Felz Stat of the Day

Yankees with two outs and RISP after 46 games:

AB: 191

BA: .188

OB%: .272

SLG%: .262

Derek Jeter plays catch.

Some weekend editor for the NY Post tries to get a rise out of Jeter fans.

The thing is, this guy doesn't really follow sports.

The other thing is, it's not really that difficult to find Jeter detractors.

But of all the attacks, this has got to be one of the oddest:

"In the second-to-last Subway Series game, Jeter came out for a pregame warmup with a video crew.
A cameraman furiously backpedaled while contorting his body to such an extreme to get that all-important low-angle shot — creating that larger than life 'Jeterian' image of the captain taking the field.

Jeter began running sprints in left field as his video entourage was told by security guards it could not be on the playing field. So, rather than warm up on the infield, the Yankee shortstop had a soft toss in front of the visitors dugout, which gave total access to the filmmakers.

 With each successive throw, Jeter moved farther and farther down the left-field line while adoring Yankee fans looked on.

More perfect shots for a final-season homage."



"It’s only May, and it’s already getting ridiculous. How many times can we say goodbye?

I have a no doubt that this holiday season Steiner Sports will be offering Jeter memorabilia, including a three-hour documentary highlighting the Farewell Tour (only $19.95!).

Perhaps I will be included in crowd shot; I’ll be the one with the look of disdain on his face."

You'll be the one who nobody is paying attention to.

Mike Lupica handicaps the Cy Young Award.

"Of all the money Brian Cashman spent so the Yankees, coming off an 85-win season, could just keep pace in the American League East — you would think that spending nearly half a billion would actually buy the AL East like a second home — the money that matters so far is what he had to spend to get Tanaka."

I don't think many people expected the Yankees to win the AL East. Though they are in first place at the moment.

Why? Because the Yankees lost their best player in the off season. They also lost their closer.

So the "nearly half a billion" the Yankees spent in the off season, spread over 5 or 6 or 7 seasons, is not really all that much per season in modern-day baseball.

Tanaka has been one of the best pitchers in the game; Ellsbury has been great; Beltran is hurt; McCann is overpaid, but the Yankees knew what they were getting wit h McCann ... they seem to be satisfied with a bunch of HRs and good defense.


"He still has to pitch out the season. He may even lose a game one of these days. There are other pitching stars to talk about in baseball. Max Scherzer beat Jon Lester in a 1-0 game at Fenway Park Friday night that was something to see, and Scherzer, pitching for what he hopes will be a heart-stopping new contract, is already 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA.

Mark Buehrle has been spectacular so far. So has Sonny Gray of the Athletics. Clayton Kershaw isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Justin Verlander, both of whom have already signed heart-stopping contracts of their own. With it all, Tanaka has been the pitcher in baseball to watch this season, the one to talk about. He has delivered in all ways, and done it at the Stadium. He has done it in New York."

Mmmmkay.

Who else is in the running for the Cy Young Award?


"Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers goalie, might make a run at him if the Rangers get on a run to the Stanley Cup Finals, that is the way it goes around here, for any team that has a chance to win it all. We are going to find out, first against the Canadiens, if the Rangers can come from being 1-3 down against the Penguins the way they were and can get on the same kind of roll the Giants did that time, when they went from 7-7 to winning another Super Bowl off the Patriots."

No boxers or "Dancing with the Stars" contestants?

Daily News scores an exclusive story about Alex Rodriguez.

Four writers taking credit.

An anonymous source says Alex Rodriguez almost retired from baseball due to mental and physical exhaustion.

I didn't read the rest of it because, like everybody else, I am not paying too much attention to Alex Rodriguez right now.

It's like scoring an exclusive interview with Hollywood legend Butch Patrick.

It's like forcing yourself to watch a new episode of the Simpsons.

Put the Subway Series out of its misery:

"So this was before the Mets had finally won 12-7, officially made it two in a row this season off the Yankees and six in a row going back to last season, before they had also made it official that after 38 games they have the same record as the Yankees do at 19-19.

So there was still more baseball to be played on this stupidly long baseball night at the Stadium, before Mets fans were allowed to ask this question:"

"Stupidly long."

Like a Mike Lupica article.


"If one team wins all the time, how much of a rivalry is it, really?"


This is not a rivalry.


"This was in Section 223 in the top of the sixth, a couple of Mets fans from Kearny, N.J. up there. Jose Carvalho, a 25-year-old accountant, was wearing a black David Wright jersey. His friend Alex Almeida, 22, a year away from becoming an accountant himself, was wearing his blue Wright jersey.

They both were still in high school the last time the Mets were in the playoffs. But this wasn’t the night to look back on the wreckage of the past several seasons, this was a night to revel in their team beating up the Yankees again.

'I wish we could play the Yankees all season long,' Jose Carvalho said.

'We don’t want to leave here,' Alex Almeida said. 'Please don’t make us.' "

Zing!

Must I tell the truth about this? The truth that Mets fans know in their hearts? Just how anticlimactic this has been the past two seasons? Finally winning the phony NY Crown and the prize is nothing more than a .500 team and an ocean of empty green seats at Citi Field?


"Wright got three hits and is nearly back to .300. Suddenly Granderson, who looked lost in April, is up to .205. Murphy is hitting .320. It was the Yankees who hurt themselves hitting into double plays in the second game of the Subway Series, particularly Derek Jeter in the fourth, guys on base, Yankees with a chance to get right back into it, Jeter hitting into a 1-6-3."

Gee, did Jeter really ground into a double play?

Though I must commend Lupica on his in-depth statistical research. There is plenty of evidence to support the notion that the 2014 Mets are better than the 2014 Yankees. Lupica gives us the batting averages of three players.


"They spend like drunks, and the crowd goes wild. The Mets don’t spend nearly enough to suit their fans. But for now the two teams have the same record. The Mets were supposed to be in big trouble and now have won three in a row. The Yankees are at .500 and, guess what? The last time they were at .500 last season, even with all the injuries and what felt like replacement players, was at 5-5. After 38 games they were 24-14."

The Yankees are mediocre, last year and this year.

That is why the Subway Series is lame. That is why beating the Yankees six games in a row is unsatisfying. You don't tell your grandkids about the time you managed to beat Vidal Nuno.

I don't know who's replacing Gee on the mound tomorrow, but the final two games of this series will likely have a total of one starting pitcher anyone has heard of.

The rest of the baseball world is laughing at New York's so-called rivalry.

The joke's on all of us.


I partake in the ritual. I am a fan. I hope Jose and Alex had a fun time and enjoyed themselves, though I wish the Yankees had won the game.

But let's not pretend you're really jazzed up about this. It's like beating the Lakers without Kobe.

There's an unformulated joke in here somewhere.

What happens when Jonathan Papelbon pitches to Mark Teixeira?

Then the answer is something like, he doesn't, because one of them is too tired ... or one of them pulled something ... or ...

Point is, well, the point is, these two guys sure are a couple of marshmallows.

Felz Stat of the Day

In the last 200 games, the Yankees are 104-96, with a -39 run differential.

Teixeira's legs are tired.

"Though he has six homers in his last 12 games and is playing his usual stellar defense, Teixeira has dealt now and again with fatigue. He labored to score from second on Yangervis Solarte’s deep single in the seventh inning and took his time rounding the bases on his homer on Sunday because he said he was simply gassed."

Well, he has not been playing stellar defense, for one thing.

Secondly, he took his time rounding the bases on his homer because he was simply gassed?

For crying out loud, get a Tony Little gazelle.

Congratulations. You got your man in exchange for your soul.

Meanwhile, Melky Cabrera is batting .335 with a career-high slugging average of .532. I guess right under Selig's nose? But, more likely, Selig doesn't care about PED use anymore.

I was just thinking how the Daily News seemed to had surprisingly backed off its ARod obsession.

Mike Lupica's Inner Circle

"Here is an American League manager and a good one, one from outside Derek Jeter’s division, talking about Jeter on Wednesday, now that Jeter has put more than 100 at-bats into the books in the last season of baseball he will ever play for the Yankees."

Who?

It can only be one of ten people in the entire world, yet you won't tell us who.

Maybe it's top secret information; or something very controversial.

" 'Just remember what it was like for (David) Ortiz a few years ago (2010),' the guy said, 'when he looked a lot worse than (Jeter) is right now. People wanted the Red Sox to cut him.'

I told him I remembered that, everybody does, but then reminded him that Ortiz was just 34 at the time. Jeter turns 40 at the end of June, and he does that after the lost season of 2013.

'Jeter is six years older than Ortiz was,' I said.

'But he’s still Jeter.' "

I told him I remembered that, everybody does, but then reminded him: Steroids.

"I mentioned all the analytics about how Jeter can’t pull hard stuff anymore. It made the guy laugh.

'No one ever played Derek Jeter to pull,' he said.

Then he added this: 'I know how old he is. I know how short his range looks at short. But in my heart, I believe this is one player you write off at your own risk.' "

Jeez, that's it?

So your secret conversation discovered an AL manager who's pro-Jeter?

"I believe he is right. Jeter has looked old sometimes this season, as old as most 40-year-olds who have ever tried to play shortstop in the big leagues have ever looked. And there have been times when it has looked as if Curtis Granderson has hit a harder .175 than the .255 Jeter took into the third game of the Yankees-Angels series on Wednesday night."

Oh, wow.

Lupica is pro-Jeter, everybody. Now you can rest easy.

I don't know what Curtis Granderson has to do with it, but it doesn't matter.

A bold pro-Jeter stance by Mike Lupica and his anonymous AL manager.

You know what? Put numbers around it or your prediction is useless.

If Jeter's back at full throttle, then what is his slugging percentage going to be the rest of the season? Right now, it's around .300 for the season, which is bad, and that has held for the past two seasons and almost 200 at-bats.

"Of course you know the season hasn’t started the way Jeter wanted it to if already there is discussion, some of it overheated, about Joe Girardi dropping No. 2 of the Yankees out of the No. 2 spot in the batting order. The controversy of April and May was supposed to be about how many days off Girardi will give him, not how much of an easy out Jeter has been hitting where he is still hitting."

It's not a controversy.

'99 Jeter is not sitting on the bench. Brendan Ryan isn't going to hit 30 HRs. Jeter is the best option simply because there aren't any other good options.

Also, Jeter is not going to get benched because he is currently the only popular player on the team. Tanaka may get some juice by the end of the season, but not Jeter Is Retiring level.

"DiMaggio hit .263 that year, with 12 home runs and 71 RBI in 116 games after hitting .300 the year before with 30 home runs and 122 RBI. DiMaggio did not turn 37 until after he’d limped away from his last season as a Yankee. Jeter is 39 going on 40. You have to at least wonder if DiMaggio’s numbers from 1951 are looking pretty good to Jeter right now."

Thanks for the heavy duty statistical research, but I don't see why you're bringing up DiMaggio (or Granderson, or Ortiz).

Jeter is not as good as he used to be. He is past his prime. It's very cowardly to make a predictions of future success without putting numbers around it.

If Jeter finishes the season with 12 HRs and 60 RBIs, is that some kind of big comeback?

Because ARod is going to do that in 2015 and get booed until his head explodes.

"The scout continued: 'Now we’re going to see if he can make the right adjustments and start hitting the ball the way he used to, and beat you. Or maybe there’s no adjustment he can make, and Father Time just beats him.'

Maybe that is the analytical way to look at things. But he is Jeter. Even this late in the game, it is too early to write him off."

I think Jeter's batting average will be fine, but his on-base% and slugging% will be too low and his overall production will be low in terms of runs scored and runs batted in.

Major league players are often judged by runs scored and runs batted in. Just a standard "analytical" way to look at things.

I suspect Jeter's deficiencies in these areas will be ignored by his cheerleaders and, therefore, if Jeter bats .280 and scores 50 runs, Lupica can declare Victory.

So here are some precise numbers I am forecasting: .280 BA, 12 HRs, 75 runs, 60 RBIs. Decide for yourself if that qualifies as a comeback. I'd say that's unproductive, but the best option the Yankees have, and better than the slop they threw out at SS last season.

If I underestimated Jeter's production, I will be thrilled. I can also take some pride in the fact that at least I made a real prediction.

Yankees are in first place after 29 games.

Last season, the Replacement Yankees were 1.5 games out after 29 games. Which is what matters.

There are quite a few observations one can make about the 2014 Yankees, but Mike Lupica hasn't got the time for that:

"After 29 games last season, already looking like a replacement team, the Yankees were 18-11.

After 29 games this season, they are 16-13.

Just sayin’ "

After 29 games, the 1977 Yankees were 17-12 ... and they won the World Series!

After 29 games, the 2012 Giants were 14-15 ... and they won the World Series!

Hooray!

We're going to win the World Series!

This includes Ellsbury's clutch single last night.

2014 Yankees with 2 outs and RISP

131 AB

.183/.267/.221

24 hits, 5 doubles, 0 triples, 0 homeruns

Fans are fanatical.

Steve Politi tears down some low-hanging fruit:

"Still, since Yankee fans love to consider themselves among the smartest and most engaged in professional sports, it’s only fair to point out the naïveté of what happened in the first inning Tuesday night."

Do Yankee fans really consider themselves this?

Or is it just something that sportswriters claim Yankee fans consider themselves?


"That was when those fans went from merely bitter to downright dopey."

Neither.

Perhaps the loss of Cano should have caused an emotional response from Yankee fans in general, but he was simply never a huge draw.


"That was when Robinson Cano, for the first time in his Seattle Mariners uniform, trotted to his familiar spot at second base and was serenaded this throaty chant from the once-adoring Bleacher Creatures: 

'You sold out! You sold out! You sold out!'

It was loud, it was rehearsed, and even if Cano said later that he didn’t hear it, it was all you could do not to run out to left field and check to see if the beer sales were abnormally high."

It was cold outside, so beer sales were likely abnormally low.

From a Yankee fan perspective, Cano sold out because he joined a team that wasn't the Yankees. Fan psychology is not very complicated.


"Forget, for a moment, that the fans were sitting in a stadium that cost $1 billion – a giant ATM that George Steinbrenner built to replace a baseball shrine that once sat across the street.

Forget, too, that this is a franchise built on the backs of players who, for decades, have left other teams for the nine-digit contracts that only the Yankees were willing to pay. Jason Giambi. Mark Teixeira. CC Sabathia.

Forget, finally, that the team spent nearly $500 million just this offseason on players, including $153 million on Jacoby Ellsbury – who, it should be noted, received a warm reception from the team he left, the hated Red Sox."

That is a lot of things to forget and I'm finding it more difficult to forget since you just reminded me.


"This, on a dreary night in the Bronx, was cold in every way. Cano – who had nine elite-level seasons in New York, won a championship in 2009 and was an MVP-caliber player on a bad team last season – received as rough a reception as anyone can remember for a returning Yankee player."

Get a grip. The booing was mild and good-natured and the real insult is when a returning player is completely ignored, which is what happens most of the time.


"Instead, when CC Sabathia struck out Cano swinging to end the first inning, the crowded cheered wildly. It happened again when he grounded to first, where Teixeira made a soft toss to Sabathia to record the out.

That is, when the first baseman with the $180-million contract tossed to the pitcher who opted out three years into a $161-million contract to sign a new $122 million contract."

Right.

They are our sellouts because they are currently wearing the Pinstripes.

We root for a piece of laundry, as Seinfeld would say.

The fans are not as foolish as you seem to think. They understand how their team was constructed. They understand the payroll advantage the Yankees enjoy. They understand that most players would take the money and run.

They weren't engaging in a philosophical dissertation. They were just having some fun at the ballpark. Good times.

Fans are not hypocrites because their only principle is to root for their team.

Fans are drunk and funny and enjoying themselves.

Cano was not a big star in NY simply because he was overshadowed by many other players.

The boos directed towards him were quite mild and good-natured

Speaking of the actual baseball game:

1) When will the press officially cease referring to CC Sabathia as an ace?

2) Why the heck does Brett Gardner strike out so much? It's the craziest stat on the Yankees. He strikes out as often as a power hitter and he hits less than 10 HRs per season.

Phil Mushnick is probably the funnest guy to hang out with.

"While stuck in the car with John Sterling on Saturday, listening to one of his lectures about baseball, it struck me: If he knows so much about baseball, why, for the last 25 years, has he not waited for the umpire’s home-run signal before calling it a home run?

And with 40 years of radio play-by-play experience, he always pooh-poohed fundamentals.


On Saturday, his 'At the end of 6 ½, 4-3, Yanks' — a standard Sterling cut-away — doesn’t cut it for radio. Audiences can’t see whom the Yankees are playing."

1) You weren't "stuck in your car." You were at home with the radio on listening intently to your favorite radio announcer. You don't need to make excuses. You love it and we love you for loving it.

2) You knew the whole time who the Yankees were playing.

Jesus Montero is fat.

 Pineda was traded for Montero, as we all know.

Therefore, Jon Heyman feels compelled to bring up Montero ... and mention the word "neck":

"Maybe they are guilty of not knowing how crazy he is about this stuff, of not knowing that on the maturity scale he's in a neck-and-neck (sorry) battle for the basement with even Jesus Montero, the young man with the sinking career he was traded for two years ago, the young man who admitted upon arriving in Seattle's camp this spring that the reason he looked like he weighed 270 pounds and resembled a blimp is that he couldn't stop himself from eating everything in sight.

Montero is buried in the minors for struggling Seattle, so in terms of baseball value the Yankees stand far ahead in the trade of child-like savants. They are quite a pair indeed, a couple addicts in their own way (Montero for food and Pineda pine tar). But in the race for maturity, by owning up to his sins even Montero may be a neck in front."

Teixeira's 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts could sink the season.

Reactions are required.

Over-reactions are dumb:

"Just in case Michael Pineda never makes it as a New York Yankee, he decided to prep himself for a second career as a stand-up comic. How else can anyone explain a 'Saturday Night Live' skit disguised as a Fenway Park start against the defending World Series champs?"

No one is defending it.


"Funny? This was Kevin Hart times Steve Carell funny. The same pitcher who used pine tar on his throwing hand in his last start against the Boston Red Sox, only to get away with it, decided to apply the same PED (performance-enhancing dirt) to the right side of his neck Wednesday night, in full view of millions of viewers and, ultimately, the umpire who tossed him from the game."

Funny? No.

No one said it was funny.


"If there's even going to be an October, that is. What if the Yankees end Jeter's career by losing out on a playoff spot by one game, or two, in part because one of their most talented pitchers got himself ejected and suspended over something so impossibly foolish?

Then Michael Pineda's comedy act at Fenway won't seem the least bit funny."

Way to bring it home.

No one said it was funny in the first place.


If the Yankees miss the playoffs by one game, or two, there are thousands upon thousands of reasons why. If their garbage $20 million first baseman hits 0 HRs this season, then they won't make the playoffs and Jeter will cry. Wait, what does this have to do with Jeter?


If the Yankees don't have enough pitching depth to cover two Pineda starts, they won't make the playoffs, anyway. Besides, there's no reason to think a Pineda start is a guaranteed win. Maybe Nuno will pitch 12 shutout innings and it's a blessing in disguise ... the Yankees make the playoffs BY ONE GAME and Jeter gets a ring ... and we can all thank John Farrell, in retrospect, for saving the Yankees' season.

I searched for "PED" in this David Ortiz article.

This is what I found:

"Undoubtedly, Ortiz's legacy jumped to a different level last year."

They won. They beat the Braves. They're 9-9.