That's a mild complaint.

Sometimes, two Yankee bullpen pitchers were warming up at the same time.

No fair ... we should have lost 10-3.

I think he was out. His hand was hovering above the plate.

1-for-17.

Not much going on in NY baseball.

Phil Mushnick cares about the batting title.

"Even the golden goodies — the old standards — no longer apply, lost to modern standards, which means low standards or none at all.

Remember, 'Winners never quit and quitters never win'?

But quitters now win, so much the 2016 National League batting title was won by sitting out the season’s last 4 ²/₃ games. Yet, that barely made a sound from a media who have lost their ability to identify cheap and cheesy while surrendering their tacit responsibility and public trust to distinguish right from far less."

The media was not paying attention to the Rockies or the batting title.


"To think he could’ve told them he chose to risk losing the title by trying to win it rather than to win it by quitting. To think his legacy might have been as a man who wouldn’t exploit circumstances to win rather than one who did."

He really doesn't have a legacy. 


"On Sept. 28, 1941, Boston’s Ted Williams, just 23 — five years younger than Reyes and LeMahieu when they won their titles — was batting .3996, which rounded to .400, before the last two games of the season — a doubleheader, Red Sox at the Philadelphia A’s.

He was given the option to sit them out and finish at .400 — the first since Bill Terry hit .401 in 1930. 

It wasn’t as if the Red Sox, 17 games behind the Yankees, were in a race.

But Williams insisted on playing both games, with, 'If I can’t hit .400 all the way, I don’t deserve it.'

Williams went 6-for-8 to finish at .4057 — rounded to the now unapproachable, known-by-heart-head .406. No one since has come close."

The go-to Ted Williams story, huh? God Bless America.

Technically speaking, Brett came close in 1980 (.390). Gwynn came close in 1994 (.394). Carew came close in 1977 (.388).

Manly McManly would have probably hit .400 back in the Good Ol' Days, but he strained his back Fixing America during the off season.

Writers simply dislike Ellsbury for some reason.

"AL Anti-MVP: Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees

 

Look, it would be easier to pick an Alex Rodriguez/Mark Teixeira tandem, since they went from carrying the offense last year to burdening it in 2016. But they were baseball geezers at the end."

Look, it would be easy to be accurate.


"Ellsbury is not the worst player in the AL or even on the Yankees. But is there anyone more invisible for the money (well, maybe Joe Mauer)"


Yes.

I can think of several on the Yankees.


"Brought to New York to be a catalyst, Ellsbury on Thursday registered his second steal since June 19. How is that possible?"

I also don't understand why Gardner and Ellsbury stopped stealing bases.



"Did anyone notice a lot of veterans who might have been in play for this award vanished, never to return: A-Rod, Prince Fielder, Omar Infante, Desmond Jennings and Jimmy Rollins?"

Yes, I noticed. But ... vanishing means they're adding even less value than Ellsbury.

Whatever. It's not something to get too hung up about (the LVP isn't even a thing).

The problem is, taking the totality of the 2016 season, Ellsbury is not worse than any of the other Yankee non-pitchers. Which isn't saying much. Sanchez didn't do it long enough, Beltran is gone, Castro leads the team with an astonishingly low 70 RBIs.

Ellsbury was paid too much, of course, but not compared to ARod, Teixeira, Headley, McCann ... if you're taking salary into account when you figure out your LVP.

It's not a defense of Ellsbury. The signing is no longer defensible. The Yankees paid a premium for an ordinary player. But what gives with the sportswriters who fixate on Ellsbury's deficiencies and then get all teary-eyed when Teixeira finally takes a hike?

It was fun while it lasted. A jolt of energy. A beacon for future success.

But the so-called Yankee MVP in this un-scientific poll has batted .222 in September (down the stretch!).

It's actually insulting to the Yankee players who grinded it out all year.

No offense to Sanchez and best wishes for 2017 and beyond. He had a great debut. He was insanely productive, even in the month of September. 

The lack of appreciation for Betances ... who has been Mariano-esque for three years, if not better ... while being asked to pitch 250 innings ... it's just a shame that he's underappreciated and overshadowed by the New Kid in Town.