage (as opposed to Jackson’s .300/.377). They hold a $13 million option for next year, but with that $189 million luxury tax threshold hovering in 2014, it is doubtful they will sign him long-term. More likely, they will try to trade him this winter. If Granderson helps them win it all, they can consider themselves winners in the deal for the short term, even though most scouts will tell you that, already, Jackson is the better player."
1) This "ALDS" [sic] is a lot of things, but it's not a referendum on the big trade. Nobody cares about the big trade.
2) After Swisher's inevitable exit, I'm curious what the Madden version of the Yankee 2013 outfield looks like. Gardner, Ichiro, and the guy who's better than Granderson?
3) $13 million sounds very inexpensive for a guy who hit 40 and drove in 100 for 2 years in a row.
Jackson is a different player than Granderson, but not a better player. Granderson has some deficiencies, and so does Jackson. I wouldn't be so dismissive of the guy who plays CF and leads your team in HRs and RBIs.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
You guys! Yankees could have had a triple crown winner at third base ... well, at DH, because he can't field ... but, still.
What is the point of this observation?
Yankees could have had lots of players, in theory:
"A-Rod opted out of his already onerous $252 million contract on Oct. 29, 2007, much to GM Brian Cashman's great relief."
I think the Yankees were paying about $9 million of ARod's annual salary and got two MVPs out of it.
In 2007, well ... forget it ... I'm not getting into it.
ARod 2007 was the best offensive season I've ever seen up close, so, whatever. The Yankees' GM was relieved to put Mike Lamb at third.
"A little more than a month later, the Florida Marlins traded Miguel Cabrera and their one-time lefty pitching ace, Dontrelle Willis, to the Tigers for two top prospects, pitcher Andrew Miller and outfielder Cameron Maybin, and three other non-prospects."
So, in retrospect, this guy is saying the Yankees should have taken on Dontrelle Willis's contract and lost five prospects.
Maybe.
Because we have no idea if this deal was in the works in the first place.
"The Marlins had made it known that they were willing to trade Cabrera, with whom they had had some issues about his work ethic and who had a year to go before he was eligible for free agency, but on the condition that the other club take on Willis and the remaining four years and $35 million on his contract. After leading the National League with 22 wins as the toast of baseball in 2005, Willis had deteriorated to a 10-15 record and 5.17 ERA in 2007, and there were few clubs capable and/or willing to take on that financial risk. The Yankees were certainly capable, but whether they would have been willing, we’ll never know."
In Bill Madden's alternate universe, Miguel Cabrera is pounding the baseball for the 2012 Yankees. Which would be great.
But who's pitching for the Yankees in the imaginary ALCS?
Is Dontrelle Willis pitching Game Four?
"What happens now with A-Rod is anyone’s guess. Steinbrenner is long gone from the scene, reportedly making only token appearances at the Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field offices in Tampa, and A-Rod, already in marked decline, could find himself on the bench for much of the ALCS as the Tigers’ starting rotation is totally righthanded. Meanwhile, it is understandable if the Yankee high command probably doesn’t want to think about that missed opportunity to get one of the best hitters in the game to replace the opted-out A-Rod five years ago."
You still haven't explained how this was going to happen, or if Cabrera wanted to come to New York, or which prospects the Yankees would have traded, or if the Yankees would have won the World Series in 2009 without ARod.
Yankees could have had lots of players, in theory:
"A-Rod opted out of his already onerous $252 million contract on Oct. 29, 2007, much to GM Brian Cashman's great relief."
I think the Yankees were paying about $9 million of ARod's annual salary and got two MVPs out of it.
In 2007, well ... forget it ... I'm not getting into it.
ARod 2007 was the best offensive season I've ever seen up close, so, whatever. The Yankees' GM was relieved to put Mike Lamb at third.
"A little more than a month later, the Florida Marlins traded Miguel Cabrera and their one-time lefty pitching ace, Dontrelle Willis, to the Tigers for two top prospects, pitcher Andrew Miller and outfielder Cameron Maybin, and three other non-prospects."
So, in retrospect, this guy is saying the Yankees should have taken on Dontrelle Willis's contract and lost five prospects.
Maybe.
Because we have no idea if this deal was in the works in the first place.
"The Marlins had made it known that they were willing to trade Cabrera, with whom they had had some issues about his work ethic and who had a year to go before he was eligible for free agency, but on the condition that the other club take on Willis and the remaining four years and $35 million on his contract. After leading the National League with 22 wins as the toast of baseball in 2005, Willis had deteriorated to a 10-15 record and 5.17 ERA in 2007, and there were few clubs capable and/or willing to take on that financial risk. The Yankees were certainly capable, but whether they would have been willing, we’ll never know."
In Bill Madden's alternate universe, Miguel Cabrera is pounding the baseball for the 2012 Yankees. Which would be great.
But who's pitching for the Yankees in the imaginary ALCS?
Is Dontrelle Willis pitching Game Four?
"What happens now with A-Rod is anyone’s guess. Steinbrenner is long gone from the scene, reportedly making only token appearances at the Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field offices in Tampa, and A-Rod, already in marked decline, could find himself on the bench for much of the ALCS as the Tigers’ starting rotation is totally righthanded. Meanwhile, it is understandable if the Yankee high command probably doesn’t want to think about that missed opportunity to get one of the best hitters in the game to replace the opted-out A-Rod five years ago."
You still haven't explained how this was going to happen, or if Cabrera wanted to come to New York, or which prospects the Yankees would have traded, or if the Yankees would have won the World Series in 2009 without ARod.
Carlos Beltran gets three hits in a playoff game.
As Mike Francesa points out, New York fans booed this guy out of town. He is the greatest postseason batter in MLB history.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Swisher's last game as a Yankee?.
"So, obviously, this is far from all A-Rod’s fault. This is turning into the nightmare scenario that loomed as a possibility all season — the Yankees’ home run-or-bust offense coming up empty in the postseason for a second straight year."
It really is kind of funny to me how the 2012 Yankees are finally the team they've been accused of being since approximately 2002.
"Then again, the Orioles can’t hit, either, and the Yankees do have CC Sabathia on the mound on Friday, so you still have to think they have some type of advantage for Game 5.
It’s just hard to imagine Yankee fans are very confident at this point. How could they be after watching this team struggle so badly at the plate?"
I think the Tigers are going to the World Series.
It's not reverse psychology or faux cautiousness, but I haven't been confident in this team since around ... I guess since around September.
"No, it’s not just Rodriguez. With his single on Thursday night, he’s practically sizzling compared to Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson.
Cano, the hottest hitter in baseball when the season ended a week ago, is 2-for-18 in the series, but at least he’s hitting the ball, sometimes with hard luck.
Granderson is in such a fog that Joe Girardi really needs to bench him in Game 5, put Ichiro Suzuki in center and insert Raul Ibanez in left. The center fielder, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in Game 4, is 1-for-16 with a whopping nine K’s for the series.
And, of course, don’t forget Nick Swisher. After all his promises that October would be different for him this time, he is 2-for-15, bringing his postseason total as a Yankee to 18-for-115."
I guess you keep putting them in there and hope the pitcher throws the ball into their bat.
But it's embarrassing and unprofessional (and disheartening to witness as a fan) when the team refuses to play small ball to this extent. When there's a playoff game on the line.
Even worse, they keep talking like they're playing the game properly. "We've been in playoff mode since September." I don't see any proof of this.
It has been the same thing all year. They roll when they hit four HRs in an inning. They can't get a sac fly or a hit with RISP if their lives depended on it.
My prediction is that the Yankees get shut out tonight.
It really is kind of funny to me how the 2012 Yankees are finally the team they've been accused of being since approximately 2002.
"Then again, the Orioles can’t hit, either, and the Yankees do have CC Sabathia on the mound on Friday, so you still have to think they have some type of advantage for Game 5.
It’s just hard to imagine Yankee fans are very confident at this point. How could they be after watching this team struggle so badly at the plate?"
I think the Tigers are going to the World Series.
It's not reverse psychology or faux cautiousness, but I haven't been confident in this team since around ... I guess since around September.
"No, it’s not just Rodriguez. With his single on Thursday night, he’s practically sizzling compared to Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson.
Cano, the hottest hitter in baseball when the season ended a week ago, is 2-for-18 in the series, but at least he’s hitting the ball, sometimes with hard luck.
Granderson is in such a fog that Joe Girardi really needs to bench him in Game 5, put Ichiro Suzuki in center and insert Raul Ibanez in left. The center fielder, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in Game 4, is 1-for-16 with a whopping nine K’s for the series.
And, of course, don’t forget Nick Swisher. After all his promises that October would be different for him this time, he is 2-for-15, bringing his postseason total as a Yankee to 18-for-115."
I guess you keep putting them in there and hope the pitcher throws the ball into their bat.
But it's embarrassing and unprofessional (and disheartening to witness as a fan) when the team refuses to play small ball to this extent. When there's a playoff game on the line.
Even worse, they keep talking like they're playing the game properly. "We've been in playoff mode since September." I don't see any proof of this.
It has been the same thing all year. They roll when they hit four HRs in an inning. They can't get a sac fly or a hit with RISP if their lives depended on it.
My prediction is that the Yankees get shut out tonight.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
All praise to Girardi.
Girardi showed faith in his player up to a tipping point, but the player didn't reward the loyalty. I never thought for a second that Girardi was bending over backwards solely to massage ARod's ego. Girardi took a huge, career-altering chance by pinch-hitting for ARod and Girardi would have been vilified if Ibanez had made out.
Get a couple of hits and drive in a run or two.
"For this and many other reasons, you can expect Robinson Cano to be slotted into the No. 3 spot in Girardi’s lineup for Game 3 tonight, unless the manager contrives another list of scatty reasons why he should keep A-Rod in the three hole.
By now, you know them all by rote:
Rodriguez’s 1-for-9, five-strikeout ledger in this ALDS is merely an inscrutable run of bad luck, but he still finds ways to get on base.
Rodriguez, despite the fact he’s had one RBI and one extra-base hit in the 16 games he has played since Sept. 19, can renew his power surge at any time by channeling his inner Hulk and morphing into an irradiated mutant.
And Rodriguez, whose allegedly fragile mental state is one of those Yankee things that have been deemed Inappropriate for Public Discourse, would fall to pieces if he were dropped to sixth or seventh in the lineup.
...
Just be prepared for the possibility that moving A-Rod down in the order may lend them not a whit of offensive benefit whatsoever.
Because the alternatives to the current lineup aren’t very inspiring, either."
Maybe Girardi will surprise everyone and keep ARod batting 3rd.
Grab ARod by the scruff before the game and tell him, "Don't let me down. I'm not batting you 8th. I'm putting my reputation on the line for you. Get two hits and an RBI and everyone will shut up. Another 0-for-4 and you're dead to me."
By now, you know them all by rote:
Rodriguez’s 1-for-9, five-strikeout ledger in this ALDS is merely an inscrutable run of bad luck, but he still finds ways to get on base.
Rodriguez, despite the fact he’s had one RBI and one extra-base hit in the 16 games he has played since Sept. 19, can renew his power surge at any time by channeling his inner Hulk and morphing into an irradiated mutant.
And Rodriguez, whose allegedly fragile mental state is one of those Yankee things that have been deemed Inappropriate for Public Discourse, would fall to pieces if he were dropped to sixth or seventh in the lineup.
...
Just be prepared for the possibility that moving A-Rod down in the order may lend them not a whit of offensive benefit whatsoever.
Because the alternatives to the current lineup aren’t very inspiring, either."
Maybe Girardi will surprise everyone and keep ARod batting 3rd.
Grab ARod by the scruff before the game and tell him, "Don't let me down. I'm not batting you 8th. I'm putting my reputation on the line for you. Get two hits and an RBI and everyone will shut up. Another 0-for-4 and you're dead to me."
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
At least he is specific, Raul Ibanez it is.
This reminds me that Miguel Gonzalez tossed 7 shutout innings at Yankee Stadium on August 31.
In any case, I don't think this is a ridiculous lineup.
I think the Yankees will probably get shut down by Miguel Gonzalez again, but Raul Ibanez will be unproductive from the #5 hole instead of being unproductive from the #8 hole:
"With the Orioles starting right-hander Miguel Gonzalez in Game 3, Girardi should use an order that has the usual 1-2 table setters at the top in Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki, followed by Robinson Cano, who is long overdue for his rightful place hitting third. Teixeira has four hits and a walk in the first two games, so he bats clean up, followed by Raul Ibanez.
Ibanez has definitely had a few big hits this year.
He is a .240 hitter this year, slightly better against righties. He is a .233 career playoff hitter with 3 playoff HRs in 120 playoff at-bats. Just so everyone is aware of the deficiencies of the Best of the ARod Alternatives.
So, yeah, if you think Ibanez is more likely than ARod to launch one into the short porch, it's a sensible idea. It's also possible that Ibanez ends the game by hitting into 4-6-3 DP while ARod waits in the on-deck circle ... on a day when ARod gets three hits and a HR.
In any case, I don't think this is a ridiculous lineup.
I think the Yankees will probably get shut down by Miguel Gonzalez again, but Raul Ibanez will be unproductive from the #5 hole instead of being unproductive from the #8 hole:
"With the Orioles starting right-hander Miguel Gonzalez in Game 3, Girardi should use an order that has the usual 1-2 table setters at the top in Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki, followed by Robinson Cano, who is long overdue for his rightful place hitting third. Teixeira has four hits and a walk in the first two games, so he bats clean up, followed by Raul Ibanez.
The left-handed hitting Ibanez has been swinging a clutch bat for some time and gets sandwiched between the switch-hitting Teixeira and the right-handed hitting A-Rod. Swisher, Curtis Granderson (pretty remarkable to put a player with 43 home runs in the next to last spot in the lineup), and Russell Martin round things out."
Ibanez has definitely had a few big hits this year.
He is a .240 hitter this year, slightly better against righties. He is a .233 career playoff hitter with 3 playoff HRs in 120 playoff at-bats. Just so everyone is aware of the deficiencies of the Best of the ARod Alternatives.
So, yeah, if you think Ibanez is more likely than ARod to launch one into the short porch, it's a sensible idea. It's also possible that Ibanez ends the game by hitting into 4-6-3 DP while ARod waits in the on-deck circle ... on a day when ARod gets three hits and a HR.
OK: Jeter, Ichiro, Cano, then the guys who get out every time.
Against a righty starter, I'd have no problem with Chavez/Ibanez replacing ARod/Nunez. I also have no problem, in theory, with dropping ARod in the lineup.
Having said that, please be specific when constructing the alternate lineup.
What you'll quickly discover is that the 2012 Yankees don't have too many good hitters:
"The last at-bat of the game was proof enough. Robinson Cano is by far the Yankees’ best hitter these days, and if he were hitting in the No. 3 spot, he would have come up against Jim Johnson when one swing still could have changed everything.
Instead he watched from the on-deck circle Monday night as Alex Rodriguez struck out swinging to end the game, his fifth strikeout in this series.
Enough, already. For a lot of reasons it’s time Joe Girardi makes the obvious move and puts Cano into that third spot, while moving the seemingly diminished A-Rod down in the lineup."
Showalter would have intentionally walked Cano.
"And let’s face it, Rodriguez hasn’t looked like a No. 3 hitter for quite some time, as he continues to search for his power stroke.
Yet after Monday night’s game, Joe Girardi said he had no plans to change the lineup for Wednesday’s Game 3, noting that A-Rod 'squared up two balls tonight.'
True enough, A-Rod did look a lot better than he did in Game 1, when he struck out three times. He hit line drives his first two times up, one that second baseman Robert Andino turned into a double play by making a diving grab, and another that went for a single to left.
Nevertheless, A-Rod was a .270 singles hitter down the stretch of the pennant race for the Yankees, delivering only six extra-base hits over the last month of the season.
Whether it is the result of the broken hand that put him on the disabled list for six months or simply the combination of age and multiple injuries in recent years, Rodriguez rarely hits for power.
In addition, scouts say he is more vulnerable than ever to fastballs at the belt or higher, saying pitchers attack him there when they need a big out, often getting him to swing and miss."
"Scouts," as in Every Person Who Watches the Yankees.
So he cheats against the fastball which makes him more vulnerable to breaking balls. It's pathetic. Even when he gets a hold of a fastball, it will die at the warning track.
"These days, however, you have to think it’s more about fading skills than him trying to validate his status as a Yankee."
I just think Girardi is hoping Cano gives ARod a little protection and it clicks in. I don't think it's such a crazy idea, either.
It might have finally clicked in for Teixeira, surprisingly enough (despite a few typical pop-ups).
It clicked in for Ichiro after about a month of batting ninth.
ARod's slump could turn around on a dime.
"Nobody is saying that Girardi should hit A-Rod eighth, as Joe Torre famously did in Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS against the Tigers. But Rodriguez shouldn’t be hitting third with Cano in the same lineup.
It might not have mattered in this game, but you can always wonder what Cano might have done with one more at-bat. You also can wonder if that thought kept Girardi from sleeping well afterward."
I just don't see the huge difference if Cano bats third.
Instead of having a gaping hole in the #3 spot, you now have a gaping hole in the #4 spot.
Whoever you pick, it's a player who has a low batting average, strikes out too much, and is unlikely to get a hit in the clutch.
Who on this team is noticeably better than ARod? Jeter, Ichiro, and Cano. That's it.
Teixeira may be finally coming out of it, so I guess he'd bat 4th, though the notion seemed laughable a week ago. Swisher is 1-for-33 in the postseason with RISP. Nunez earned his Yankee Pinstripes by popping up with the bases loaded. Granderson has an on-base% of .319 this season.
Russell Martin? Is Russell Martin now batting 5th? Because he never grounds into double players and never strikes out?
It's not that I'm against burying ARod in the lineup. But if you go Jeter-Ichiro-Cano, then the lineup is a black hole after Cano. Six batters who swing for the fences and usually come up empty.
The problem is not where they hit, it's how they hit.
Having said that, please be specific when constructing the alternate lineup.
What you'll quickly discover is that the 2012 Yankees don't have too many good hitters:
"The last at-bat of the game was proof enough. Robinson Cano is by far the Yankees’ best hitter these days, and if he were hitting in the No. 3 spot, he would have come up against Jim Johnson when one swing still could have changed everything.
Instead he watched from the on-deck circle Monday night as Alex Rodriguez struck out swinging to end the game, his fifth strikeout in this series.
Enough, already. For a lot of reasons it’s time Joe Girardi makes the obvious move and puts Cano into that third spot, while moving the seemingly diminished A-Rod down in the lineup."
Showalter would have intentionally walked Cano.
"And let’s face it, Rodriguez hasn’t looked like a No. 3 hitter for quite some time, as he continues to search for his power stroke.
Yet after Monday night’s game, Joe Girardi said he had no plans to change the lineup for Wednesday’s Game 3, noting that A-Rod 'squared up two balls tonight.'
True enough, A-Rod did look a lot better than he did in Game 1, when he struck out three times. He hit line drives his first two times up, one that second baseman Robert Andino turned into a double play by making a diving grab, and another that went for a single to left.
Nevertheless, A-Rod was a .270 singles hitter down the stretch of the pennant race for the Yankees, delivering only six extra-base hits over the last month of the season.
Whether it is the result of the broken hand that put him on the disabled list for six months or simply the combination of age and multiple injuries in recent years, Rodriguez rarely hits for power.
In addition, scouts say he is more vulnerable than ever to fastballs at the belt or higher, saying pitchers attack him there when they need a big out, often getting him to swing and miss."
"Scouts," as in Every Person Who Watches the Yankees.
So he cheats against the fastball which makes him more vulnerable to breaking balls. It's pathetic. Even when he gets a hold of a fastball, it will die at the warning track.
"These days, however, you have to think it’s more about fading skills than him trying to validate his status as a Yankee."
I just think Girardi is hoping Cano gives ARod a little protection and it clicks in. I don't think it's such a crazy idea, either.
It might have finally clicked in for Teixeira, surprisingly enough (despite a few typical pop-ups).
It clicked in for Ichiro after about a month of batting ninth.
ARod's slump could turn around on a dime.
"Nobody is saying that Girardi should hit A-Rod eighth, as Joe Torre famously did in Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS against the Tigers. But Rodriguez shouldn’t be hitting third with Cano in the same lineup.
It might not have mattered in this game, but you can always wonder what Cano might have done with one more at-bat. You also can wonder if that thought kept Girardi from sleeping well afterward."
I just don't see the huge difference if Cano bats third.
Instead of having a gaping hole in the #3 spot, you now have a gaping hole in the #4 spot.
Whoever you pick, it's a player who has a low batting average, strikes out too much, and is unlikely to get a hit in the clutch.
Who on this team is noticeably better than ARod? Jeter, Ichiro, and Cano. That's it.
Teixeira may be finally coming out of it, so I guess he'd bat 4th, though the notion seemed laughable a week ago. Swisher is 1-for-33 in the postseason with RISP. Nunez earned his Yankee Pinstripes by popping up with the bases loaded. Granderson has an on-base% of .319 this season.
Russell Martin? Is Russell Martin now batting 5th? Because he never grounds into double players and never strikes out?
It's not that I'm against burying ARod in the lineup. But if you go Jeter-Ichiro-Cano, then the lineup is a black hole after Cano. Six batters who swing for the fences and usually come up empty.
The problem is not where they hit, it's how they hit.
Monday, October 08, 2012
Yankee Postseason Roster.
A pleasant surprise that Andruw Jones is off the playoff roster:
"Lowe’s inclusion was one of many difficult decisions that the Yankees made before the series started. They chose Lowe over Cody Eppley, and also left Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia off the roster. Andruw Jones was replaced by Eduardo Nunez, and Jayson Nix made it after proving he had recovered from a strained left hip flexor."
"Lowe’s inclusion was one of many difficult decisions that the Yankees made before the series started. They chose Lowe over Cody Eppley, and also left Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia off the roster. Andruw Jones was replaced by Eduardo Nunez, and Jayson Nix made it after proving he had recovered from a strained left hip flexor."
Sunday, October 07, 2012
One thing I think we can all agree on is that Yanks/O's feels nothing like Yanks/BoSox.
Can Mike Lupica write an article about a baseball series without somehow linking the story to Theo Epstein? The world may never know:
"It is the Yankees and the Orioles now in the first round of the playoffs, and so the American League East season did not end on Wednesday night, it goes extra innings, the way it used to with the Red Sox back in 2003 and 2004, when the Yankees and Red Sox would play 19 times during the regular season and still not be done with each other, or have settled anything."
2004: Red Sox end the Curse of the Bambino by coming back from 3-0 deficit in ALCS. Red Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1918.
2003: Aaron Boone.
1999: Pedro and Zimmer. Clemens and Manny. Perhaps the most intense baseball series I have ever witnessed.
1978: Bucky Dent.
These are some of the greatest moments in one of sports' greatest rivalries.
"Maybe that’s because of the Yankees’ record in the playoffs since their collapse against the Red Sox in ’04:
2005: Lose first round.
2006: Lose first round.
2007: Lose first round.
2008: Miss playoffs.
2009: Win World Series.
2010: Lose to Rangers in ALCS.
2011: Lose first round, finally losing Game 5 at home to the Tigers."
What's your point?
This is the Orioles' record in the playoffs since they leisurely drove home from the golf course and watched on TV as the Red Sox beat the Yankees in '04:
2005: Miss playoffs.
2006: Miss playoffs.
2007: Miss playoffs.
2008: Miss playoffs.
2009: Miss playoffs.
2010: Miss playoffs.
2011: Miss playoffs.
Not sure what any of this has to do with tonight's game.
"The Yankees thought they had put the Orioles away for good Wednesday night, when they beat the Pawtucket Red Sox as the Orioles were losing to the Rays."
Really?
The Yankees thought they had beaten the Orioles all the way back to 1993, before the Wild Card existed?
I am pretty sure the Yankees figured the Orioles had roughly a 50%-50% shot in Texas.
"Only they did not put them away. In the past, the Yankees couldn’t play the wild-card winner in the first round if that winner came out of the AL East."
I don't see what is the big difference here. So the Yankees would be playing Detroit instead of Baltimore and Lupica would be waxing poetic about Verlander, Leyland, and Cabrera.
"Once, in October of 1996, the Yankees really began their run as Torre's Yankees by beating the Orioles in the American League championship series. Now the Orioles are back, because a team that was 41 games under .500 when Showalter took over in 2010 has come all the way back."
"All the way back" is winning one playoff game. That's cool. I understand that this stuff is graded on a curve. I also understand that the Orioles players are probably excited to play in the playoffs, while the Yankee players will be yawning through the first round.
Funny you bring up 1996, though.
I was thinking the 2012 Yankees are the worst Yankee team to make the playoffs since 1996.
The good news is that the Yankees won the World Series in 1996 ... so who knows what will happen in 2012?
"It starts by trying to win three of five against the Yankees. Such a great fight in the AL East this season, such a great September. Like a stirring 12-round fight. No decision yet. Yankees and Orioles fight on. Start of the 13th round at Camden Yards tonight."
Thanks for the boxing metaphor. The 2012 ALDS between the Yankees and the Orioles is nothing like boxing and it's nothing like Yankees-Sox. You're 0-for-2 in your metaphors.
This preview of the 2012 ALDS taught me that Mike Lupica is rooting for the Orioles. Lupica thinks the Yankees will lose. Lupica always thinks the Yankees will lose.
The difference is, this is a year where most Yankee fans probably agree.
Most Yankee fans would cut off one of their fingers for a Mark Teixeira sac fly.
"It is the Yankees and the Orioles now in the first round of the playoffs, and so the American League East season did not end on Wednesday night, it goes extra innings, the way it used to with the Red Sox back in 2003 and 2004, when the Yankees and Red Sox would play 19 times during the regular season and still not be done with each other, or have settled anything."
2004: Red Sox end the Curse of the Bambino by coming back from 3-0 deficit in ALCS. Red Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1918.
2003: Aaron Boone.
1999: Pedro and Zimmer. Clemens and Manny. Perhaps the most intense baseball series I have ever witnessed.
1978: Bucky Dent.
These are some of the greatest moments in one of sports' greatest rivalries.
"Maybe that’s because of the Yankees’ record in the playoffs since their collapse against the Red Sox in ’04:
2005: Lose first round.
2006: Lose first round.
2007: Lose first round.
2008: Miss playoffs.
2009: Win World Series.
2010: Lose to Rangers in ALCS.
2011: Lose first round, finally losing Game 5 at home to the Tigers."
What's your point?
This is the Orioles' record in the playoffs since they leisurely drove home from the golf course and watched on TV as the Red Sox beat the Yankees in '04:
2005: Miss playoffs.
2006: Miss playoffs.
2007: Miss playoffs.
2008: Miss playoffs.
2009: Miss playoffs.
2010: Miss playoffs.
2011: Miss playoffs.
Not sure what any of this has to do with tonight's game.
"The Yankees thought they had put the Orioles away for good Wednesday night, when they beat the Pawtucket Red Sox as the Orioles were losing to the Rays."
Really?
The Yankees thought they had beaten the Orioles all the way back to 1993, before the Wild Card existed?
I am pretty sure the Yankees figured the Orioles had roughly a 50%-50% shot in Texas.
"Only they did not put them away. In the past, the Yankees couldn’t play the wild-card winner in the first round if that winner came out of the AL East."
I don't see what is the big difference here. So the Yankees would be playing Detroit instead of Baltimore and Lupica would be waxing poetic about Verlander, Leyland, and Cabrera.
"Once, in October of 1996, the Yankees really began their run as Torre's Yankees by beating the Orioles in the American League championship series. Now the Orioles are back, because a team that was 41 games under .500 when Showalter took over in 2010 has come all the way back."
"All the way back" is winning one playoff game. That's cool. I understand that this stuff is graded on a curve. I also understand that the Orioles players are probably excited to play in the playoffs, while the Yankee players will be yawning through the first round.
Funny you bring up 1996, though.
I was thinking the 2012 Yankees are the worst Yankee team to make the playoffs since 1996.
The good news is that the Yankees won the World Series in 1996 ... so who knows what will happen in 2012?
"It starts by trying to win three of five against the Yankees. Such a great fight in the AL East this season, such a great September. Like a stirring 12-round fight. No decision yet. Yankees and Orioles fight on. Start of the 13th round at Camden Yards tonight."
Thanks for the boxing metaphor. The 2012 ALDS between the Yankees and the Orioles is nothing like boxing and it's nothing like Yankees-Sox. You're 0-for-2 in your metaphors.
This preview of the 2012 ALDS taught me that Mike Lupica is rooting for the Orioles. Lupica thinks the Yankees will lose. Lupica always thinks the Yankees will lose.
The difference is, this is a year where most Yankee fans probably agree.
Most Yankee fans would cut off one of their fingers for a Mark Teixeira sac fly.
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Introducing Robinson Cano.
Robinson Cano is 29 years old and has been in the big leagues for 8 years.
He almost won rookie of the year, he almost won MVP a couple of years ago, he had another great year (only hampered by the fact that he was garbage with RISP).
Bill Madden notices that he's the Yankees' best hitter:
"His middle-of-the-order cohorts, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, may be earning considerably more than Cano, but that is for past performance."
Of course. You'll be saying the same thing about Cano in 10 years.
"And though Curtis Granderson may have outhomered Cano, 43-33 and driven in 12 more runs (106-94), in terms of fear value, much of that is negated by the outfielder’s ungodly 195 strikeouts."
Yeah.
Jeter and Cano are the only players on the whole team who batted over .300.
Everyone else is all-or-nothing. It's like watching Dave Kingman in an over-50 softball league.
"There is no hotter hitter going into the postseason than Cano, who finished the season with nine straight multi-hit games — longest by a Yankee since Bernie Williams had 10 straight in 2002."
I give you credit for that research. It's a good trivia question.
" 'I’m not taking anything away from their other guys, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Granderson, (Nick) Swisher, who can all hurt you, but if you can contain Cano, your chances of beating the Yankees are immeasurably better,' the same scout said. 'During that slump of his in August, they were a very beatable team, especially with their starting pitching being so uneven.' "
Please don't hesitate to take something away from Teixeira, Rodriguez, Granderson, and Swisher.
The Yankees are a very beatable team, there is simply no denying this. The downside of an "all or nothing" approach is the "nothing."
" ... the window of opportunity is rapidly closing for this Yankee team. Indeed, Cano is the lone homegrown All-Star caliber position player to come out of the Yankee player development department since Jeter in 1996, and while there are some promising outfielders in A-ball, Tyler Austin, Mason Williams and Dante Bichette Jr., they remain years away, and until further notice subject to the popular saying around baseball about Yankee prospects: The closer they get to the big leagues, the less they like them."
Okay, okay, okay. I am crying "uncle."
Cano, Gardner, Hughes, Nova, Pineda, Robertson, Nunez, Granderson ... Teixeira isn't old ...
The "window of opportunity" usually stays open for the Yankees. That's what the big payroll is for.
As for the future, the only future is Sunday night in Baltimore. Win that game before you worry about the future prospects of Dante Bichette Jr.
He almost won rookie of the year, he almost won MVP a couple of years ago, he had another great year (only hampered by the fact that he was garbage with RISP).
Bill Madden notices that he's the Yankees' best hitter:
"His middle-of-the-order cohorts, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, may be earning considerably more than Cano, but that is for past performance."
Of course. You'll be saying the same thing about Cano in 10 years.
"And though Curtis Granderson may have outhomered Cano, 43-33 and driven in 12 more runs (106-94), in terms of fear value, much of that is negated by the outfielder’s ungodly 195 strikeouts."
Yeah.
Jeter and Cano are the only players on the whole team who batted over .300.
Everyone else is all-or-nothing. It's like watching Dave Kingman in an over-50 softball league.
"There is no hotter hitter going into the postseason than Cano, who finished the season with nine straight multi-hit games — longest by a Yankee since Bernie Williams had 10 straight in 2002."
I give you credit for that research. It's a good trivia question.
" 'I’m not taking anything away from their other guys, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Granderson, (Nick) Swisher, who can all hurt you, but if you can contain Cano, your chances of beating the Yankees are immeasurably better,' the same scout said. 'During that slump of his in August, they were a very beatable team, especially with their starting pitching being so uneven.' "
Please don't hesitate to take something away from Teixeira, Rodriguez, Granderson, and Swisher.
The Yankees are a very beatable team, there is simply no denying this. The downside of an "all or nothing" approach is the "nothing."
" ... the window of opportunity is rapidly closing for this Yankee team. Indeed, Cano is the lone homegrown All-Star caliber position player to come out of the Yankee player development department since Jeter in 1996, and while there are some promising outfielders in A-ball, Tyler Austin, Mason Williams and Dante Bichette Jr., they remain years away, and until further notice subject to the popular saying around baseball about Yankee prospects: The closer they get to the big leagues, the less they like them."
Okay, okay, okay. I am crying "uncle."
Cano, Gardner, Hughes, Nova, Pineda, Robertson, Nunez, Granderson ... Teixeira isn't old ...
The "window of opportunity" usually stays open for the Yankees. That's what the big payroll is for.
As for the future, the only future is Sunday night in Baltimore. Win that game before you worry about the future prospects of Dante Bichette Jr.
Friday, October 05, 2012
Yeah, what's with the infantalizing nicknames?
Since he won the division, Girardi deserves a lot of credit.
I'm happy a sportswriter finally noticed the weird nicknames:
"He’s not your lovable Uncle Joe. Joe Girardi will never be Joe Torre, no matter how many silly, infantilizing nicknames he employs for his players."
I'm happy a sportswriter finally noticed the weird nicknames:
"He’s not your lovable Uncle Joe. Joe Girardi will never be Joe Torre, no matter how many silly, infantilizing nicknames he employs for his players."
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Other than connecting with his swing, Teixeira had a good day hitting the ball.
Mark Teixeira is a professional baseball player who actually said the following:
“The frustrating thing is, I don’t think I swung at a ball all night,” Teixeira said. “I was just so off. I was early or I was way late on everything, and that’s the frustrating part. I was seeing it okay, it just wasn’t connecting with my swing.”
“The frustrating thing is, I don’t think I swung at a ball all night,” Teixeira said. “I was just so off. I was early or I was way late on everything, and that’s the frustrating part. I was seeing it okay, it just wasn’t connecting with my swing.”
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