I've moved this blog to MLB's blog service . . . apparently someone over there doesn't care if he gets fired and changed MLB's blogs from pay to free.
So you can find my wonderfulness over at http://swinghard.mlblogs.com/
See you there.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Unprecedented
Unusual Circumstances.
I know I never write two posts in one day. Two posts in one week is productive, for Me. But I'm forced to undertake this unprecedented action by the latest terrible, putrid, unnecessary loss.
Ian Kennedy gave up three runs in five innings . . . 105 pitches. One horrible inning, the second. After that he settled nicely but unfortunately the pitch count was already way out of hand and it was obvious that Kennedy wasn't going deep in the ballgame.
Meanwhile, we're doing nothing against Future Hall of Famer Jeremy Sauers. I think we were something like 0-37 with RISP vs Sauers.
Hawkins stumbles through the sixth . . . the inning ending on a rocket line drive that's gloved by Gonzalez who manages to dive and double the runner off of third.
Top 6 we somehow load the bases. Cano pinch hits and is punched out on a pitch that's way low. He's followed by Posada pinch-hitting who, miraculously, hits a bases-clearing triple (aided by poor judgement by Dave Dellucci -- should've been a two-run single).
But it's a tie game all of a sudden . . . I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Hawkins (he hasn't pitched enough lately?) gets out of the seventh.
Meanwhile, Chris Britton has been up and down at least twice.
Farnsworth gets through the eighth, bad elbow and all.
Top 9. With one out, Damon singles, and Melky, despite being dumped on by the Fox team the whole game through, somehow singles.
First and third. Jeter up.
He hits it hard, but it hits the mound and comes up for the second baseman. Double play.
Tied at 3, bottom nine.
Fox comes back from commercial and . . . Ross Ohlendorf is pitching.
Ohlendorf? Ross "Hit Me Hard" Ohlendorf? The Ross Ohlendorf who's been pitching way too much and way too ineffectively of late?
Mercifully, it doesn't take too long. With one out . . . single, single, wild pitch, intentional walk, single. Game over.
I can only assume that MJ2 is doing with Ohlendorf what Willie Randolph is doing with Heilman -- the worse he pitches, the more work he gets.
We bring guys up to shore up the bullpen and then . . . use the same freaking guys who are allegedly are so over-taxed? Huh? MJ2 again shows a chilling similarity to MJ1 in this regard. Carry twelve pitchers and then only use eight or nine.
And, as iris pointed out . . . why on earth do you field that goofy lineup when your starer has an ERA of 9.64? The lefties he sat can all hit lefties.
But it's the offense, stupid. Even with the C team playing today, there were abundant chances. A lousy fly ball by Jeter in the top of the ninth and it's Mariano pitching bottom 9 instead of Ohlendorf and things most likely end differently. And a lot of blown chances before that . . . a couple were bad luck, most were just horrible.
I won't even begin to rag on Tim and Joe, whose anti-Yankee undertones are increasingly moving up to the surface, especially in Tim's case. I don't have the energy to dissect the telecast to the degree it warrants.
12-13. Can someone ask Hank if Girardi is in (more) trouble?
I know I never write two posts in one day. Two posts in one week is productive, for Me. But I'm forced to undertake this unprecedented action by the latest terrible, putrid, unnecessary loss.
Ian Kennedy gave up three runs in five innings . . . 105 pitches. One horrible inning, the second. After that he settled nicely but unfortunately the pitch count was already way out of hand and it was obvious that Kennedy wasn't going deep in the ballgame.
Meanwhile, we're doing nothing against Future Hall of Famer Jeremy Sauers. I think we were something like 0-37 with RISP vs Sauers.
Hawkins stumbles through the sixth . . . the inning ending on a rocket line drive that's gloved by Gonzalez who manages to dive and double the runner off of third.
Top 6 we somehow load the bases. Cano pinch hits and is punched out on a pitch that's way low. He's followed by Posada pinch-hitting who, miraculously, hits a bases-clearing triple (aided by poor judgement by Dave Dellucci -- should've been a two-run single).
But it's a tie game all of a sudden . . . I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Hawkins (he hasn't pitched enough lately?) gets out of the seventh.
Meanwhile, Chris Britton has been up and down at least twice.
Farnsworth gets through the eighth, bad elbow and all.
Top 9. With one out, Damon singles, and Melky, despite being dumped on by the Fox team the whole game through, somehow singles.
First and third. Jeter up.
He hits it hard, but it hits the mound and comes up for the second baseman. Double play.
Tied at 3, bottom nine.
Fox comes back from commercial and . . . Ross Ohlendorf is pitching.
Ohlendorf? Ross "Hit Me Hard" Ohlendorf? The Ross Ohlendorf who's been pitching way too much and way too ineffectively of late?
Mercifully, it doesn't take too long. With one out . . . single, single, wild pitch, intentional walk, single. Game over.
I can only assume that MJ2 is doing with Ohlendorf what Willie Randolph is doing with Heilman -- the worse he pitches, the more work he gets.
We bring guys up to shore up the bullpen and then . . . use the same freaking guys who are allegedly are so over-taxed? Huh? MJ2 again shows a chilling similarity to MJ1 in this regard. Carry twelve pitchers and then only use eight or nine.
And, as iris pointed out . . . why on earth do you field that goofy lineup when your starer has an ERA of 9.64? The lefties he sat can all hit lefties.
But it's the offense, stupid. Even with the C team playing today, there were abundant chances. A lousy fly ball by Jeter in the top of the ninth and it's Mariano pitching bottom 9 instead of Ohlendorf and things most likely end differently. And a lot of blown chances before that . . . a couple were bad luck, most were just horrible.
I won't even begin to rag on Tim and Joe, whose anti-Yankee undertones are increasingly moving up to the surface, especially in Tim's case. I don't have the energy to dissect the telecast to the degree it warrants.
12-13. Can someone ask Hank if Girardi is in (more) trouble?
Treading Water Is Tiring
One, Two, . . . Stop.
Thursday night the Yankees did something that they've done repeatedly over the past two years: Win the first two (or even three, a couple of times) games of a series and then lay an egg when they had the chance to sweep.
A lot had to go wrong for the Yankees to lose Thursday's finale in Chicago, I understand, but a lot that went wrong could've been prevented.
Joba giving up two hits in his second inning of work didn't bother Me too much --things like the are going to happen over the course of 55-65 appearances.
What bothered Me was . . . mostly, the complete brain fart by Morgan Automatic-Outberg in the fourth inning. The White Sox had gotten about four straight hits . . . there was a man on third with one out. Game now tied at 3. The ball is grounded to Ensberg, who throws home and of course, doesn't get the runner.
In the fourth inning, when the pitcher hasn't recorded an out in fifteen minutes, with the game tied, you have to realize that getting an out is the only important thing at that moment. You can't throw home unless you are 100% sure of getting the guy . . . stopping the bleeding is what matters at that point. Another run scores that inning wouldn't have scored had Ensberg recorded the out at first on that play.
A lot else went wrong. The weather, for one. Hughes had looked halfway decent through two innings before the rains came. When the game resumed, fifty minutes later, Hughes did not come back out . . . Ohlendorf did. I can't bitch too much, but fifty minutes I've always been led to believe was manageable in these things . . . it's not like it was a two-hour delay.
Ohlendorf went wrong -- can this guy ever give up a softly-hit ball? Does everything off him have to be a rocket?
Traber went wrong, facing one batter and walking him. MJ2 is apparently already completely addicted to this lefty-lefty BS. Lord help us.
We battled back (Automatic Outberg even getting a huge hit) but Joba's number was up.
It's hard to sweep series . . . at least it is for the Yankees these days.
Are We Missing Something?
When it started raining in Chicago Thursday night, iris pointed out to Me that MJ2 should've sent Andy Pettitte to Cleveland ahead of the team, since he was pitching Friday night and with rain in the forecast, the team might end up getting in very late.
Isn't MJ2 supposed to be the Man-Genius of managing? The guy who thinks of every possible angle to give his team the best chance to win?
How tough was it to know that Andy needed to head to Cleveland ahead of time? Presumably Pettitte wasn't going to make a surprise relief appearance Thursday night.
Shopping at the (Three Hundred and Ninety Thousand) Dollar Store.
Frank Thomas' unemployment didn't persist for long . . . The Big Always Hurt signed with Oakland, the scene of his impressive 2006 late run at an MVP. Barry Bonds claimed that the A's were being racist in signing Thomas over him until he realized that Thomas is in fact black also.
Thomas will be paid the minimum, pro-rated. They may have made a great deal . . . on the other hand, the cars in the junkyard are really cheap for a reason.
Well, There Goes Scranton's Shot At A Title
Pitching injuries, ineffectiveness, and overuse necessitated roster moves prior to last night's game in Cleveland.
Chad Meoller was DFA'ed. Bruney was put on the DL, and word is he might be back for September. Albaladejo and (ta da! finally!) Chris Britton were brought up.
In addition to Bruney being hurt, Farnsworth tweaked his elbow a bit . . . so he's day to day, it seems.
Needed: Some length from the starters. Badly. And some more consistent offense, so that MJ2 can manage with a little margin for error in handling starters.
He Can't Throw, But It's All Good. Honestly.
If Posada can't throw . . . and all indications are that he still can't, he needs to go on the DL. We can't have would-be base stealers simply taking every base they want on us.
As for Posada or DH or 1B: It takes time away from Matsui, Damon, Melky, or Giambi, and Posada's bat, while sometimes useful, isn't so good that you warp the whole lineup to wedge it in there.
It is not really that difficult: Catcher can't throw? Put him on the DL.
Thursday night the Yankees did something that they've done repeatedly over the past two years: Win the first two (or even three, a couple of times) games of a series and then lay an egg when they had the chance to sweep.
A lot had to go wrong for the Yankees to lose Thursday's finale in Chicago, I understand, but a lot that went wrong could've been prevented.
Joba giving up two hits in his second inning of work didn't bother Me too much --things like the are going to happen over the course of 55-65 appearances.
What bothered Me was . . . mostly, the complete brain fart by Morgan Automatic-Outberg in the fourth inning. The White Sox had gotten about four straight hits . . . there was a man on third with one out. Game now tied at 3. The ball is grounded to Ensberg, who throws home and of course, doesn't get the runner.
In the fourth inning, when the pitcher hasn't recorded an out in fifteen minutes, with the game tied, you have to realize that getting an out is the only important thing at that moment. You can't throw home unless you are 100% sure of getting the guy . . . stopping the bleeding is what matters at that point. Another run scores that inning wouldn't have scored had Ensberg recorded the out at first on that play.
A lot else went wrong. The weather, for one. Hughes had looked halfway decent through two innings before the rains came. When the game resumed, fifty minutes later, Hughes did not come back out . . . Ohlendorf did. I can't bitch too much, but fifty minutes I've always been led to believe was manageable in these things . . . it's not like it was a two-hour delay.
Ohlendorf went wrong -- can this guy ever give up a softly-hit ball? Does everything off him have to be a rocket?
Traber went wrong, facing one batter and walking him. MJ2 is apparently already completely addicted to this lefty-lefty BS. Lord help us.
We battled back (Automatic Outberg even getting a huge hit) but Joba's number was up.
It's hard to sweep series . . . at least it is for the Yankees these days.
Are We Missing Something?
When it started raining in Chicago Thursday night, iris pointed out to Me that MJ2 should've sent Andy Pettitte to Cleveland ahead of the team, since he was pitching Friday night and with rain in the forecast, the team might end up getting in very late.
Isn't MJ2 supposed to be the Man-Genius of managing? The guy who thinks of every possible angle to give his team the best chance to win?
How tough was it to know that Andy needed to head to Cleveland ahead of time? Presumably Pettitte wasn't going to make a surprise relief appearance Thursday night.
Shopping at the (Three Hundred and Ninety Thousand) Dollar Store.
Frank Thomas' unemployment didn't persist for long . . . The Big Always Hurt signed with Oakland, the scene of his impressive 2006 late run at an MVP. Barry Bonds claimed that the A's were being racist in signing Thomas over him until he realized that Thomas is in fact black also.
Thomas will be paid the minimum, pro-rated. They may have made a great deal . . . on the other hand, the cars in the junkyard are really cheap for a reason.
Well, There Goes Scranton's Shot At A Title
Pitching injuries, ineffectiveness, and overuse necessitated roster moves prior to last night's game in Cleveland.
Chad Meoller was DFA'ed. Bruney was put on the DL, and word is he might be back for September. Albaladejo and (ta da! finally!) Chris Britton were brought up.
In addition to Bruney being hurt, Farnsworth tweaked his elbow a bit . . . so he's day to day, it seems.
Needed: Some length from the starters. Badly. And some more consistent offense, so that MJ2 can manage with a little margin for error in handling starters.
He Can't Throw, But It's All Good. Honestly.
If Posada can't throw . . . and all indications are that he still can't, he needs to go on the DL. We can't have would-be base stealers simply taking every base they want on us.
As for Posada or DH or 1B: It takes time away from Matsui, Damon, Melky, or Giambi, and Posada's bat, while sometimes useful, isn't so good that you warp the whole lineup to wedge it in there.
It is not really that difficult: Catcher can't throw? Put him on the DL.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Hank Goes Bonkers; Thomas Just Goes
That 70s Show.
It only took Hank Steinbrenner 20 games to go back 30 years and channel some vintage George, circa 1977.
Hank's tirade is about how Joba should be in the rotation and should be in the rotation now.
Obviously a 10-10 start, Hughes and Kennedy not pitching so well as of yet, and Boston shaking off the non-existent malaise from the Japan trip and winning a lot of games lately has got TCS (The Current Steinbrenner) all jacked up.
The Current Steinbrenner: "I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now"
Swing Hard: Everyone does, Hank? Girardi and Cashman don't, clearly. As for "now," if you make Joba a starter it doesn't happen "now," it happens a good six weeks from now after Joba's had a chance to go down to the minors and build up to pitching starter's innings.
TCS: "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."
SH: Umm, Hank? Were you watching any baseball in 1996, when the Yankees had Mariano Rivera setting up for John Wetteland and won the World Series?
Apparently TCS just has to let off steam in public every so often. He endorsed this plan; it was TCS himself, after all, who mentioned the word "patience" in conjunction with the 2008 season.
Additionally, if you put Joba in the rotation, who exactly leaves the rotation? I don't fancy Mike Mussina as the long man out of the pen, nor do I want Ian Kennedy forced into that role.
Hughes and Kennedy will be fine. It's been four starts. Joba needs to stay in the pen. Mike Francesa put it best, a couple months ago:
"Good eighth-inning guys are like gold. . . . everyone wants one and almost no one has one."
Thomas Fails Carnegie Course, Loses Toronto Gig.
The Blue Jays released Frank "The Big (Always) Hurt" Thomas. The DH, tearing it up at a .167 clip, was unhappy to learn he was going to be relieved of his everyday DH role, thus making it unlikely that he would reach the number of plate appearances to cause his 2009 option to automatically vest. The Blue Jays decided that three weeks was too much and parted ways with Thomas.
It's all right to be a pain in the ass when you're hitting. A team will always tolerate a jerk as long as he's producing. Thomas has never been one to win friends and influence people, but he never had to, his bat doing the talking.
The knee-jerk reaction is to say that Thomas will get another shot somewhere, and he well might. But on the unemployed DH list there's also Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza. Most of the likely AL contenders look pretty well set at DH. Injuries always happen of course, but it's not automatic that Thomas plays in MLB again in 2008.
It only took Hank Steinbrenner 20 games to go back 30 years and channel some vintage George, circa 1977.
Hank's tirade is about how Joba should be in the rotation and should be in the rotation now.
Obviously a 10-10 start, Hughes and Kennedy not pitching so well as of yet, and Boston shaking off the non-existent malaise from the Japan trip and winning a lot of games lately has got TCS (The Current Steinbrenner) all jacked up.
The Current Steinbrenner: "I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now"
Swing Hard: Everyone does, Hank? Girardi and Cashman don't, clearly. As for "now," if you make Joba a starter it doesn't happen "now," it happens a good six weeks from now after Joba's had a chance to go down to the minors and build up to pitching starter's innings.
TCS: "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."
SH: Umm, Hank? Were you watching any baseball in 1996, when the Yankees had Mariano Rivera setting up for John Wetteland and won the World Series?
Apparently TCS just has to let off steam in public every so often. He endorsed this plan; it was TCS himself, after all, who mentioned the word "patience" in conjunction with the 2008 season.
Additionally, if you put Joba in the rotation, who exactly leaves the rotation? I don't fancy Mike Mussina as the long man out of the pen, nor do I want Ian Kennedy forced into that role.
Hughes and Kennedy will be fine. It's been four starts. Joba needs to stay in the pen. Mike Francesa put it best, a couple months ago:
"Good eighth-inning guys are like gold. . . . everyone wants one and almost no one has one."
Thomas Fails Carnegie Course, Loses Toronto Gig.
The Blue Jays released Frank "The Big (Always) Hurt" Thomas. The DH, tearing it up at a .167 clip, was unhappy to learn he was going to be relieved of his everyday DH role, thus making it unlikely that he would reach the number of plate appearances to cause his 2009 option to automatically vest. The Blue Jays decided that three weeks was too much and parted ways with Thomas.
It's all right to be a pain in the ass when you're hitting. A team will always tolerate a jerk as long as he's producing. Thomas has never been one to win friends and influence people, but he never had to, his bat doing the talking.
The knee-jerk reaction is to say that Thomas will get another shot somewhere, and he well might. But on the unemployed DH list there's also Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza. Most of the likely AL contenders look pretty well set at DH. Injuries always happen of course, but it's not automatic that Thomas plays in MLB again in 2008.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
Now Pitching for New York, Number 22, Scott Proc-- No, sorry, wait . . .
It used to be that the worst job in baseball was being Joe Torre's favorite reliever. It appears that MJ2 has inherited the disquieting habit of having a favorite guy out there and for now it's LaTroi (Poor Bastard) Hawkins' turn in the barrel.
How else to explain MJ2's use of him last night? They sent down Albaladejo (now christened "INeedADayJob" in Lenora-World) and brought up Ramirez. For what, exactly -- to pitch in a game that's out of reach? Ramirez hadn't pitched in three days . . . obviously he was capable of giving the necessary length.
Oh well, that other reliever in Scranton with a 0.00 ERA, Chris Britton, can't get a whiff of the big club. I have to think that Ohlendorf's next bad outing earns him an "Explore Pennsylvania" gift certificate, and if Britton isn't the one promoted then there really is some organizational bias against the guy.
Is It As Complicated As Hughes Is Making It?
Watching Phil (The Answer) Hughes struggle early on and thinking that this is one of those times when a baseball cliche actually gets to the heart of the matter.
Trust your stuff.
It seems every young pitcher has to learn this lesson. But The Answer has made enough starts that he should realize that not every mistake gets hit hard, and some mistakes get hit hard right at people. This incessant, Mussina-like nibbling at corners and ending up with 70 pitches in the fourth inning won't cut it.
You can be the right-handed Al Leiter when you're 38, Phil. You're 21, with very good stuff. Pitch like it and see what happens. The Yankees are constantly getting beaten by 88 mph guys who just throw strikes. Hello?
Brother, Can You Spare A Catcher?
Is Posada or Molina coming back any time soon? Chad Moeller is already starting to get exposed and at some point even he is going to need a day off.
Any word? Encouraging long toss session by Posada? Molina seen stretching? Anything?
It used to be that the worst job in baseball was being Joe Torre's favorite reliever. It appears that MJ2 has inherited the disquieting habit of having a favorite guy out there and for now it's LaTroi (Poor Bastard) Hawkins' turn in the barrel.
How else to explain MJ2's use of him last night? They sent down Albaladejo (now christened "INeedADayJob" in Lenora-World) and brought up Ramirez. For what, exactly -- to pitch in a game that's out of reach? Ramirez hadn't pitched in three days . . . obviously he was capable of giving the necessary length.
Oh well, that other reliever in Scranton with a 0.00 ERA, Chris Britton, can't get a whiff of the big club. I have to think that Ohlendorf's next bad outing earns him an "Explore Pennsylvania" gift certificate, and if Britton isn't the one promoted then there really is some organizational bias against the guy.
Is It As Complicated As Hughes Is Making It?
Watching Phil (The Answer) Hughes struggle early on and thinking that this is one of those times when a baseball cliche actually gets to the heart of the matter.
Trust your stuff.
It seems every young pitcher has to learn this lesson. But The Answer has made enough starts that he should realize that not every mistake gets hit hard, and some mistakes get hit hard right at people. This incessant, Mussina-like nibbling at corners and ending up with 70 pitches in the fourth inning won't cut it.
You can be the right-handed Al Leiter when you're 38, Phil. You're 21, with very good stuff. Pitch like it and see what happens. The Yankees are constantly getting beaten by 88 mph guys who just throw strikes. Hello?
Brother, Can You Spare A Catcher?
Is Posada or Molina coming back any time soon? Chad Moeller is already starting to get exposed and at some point even he is going to need a day off.
Any word? Encouraging long toss session by Posada? Molina seen stretching? Anything?
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Blast From The (Recent) Past.
MJ2 Pulls One Out Of The MJ1 Playbook.
Tough loss in Boston yesterday, made tough to swallow by Girardi absolutely blowing it in a key situation (and earning the first "Clueless Joe" citation of his career from the Daily News).
With men on second and third and two outs, bottom 6, Girardi elects to pitch to Manny instead of walking him and pitching to Youklis.
I don't know if Mussina talked MJ2 into letting him pitch to Manny, or what. If he did then Girardi's a bigger idiot -- Manny had already homered off of Mussina.
And I understand that Youklis is a decent hitter with a good eye for the strike zone, but why the Babe Ruth treatment? You absolutely can't pitch to Manny there. What, he hasn't burned the Yankees enough in big spots?
But Girardi decides to be "different" and I didn't even need to watch. Double. 2-1 Yankees becomes 3-2 Boston.
Then, Brain Bruney decides that 0-2 is a good time to give Youklis something to hit and it's 4-2 and despite a seemingly dramatic confrontation between A Rod and Papelbon (sapped of any real drama by a 2 hour and 10 minute rain delay), the game was basically over at that point.
And a poor at bat by A Rod it was . . . three pitches, two of which were balls (maybe one -- with these umps you never know but the third pitch was definitely a ball) both of which he swung at.
The hitters in the ninth battled Papelbon well and that was the only positive, making Papelbon throw 20-something pitches to get the save.
Girardi on his 6th-inning brain fart:
"We wanted to give him a little wiggle room if he could get Manny to chase something," Girardi said. "If we got behind Manny, then we would walk him. But we never got to that point. That was the decision I made, and I have to live by it."
Please, that's just crap. Pitchers are not geared to unintentionally walking someone. Mussina, if he's left to pitch to a guy, is going to throw strikes. Throwing too good a strike is entirely possible. That's why the manager has to step up and make the decision, not leave the pitcher to decide and then jsutify if with a cop out of "if he'd fallen behind then we'd walk Manny." If he'd walked Manny and Youklis killed us, I wouldn't have a word to say about it.
Manny Ramirez. Kevin Youklis.
Predator. Shrek.
One of the most feared and productive right-handed hitters in modern baseball. A career .280 hitter who gets way too much respect from pitchers.
I didn't think it took a genius manager to make the right choice on which of those two to pitch to.
Oh well.
It's still early. Isn't it?
OK, He Could Catch The Next Simulated Game That Pedro Throws!
Jorge Posada played long-toss the other day. Still no word on when he gets back behind the plate, but in the meantime he's doing a fine job cutting into the playing time of Damon and Shemp by DHing.
I'm thinking an extended minor league rehab assignment is in order.
Tough loss in Boston yesterday, made tough to swallow by Girardi absolutely blowing it in a key situation (and earning the first "Clueless Joe" citation of his career from the Daily News).
With men on second and third and two outs, bottom 6, Girardi elects to pitch to Manny instead of walking him and pitching to Youklis.
I don't know if Mussina talked MJ2 into letting him pitch to Manny, or what. If he did then Girardi's a bigger idiot -- Manny had already homered off of Mussina.
And I understand that Youklis is a decent hitter with a good eye for the strike zone, but why the Babe Ruth treatment? You absolutely can't pitch to Manny there. What, he hasn't burned the Yankees enough in big spots?
But Girardi decides to be "different" and I didn't even need to watch. Double. 2-1 Yankees becomes 3-2 Boston.
Then, Brain Bruney decides that 0-2 is a good time to give Youklis something to hit and it's 4-2 and despite a seemingly dramatic confrontation between A Rod and Papelbon (sapped of any real drama by a 2 hour and 10 minute rain delay), the game was basically over at that point.
And a poor at bat by A Rod it was . . . three pitches, two of which were balls (maybe one -- with these umps you never know but the third pitch was definitely a ball) both of which he swung at.
The hitters in the ninth battled Papelbon well and that was the only positive, making Papelbon throw 20-something pitches to get the save.
Girardi on his 6th-inning brain fart:
"We wanted to give him a little wiggle room if he could get Manny to chase something," Girardi said. "If we got behind Manny, then we would walk him. But we never got to that point. That was the decision I made, and I have to live by it."
Please, that's just crap. Pitchers are not geared to unintentionally walking someone. Mussina, if he's left to pitch to a guy, is going to throw strikes. Throwing too good a strike is entirely possible. That's why the manager has to step up and make the decision, not leave the pitcher to decide and then jsutify if with a cop out of "if he'd fallen behind then we'd walk Manny." If he'd walked Manny and Youklis killed us, I wouldn't have a word to say about it.
Manny Ramirez. Kevin Youklis.
Predator. Shrek.
One of the most feared and productive right-handed hitters in modern baseball. A career .280 hitter who gets way too much respect from pitchers.
I didn't think it took a genius manager to make the right choice on which of those two to pitch to.
Oh well.
It's still early. Isn't it?
OK, He Could Catch The Next Simulated Game That Pedro Throws!
Jorge Posada played long-toss the other day. Still no word on when he gets back behind the plate, but in the meantime he's doing a fine job cutting into the playing time of Damon and Shemp by DHing.
I'm thinking an extended minor league rehab assignment is in order.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
It Gets Late Early
Too Clever By Half
Last night Joe Girardi showed that in baseball, you can be too smart for your own good.
Last night in KC, Ian Kennedy was scheduled to start. The weather forecast called for heavy rain, and heavy rain sooner rather than later.
So, MJ Squared (that's Joe Girardi, aka Manager Joe II aka MJ2 aka MJ Squared . . . thank you, iris) decides that he won't "waste" Kennedy in a game likely to be stopped and not restarted. A side benefit of not losing Kennedy is that Kennedy could then pitch Thursday in KC and Pettitte could open in Boston on Friday.
But as with all diabolically smart plans, there was a flaw. Two, actually. No, wait . . . three.
Flaw 1: It might not ever rain hard enough for the game to be stopped.
Flaw 2: With the Yankees not scheduled to return to KC this season and the Thursday forecast ugly, the crew chief might do everything possible to get the game in.
Flaw 3: Getting nine innings out of a parade of relievers means a lot of different pitchers which means the odds of one or more pitchers having an off night are increased.
All three flaws came home to roost. Except for a little while in the second inning, the rain never got to call-the-game intensity. The ump could've stopped it then, but mindful of the logistics and the Thursday forecast, stuck it out. And Kyle Farnsworth lost Reliever Russian Roulette and gave up two runs, which, the way we're hitting . . . was two runs too many.
Then, the game now official (and officially over, pretty much) MJ Squared sticks Kennedy in there to start the sixth inning!
So let Me get this straight. We didn't want him to start, pitch three innings, then have to shut it down. So, um . . . pitching innings 6, 7, and 8 was somehow better? Kennedy, predictably, was not sharp and gave up two window-dressing runs.
And not that this matters, but, please, once, just once . . . can a manager just own up in the press conference and admit he outsmarted himself? Please? One time? I will freely admit that MJ1, Joe Torre, wouldn't have figured out the stop-Kennedy-start-Bruney strategy.
Score one for MJ1. But it's early.
Whew, It's Good To Get Molina's Bat In The Lineup!
Jorge Posada had an MRI on his shoulder yesterday. The results were negative. Negative meaning no structural damage. Not negative meaning "Posada can't throw for shit." Although right now both are equally true. Jorge is suffering from "dead arm," according to Gerardi, the first non-pitcher in the history of baseball to ever come down with that particular condition that I'm aware of. (The rumor that Bully Crystal stole three bases off Posada in an intrasquad game this spring can't be confirmed at this time.)
And here is a situation where MJ Squared is light-years ahead of MJ1. Torre would've let Posada make the play/don't play call himself until Posada's arm fell off. MJ Squared realized that base runners stealing at will was hurting the team and is playing Molina.
Which is a good thing, since Molina is pretty much our hottest hitter.
But it's early.
Twelve pitchers. Brilliant.
Again, it has to be asked. What is Hawkins doing on this team? What possessed Cashman to sign this guy? Albaladejo, who did nothing but get people out when he got the chance, gets sent down. Chris Britton apparently did the wife of someone in the front office . . . there's no other logical explanation for his continuing to languish in Scranton. But Hawkins remains.
And Farnsworth is perhaps the stupidest pitcher I've ever seen. I think it was Cone last night who said of Fonzie something along the lines of "he just has no idea how to pitch to certain guys in certain situations a lot of the time." Ya think?
Hawkins and Fonzie worry Me a lot.
But it's early.
Too Clever By Half, Part II: The Man-Genius Of Baseball.
It came out yesterday that Morgan Ensberg had an ankle injury and would be put on the DL, thus freeing up a roster spot so that Gonzalez could be called up while Jeter is sidelined.
But Ensberg didn't know about his supposed injury. Then it comes out that no, no DL for Ensberg. Shelley Duncan will be sent down to make room for Gonzalez.
iris' comment on this chain of events was that "MJ Squared is the Eric Mangini of baseball," referring to Mangini's refusal to ever give the press a real answer about any Jets' injury.
The Man-Genius of baseball.
But it's early.
Last night Joe Girardi showed that in baseball, you can be too smart for your own good.
Last night in KC, Ian Kennedy was scheduled to start. The weather forecast called for heavy rain, and heavy rain sooner rather than later.
So, MJ Squared (that's Joe Girardi, aka Manager Joe II aka MJ2 aka MJ Squared . . . thank you, iris) decides that he won't "waste" Kennedy in a game likely to be stopped and not restarted. A side benefit of not losing Kennedy is that Kennedy could then pitch Thursday in KC and Pettitte could open in Boston on Friday.
But as with all diabolically smart plans, there was a flaw. Two, actually. No, wait . . . three.
Flaw 1: It might not ever rain hard enough for the game to be stopped.
Flaw 2: With the Yankees not scheduled to return to KC this season and the Thursday forecast ugly, the crew chief might do everything possible to get the game in.
Flaw 3: Getting nine innings out of a parade of relievers means a lot of different pitchers which means the odds of one or more pitchers having an off night are increased.
All three flaws came home to roost. Except for a little while in the second inning, the rain never got to call-the-game intensity. The ump could've stopped it then, but mindful of the logistics and the Thursday forecast, stuck it out. And Kyle Farnsworth lost Reliever Russian Roulette and gave up two runs, which, the way we're hitting . . . was two runs too many.
Then, the game now official (and officially over, pretty much) MJ Squared sticks Kennedy in there to start the sixth inning!
So let Me get this straight. We didn't want him to start, pitch three innings, then have to shut it down. So, um . . . pitching innings 6, 7, and 8 was somehow better? Kennedy, predictably, was not sharp and gave up two window-dressing runs.
And not that this matters, but, please, once, just once . . . can a manager just own up in the press conference and admit he outsmarted himself? Please? One time? I will freely admit that MJ1, Joe Torre, wouldn't have figured out the stop-Kennedy-start-Bruney strategy.
Score one for MJ1. But it's early.
Whew, It's Good To Get Molina's Bat In The Lineup!
Jorge Posada had an MRI on his shoulder yesterday. The results were negative. Negative meaning no structural damage. Not negative meaning "Posada can't throw for shit." Although right now both are equally true. Jorge is suffering from "dead arm," according to Gerardi, the first non-pitcher in the history of baseball to ever come down with that particular condition that I'm aware of. (The rumor that Bully Crystal stole three bases off Posada in an intrasquad game this spring can't be confirmed at this time.)
And here is a situation where MJ Squared is light-years ahead of MJ1. Torre would've let Posada make the play/don't play call himself until Posada's arm fell off. MJ Squared realized that base runners stealing at will was hurting the team and is playing Molina.
Which is a good thing, since Molina is pretty much our hottest hitter.
But it's early.
Twelve pitchers. Brilliant.
Again, it has to be asked. What is Hawkins doing on this team? What possessed Cashman to sign this guy? Albaladejo, who did nothing but get people out when he got the chance, gets sent down. Chris Britton apparently did the wife of someone in the front office . . . there's no other logical explanation for his continuing to languish in Scranton. But Hawkins remains.
And Farnsworth is perhaps the stupidest pitcher I've ever seen. I think it was Cone last night who said of Fonzie something along the lines of "he just has no idea how to pitch to certain guys in certain situations a lot of the time." Ya think?
Hawkins and Fonzie worry Me a lot.
But it's early.
Too Clever By Half, Part II: The Man-Genius Of Baseball.
It came out yesterday that Morgan Ensberg had an ankle injury and would be put on the DL, thus freeing up a roster spot so that Gonzalez could be called up while Jeter is sidelined.
But Ensberg didn't know about his supposed injury. Then it comes out that no, no DL for Ensberg. Shelley Duncan will be sent down to make room for Gonzalez.
iris' comment on this chain of events was that "MJ Squared is the Eric Mangini of baseball," referring to Mangini's refusal to ever give the press a real answer about any Jets' injury.
The Man-Genius of baseball.
But it's early.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
The Week That Was
Formula 1: Engine Is Everything
When it works, it works. A solid start. Joba. Mariano. Seven-inning ballgame.
That first part is the tricky part. Right now the bats aren't particularly potent so overcoming a poor or even fair effort by the starter is difficult. Mussina didn't pitch horribly, but wasn't stellar by any means as a result the Yankees were never really in that game. Kennedy last night was terrible, the offense tried to make a game of it, but the firm of Farnsworth & Hawkins Ltd., General Demolitions, ensured that there would be no semblance of a comeback.
It could be a roller coaster of a year. Kennedy and Hughes (and, yes, even Joba) at times are going to have their growing pains. The offense, as we see right now, is going to have periods of more potential than production. When those two problems coincide there is going to be losing and generally bad feelings. And when those things coincide with Boston not having those problems (though at times they will), the media will make everything seem ten times worse.
So, it's going to be an exciting, but not always calm, season.
And . . .
I go on record as saying the Yankees did the right thing in keeping all the kids and not making the Santana deal. I, for one, am all right with missing the playoffs this year if that has to happen. Yankees management shouldn't be OK with it, of course, but not to the extent of making some stupid panic trade(s) in July. You can remind Me, in August when we're ten games out that I said this. Sometimes the right thing is to miss the playoffs one year, and in parts of the Yankee organization they understand that it's not going to affect selling out the Stadium this year or selling out the new Stadium next year.
Steve, Are You Sure About This?
"The greatest offense in the history of baseball." --Steve Phillips, on the 2008 Tigers.
Wait! I meant, "unless they have to face Gil Meche or Zach Greinke!"
Thank you for that clarification, Steve.
When it works, it works. A solid start. Joba. Mariano. Seven-inning ballgame.
That first part is the tricky part. Right now the bats aren't particularly potent so overcoming a poor or even fair effort by the starter is difficult. Mussina didn't pitch horribly, but wasn't stellar by any means as a result the Yankees were never really in that game. Kennedy last night was terrible, the offense tried to make a game of it, but the firm of Farnsworth & Hawkins Ltd., General Demolitions, ensured that there would be no semblance of a comeback.
It could be a roller coaster of a year. Kennedy and Hughes (and, yes, even Joba) at times are going to have their growing pains. The offense, as we see right now, is going to have periods of more potential than production. When those two problems coincide there is going to be losing and generally bad feelings. And when those things coincide with Boston not having those problems (though at times they will), the media will make everything seem ten times worse.
So, it's going to be an exciting, but not always calm, season.
And . . .
I go on record as saying the Yankees did the right thing in keeping all the kids and not making the Santana deal. I, for one, am all right with missing the playoffs this year if that has to happen. Yankees management shouldn't be OK with it, of course, but not to the extent of making some stupid panic trade(s) in July. You can remind Me, in August when we're ten games out that I said this. Sometimes the right thing is to miss the playoffs one year, and in parts of the Yankee organization they understand that it's not going to affect selling out the Stadium this year or selling out the new Stadium next year.
Steve, Are You Sure About This?
"The greatest offense in the history of baseball." --Steve Phillips, on the 2008 Tigers.
Wait! I meant, "unless they have to face Gil Meche or Zach Greinke!"
Thank you for that clarification, Steve.
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