Do not read this article by Mike Lupica.

I thought numerology, bad puns, and stupid pop culture references were the lowest of the low. Now Lupica is comparing ballplayers based on biological data:

"He is nine inches taller than the late, great Joe Morgan. He is nearly a foot taller than Jose Altuve. Rogers Hornsby was 5-foot-11. Robinson Canó, whom we thought was on his way to the Hall of Fame once, is 6 feet. Bill Mazeroski was 5-foot-11, and Nellie Fox was 5-foot-10. Jackie Robinson was 5-foot-11. Robbie Alomar was 6 feet. Jeff Kent was 6-foot-1. I am probably excluding other star second basemen. But you get the idea."

You have lost your mind.

Matt Harvey still has a grip on NY media.

Only player less intimidating is Tim Tebow.

It's Mr. Lindor to you.

"If I I’m Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson, I don’t let a new contract for Frankie Lindor become a thing."

Aside from the abominable construction of that sentence ... think about how that reads ... I don't think anyone calls him Frankie. Maybe they do and I'm unaware of this. I have never heard it anywhere else.

Also, well ... let's just say you're hyping the guy because he signed with the Mets.

You're spending someone else's money. 

Is Lindor worth, way, $400 million?

When Mike Lupica talks about Aaron Judge, he's really talking about Pete Alonso and Alex Rodriguez:

"We all know what Judge can do when he can stay on the field. He hit 52 home runs and set the all-time rookie record for home runs that Pete Alonso would break two seasons later. To put that in some perspective, you know how many other hitters in Yankee history not associated with performance-enhancing drugs — we’re talking about you, Mr. On-Again with Jennifer Lopez — have hit as many as 50 homers in a season?"

Yes. I do know.

 "Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris."

Easy Yankee Trivia for $200, Alex.

"We do keep hearing chatter about Aaron Boone, because that comes with the territory. We are talking here about the Yankee manager who became the first in the history of the team to win 100 or more games in his first two seasons. Now we hear about how much money is being spent on the players he manages, as if that is some sort of marker on the job he is doing. Really? The Yankees have probably spent around four billion dollars on baseball players since the ’01 World Series and have played in two since then and won one."

I'm not hearing many complaints about Aaron Boone. I have some of my own. 

"And if you think it was Boone’s decision to pull Deivi Garcia after one inning of Game 2 against the Rays, you also believe that Alex and Jennifer are going to make it to the altar someday."

Alex Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004. Seventeen years of this.

"Maybe this is the season when they are healthy together all season long and dangerous together all season long. Here is another thing to know about Judge and Stanton: Before them, there was only one time when the Yankees ever had two players on the same team with 50-homer seasons on their resumes, because the same year that Judge hit 52 in New York Stanton hit 59 in Miami."

Andruw Jones and Alex Rodriguez were Yankee teammates. 

"Stanton came here from somewhere else. Yankee fans look at Aaron Judge as their own. Not so long after Jeter left the stage, he came along to turn all of 2017 into a Home Run Derby. The next two years after that he combined to hit 54. Still plenty of time for him to punch his ticket to Monument Park. Not sitting next to the Aaron who manages the team."

Aaron Judge has the same first name as Aaron Boone.

Get it?

As we learn firsthand various economic theories.

Supply and demand, conspicuous consumption, sunk costs ... in other words, it's a step in the right direction, but it's going to be too expensive for normal people.

The word hype is a derivation of the word hyperbole.

Am I the only person not bothered by Frazier's attitude?

A seemingly bad concussion derailed his ascent ... and he probably strikes out a bit too much ... actually, he strikes out way too much ... but his status as a starter in Major League Baseball is way overdue:

"Reflecting recently on his journey, Frazier said he wasn’t ashamed of what he said or did in the past because they were relatively trivial and those moments shaped him. He said he felt that he had grown up — also with help from people like his girlfriend or the Yankees outfield coach Reggie Willits — and that he was truly part of the team.

Although Frazier said he toned down his personality because he grew tired of being the topic of conversation for reasons unrelated to his performance, he said he still kept some flair. 'A little bit more of a mild version rather than like a Tabasco hot sauce,' he said."

What did Frazier do that was so bad?

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

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

You sound like every Sunday morning WFAN caller

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

I stand corrected. 

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

Who’s the ace of New York?"

I think deGrom gets the benefit of the doubt. 

I also don't think anybody cares.

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

 

Dwight Gooden mentioned in a Mike Lupica column. Huh.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

So pinch hit a lefty and guess what?

Career OPS of .792.

You just made Mike Ford an all star.