A's 6, Yankees 1 (Sunday)
Rangers 4, Yankees 2 (Monday)
A great game by Haren Sunday. Although the Yankees helped out a lot by quickly going into first-pitch swinging mode. At one stretch Haren recorded six outs on something like 15 pitches. It was if Randy giving up the three-spot in the first inning took all the starch out of the team. Which is pretty much inexcusable -- even with no Matsui and no Sheffield, three runs is nothing for this team.
As for Randy, perhaps this time they'll do the MRI on the pitching arm.
Last night, a good start by Mussina. He seemed to get unnerved a little by the pop fly home run, but instead of a classic Mussina meltdown he held it together and pitched seven innings only allowing two runs. Unfortunately, Panic Joe turned to his newest favorite pitcher, Kyle (You Lookin' at Me?) Farnsworth, who promptly coughed up 2 runs in the top of the eighth. The Yankees again seemed demoralized by that and went quickly and quietly in the eighth and ninth innings.
Sturtze goes to see Dr. Andrews
Tanyon Sturtze finally admitted what everyone who watches the Yankees has known since the middle of last year: He's hurt. No. 56 is going to see Dr. James Andrews today to discuss his "slightly torn rotator cuff and bursitis."
How much of an idiot did Sturtze make Torre look like these past months? Joe kept running Strutze out there game after game reagrdless of how poorly he pitched, as though he was in the grip of a complex blackmail scheme the likes of which would make the writers of Law and Order: Criminal Intent envious.
And Torre kept calling Sturtze "a gamer." Um, close. The word ends with "r," but the correct term is "liar."
You don't get just a "sligthly torn rotator cuff." Bursitis is a chronic condition. And if you're going to see Dr. Andrews, it's not to shoot the breeze and talk about you don't need surgery.
The sad part is that in all likelihood Sturtze has made whatever is wrong a lot worse by continuing to pitch. Let's hope that Scott Ericson has a little left in the tank, still.
Dodging the weather
Amazingly, with all the cruddy weather of late, the Yankees have somehow avoided being rained out. Not a big deal, but every little bit might help down the stretch. Boston was rained out twice this past week -- they'll have some doubleheaders to contend with. And is it just Me, so does Boston seemingly play all their games at home, and play all of them against Tampa and Baltimore?
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Wow
Yankees 2, A's 0
The best start of Wang's career. Eight shutout innings. 85 pitches. 20, count 'em, 20, ground ball outs. I felt, especially after Bernie's home run in the bottom of the 8th to make it 2-0, supremely confident that Wang could finish this game. Wow.
But of course he wouldn't.
I knew that Joe was going to being Mariano in to pitch the 9th. And he had not, and something terrible happened, the second-guessing would've been deafening. So, Mariano comes in, and with a little trouble, gets the save. All's right with the world. Err, or maybe not.
1. There seem to be a lot more baserunners agasint Mariano this year than in years past. Is this a slow start, or the very beginning of the inevitable dropoff? Mariano is 36, which isn't necessarily old, but he's been a top closer for a very long time, a lot longer than most stay at that level.
2. Further, at this point, left-handed hitters are batting .303 against him. That's a potenitally very troubling thing, becasue it might mean that his out pitch, that cut fastball that renders lefties typcially helpless, is not as sharp as it once was.
3. Mariano's a victim of Joe's managing and circumstance also. Panic Joe using him on Wednesday night when he didn't really have to resulted in last night being the third night in a row and rendering him unavailble today. (He needs to be unavailable today, regardless of whether he says he can pitch or not.) This is the problem with the "give the closer some work when you wouldn't normally use him" theory. You never know. Statistically, all teams get roughly the same number of save opportunites, so as a rule managers are better off not trying to guess.
But, two sides to every coin. And it's entirely possible that the feel of the cutter isn't quite there yet, so Mariano's throwing more fastballs for now. At 36, perhaps he starts a little slower than he did at a younger age. He's pitching a lot better in May than he did in April. The save opportunities haven't been there so far in big bunches and I'm sure that choppiness isnt overall a good thing for his pitching. It's entirely possible that the Mariano will pitch well as long as he feels like it.
So in the end it's way too early to panic about Mariano. I dearly would love to have seen Wang go for the complete game shutout last night, though.
The best start of Wang's career. Eight shutout innings. 85 pitches. 20, count 'em, 20, ground ball outs. I felt, especially after Bernie's home run in the bottom of the 8th to make it 2-0, supremely confident that Wang could finish this game. Wow.
But of course he wouldn't.
I knew that Joe was going to being Mariano in to pitch the 9th. And he had not, and something terrible happened, the second-guessing would've been deafening. So, Mariano comes in, and with a little trouble, gets the save. All's right with the world. Err, or maybe not.
1. There seem to be a lot more baserunners agasint Mariano this year than in years past. Is this a slow start, or the very beginning of the inevitable dropoff? Mariano is 36, which isn't necessarily old, but he's been a top closer for a very long time, a lot longer than most stay at that level.
2. Further, at this point, left-handed hitters are batting .303 against him. That's a potenitally very troubling thing, becasue it might mean that his out pitch, that cut fastball that renders lefties typcially helpless, is not as sharp as it once was.
3. Mariano's a victim of Joe's managing and circumstance also. Panic Joe using him on Wednesday night when he didn't really have to resulted in last night being the third night in a row and rendering him unavailble today. (He needs to be unavailable today, regardless of whether he says he can pitch or not.) This is the problem with the "give the closer some work when you wouldn't normally use him" theory. You never know. Statistically, all teams get roughly the same number of save opportunites, so as a rule managers are better off not trying to guess.
But, two sides to every coin. And it's entirely possible that the feel of the cutter isn't quite there yet, so Mariano's throwing more fastballs for now. At 36, perhaps he starts a little slower than he did at a younger age. He's pitching a lot better in May than he did in April. The save opportunities haven't been there so far in big bunches and I'm sure that choppiness isnt overall a good thing for his pitching. It's entirely possible that the Mariano will pitch well as long as he feels like it.
So in the end it's way too early to panic about Mariano. I dearly would love to have seen Wang go for the complete game shutout last night, though.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Matsui gone for 3 months; The latest on Pavano
Yankees 7, Red Sox 3 (Wed.)
Red Sox 5, Yankees 3 (Thurs.)
After the exhiliration of Wednesday's win (and the special thrill of taking Schilling deep three times, none of them cheapies), last night's game started out ugly, went very long, and ended badly.
Seeing the Matsui play, I immediately said "if that's not broken it's a miracle." The announcers happy-talking about a sprain I knew was just whistling past the graveyard. Alas it was broken, and no Matusi for at least 3 months. Ugh.
The overall effect really shouldn't be that horrendous. One positive is that Melky gets a chance to show what he can do, and I have the gut feeling that he's ready. This lineup, even without Godzilla, should be able to score plenty. If, and it's a big if, the pitching holds up.
And speaking of pitching, Brian Cashman was on the phone last night with Tampa, checking on the progress of oft-injured starter Carl Pavano with Tampa pitching coach Rich Monteleone.
Cashman: How's Pavano doing?
Monteleone: Oh, he's doing great, Chief. He's got a great tan, really seems to be having a ball down here in Florida. We went to this place last night called "All A-Broad." "A-Broad" -- get it? Great place. They have this girl there, the things she can do with a plunger and a feather boa . . .
Cashman: Um, Rich . . . I meant, how's he doing pitching-wise? We need him back healthy.
Monteleone: Oh. Well . . . he was doing great, Chief, until this morning. He bent over to tie his cleats and felt something in his back. We've shut him down for a couple of days.
Cashman (softly): Christ.
Monteleone (brightly): But we expect him to be throwing off flat ground again by next Tuesday. Maybe next Thrusday. Backs are tricky.
Cashman: Flat ground?!? I thought he was making rehab starts!
Monteleone (confused): Um, he was, Chief. Until he got the paper cut two weeks ago. Then, just as that healed, he stubbed his big toe on some boxes marked "K. Brown --Personal." Have you been reading my e-mails?
Cashman: (banging on his keyboard) E-mails? What E-mails . . . oh . . . crap. They were in the "Junk E-Mail folder."
Monteleone: (laughing) Cool! I'm a spammer!
Cashman: (not laughing) All right. So when do we think he'll back up here pitching again?
Montleleone: (thoughtfully) Hm. Well, we don't want to rush these things, Chief, and I'd hate to give an estimate and then have to change it again, so . . .
Cashman: (impatiently) When the hell will he be ready?
Monteleone: (quietly) August 15th.
Cashman: I give up, I just give up.
(Crashing sounds and screams heard on the phone)
Monteleone: Sorry, Chief, I gotta run. The Fed Ex truck coming to pick up Kevin Brown's boxes just ran over Pavano's foot and then plowed into the box office. I'll write again soon!
Cashman: Yeah, you do that. I got another call coming in anyway.
(Cashman switches lines).
Steinbrenner: Brian, it's George! How's Pavano doing? Think we can get Barry Bonds? How about that A-Rod! I knew my little jab would get results! Do Matsui's consecutive games in Japan count? I've got a trade in mind . . . what do you think of Sheffield and Sean Henn for Albert Pujols? . . . oh, yeah, I almost forgot . . . I have some ideas for new promotions . . .
(Cashman sets the receiver down and walks over to the window, opens it, plugs his ears and sings "Cotton-Eyed Joe" at the top of his lungs.)
Red Sox 5, Yankees 3 (Thurs.)
After the exhiliration of Wednesday's win (and the special thrill of taking Schilling deep three times, none of them cheapies), last night's game started out ugly, went very long, and ended badly.
Seeing the Matsui play, I immediately said "if that's not broken it's a miracle." The announcers happy-talking about a sprain I knew was just whistling past the graveyard. Alas it was broken, and no Matusi for at least 3 months. Ugh.
The overall effect really shouldn't be that horrendous. One positive is that Melky gets a chance to show what he can do, and I have the gut feeling that he's ready. This lineup, even without Godzilla, should be able to score plenty. If, and it's a big if, the pitching holds up.
And speaking of pitching, Brian Cashman was on the phone last night with Tampa, checking on the progress of oft-injured starter Carl Pavano with Tampa pitching coach Rich Monteleone.
Cashman: How's Pavano doing?
Monteleone: Oh, he's doing great, Chief. He's got a great tan, really seems to be having a ball down here in Florida. We went to this place last night called "All A-Broad." "A-Broad" -- get it? Great place. They have this girl there, the things she can do with a plunger and a feather boa . . .
Cashman: Um, Rich . . . I meant, how's he doing pitching-wise? We need him back healthy.
Monteleone: Oh. Well . . . he was doing great, Chief, until this morning. He bent over to tie his cleats and felt something in his back. We've shut him down for a couple of days.
Cashman (softly): Christ.
Monteleone (brightly): But we expect him to be throwing off flat ground again by next Tuesday. Maybe next Thrusday. Backs are tricky.
Cashman: Flat ground?!? I thought he was making rehab starts!
Monteleone (confused): Um, he was, Chief. Until he got the paper cut two weeks ago. Then, just as that healed, he stubbed his big toe on some boxes marked "K. Brown --Personal." Have you been reading my e-mails?
Cashman: (banging on his keyboard) E-mails? What E-mails . . . oh . . . crap. They were in the "Junk E-Mail folder."
Monteleone: (laughing) Cool! I'm a spammer!
Cashman: (not laughing) All right. So when do we think he'll back up here pitching again?
Montleleone: (thoughtfully) Hm. Well, we don't want to rush these things, Chief, and I'd hate to give an estimate and then have to change it again, so . . .
Cashman: (impatiently) When the hell will he be ready?
Monteleone: (quietly) August 15th.
Cashman: I give up, I just give up.
(Crashing sounds and screams heard on the phone)
Monteleone: Sorry, Chief, I gotta run. The Fed Ex truck coming to pick up Kevin Brown's boxes just ran over Pavano's foot and then plowed into the box office. I'll write again soon!
Cashman: Yeah, you do that. I got another call coming in anyway.
(Cashman switches lines).
Steinbrenner: Brian, it's George! How's Pavano doing? Think we can get Barry Bonds? How about that A-Rod! I knew my little jab would get results! Do Matsui's consecutive games in Japan count? I've got a trade in mind . . . what do you think of Sheffield and Sean Henn for Albert Pujols? . . . oh, yeah, I almost forgot . . . I have some ideas for new promotions . . .
(Cashman sets the receiver down and walks over to the window, opens it, plugs his ears and sings "Cotton-Eyed Joe" at the top of his lungs.)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Ugly game; Ugly developments
Red Sox 14, Yankees 3
A rough night in the Bronx. The Yankee highlight came early when Giambi homered to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. From there it went downhill fast. Randy was horrendous, allowing 7 runs (only 2 earned thanks to a couple of errors, but make no mistake -- Randy got shelled. Almost every ball put in play was a rocket).
[Side note, speaking of errors: Everybody get off Melky's back. First, Sheffield is no Roberto Clemente out there, and second, everyone in the ballpark and the annoucers thought Cano had that popup all the way.]
But it's one game. No biggie. Because it's Boston (gasp! organ music swells ominously) everyone needs to make it a big deal. The much more troubling aspect of last night's loss is . . .
Randy goes for MRI
Randy had an MRI today on his shoulder. Apparently this was the team's idea. Joe Torre and Brian Cashman discussed the results of the MRI ealirer today a physician.
Dr. Goniff: As you asked, I administered an MRI to Mr. Johnson and also gave him a complete physical. The results are not necessarily bad, but somewhat surprising.
Torre: What?
Dr. Goniff: Well, Mr, Johnson is in fairly good physical shape for someone his age. . . .
Cashman: Yeah, we know 42 is old for a pitcher.
Dr. Goniff: (surprised) 42? Mr. Johnson is 74 years old, gentlemen.
Torre and Cashman: What the hell?
Dr. Goniff: Yes. That's my best estimate of his age.
Cashman: (on cell phone) Betty, I need you to pull out a copy of Randy's contract immediately. Look at Section 14.b.1 -- "Breach by Fraud."
Dr. Goniff: Anyway, as I was saying . . . he's in pretty good health, but he really should lose some weight, he probably drinks a litle more than is totally healthy, and his knees are in very bad shape.
Cashman: (still on phone) I'm going to fry this fukcer . . . 74 years old. What does it say in there? Can we recover all the money or just a pro-rated portion?
Torre: Wait a second, Doc. Do me a favor. Can you describe "Mr. Johnson" for me?
Dr. Goniff: (thinking) Hmmmmm, yes. Short, pudgy, very short stubbly white hair, mostly bald on top. Somewhat abrasive personality. Didn't seem to know why he was here. Said a tall guy gave him $500 and carfare to Belmont in exchange for coming to see me.
Torre: (reaching into his wallet and pulling out a picture of Don Zimmer) Is this the guy, Doc?
Dr. Goniff: Yes! That's him!
(Cashman hangs up the phone abruptly)
Torre and Cashman (in unison) FUCK!!!!!
(Cashman dials the phone again)
Torre: Ummmm, thanks, Doc. We've gotta go.
Cashman: (on the phone) I don't care where the hell he is! I want him in my office in ten minutes!
A rough night in the Bronx. The Yankee highlight came early when Giambi homered to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. From there it went downhill fast. Randy was horrendous, allowing 7 runs (only 2 earned thanks to a couple of errors, but make no mistake -- Randy got shelled. Almost every ball put in play was a rocket).
[Side note, speaking of errors: Everybody get off Melky's back. First, Sheffield is no Roberto Clemente out there, and second, everyone in the ballpark and the annoucers thought Cano had that popup all the way.]
But it's one game. No biggie. Because it's Boston (gasp! organ music swells ominously) everyone needs to make it a big deal. The much more troubling aspect of last night's loss is . . .
Randy goes for MRI
Randy had an MRI today on his shoulder. Apparently this was the team's idea. Joe Torre and Brian Cashman discussed the results of the MRI ealirer today a physician.
Dr. Goniff: As you asked, I administered an MRI to Mr. Johnson and also gave him a complete physical. The results are not necessarily bad, but somewhat surprising.
Torre: What?
Dr. Goniff: Well, Mr, Johnson is in fairly good physical shape for someone his age. . . .
Cashman: Yeah, we know 42 is old for a pitcher.
Dr. Goniff: (surprised) 42? Mr. Johnson is 74 years old, gentlemen.
Torre and Cashman: What the hell?
Dr. Goniff: Yes. That's my best estimate of his age.
Cashman: (on cell phone) Betty, I need you to pull out a copy of Randy's contract immediately. Look at Section 14.b.1 -- "Breach by Fraud."
Dr. Goniff: Anyway, as I was saying . . . he's in pretty good health, but he really should lose some weight, he probably drinks a litle more than is totally healthy, and his knees are in very bad shape.
Cashman: (still on phone) I'm going to fry this fukcer . . . 74 years old. What does it say in there? Can we recover all the money or just a pro-rated portion?
Torre: Wait a second, Doc. Do me a favor. Can you describe "Mr. Johnson" for me?
Dr. Goniff: (thinking) Hmmmmm, yes. Short, pudgy, very short stubbly white hair, mostly bald on top. Somewhat abrasive personality. Didn't seem to know why he was here. Said a tall guy gave him $500 and carfare to Belmont in exchange for coming to see me.
Torre: (reaching into his wallet and pulling out a picture of Don Zimmer) Is this the guy, Doc?
Dr. Goniff: Yes! That's him!
(Cashman hangs up the phone abruptly)
Torre and Cashman (in unison) FUCK!!!!!
(Cashman dials the phone again)
Torre: Ummmm, thanks, Doc. We've gotta go.
Cashman: (on the phone) I don't care where the hell he is! I want him in my office in ten minutes!
Monday, May 08, 2006
Sweep! One-month Review
Yankees 6, Rangers 1 (Sat.)
Yankees 8, Rangers 5 (Sun.)
The Yankees completed the sweep yesterday, good outings by Chacon and Wang making Torre's brutal managing Friday night a non-factor. Now it's an off day, and the Boston comes to New York for three games starting tomorrow night.
Three more games vs. Boston of the schedule. Yay. Personally, I wish the Yankees could play the 19 games against Boston and the six vs. the Mets all at once at the beginning of the season, and leave 137 games to concentrate on baseball. But anyway, it should be a fun series. Randy was 5-0 vs Boston last year; he'll have to pick up his game if he's going to continue that dominance Tuesday.
The One-month performance reivew
It's a month and change into the season, so it's a good time to take stock of the Yankees' performance so far.
First, the bottom line: Results. In first place (percentage points ahead of Boston). Recall last year at this time the Yankees were 11-19.
Some stats:
Team BA: .290 (3rd in AL)
Runs: 183 (2nd in AL)
On-base: .388 (1st in AL)
Slugging: .466 (4th in AL)
ERA: 3.76 (2nd in AL)
Fielding pct.: .989 (4th in AL)
DER: .7193 (4th in AL) (DER is an important but often-overlooked stat that tells a lot more than a team's fielding percentage. DER is a measure of the percentage of balls put in play (not including home runs) that a team turns into outs. For the 2005 season the Yankees ranked 10th in this category in the AL.)
And a few stats that are not quite as big a deal, but are important to this particular team.
--Yankees lead the AL in sacrifice bunts.
--Yankees are 5th in stolen bases in the AL.
I mention those last two not becasue I love sacrificing and stealing so much, but becasue last year's team was often criticized for not playing "small ball" when the situation seemed to call for it, being too home-run reliant, too big-inning reliant.
So overall, the hitting is good (and pretty well-distrubuted -- the Yankees scored 8 runs yesterday with nothing from Damon or Jeter). No surprise there -- this team will score plenty of runs. And while it's not necessairly a conscious small ball approach, I do notice the team picking up the "cheap" runs -- the RBI groundouts, etc. And that's a good sign.
The starting pitching has been pretty decent, even with Randy's uneven start. Mussina looks like a young man again, Chacon and Wright have been surprisingly good thus far, and Wang has been good enough, most starts.
The bullpen is . . . OK. Proctor a nice surprise, Mariano still seems to be struggling to find his form. Meyers has been generally good. But please, Joe, please -- the love affair with Sturtze must end, and end now. Does he have pictures of you in some compromising position?
So overall, not a bad first month. Lost a couple they shoudl've won, won a couple they should've lost. It's all good.
Yankees 8, Rangers 5 (Sun.)
The Yankees completed the sweep yesterday, good outings by Chacon and Wang making Torre's brutal managing Friday night a non-factor. Now it's an off day, and the Boston comes to New York for three games starting tomorrow night.
Three more games vs. Boston of the schedule. Yay. Personally, I wish the Yankees could play the 19 games against Boston and the six vs. the Mets all at once at the beginning of the season, and leave 137 games to concentrate on baseball. But anyway, it should be a fun series. Randy was 5-0 vs Boston last year; he'll have to pick up his game if he's going to continue that dominance Tuesday.
The One-month performance reivew
It's a month and change into the season, so it's a good time to take stock of the Yankees' performance so far.
First, the bottom line: Results. In first place (percentage points ahead of Boston). Recall last year at this time the Yankees were 11-19.
Some stats:
Team BA: .290 (3rd in AL)
Runs: 183 (2nd in AL)
On-base: .388 (1st in AL)
Slugging: .466 (4th in AL)
ERA: 3.76 (2nd in AL)
Fielding pct.: .989 (4th in AL)
DER: .7193 (4th in AL) (DER is an important but often-overlooked stat that tells a lot more than a team's fielding percentage. DER is a measure of the percentage of balls put in play (not including home runs) that a team turns into outs. For the 2005 season the Yankees ranked 10th in this category in the AL.)
And a few stats that are not quite as big a deal, but are important to this particular team.
--Yankees lead the AL in sacrifice bunts.
--Yankees are 5th in stolen bases in the AL.
I mention those last two not becasue I love sacrificing and stealing so much, but becasue last year's team was often criticized for not playing "small ball" when the situation seemed to call for it, being too home-run reliant, too big-inning reliant.
So overall, the hitting is good (and pretty well-distrubuted -- the Yankees scored 8 runs yesterday with nothing from Damon or Jeter). No surprise there -- this team will score plenty of runs. And while it's not necessairly a conscious small ball approach, I do notice the team picking up the "cheap" runs -- the RBI groundouts, etc. And that's a good sign.
The starting pitching has been pretty decent, even with Randy's uneven start. Mussina looks like a young man again, Chacon and Wright have been surprisingly good thus far, and Wang has been good enough, most starts.
The bullpen is . . . OK. Proctor a nice surprise, Mariano still seems to be struggling to find his form. Meyers has been generally good. But please, Joe, please -- the love affair with Sturtze must end, and end now. Does he have pictures of you in some compromising position?
So overall, not a bad first month. Lost a couple they shoudl've won, won a couple they should've lost. It's all good.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
The Texas Bullpen Massacre (Almost)
Yankees 8, Rangers 7
A thriller that should never have been. After seven innings, Mussina is cruising. He's leading 8-1, having pitched 7 innings, two hits, 85 pitches. 85.
Mussina gives up a single leading off the 8th. Panic Joe pulls him.
Small comes in. Single. Single. 8-2.
Fielder's choice. One out. 8-3.
Single.
Farnsworth comes in.
Single. Bases loaded.
Strikeout. Two outs.
Walk. 8-4. Tying run to the plate. Having managed the game into a save situation, Panic Joe now can use Maraino. Awesome. In a game that was 8-1 before you decided to pour sugar in the gas tank.
Single. 8-6.
Single. 8-7. 8 to freaking 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HBP. Bases loaded.
Fielder's choice. Inning over. Christ.
Mariano gets through the bottom of the 9th and the Yankees escape with the win.
Normally, I can at least understand a manager's thinking. But Torre's moves here are indefensible.
Mussina doesn't need the extra rest. You've got two more games this weekend against a good-hitting team in a bandbox. When you get a dominating performance out of a starter, ride it. At 85 pitches Mussina might easily have pitched 8 innings, or even (gasp!) a complete game. There's no thought that you might need some length out of your bullpen tonight, or Sunday, or both? Did the leadoff single in the eighth scare you that much? Small needed the work, you think? Trust Me, he'll get it, with two more games against Texas and then Boston coming to town for three starting Tuesday.
A lucky, lucky win.
Chacon and Wang need to provide some length today and Sunday, and the bats need to keep producing. Mariano shouldn't pitch tonight, neither should Farnsworth. Thank goodness Monday's an off day.
A thriller that should never have been. After seven innings, Mussina is cruising. He's leading 8-1, having pitched 7 innings, two hits, 85 pitches. 85.
Mussina gives up a single leading off the 8th. Panic Joe pulls him.
Small comes in. Single. Single. 8-2.
Fielder's choice. One out. 8-3.
Single.
Farnsworth comes in.
Single. Bases loaded.
Strikeout. Two outs.
Walk. 8-4. Tying run to the plate. Having managed the game into a save situation, Panic Joe now can use Maraino. Awesome. In a game that was 8-1 before you decided to pour sugar in the gas tank.
Single. 8-6.
Single. 8-7. 8 to freaking 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HBP. Bases loaded.
Fielder's choice. Inning over. Christ.
Mariano gets through the bottom of the 9th and the Yankees escape with the win.
Normally, I can at least understand a manager's thinking. But Torre's moves here are indefensible.
Mussina doesn't need the extra rest. You've got two more games this weekend against a good-hitting team in a bandbox. When you get a dominating performance out of a starter, ride it. At 85 pitches Mussina might easily have pitched 8 innings, or even (gasp!) a complete game. There's no thought that you might need some length out of your bullpen tonight, or Sunday, or both? Did the leadoff single in the eighth scare you that much? Small needed the work, you think? Trust Me, he'll get it, with two more games against Texas and then Boston coming to town for three starting Tuesday.
A lucky, lucky win.
Chacon and Wang need to provide some length today and Sunday, and the bats need to keep producing. Mariano shouldn't pitch tonight, neither should Farnsworth. Thank goodness Monday's an off day.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Extra Inning Win; Too Many Starters?
Yankees 4, Devil Rays 2 (10)
Another nice start by Wright. Thankfully, the Yankee bats woke up enough, tied it in the middle innings and then won it in the 10th. Farnsworth outstanding again. Mariano seems to have gotten it together after some hiccups early on. Nice to see A-Rod get a hit in a big spot.
But why can't this team score about 19 runs against the likes of Casey Fossum? Casey Freaking Fossum. What the hell happens here? Any bum who puts on a Devil Rays uniform magically is able to pitch well against the Yankees but against no one else? These guys got their 7+ ERAs somewhere.
Shawn Chacon was supposed to pitch Tuesday night in Boston, but got rained out. He got skipped last night in Tampa. Chacon discussed the situation with his manager before yesterday's game.
Chacon: Feeling strong, Skip. I'm going to mow them down tonight.
Torre: Umm . . . Shawn, you're not starting tonight. Jaret is.
Chacon: But it's my turn.
Torre: Err, no. Last night was your turn.
Chacon: We were rained out last night.
Torre: Right.
(uneasy silence)
Chacon: Soooooo . . . am I pitching tomorrow night then?
Torre: No. Tomorrow is Randys turn.
Chacon (scratching head): Oh. Am I pitching Friday night?
Torre (incredulous): Are you kidding? Bump Mussina from his turn? I may be crazy but I'm not stupid.
Chacon: So, um . . . everyone gets to pitch when it's their turn except me?
Torre: You got your turn.
Chacon (expasperated): We were rained out!
Torre: (triumphantly): Yes!!! Finally you've got it!
(At this point ptiching coach Ron Guidry happens by the office)
Guidry: Ready to shine tonight, Shawn?
Chacaon: I'm not pitching tonight, Gator. I'm not sure but it's either Wright, unless there's a freak rainstorm in the Dome tonight, in which case Sean Henn gets called up to pitch Thursday, everyone gets moved back two days, and I'm pencilled in to start on June 11th.
(Chacon stomps out of the office)
Guiudry: I think Chacon should pitch tonight, Skip.
Torre (reaching for the Rolaids): Unnnnngggghhhhhhhh . . .
Another nice start by Wright. Thankfully, the Yankee bats woke up enough, tied it in the middle innings and then won it in the 10th. Farnsworth outstanding again. Mariano seems to have gotten it together after some hiccups early on. Nice to see A-Rod get a hit in a big spot.
But why can't this team score about 19 runs against the likes of Casey Fossum? Casey Freaking Fossum. What the hell happens here? Any bum who puts on a Devil Rays uniform magically is able to pitch well against the Yankees but against no one else? These guys got their 7+ ERAs somewhere.
Shawn Chacon was supposed to pitch Tuesday night in Boston, but got rained out. He got skipped last night in Tampa. Chacon discussed the situation with his manager before yesterday's game.
Chacon: Feeling strong, Skip. I'm going to mow them down tonight.
Torre: Umm . . . Shawn, you're not starting tonight. Jaret is.
Chacon: But it's my turn.
Torre: Err, no. Last night was your turn.
Chacon: We were rained out last night.
Torre: Right.
(uneasy silence)
Chacon: Soooooo . . . am I pitching tomorrow night then?
Torre: No. Tomorrow is Randys turn.
Chacon (scratching head): Oh. Am I pitching Friday night?
Torre (incredulous): Are you kidding? Bump Mussina from his turn? I may be crazy but I'm not stupid.
Chacon: So, um . . . everyone gets to pitch when it's their turn except me?
Torre: You got your turn.
Chacon (expasperated): We were rained out!
Torre: (triumphantly): Yes!!! Finally you've got it!
(At this point ptiching coach Ron Guidry happens by the office)
Guidry: Ready to shine tonight, Shawn?
Chacaon: I'm not pitching tonight, Gator. I'm not sure but it's either Wright, unless there's a freak rainstorm in the Dome tonight, in which case Sean Henn gets called up to pitch Thursday, everyone gets moved back two days, and I'm pencilled in to start on June 11th.
(Chacon stomps out of the office)
Guiudry: I think Chacon should pitch tonight, Skip.
Torre (reaching for the Rolaids): Unnnnngggghhhhhhhh . . .
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Red Sox Win Their Personal World Series; FAN Hosts Indefensible on Defense
Red Sox 7, Yankees 3
Not really much different from what I'd expected. I figured Damon would be a bit tight. Wang was shaky early but settled down pretty nicely. Panic Joe took Small out too soon. Can we please finally settle the question, once and for all -- that Tanyon Sturtze really isn't that good? Torre is in love with this guy for whatever reason. Joe, enough's enough with Sturtze.
Of course it didn't matter in the end since Mike Meyers was no international man of mystery to David Ortiz. That Ortiz homer put it away late and Francona, somewhat oddly I thought, used Papelbon to pitch the 9th with a four run lead.
Tonight's game looks like it might be rained out -- apparently it's been raining in Boston pretty much all day. That wouldn't bother Me in the slightest -- everyone pays entirely too much attention to these Yankee/Red Sox matchups, especially early on. The last few years the two teams have played to a virtual standstill vs. each other in the regular season. This season will be no different.
Memo to Mike and the Mad Dog: Watch the Games!
I happened to hear a little snippet of the Mike and the mad Dog show on WFAN today. And the topic happened to be Francesa and Russo ragging Cano for his bad defense.
Ahem. To anyone who's watched the games so far this year, it's clear that Cano is vastly improved over last year. He worked extensively with Larry Bowa in spring training, and it shows. Cano had a fine game last night in the field, making Mike and the Mad Dog's comments ever more perplexing.
Mike tried to be subsbtantive, citing Cano's "lack of range." It simply isn't so. The reason that Cano doesn't get to some balls towards the middle is becasue he has to cheat the other way a bit to help make up for Giambi's complete lack of range at first. One would think that Mike Francesa would know this.
Russo's comments were just mindless Yankee-bashing . . . "he's a bad second baseman." Garbage from a garbage-mind who feels that it makes for "good radio" when a New York radio host reflexively trashes all New York teams.
But, for those who like numbers . . . Cano's got one error this season so far. A big improvement over last year. His Range Factor is 4th in the AL among second basemen who've played at 180 innings at second base.
To anyone who watches a lot of Yankee games it's easy to see that Cano's markedly improved defensively and getting better.
Mike and Chris (gleefully) also piled on about the team as a whole not being good defensively. Another mystifying comment. OK, 9 errors as a team doesn't tell the whole story, but it's a big improvement.
Posada: Has never been great overall. But this throwing so far has been stellar, throwing out 6 of 13 would-be base-stealers. Has always been good on popups. Not so great at blocking balls in the dirt, and plays at the plate have never been a strong point.
Giamabi: Gets a worse rap than he should. Lacks range and is terrible on popups. Gets nervous when he has to make a throw. But is excellent at picking poor throws out of the dirt. And that's the most important thing a first baseman does defensively.
Cano: Discussed above.
Jeter: Gold Glover.
A Rod: Should've won the Gold Glove last year.
Matsui: Not as good as he's been. Throwing to the wrong base a couple of times is very unlike the Matsui who first joined the Yankees. Seems a lot less confident out there than he used to.
Damon: It's well-documented he's got a crummy arm. But runs down everything out there. This season all ready I've seen him catch at least 7 balls that would've been triples with Bernie playing center.
Sheffield: Has that bad habit of side-saddle catching that he developed when his shoulder was bad, but overall, plays a decent right field when he's motivated. Strong arm.
Overall, this is not a bad defensive team. And anyone who watched them all last year and has watched them so far this year can see the improvement.
Not really much different from what I'd expected. I figured Damon would be a bit tight. Wang was shaky early but settled down pretty nicely. Panic Joe took Small out too soon. Can we please finally settle the question, once and for all -- that Tanyon Sturtze really isn't that good? Torre is in love with this guy for whatever reason. Joe, enough's enough with Sturtze.
Of course it didn't matter in the end since Mike Meyers was no international man of mystery to David Ortiz. That Ortiz homer put it away late and Francona, somewhat oddly I thought, used Papelbon to pitch the 9th with a four run lead.
Tonight's game looks like it might be rained out -- apparently it's been raining in Boston pretty much all day. That wouldn't bother Me in the slightest -- everyone pays entirely too much attention to these Yankee/Red Sox matchups, especially early on. The last few years the two teams have played to a virtual standstill vs. each other in the regular season. This season will be no different.
Memo to Mike and the Mad Dog: Watch the Games!
I happened to hear a little snippet of the Mike and the mad Dog show on WFAN today. And the topic happened to be Francesa and Russo ragging Cano for his bad defense.
Ahem. To anyone who's watched the games so far this year, it's clear that Cano is vastly improved over last year. He worked extensively with Larry Bowa in spring training, and it shows. Cano had a fine game last night in the field, making Mike and the Mad Dog's comments ever more perplexing.
Mike tried to be subsbtantive, citing Cano's "lack of range." It simply isn't so. The reason that Cano doesn't get to some balls towards the middle is becasue he has to cheat the other way a bit to help make up for Giambi's complete lack of range at first. One would think that Mike Francesa would know this.
Russo's comments were just mindless Yankee-bashing . . . "he's a bad second baseman." Garbage from a garbage-mind who feels that it makes for "good radio" when a New York radio host reflexively trashes all New York teams.
But, for those who like numbers . . . Cano's got one error this season so far. A big improvement over last year. His Range Factor is 4th in the AL among second basemen who've played at 180 innings at second base.
To anyone who watches a lot of Yankee games it's easy to see that Cano's markedly improved defensively and getting better.
Mike and Chris (gleefully) also piled on about the team as a whole not being good defensively. Another mystifying comment. OK, 9 errors as a team doesn't tell the whole story, but it's a big improvement.
Posada: Has never been great overall. But this throwing so far has been stellar, throwing out 6 of 13 would-be base-stealers. Has always been good on popups. Not so great at blocking balls in the dirt, and plays at the plate have never been a strong point.
Giamabi: Gets a worse rap than he should. Lacks range and is terrible on popups. Gets nervous when he has to make a throw. But is excellent at picking poor throws out of the dirt. And that's the most important thing a first baseman does defensively.
Cano: Discussed above.
Jeter: Gold Glover.
A Rod: Should've won the Gold Glove last year.
Matsui: Not as good as he's been. Throwing to the wrong base a couple of times is very unlike the Matsui who first joined the Yankees. Seems a lot less confident out there than he used to.
Damon: It's well-documented he's got a crummy arm. But runs down everything out there. This season all ready I've seen him catch at least 7 balls that would've been triples with Bernie playing center.
Sheffield: Has that bad habit of side-saddle catching that he developed when his shoulder was bad, but overall, plays a decent right field when he's motivated. Strong arm.
Overall, this is not a bad defensive team. And anyone who watched them all last year and has watched them so far this year can see the improvement.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Here we go . . .
Yankees 4, Blue Jays 1
Mussina good again, enough offense, and tremendous outings from Farnsworth and Mariano.
Although Mussina wasn't quite as good as the box score might indicate. There seemed to be baserunners all day but Moose always got the crucial outs.
The most interesting aspect of this game was the umpiring, specifically behind the plate. A rookie ump was calling balls and strikes, and, to be chairtable, he was having a tough day. His strike zone seemed to fluctuate from one inning to the next. Amazingly, Mussina, of all people, kept it together. Normally an umpiring job like yesterday's would send Moose right over the edge into a meltdown. And it was no better for Chacin; at least the umpire's missing ball and stirke calls was evernly distributed.
Torre got thrown out, bewtween innings. At one point the Toronto manager had obviously had enough, too, and he got thrown out.
I have no idea if the ump. Adam Dowdy, is in the regular rotation, or is he was filling in for a sick/injured umpire, or what. But he's not likely to forget his Sunday in the Bronx.
Into the belly of the beast
Here we go. Yankees at Red Sox. The first of a two-game series, a little warmup. The big story of course is Damon's return to Boston. I've heard a lot of people speculating about what the reaction of Boston fans will be. I think it's safe to say that the reaction will be loud and overwhelmingly negative. Will there be a smattering of cheers when Damon leads off in the top of the frst and is announced? I imagine there will be; not everyone will be bombed in the top of the first.
Should they boo? Of course not. Damon was an integral part of the first World Championship for the Red Sox in 86 years. It's not like he left for a few hundred thousand dollars more. It was a difference between $40 million over four years and $52 million over four years. That's a lot of money, even for someone making that much. Holier-than-thou fans who claim they woudn't take the $52 million are fooling no one, not even themselves. Plus, Damon played there four years. Not fourteen. He's not from Boston. The Yankees were in fact his third choice, behind Boston and the Dodgers (Damon apparently loved playing for Grady Little, now Dodgers' manager).
But of course Damon will be booed lustily. Damon, for his part, has gone out of his way to praise the Boston fans and speak fondly of his time there. That won't matter tonight at 7:08 when Damon steps into the batter's box, of course.
I would like to think that Yankee fans, in a similar situation, would react a little differently. Being fair, they probably wouldn't. But it will be interesting to see tonight if the Boston fans have at least started to make the transition from the losing to the winning psychology and take a moment to realize, and recognize, what Damon meant to them, and that his appearance in pinstripes is a function of the way baseball works today, and little else.
P. S. The Red Sox finally got tired of not having anyone who can catch a knuckleball and re-obtained Doug Mirabelli today. With our luck Mirabelli will go 4-4 tonight.
Mussina good again, enough offense, and tremendous outings from Farnsworth and Mariano.
Although Mussina wasn't quite as good as the box score might indicate. There seemed to be baserunners all day but Moose always got the crucial outs.
The most interesting aspect of this game was the umpiring, specifically behind the plate. A rookie ump was calling balls and strikes, and, to be chairtable, he was having a tough day. His strike zone seemed to fluctuate from one inning to the next. Amazingly, Mussina, of all people, kept it together. Normally an umpiring job like yesterday's would send Moose right over the edge into a meltdown. And it was no better for Chacin; at least the umpire's missing ball and stirke calls was evernly distributed.
Torre got thrown out, bewtween innings. At one point the Toronto manager had obviously had enough, too, and he got thrown out.
I have no idea if the ump. Adam Dowdy, is in the regular rotation, or is he was filling in for a sick/injured umpire, or what. But he's not likely to forget his Sunday in the Bronx.
Into the belly of the beast
Here we go. Yankees at Red Sox. The first of a two-game series, a little warmup. The big story of course is Damon's return to Boston. I've heard a lot of people speculating about what the reaction of Boston fans will be. I think it's safe to say that the reaction will be loud and overwhelmingly negative. Will there be a smattering of cheers when Damon leads off in the top of the frst and is announced? I imagine there will be; not everyone will be bombed in the top of the first.
Should they boo? Of course not. Damon was an integral part of the first World Championship for the Red Sox in 86 years. It's not like he left for a few hundred thousand dollars more. It was a difference between $40 million over four years and $52 million over four years. That's a lot of money, even for someone making that much. Holier-than-thou fans who claim they woudn't take the $52 million are fooling no one, not even themselves. Plus, Damon played there four years. Not fourteen. He's not from Boston. The Yankees were in fact his third choice, behind Boston and the Dodgers (Damon apparently loved playing for Grady Little, now Dodgers' manager).
But of course Damon will be booed lustily. Damon, for his part, has gone out of his way to praise the Boston fans and speak fondly of his time there. That won't matter tonight at 7:08 when Damon steps into the batter's box, of course.
I would like to think that Yankee fans, in a similar situation, would react a little differently. Being fair, they probably wouldn't. But it will be interesting to see tonight if the Boston fans have at least started to make the transition from the losing to the winning psychology and take a moment to realize, and recognize, what Damon meant to them, and that his appearance in pinstripes is a function of the way baseball works today, and little else.
P. S. The Red Sox finally got tired of not having anyone who can catch a knuckleball and re-obtained Doug Mirabelli today. With our luck Mirabelli will go 4-4 tonight.
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