The Red Sox are paying JD Martinez $24 million this season.

"Through the first quarter of the season, adding J.D. Martinez to the middle of the Red Sox lineup has been way more important than adding Giancarlo Stanton to the middle of the Yankees lineup."

J.D. Martinez is not an unknown entity.

He wasn't first in NL MVP voting 2017, and the expectations for his offensive output are certainly somewhat lower than Stanton's.

But Martinez was 14th in NL MVP voting, despite playing half the season in the AL

Perhaps that demonstrates typical boneheaded inconsistency by the voters ... I don't feel comfortable using MVP votes to support of reject any argument ... but it also demonstrates general awareness of Martinez's abilities.

Has Martinez been way more important than Stanton?

Probably a little more important.

Stanton has been kinda underwhelming, but also kinda productive in terms of HRs, RBIs, runs,

I think for $24 million, the Red Sox were expecting a great player.

It's May and we're talking about the Yankees' playoff rotation.

Things must be going really well.

"Is this the kind of rotation you'd love in the playoffs? Against Boston? Or Houston? Or even Cleveland? The three starters with the American League's lowest ERA -- Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton -- all pitch for the Astros, with Dallas Keuchel (3.10) ranked 12th. The Indians also have three starters -- Corey Kluber, Mike Clevinger, and Trevor Bauer -- in the AL's top 10 in ERA. (Severino is the only Yankee with at least 40 innings pitched who is in the top 30 in ERA.)"

Five months from now, we have no idea if the Yankees will make the playoffs or who will be in their rotation. Injuries or unexpected ineffectiveness could suddenly affect all five Yankee starters.

The best news, though, is that, if the Yankees make the playoffs, their opponent will be another professional baseball team in the American League.That team also has weaknesses in their starting rotation.

Verlander sure seems to have the Yankees' number. Last year, the hero was what's-his-name ... the guy whose father pitched for the Yankees ... Lance McCullers.

Verlander is intimidating, but maybe he has a bad game ... or maybe he's the one who's suddenly ineffective after too many innings.

"ERA on May 15th" is not much of a predictor of October performance.

Giancarlo Stanton has made one error this season.

He has played eight games in the outfield.

That's because he's a DH.

Maybe all the sportswriters will remember this simple fact when Stanton loses a few balls in the Florida sun during next year's Spring Training.

David Price.

Mike Lupica talks about David Price a lot. He has mentioned David Price is almost every Sunday column he has written since the baseball season started. I'm not sure why. I'm not even sure why Lupica is talking about the Red Sox so much in the New York Daily News. But Lupica has some sort of unusual infatuation with David Price.

The Reds have a .270 winning percentage, so you have to bring your A game when you play the Reds.

In related news, the Mets unveiled a new theme song.

Felz Stat of the Day.

Jason Vargas has an ERA of 13.86.

Maybe the Mets can take a chance on Matt Harvey after he clears waivers.

Why not? Start with a 7.00 ERA.

Feinsand joins the parade of fools, explaining dubious rationale for the Yankees acquiring Matt Harvey:

"Jordan Montgomery could be out as long as two months with his left elbow strain, and while Domingo German might be an adequate fill-in, the idea of Harvey taking his act across town to the Bronx is too juicy to ignore. There's nothing Harvey would love more than to prove the Mets wrong by thriving with the Yankees -- and there's nothing the New York media would love more than the ex-Met and tabloid staple remaining in the Big Apple. Doc and Darryl did it; why not the Dark Knight?"

Robin Ventura did it, too. Mike Stanton. Shane Spencer. Rickey Henderson.

Lots of players played for the Yankees and the Mets. Probably 100+ players have played for the Yankees and the Mets.

I don't know why I randomly picked those four, they just popped into my head ... I also don't know why Feinsand randomly picked Doc and Strawberry or what they have to do with Matt Harvey -- just another NY sportswriter living in the past.

"There's nothing Harvey would love more than to prove the Mets wrong by thriving with the Yankees ..."

How about just thriving with the Mets?

That would have been easier.

Be better than this.

Peter Botte imagines a scenario where Matt Harvey signs with the Yankees, regains his pitching prowess, and helps the Yankees win the World Series ... this year.

I mean, I could conceivably imagine a team taking a chance on him, sending him to the minors, and then perhaps he figures something out and re-creates himself as a modern-day Scott Proctor or something like that.

No Dark Knight or $100 million contract, just a (dubious) "veteran presence" in the bullpen as he battles Brian Boehringer for a mop-up job.

Who knows? That could even be with a future playoff team, so he finds himself pitching in important October games ... and I suppose, at some point, it could even be with the Yankees. Strange things happen in the business of baseball.


But the New York Yankees in 2018?

So ridiculous, it's unprofessional to float the idea.

The Yankees have no reason to pursue Harvey. Cashman isn't focused on playing games with Mets fans.


I also think Botte is misinterpreting a fundamental point: "Harvey Day" is no longer a thing in Queens any more than "Joba Day" is a thing in the Bronx.

Most Mets fans have already disengaged emotionally from Harvey ... Harvey's DFA is not a nightmare ... the Yankees can have Harvey if they really want him,

The Braves will pick him up and he'll win 20 games.

Nah, but that would be kind of funny.

Tim Tebow Update.

At AA, Tebow is batting .242 with 1 HR and 8 RBIs in 66 at-bats.

33 strikeouts in 66 at-bats.

My statistical analysis reveals that, when extrapolated to the major-league level, Tebow would strike out 175% of the time.

Gardner 2018.

I know it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. Ellsbury is paid too much, isn't well-liked, hasn't built up slack with the fan base, etc.

But imagine the outrage if Ellsbury had Gardner's stats on May 1st.

If I told you the Braves had 15 hits in a game ...

... how many runs would you think they scored?

They scored three runs.

The Brandon Drury Fan Club will be disappointed.

Including Brandon Drury, that totals one person.

Thought about Refsnyder while discussing the ascension of Didi.

Refsnyder has not driven in a run since 2016, at least 106 at-bats. I could probably investigate the game logs and figure out the last time he had an RBI. It seems almost impossible to go this long without driving in a run.

This Mike Trout stat snuck up on me.

Career 170 stolen bases with only 32 caught stealing.

More Tyler Clippard than Tom Seaver. A .500 pitcher who isn't getting any younger.

Three truths about New York Baseball 2018:

1. Harvey is learning "how to pitch."
2. Sonny Gray is making mechanical adjustments.
3. Gary Sanchez's defense is improving.

7.5 games back is no joke.

Felz Stat of the Day

Ronald Torreyes is batting .438.

Felz Stat of the Day

The Dark Knight has an ERA of 6.00.

This isn't hard to explain.

Hitting HRs is fun.

Catching is not fun.

Felz Stat of the Day

Alex Cobb's ERA is 15.43.

The kids will flock to baseball for sure if baseball has ties.

Some of the best things about baseball:

- No running out the clock.
- No ties.
- The tension that builds up between pitches.
- Exciting, bizarre, fun extra innings.

I'd knock about two weeks off the beginning and two weeks off the end.

$252 million seems quaint.

I know somebody probably asked ARod and Duquette is responding to ARod's response ... but this happened 17 years ago and seems to have fascinated/traumatized a lot of people for a long time.

For what it's worth, ARod made some major salary concessions when he attempted to sign with Boston, but that contract was rejected by the Players' Union.

That was a few years after the time period being discussed, but it gives some credence to what he's saying.

Sunday afternoons were made for baseball.

Sunday nights? Not so much:

"The Mets are good."

Few would disagree. It's a bit of a subjective observation. I wish there was a way to objectively ascertain the quality of a professional sports team.


"Now they play the season to find out how good."

I think Lupica may be on to something here.

They ought to set up a system where different teams play one another, according to a schedule, and then keep track of the wins and losses. They could even split up the teams into leagues and divisions. Then, at the end of the season, the best teams could play each other in the playoffs.


"Do you make lasting judgments about anybody before 10 games have been played? Come on."

Seriously.


"In the process the Mets have reminded us that it was just three years ago, hardly a lifetime even though it feels that way sometimes, when they were seven games better than a wounded Washington team in the National League East."

The beginning of this column feels like a lifetime ago.


"Sunday night, the Mets look for the sweep against the Nationals on ESPN. Matt Harvey gets the ball, and tries to build on the five innings of one-hit, five-strikeout ball he pitched against the Phillies on what looked and surely must have felt to the players like it was the baseball version of that hockey Winter Classic they had not long ago at Citi Field. Now Harvey gets classic Bryce Harper and everybody else around Harper in the Nationals’ batting order. It will be something to see, on a night when the Mets will be the team to watch in town."

This afternoon, the Yankees will be the team to watch in town.

I think the dubious honor of a Sunday Night ESPN game is based more on the NY opponent than the NY team. The Nationals are a bigger draw than the Orioles.


" 'When pitchers pitch well,' Buck Showalter was telling me the other day, 'we all look smart.' "

Another gem.

What's your deal with Orioles manager Buck Showalter, anyway?

Is he, like, your last remaining MLB source?


"Callaway was telling me in February in Port St. Lucie about his formal job interview with Jeff Wilpon and Sandy Alderson and J.P. Ricciardi and John Ricco.

'Going into that interview, my basic thought was this: "If I can get this job, we can win next year," ' the new Mets manager said.

It was good February talk about a regular season that really did begin in March this time and won’t end until a game against the Marlins on Sept. 30 at Citi Field. Callaway knows that the opponent in the East isn’t just going to be the Nationals. Nobody should go to sleep on the Atlanta Braves. They’re good, too. So are the Mets. New York team to watch on Sunday night."

ESPN. April. Sunday Night. I'm sure the worldwide audience will be, what? One billion viewers?

Like I have been saying the whole time, the Yankees should have gone all out for Ohtani.

Casual

As he rounds the bases, his shirt is halfway unbuttoned and I think his fly is down.

Amirite or what?

I am sticking with "bust."

Because opinions are cool and maybe one day I will get to say, "I told ya so."

A few things:

1. "Look" of a future superstar sounds like the dumbest scout since Clint Eastwood in that movie.
2. "See how Ohtani recovered from a three-run HR ..." I was thinking the same thing yesterday after Robertson gave up an 8th-inning Grand Slam. At least he rebounded and got the next guy out.
3. No one cares about the radar gun anymore. It's not 1975. Everybody throws 95+. It may be a signal that he's a future MLB superstar or it may be a signal that he's a future Dr. James Andrews superstar.

This catch made the highlight reel on MLB.com.

Ummm ... yay?

Stanton Ovation.

Get it?

I feel ashamed that I support MLB.

This is how you save America's pastime?

This is shameful.

Cashman's Worst Nightmare

As foreseen by Mike Lupica.

Now the Orioles will make a run for fourth place in the AL East.

Way too early to say he's a bust.

But I'm saying he's a bust.

Don't pay the man. He just writes the same thing over and over.

For decades, Lupica has written the exact same thing about the Mets during Spring Training.

Change "Callaway" to "Randolph" or "Collins" or "Valentine" or "Howe."

Change "Conforto" to "Bay" or "Burnitz" or "Agbayani" or "Cuddyer."

It's not baseball analysis. It's Mets PR:

"Does a lot have to break right for the Mets? Yeah. A lot has to break right. Is it crazy to think the big things might break right? Somebody has to explain to me why, or how."

I can say this about any team, any year, any sport. "If a lot breaks right, it's not crazy that this team can compete."

That empty observation does not qualify as analysis or a prediction.


"There is a famous line out of the city’s baseball past, from a season 40 years ago exactly. It was after Bob Lemon replaced Billy Martin and the Yankees came back from being 14½ games behind the Red Sox and Lem was explaining, in his wry way, about the secret of the Yankees’ success after he took over for Billy.

'I just try to keep the pitching straightened out, and hope Reggie hits,' Lem said."

The 1977 Yankees. The 1986 Mets. The 2004 Red Sox. The 1980 US Olympic hockey team.

So, now that you've brought up a 40-year-old quote from a Yankee manager, what does that have to do with the 2018 Mets?


"Mickey Callaway is the one entrusted with getting the pitching straightened out, with Thor and deGrom and Harvey and Matz and everybody else. Then he hopes Cespedes hits. There are other things that need to happen, you bet. They need to get a solid year out of Todd Frazier at third. And it wouldn’t hurt if Adrian Gonzalez were even close to what he used to be on the other side of the infield. Nobody is suggesting they’re great. You don’t have to be to make a great baseball summer again in National League New York.

Mets fans just want a chance. I believe they might have one. New York Mights. Hope might not be the best possible business plan in baseball. What else are you supposed to do at this time of year?"

What a waste of time.

Once again, I truly wonder if Lupica is employed by the Mets and just conning the Daily News.


This entire article provides zero information to its readers. Lupica is just a pea-brain hyping up the Mets and slagging on the Yankees.

You wouldn't know that the Yankees won 21 more games than the Mets did last season. Oh, and the Yankees added the NL MVP.


"How come I keep thinking Stanton is going to do waaaay more DH-ing this season than he thought he was signing up for with our kids on 161st Street?"

Is this supposed to be a slag on Stanton's fielding abilities?

Yeah, no one cares.

Stanton is the Yankees' DH. Stanton is essentially replacing Matt Holliday. Hooray for the Yankees.


"You turn on these early-round games in March Madness and sometimes see so many empty seats, even close to the court, you think for a second you might be watching a Yankee home game."

Zing!

Lupica in mid-season form. Look out, Cashman.

For what it's worth, do you know what the attendance was at Yankee home games last season?

3,146,966.

Not the ARod heydays, but hardly an empty stadium.


"By the way?

You know what the Yankees might be sort of and kind of hoping?

That Alex Cobb doesn’t end up pitching for the Red Sox this season."

Well, it's like Bob "Lem" Lemon told me forty years ago, chomping on a cheap cigar and using a fungo bat to scratch his scrotum. Lem sez to me he sez, "I'm gonna put a lineup out there every day and hope they play good."

Because Hope is the currency of Spring Training.

Even if five-time Cy Young Award winner Alex Cobb ends up pitching at the Fens, Yankee fans still have Hope and Grit, and they can dream of the playoffs if a lot of things break right this year.

Start the inning with a runner on second base.

I would like to find a single baseball fan who endorses this idea.

I would also challenge anyone to read the following clarification without laughing:

"For purposes of calculating earned runs under Rule 9.16, the runner who begins an inning on second base pursuant to this rule shall be deemed to be a runner who has reached second base because of a fielding error, but no error shall be charged to the opposing team or to any player."

Thanks for clearing that up.

Since the minor leagues no longer take the game of baseball seriously, what are the precise rules for ghost runners, "Indian rubbing," and do-overs?

What "shall be charged" to the pitcher's ERA if the runner on second base has to abandon the base because the game is being played in the middle of the street and a car drives by and "time out" was called but "time in" was not called by the same person?

Not that I put too much stock in Spring Training performances ...

... but this is the Matt Harvey performance being described as "solid":

"Harvey allowed five runs on six hits. He hit a batter, walked one and struck out two in 4.2 innings work. 

...

The top of the Yankees’ lineup -- Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Stanton -- had four of the hits against Harvey and he dominated the rest of the lineup, which admittedly were largely fringe players.

But, if Saturday is how a bad day is going to go for Harvey, then the Mets rotation is going to be fine."

If the Yankee lineup scores a run per inning, they're also going to be fine.

When Erik Kratz talks, people listen.

Yes, the Mets are more "selective" when they retire player numbers.

Nice try, Mets.

I don't even know why the Mets spend so much energy comparing themselves to the Yankees.

Funny thing is, if you walk around Citi Field, half the alumni have a plaque or a banner. I like to take a stroll and add up the cocaine addicts and steroid cheats.

There's a reason no one remembers Spring Training stats.

Yes. My advice is two-fold. Proper cycling and effective masking agents.

If it's laughable, then laugh.

"Maybe Cashman was being cheeky, but it’s a bad look. Say what you will about the Yankees — and everything possible has been — they are the big boys on the block, in the Big Apple and in our pastime. The Yankees are so bit that only a team from the NFL (the Dallas Cowboys) is worth more, at $4 billion. Everything about the Yankees, from their history, to the names burned in our collective history, to their opulent new stadium and the prices to sit in said stadium is outsized.

The Yankees are so burned into the sports vernacular that Vince Lombardi’s first goal as head coach was to make his Green Bay Packers the New York Yankees of football. When tourists return from a trip to New York and either complain or marvel at the size and speed of everything, that’s what the Yankees represent, the mythology of money and skyscrapers and the House That Ruth Built."

Jeez, pal. He's just trying to take the pressure off.

Why? Because, in case you hadn't noticed, everyone wants to be the underdog.

There's a new sheriff in town.

The guts it takes to discipline a bench warmer in a spring training game.

Nice guy, bad contract.

The horror of this contract is seldom, if ever, brought up.

These writers hated Girardi the whole time.

All I ask is that I get a nickel every time Boone says "the process."

"Hitting .300" is something people care about again?

Public free agent/contract disputes between pro sports players and pro sports ownership?

One time, I'd like to see a commenter take the side of the players:

"All you need to know about the current impasse with free agents in baseball is the headline I saw the other day about Eric Hosmer looking for an 8- or 9-year deal.

Well, OK, Hosmer can look for a contract like that.

But on what planet?"

The same planet where a 65-year-old man can tweet that Justin Timberlake's halftime show was the greatest halftime show ever.


"And on what planet is a $125 million, five-year deal something about which J.D. Martinez gets to act insulted, a glorified DH who had one really great home-run year splitting time between the Detroit Tigers and the Arizona Diamondbacks?"

When the Mets sign J.D. Martinez, Lupica will compare Martinez to Roberto Clemente.



"But owners are supposed to be colluding because they’re not giving guys like Martinez the kind of seven-year deal that the Yankees gave Jacoby Ellsbury, somebody the Yankees now can’t give away."

Not sure if the owners are "supposed to be" colluding. The players and their agents are grumbling and that's what they always do. 



"And if you want to look at a longer contract than that, look at where the Mariners are with Robinson Cano, four years into his 10-year and $240 million deal.

You know how many times Cano has hit .300 in Seattle so far?

Once."

Weird about-face.

I think the Mariners will regret a 10-year deal and I always have. Cano's first four years in Seattle have been good, but not MVP worthy.

But every NY writer, including Lupica, has spent four years ripping the Yankees for letting Cano go.

So Lupica just admitted the Yankees made a smart move. But he did it indirectly and probably unintentionally.

The moment Yankee fans decided they wanted the Yankees to get Yu Darvish.

In case you forgot or were unaware ...

... Mike Lupica is buddies with Buck Showalter.

The ostensible purpose of the article is to explain that Manny Machado's manager is aware of the fact that Manny Machado is an excellent baseball player.

I believe the hype.

Alex Rodriguez wonders out loud if a highly-paid superstar will ruin the Yankees' clubhouse chemistry.

Somebody has to say it ...

Yu Darvish isn't that good.

He doesn't see it.

John Harper won't vote for the hardcore users whose late-career stats made a farce of the record books (his words):

"As I heard Ron Darling and Mike Lowell, two respected former players, say on MLB Network during a round-table discussion: basically, that even before testing, every player knew it was wrong, and if you took steroids you traded the numbers and the financial rewards for the Hall of Fame."


Next paragraph:

"I’m hoping this is the year Edgar Martinez makes it. I’ve voted for him for years, and DH or not, he’s a perfect example of the need to reward excellence. As a pure hitter he was one of the best ever, as pitchers who faced him are the first to tell you."


37-year-old Edgar Martinez:

 .324/.423/.579, 37 HRs, 31 doubles, 145 RBIs.

Baseball is supposed to be fun and entertaining.

This is a cool story. Have a little fun with the fans.

Thank you.

"Last year we were the team that everybody loved, that feel-good story," Sabathia said on MLB Network's Hot Stove show. "But getting Giancarlo just brings us back to being that hated team."

Sabathia chuckled and added, "That's what we like, man, we want to go out there and put the best team on the field and, you know, crush everybody every game."

My solutions to five Yankee "problems."

Not a bad discussion about the Yankees.

My solutions are as follows:

1. Second base: Jose Altuve.
2. Third base: Manny Machado,.
3. Starters: Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer.
4. Backup first baseman: Joey Votto.
5. Backup catcher: Buster Posey.

Make it happen.

That was quick.

A very large straw man. Like a straw man on steroids.

"For the last time:

Amphetamines were clearly performance enablers in baseball."

Why do I think this isn't the last time?


"But if they were performance enhancers, how come the record books never changed the way they did during the steroids era?"

Because they weren't as effective as steroids.


"If you want to vote for guys who juiced, have at it.

But you need more than greenies to help build your case for them.

A lot more."

Lupica is on a phony high horse. I don't speak for everyone who takes a more nuanced position, but that's generally the objection.

Cheater outrage is applied selectively. Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell, Gaylord Perry and others are already in the Hall of Fame.

The reason I'm certain Mike Piazza took steroids is because I have a brain. Nobody before or since regularly hit 450-foot opposite field fly balls. Nobody drafted that low in the draft ever made the major leagues, much less regularly hit 450-foot opposite field fly balls.

The Guardians of the Game laid off Piazza because he's a nice guy who graciously granted post game interviews.

Luipca uses his column and his votes/influence to promote people who assist his career.

So when people call out the hypocrisy, his weak retort is that the cheaters of the 1970s weren't as good at cheating.

We wish you a Merry Christmas.

"We all know who the best player was in New York in 2017, in any sport."

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.


"It was the big kid, Aaron Judge, All Rise Judge, around whom the rising of the Yankees was built in October, the kind of baseball October that was once as regular a pageant around here as the tree lighting at Rockefeller Plaza, or New Year’s Eve in Times Square."

As regular as a hack Lupica rehash column.

"And the best of it for me, the best moment, wasn’t the Yankees coming back after they were down 0-3 in the Wild Card game with the Twins before they ever came to bat; or the comeback against the Astros in Game 4, when the new Yankee Stadium finally sounded like the one across the street. No, the best of it was after Game 5, when the Yankees had gone ahead three games to two, and were as close to the World Series as they had been in eight years."

Lupica paid attention to about 15 baseball games in 2017.

Lupica couldn't name the Yankees' starting rotation.


"The best of it was walking out of the Stadium that night with Yankees fans flooding out of the place in this loud, exuberant wave, down the steps at Babe Ruth Plaza, everybody heading towards 161st St. and the parking lots and the subway station, yelling 'Let’s Go Yankees' and '---- Verlander,' "

I don't understand.

What is a Verlander?


 " ...meaning Justin Verlander, whom they knew their team was going to be facing in Game 6."

Oh!

Justin Verlander.

Thank you for clarifying, Mr. Baseball.


"It all went wrong in Houston, of course. Verlander did to the Yankees what the chants said the Yankees were going to do to him."

Verlander ----'ed the Yankees.


"Now they regroup, in such an expensive and showy and front-page way. They go get Giancarlo Stanton from the Miami Jeters, and pick up the kind of contract they once lavished on Alex Rodriguez, everybody’s All-America."

It's a new record, folks: 250,000 consecutive columns with an Alex Rodriguez reference.


Who even cares?

It's all the same observation.

The Yankees might win the World Series and they might not.

I fail to see how adding Giancarlo Stanton, the NL MVP, is a bad move.

The Yankees aren't as "cool" as they were last year, a designation coming from Mike Lupica, a man who had Coldplay as his intro music during his short-lived afternoon radio show and who lists "Love Actually" as his favorite Christmas movie.

One man's stupid is another man's fun.

Bob Raissman criticizes ... well, I'm not sure what he's criticizing:

"Gee, now we have to look forward to hearing what Sterling’s Giancarlo HR call will be. This was actually a topic of fierce debate in the Valley of the Stupid, which is why it is called the Valley of the Stupid."

Too late.

Marvin Miller

But can the Yankees get Alex Cobb?

"That’s all fine — since when did the Yankees ever care about money? — as long as Stanton stays healthy and produces just reasonably consistent to how he did last season."

Yes.

I must agree.

Injured players who don't produce are not valuable to a baseball team.


"Unfortunately history — both his own and these monster contracts in general — suggests he won’t. It’s a fact of baseball life that players after the age of 32, start breaking down and Stanton, before last year, already had a number of concerning injury issues."

Sold.

That's five years and hundreds of homers.

The big question is, what will be Sterling's customized HR call?

Whatever he decides, it will probably be used more often than "the Ben Francisco Treat." Which Sterling may not have used. But he should have.


"He missed the final 17 games of the season after being hit in the face with a pitch in 2014. He missed 88 games in 2015 with a broken hamate bone from swinging too hard on a pitch, 44 games in 2013 with a hamstring strain and shoulder soreness, 36 games in 2012 loose knee bodies and abdominal strain, and another 11 games in 2011 with a quad strain."

He missed 11 games in 2011 with a quad strain?

Oh, no.

Then he hit 59 HRs and won an MVP award in 2017.

So he must have recovered from the quad strain.


"All these while he was in his early-to-mid 20s. What’s going to be the case when he hits his 30s?"

I don't know.

What will be the case with Robinson Cano? Bryce Harper? Manny Machado? Gary Sanchez? Aaron Judge? Greg Bird? Rob Refsnyder?

Should the Yankees pay $29 million per year for Rob Refsnyder or should they go after starting pitching instead?


"At least, even keeping Ellsbury’s onerous $21 million salary, the Yankees could make this Stanton trade and stay under the $197 million luxury tax threshold — which is all Hal Steinbrenner cared about in approving the deal. There is still enough wiggle room money to re-sign CC Sabathia and add a bullpen piece, but as far as the Yankees’ No. 1 target, Alex Cobb, that’s very problematic now."

Nobody cares about Alex Cobb.

Who the heck is Alex Cobb?


"With Jeter over the barrel, this was their one best chance of finally ridding themselves of Ellsbury’s contract — or if nothing else make the Marlins take Chase Headley’s $13 million for ’18 as well — to have plenty of remaining money to go after Cobb. Instead, they let the Stanton stars get in their eyes."

Gee, but what if Alex Cobb gets a quad strain? Should the Yankees take that kind of risk?

Cobb is 29 years old, has 48 career wins, and has never been on the DL, because he is immortal and omnipotent. Not a baseball player, really. More like an indestructible character from a M. Night Shyamalan movie.


"Nor could Yankee fans care less about four years from now. For them, it’s already a Merry Christmas with giddy visions for a Happy New Year. No longer are the Yankees those lovable over-achieving kids. Overnight they’ve been transformed back to Beasts of the East. For everyone in Yankeeland’s sake, especially Aaron Boone, they better win next year. Because the euphoria over this trade is almost guaranteed to have a short shelf life."


Madden may be looking for a tiresome narrative to chug-a-lug his columns for the next ten years, but fans want their freaking team to win a lot of freaking games.

Madden's entire argument is a fake. If the Yankees don't win the World Series right away ... and if Stanton isn't pumping 50 HRs per year in his late 30s ... then this acquisition will be designated a failure.

You haven't seen anything yet. Wait until the Yankees add Machado and Harper ... and who knows? ... maybe even HOF candidate Alex Cobb.

Lupica blows the layup.

You know he waited his whole life to write this column and, I dunno. Maybe he was distracted:

"So the Yankees are back in the big business of being the Yankees again, bigger than ever, now that they are making this kind of big deal for Giancarlo Stanton."

"Bigger than ever."


"Once, almost a hundred years ago, they got Babe Ruth here from Boston, and Ruth would eventually hit 60 home runs in a season, and first make the Yankees the Yankees and put them on the top of the world."

Oh, yeah.

Ruth, Gehrig, Murderer's Row.

I forgot about those Yankees one sentence ago when I wrote that the 2018 Yankees are "bigger than ever."


"Stanton hit 59 for the Marlins last season, and chased 60 all the way to the last at-bat he will ever have for the Marlins. Now Stanton is supposed to put the Yankees back on top of the world."

"Supposed to."

Only if he can survive the barbs of Daily News columnists.


"Now we all wait to see if putting Stanton with Aaron Judge will work out better for the Yankees than putting Alex Rodriguez, and all of his home runs, with Jeter himself once did."

Framing ARod's Yankees career as a failure? Mike Lupica?


"They figure they can find enough pitching to make this work. Maybe Stanton can pitch and hit the way Shohei Ohtani is going to for the Angels. First the Yankees wanted Ohtani. He told the Yankees he didn’t want them. Ohtani ends up on one coast, Giancarlo Stanton ends up on 161st St."

Maybe Stanton can pitch and hit? Well, no, but it was a seamless segue into Ohtani. 



"There really have only been three other star, home run plays like this in all of Yankee history:
Ruth.

Reggie.

Rodriguez."

And a dozen others off the top of my head.


"Only for all the hitting the Yankees did this season, they couldn’t hit once the ALCS went back to Minute Maid Park."

You win some, you lose some.


"They stopped hitting in the ’03 World Series a few months before they brought A-Rod, who had hit 50 home runs twice in Texas, to town."

"... who had hit 50 home runs twice in Texas, to town."


 "Now they are bringing Giancarlo Stanton and his 59 to town."

Yes, we know.


"They are the Yankees. At the end of October they came up small. Now they go for a real big home run hitter."

Riiiight.


"And hope it works out better with him over the next 10 years than it did when the big deal in the big town was A-Rod."

Phfffft.

That's all you've got?

As far as I know, Stanton is not particularly unpopular or unlikable.

But I know for sure that "lovable losers" is a very overrated brand. Give me "unlovable winners" every time.

Maybe he's truly once-in-a-lifetime player ... I will believe it when I see it.

Surely an unusual and exciting player. I would be shocked if he's the Angels' ace or a .300 hitter. Go ahead and prove me wrong and it will be exciting for MLB.

I can't follow the logic here.

I still think Girardi got a raw deal simply because Cashman didn't like him:

"Essentially the Yankees felt Sanchez performed better behind the plate when first called to the majors in 2016, in no small part because he had been drilled regularly in the minors by former organizational catching instructor Josh Paul, especially in blocking balls in the dirt.

Paul used a pitching machine to pump high-velocity fastballs, as well as breaking balls, in the dirt at Sanchez, and the Yankees believe it made a difference in what is the young catcher's biggest weakness.

However, sources say that Sanchez grew tired of doing the drills and expressed that to Girardi going into last season. The manager, perhaps wanting to keep his young catcher happy or simply avoid a conflict, told him he didn't have to do all the extra work.

That may that led to more problems with passed balls, as Sanchez's total of 16 was the highest the American League."

Sanchez's defense is a problem. Practice and effort would help. If Boone can get Sanchez to resume these drills, I'd be pleasantly surprised.

But ... this is seriously the reason why Girardi is no longer the Yankees' manager?

Practice?

Somebody praises Ellsbury on an Yankees website.

Lupica and Costas, a two-fer.

"And while we’re on the subject of false narratives, how about the one that you hear at this time of year around baseball, equating amphetamine use out of baseball’s past with steroids, as if both of them are exactly the same.

Well, yeah, just not on this planet.

Here’s what Bob Costas said on this subject the other day:"

They're not exactly the same, but they're similar in the following way: Both are illegal performance-enhancing substances.


" 'Steroids are performance enhancers. Amphetamines are performance enablers…(Amphetamines) do not, and did not, transform them, as steroids did.' "

Correct.

Amphetamines are not as effective as steroids.

If you look up "enhance" in the thesaurus, you will see "enable." You're just letting guys off the hook because they played in the '70s and you like them.


" 'That doesn’t mean they should not have been banned. One effect has been that older players on the back end of lucrative long term deals, can’t play 150 games anymore, or be as generally effective as the season and seasons roll on. So, along with the ban on PEDS, and emphasis on analytics, it has changed contract calculations. All reasonable. But not at all reasonable to remotely equate amphetamines to steroids.' "

It’s not.

Costas is right."

If a baseball player took amphetamines without a prescription, then that baseball player was cheating.

Amphetamines "enable" superior baseball performance, just like steroids, only less effectively than steroids.


"You want to defend the right of steroid users to get into the Hall of Fame, have at it."

"The right" to get into the Hall of Fame, as if this was a matter for the Supreme Court.

Besides, we all know steroid users have already been voted into the Hall of Fame.

Unless you're intentionally burying your head in the sand. Why would a baseball fan, baseball journalist, or voting member of the BBWAA want to intentionally bury their heads in the sand?


"But if you want Bonds and Clemens in Cooperstown, you’ve got to bring a lot more to your side of the debate than greenies."

Easy.

Bonds and Clemens were among the greatest players in baseball history before they took steroids.

No one cares if you throw away your ballot ...

... But I actually agree with the arguments here.

2017 NL MVP

BBWAA

Name	Points
Giancarlo Stanton	302
Joey Votto	300
Paul Goldschmidt	239
Nolan Arenado	229
Charlie Blackmon	205
Anthony Rendon	141
Kris Bryant	132
Justin Turner	43
Cody Bellinger	38
Max Scherzer	34
Tommy Pham	24
Bryce Harper	21
Anthony Rizzo	17
J.D. Martinez	11
Kenley Jansen	8
Marcell Ozuna	8
Clayton Kershaw	6
Corey Seager	6
Daniel Murphy	3
Archie Bradley	1
Zack Greinke	1
Ryan Zimmerman	1

Felz

Name	Points
Giancarlo Stanton	4
Nolan Arenado	3
Paul Goldschmidt	2
Joey Votto	1

2017 AL MVP

BBWAA

Name	Points
Jose Altuve	405
Aaron Judge	279
Jose Ramirez	237
Mike Trout	197
Francisco Lindor	143
Mookie Betts	110
Corey Kluber	101
Andrelton Simmons	60
Chris Sale	56
Nelson Cruz	44
Brian Dozier	25
Jonathan Schoop	19
George Springer	17
Jose Abreu	16
Eric Hosmer	16
Justin Upton	12
Carlos Correa	9
Byron Buxton	7
Marwin Gonzalez	6
Edwin Encarnacion	4
Didi Gregorius	4
Khris Davis	1
Josh Donaldson	1
Gary Sanchez	1

Felz

Name	Points
Jose Altuve	4
Aaron Judge	3
Mookie Betts	2
Nelson Cruz	1

2017 NL Cy Young

BBWAA

Name	Points
Max Scherzer	201
Clayton Kershaw	126
Stephen Strasburg	81
Zack Greinke	52
Kenley Jansen	22
Gio Gonzalez	18
Robbie Ray	6
Jacob deGrom	2
Jimmy Nelson	1
Alex Wood	1

Felz

Name	Points
Max Scherzer	4
Clayton Kershaw	3
Stephen Strasburg	2
Kenley Jansen	1

2017 AL Cy Young

Due to diminishing interest in the MVP/Cy Young poll, I only polled myself. So here is the first of four awards comparing the BBWAA votes to my half-hearted, off-the-top-of-my-head votes.

BBWAA

Name	Points
Corey Kluber	204
Chris Sale	126
Luis Severino	73
Carlos Carrasco	43
Justin Verlander	32
Craig Kimbrel	27
Ervin Santana	3
Marcus Stroman	2

Felz

Name	Points
Corey Kluber	4
Chris Sale	3
Carlos Carrasco	2
Luis Severino	1

Girardi had to go?

I get the feeling they were rooting for the Yankees to lose Game Seven of the ALCS. Steinbrenner actually says that Girardi would have been fired (he was fired, for all intents and purposes) if the Yankees had won the World Series. I find this completely impossible to believe. Firing a manager while he still has ticker tape in his hair?:

“ 'You’ve got to consider the fact that you’ve got a young team, and that maybe a different type of leadership perhaps is needed for a younger team than it is for a veteran team,' Steinbrenner said. 'I think if you ask Cash, it’s important for the next manager to have an understanding of analytics because it’s such a big part of the game. If they don’t, at least a willingness to learn, right? We all need to learn, we all should learn. I think that’s going to be part of it, too. Everybody’s going to have their pros and cons. Nobody is going to have all positives. It’s just going to be a long process sifting through all the intel that he’s getting in these interviews and make the best decision we can.' ”

1. Girardi's 10-year record was 910-710.

2. Girardi just managed the AL Rookie of the Year. So whatever inability Girardi had communicating with young players, let's hope the next manager is similarly unable to communicate with young players.

3. It's just flat-out deplorable to see so many vultures picking at Girardi's skeleton.

I will also refuse to accept the Yankee managerial job if offered.

Brian Cashman doesn't rule out MILEY CYRUS as Yankees manager.

Tanaka had a mediocre regular season.

Severino, Sabathia, Tanaka, Gray, and Montgomery.

I'd say it's good, but not great. Lots of "question marks," as they say.

Tanaka's 2017 playoffs were great, but didn't erase his entire mediocre 2017 season.

I can think of no logical reason for Tanaka to opt out.

"Prior to the season, the Yankees were inclined to let Tanaka walk if he opted for free agency. And their history with Sabathia could influence their decision-making process. Tanaka could be well worth it for three ears at $22-23 million a year, but would the Bombers give him more years? It could be a gamble."

If Tanaka opts out, the Yankees will let him walk for sure.

Pretty sure zero of these games will be against the Dodgers.

... "after" his departure.

While we all had a sense that Girardi wasn't an avuncular teddy bear over the past ten years, very few of the turncoat commenters were saying this stuff to his face (or publicly, on the radio).

910-710 speaks for itself.

One unsatisfying ring in a decade also speaks for itself.

He was good in some respects, better than most. He wasn't a legend by any means.

I think I am recoiling at all the sudden negativity because it's another example of a society that values style over substance.

Girardi led the Yankees to within one game of reaching the World Series, but New York decided to go in another direction when his contract expired after his 10th season in the dugout. Reports of friction between Girardi and his bosses at Yankee Stadium emerged soon after Girardi’s departure announcement, and Teixeira suspects his former manager’s personality isn’t best suited to lead the Yankees’ young, talented roster into the future.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2017/10/mark-teixeira-knows-why-joe-girardi-is-out-as-yankees-manager/

Girardi led the Yankees to within one game of reaching the World Series, but New York decided to go in another direction when his contract expired after his 10th season in the dugout. Reports of friction between Girardi and his bosses at Yankee Stadium emerged soon after Girardi’s departure announcement, and Teixeira suspects his former manager’s personality isn’t best suited to lead the Yankees’ young, talented roster into the future.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2017/10/mark-teixeira-knows-why-joe-girardi-is-out-as-yankees-manager/

Girardi led the Yankees to within one game of reaching the World Series, but New York decided to go in another direction when his contract expired after his 10th season in the dugout. Reports of friction between Girardi and his bosses at Yankee Stadium emerged soon after Girardi’s departure announcement, and Teixeira suspects his former manager’s personality isn’t best suited to lead the Yankees’ young, talented roster into the future.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2017/10/mark-teixeira-knows-why-joe-girardi-is-out-as-yankees-manager/

Girardi led the Yankees to within one game of reaching the World Series, but New York decided to go in another direction when his contract expired after his 10th season in the dugout. Reports of friction between Girardi and his bosses at Yankee Stadium emerged soon after Girardi’s departure announcement, and Teixeira suspects his former manager’s personality isn’t best suited to lead the Yankees’ young, talented roster into the future.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2017/10/mark-teixeira-knows-why-joe-girardi-is-out-as-yankees-manager/

Girardi led the Yankees to within one game of reaching the World Series, but New York decided to go in another direction when his contract expired after his 10th season in the dugout. Reports of friction between Girardi and his bosses at Yankee Stadium emerged soon after Girardi’s departure announcement, and Teixeira suspects his former manager’s personality isn’t best suited to lead the Yankees’ young, talented roster into the future.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2017/10/mark-teixeira-knows-why-joe-girardi-is-out-as-yankees-manager/

Girardi led the Yankees to within one game of reaching the World Series, but New York decided to go in another direction when his contract expired after his 10th season in the dugout. Reports of friction between Girardi and his bosses at Yankee Stadium emerged soon after Girardi’s departure announcement, and Teixeira suspects his former manager’s personality isn’t best suited to lead the Yankees’ young, talented roster into the future.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2017/10/mark-teixeira-knows-why-joe-girardi-is-out-as-yankees-manager/

Girardi led the Yankees to within one game of reaching the World Series, but New York decided to go in another direction when his contract expired after his 10th season in the dugout. Reports of friction between Girardi and his bosses at Yankee Stadium emerged soon after Girardi’s departure announcement, and Teixeira suspects his former manager’s personality isn’t best suited to lead the Yankees’ young, talented roster into the future.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2017/10/mark-teixeira-knows-why-joe-girardi-is-out-as-yankees-manager/

Funny, I was thinking the same thing ...

... and I don't even think he did a good job with the Mets.

The Simple Truth.

"Although Joe Girardi was a good manager for the New York Yankees during his decade on the job, it was time for him to go -- for his sake and, to a lesser extent, for the franchise’s."

This is an introduction to an exposition.

What will follow is a detailed argument to support the proposition, then a final paragraph in which the proposition is referenced.

Say what you're going to do; do it; then say what you just did.


"A dynasty is perhaps on the horizon at Yankee Stadium, and Girardi could have done a good enough job to lead it. A manager makes a difference, but never forget, Joe Torre became a genius only after he connected with the Core Four."

Also, the shamefully forgotten Bernie Williams, the most prominent member of the dynastic Yankees who is not included in the Core Four. Maybe because Core Five doesn't rhyme.


"This is probably a good move for Girardi; he's a man who always stresses family first, and he's leaving a job that has ground him down and kept him away from his loved ones for most of the year."

I pretty much disagree with all of Marchand's observations, but I surely don't think the employed should speak on behalf of the recently unemployed.


"Interestingly enough and perhaps tellingly, this year Girardi seemed a bit calmer, more at ease. Maybe he knew this was it for him. He might be harder to replace than it appears. But this was the right time for him to go."

And so it concludes.

I read the whole thing and didn't see any reasons why this was a good time for Girardi to go.
Girardi will never catch Torre, his overall record is mediocre if playoff success is the criteria, and his overall regular season record is fantastic (910-710). He's sort of boring and terse with the media. He isn't particularly beloved by the fans.

Still, all the time he gets to spend with his family? Throwing batting practices to his son? Four million dollars per annum eases the separation anxiety.

I think the current team is particularly geared around Girardi's strengths, so the 2018 - 2020 Presumptive Dynasty might not come to fruition if the new manager doesn't handle the bullpen or handle the young superstars.

They Showaltered him.

One of my favorite players.

Got rid of the tee shirt when he joined the Mets, but I always liked him on and off the field. I'm surprised he can't help out the team as a pinch-hitter.

Funny how this works.

This is why everybody wants to be an underdog. All the Judge strikeouts will not be ignored if the Yankees fall short next season.

For crying out loud, the Yankees are playing clean baseball ... other than the hitting.

Bird is slow as molasses on his best day. He missed most of the season with an ankle injury. The hi-fi, 4-D, super slo mo instant replay analysis doesn't do justice to human scale and human biology. Yes, it was a bad slide with his foot to the inside of the plate. It's asking a lot to expect him to be agile and dexterous enough to nimbly wisp across the inside corner of the plate ... he isn't Gumby.

Judge missed the cutoff man. But even that decision clearly didn't cost the Yankees a run because the throw home was in plenty of time. Sanchez missed a short hop and the runner scored. If the Yankees were hitting, no one would have paid it any mind.

Gardner can be properly criticized for making the third out at third base, but the guy hitting behind him is hitting approximately .000 ... it's time to be aggressive perhaps? It's time to hope for a wild pitch instead of a base hit? Not that he or the third base coach analyzed it to that degree in the heat of the moment, but maybe if the team was hitting he wouldn't feel the need to force the issue?


That's it?

Over the course of two games, that's the evidence for inexperience or sloppiness?

I've seen the Yankees make far more misplays in a playoff series. In fact, I've seen the Yankees make more misplays in one game. In fact, I've seen Championship-caliber Yankees make more misplays in one inning. In fact, I've seen Tommy John make more misplays on one play.


2017 ALCS: No errors, no wild pitches, no passed balls, no bad throws, no runners picked off, no botched bunts, no ground balls to the pitcher thrown into CF, no errant pick off throws rolling down the first base line, no hit and runs where somebody missed the signal from the third base coach, no fly balls dropping between two outfielders who are both yelling, "I got it."


The Astros totally made two REALLY GOOD throws from the outfield. Nothing I haven't seen before, but amplified for sure because it's the playoffs and the games are close.

The Astros also made about 250 consecutive really good throws from the pitcher's mound towards home plate and that's why they're up 2-zip.

Or Judge can throw to the cutoff man.

Or somebody can get a hit.

Sanchez blows the game, the headline screams!

This analysis of the final play doesn't even properly identify the cutoff man. It wasn't Didi, it was Castro.

But, whatever.

In two games, the Yankees have scored 2 runs with 10 hits and struck out 27 times.

Sanchez is not a good fielder, in case you hadn't heard. Most catchers probably make the scoop and apply the tag ... extending the game for at least one more batter. Why would anyone presume the Yankees would have won the game in extra innings? Or Chapman would have gotten the next batter out?

Judge and Sanchez have already combined for 109 HRs in their short careers.

That's whey they're on the field.

Bird's a champ.

1.001 OPS in the playoffs, .286 batting average, and 3 HRs already.

Now he's getting criticized for his secondary lead off second base, he inability to accelerate as quickly as Rickey Henderson, and for an imperfect slide into home plate.

The Daily News with an article about ARod.

I mean ... is there anything else going on in New York City baseball?

Reminder to praise forgotten hero Tommy Kahnle from Game Four.

Mopping up Betances's mess.

Declines a start?

In the playoffs?

Because you're feeling under the weather?

You can do that?

The Yankees have proven me wrong all year.

A win in Game Five would sure be a feather in Girardi's cap.

Chapman didn't surprise me ...

... I am still surprised that Sanchez was catching in a late, close playoff game.

Easy target, I guess.

Jeering Girardi after the season he had?

Why would he even want to come back?

Barring an unlikely playoff comeback, I think Girardi might get fired. He will be rehired by another team in about three seconds.

Yankees have to win 3 games in a row.

Three different Yankee starting pitchers will have to start all three of those games.

The starting pitchers will be Tanaka, Severino, and Gray.

What difference does it make when they pitch?:

"So how does Joe Girardi redeem himself for that indefensible decision not to challenge the now-famous missed call in Game 2?

I’m not sure he can, to be honest. Certainly he took an important step on Saturday at his press conference by taking responsibility for it, saying, 'I screwed up,' a dramatic shift from the excuse-making on Friday night in Cleveland."

A very important step, yes. The Yankees won the game after the umpires reviewed Girardi's postgame press conference.


"In his heyday The Boss might well have fired Girardi before Game 3 over such a preventable misstep, and while Hal Steinbrenner has shown no such impulsive behavior, the outcry among fans and media is such that you have to wonder if he’ll feel the need to act."

Ridiculous.

George fired managers in the middle of a playoff series?

That would help the Yankees defeat a superior Indians team?


"Girardi’s contract expires when the season ends, and the Yankee brass is well aware that he’s not terribly popular among fans - though that shouldn’t be a basis for evaluation."

No. John Haper's column in the Daily News should be a basis for evaluation.


"So how does the comeback begin?

Here’s where I think Girardi has already missed another opportunity: I’d start Luis Severino in Game 3 and push Masahiro Tanaka back to Game 4.

Sure, they both have to pitch if the Yankees are going to get this thing back to Game 5, but I wouldn’t want to lose the series without ever giving the ball to my best starting pitcher.

And I have to believe Severino has a gem in him after what happened in the wild-card game, when he clearly was overwhelmed by the moment, pitching his first post-season game.

You tried to explain why Severino should start Game Three, but you didn't give any good reasons why Severino should start Game Three.


"If nothing else, the Yankees should want to find that out because if Severino somehow were to struggle badly again, it would be cause to wonder about his ability to handle big-game pressure."

Right.

That would be important to know because ... ummm ...


"Tanaka, meanwhile, didn’t pitch against the Indians during the season, but he hasn’t fared particularly well against them in his career, going 1-2 with a 4.63 ERA.

More significantly, with Tanaka you never know what you’re going to get, especially this season. When he was on his game he was brilliant, never more so than in his final start of the season, striking out 15 Blue Jays’ hitters while pitching six shutout innings."

This is all true.

So are the Yankees going to trade for Justin Verlander prior to Game Four?

I am reading it and kind of not believing it. Like Girardi is going to get a parade down Fifth Avenue when the Yankees lose in four games instead of losing in three games.


Girardi's job security is another matter.

He had a great season, once again showed his knack with young players and with the bullpen, had a nice game in the Wild Card, then a disastrous game in the ALDS, is not a very charismatic guy. Like most Yankee fans, I could take him or leave him. Ten years, if you can believe it.

As for this series? The Yankees are sunk. The Indians are better at just about everything, including managing. I think we all knew that before the series started.

Girardi admitted he was wrong.

Now his soul can be released to Heaven and the Indians can sweep in peace.

Also, the Yankees get the grand slam back, so they win the game.

"Ineptitude and arrogance."

Just be honest here. Girardi's real crime is arrogance.

Chad Green blew it. A pitcher who has allowed 0.5 HRs per 9 innings this season.

Girardi is blamed for a quick hook with Sabathia when, earlier in the week, he saved the season by pulling his Cy Young candidate after 1/3rd of an inning.

Also, note the lack of arrows directed towards everybody's favorite li'l utility man getting picked off second base. Nice play, "To." Are you a secret agent playing for the Indians, or something?

When a team loses 9-8, it's isn't one pitch or one bad umpire's call or one managerial screw-up.

Bad ump call, bad managerial decision to avoid the (very stupid, horrible, awful, get rid of it) super-slo-mo instant replay.

Deal with it.

Strike the next guy out and get Tanaka ready for the first game in a best-of-three.

Winners get the next guy out.

The Indians are winners. The Yankees are not.

Feeling down? Need a laugh?

There is an entire John Harper article prior to the punchline:

"Gardner's not Jeter but he's as much as captain in every respect. Maybe more so."

You had as many RBIs this season as Rob Refsnyder.