Time to panic? Not yet
-
- April
- 23
There are 145 games left to play including 15 against the Red Sox. I suspect a four-game lead on April 23 is not insurmountable.
That said, when you scored 17 runs in games started by Schilling, Beckett and Matsuzaka, you have to come up with a win somewhere. The bullpen allowed eight runs over 10 innings.
“It’s tough. It was draining,” Alex Rodriguez said. “But you have to keep fighting. … You never want to be swept any time. That’s unacceptable.”
A-Rod was 6 of 13 in the series with five RBI and four extra-base hits. Amazingly, he never drew a walk.
Joe Torre said that “for now” Chase Wright remains in the rotation. That would be Friday night against the Red Sox. Yikes.
Wil Nieves dislocated his thumb in the fourth inning. Trainer Steve Donahue popped it back in and he caught four more innings. “The kid has a lot of guts,” Torre said.
I have a 7:30 a.m. flight to Tampa. But I will leave you with this:
The first team to hit four consecutive homers were the Milwaukee Braves on June 8, 1961 in Cincinnati. Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas homered.
The fifth man up? That would be one Joseph Paul Torre of Brooklyn, N.Y. He grounded to third.
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on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 12:48 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
No panic here…just a bitter taste. Must be the Sam Adams. The Yanks will get them next time.
“There are 145 games left to play including 15 against the Red Sox. I suspect a four-game lead on April 23 is not insurmountable.”
absolutely not. but they need to get healthy and get some pitching.
and they need to win three of their next four and that series next weekend. looking at a 7-8 game deficit heading into may would not be pretty. they need to at least stay within striking distance, i don’t care how early it is.
Peter, can you find out what the catchers are using to catch the balls? cuz it sounds like they are using latex gloves.
Two games were lost by the pen. It was suppossed to be the strenght of th epitching staff. We didn´t get swept because of the youngsters or the bench players taking over, but because Mo and Proctor gave 3 runs each when it matter most.
The worst thing about it, is that they gave up runs when the team was winning and blanked the Sox when the team was loosing in game 2.
I think that most Yankee fans were a bit worried that Dice K would dominate us tonight as –
1. Yankees usually have trouble facing a pitcher for the first time.
2. Dice K has been hyped as a shut down, dominating pitcher.
But our 60 percent line up handled him OK. We scored 6, but there were also some loud outs (Nieves twice, Phelps and Cano shot foul by inches) I think our line up (100% next time) will be ready.
Wonder what Dice K thinks of his own performance – tonight had to dent his confidence a bit. Also, his effectiveness definitely declines with runners on base.
If Green Tea were bedridden with the flu this week end, we may have won one, maybe two.
Francona’s father was also part of a 4-HR in a row streak, at least according to John Miller.
Juxtaposition aside, I would like to state five days in advance that I am blaming this loss on Joe Torre.
“Two games were lost by the pen. It was suppossed to be the strenght of th epitching staff. We didn´t get swept because of the youngsters or the bench players taking over, but because Mo and Proctor gave 3 runs each when it matter most.”
The bullpen can’t possibly be a strength for the team when it leads the majors in innings pitched with 71 innings pitched. 71 innings!!!!!?!!! I dont know but I doubt the next team is even close to that amount. Proctor, Bruney and Vizcaino have been terribly over used!!! Farnsworthless is all or nothing and has to be babied, and Mo never pitches so he has no location. The Yanks have a great bullpen but not when they have to pitch 5 innings every day.
Joe Torre said that “for now� Chase Wright remains in the rotation. That would be Friday night against the Yankees. Yikes.
Wow, if Chase Wright gave up four HRS to the Red Sox, imagine how many he’ll give up to a lineup of elite offensive performers like the Yankees.
I’m not panicking, just concerned bout the bullpen being abused.
I’m looking forward to seeing the Yankees face Matsuzaka again, possibly with their full lineup. It didn’t seem like they had much trouble with him at all.
Seriously, The Great Matsuzaka didn’t really look that scary. He got a lot of strikeouts, but he was hit pretty hard, too.
I don’t know who it will be but I highly doubt that we will see Wright on Friday. They will send Guidry out there if they have to. Everyone knew that the kid wasn’t ready for the majors but I don’t think the organization wants to hurt his future by sending him out there again especially against the Soxs. Let Pavano go out there and pitch with his left hand or his feet if he has to.
Wow. I thought I would see the world is coming to an end.. The posts were basically reasonable.
the main reason the pen has been overused is obvious the yanks have only pitched 4 rookies so far this year..
I only saw about the 5th inning on so I did not see the 4 in a row…
They will get Matsui back Monday but have Igawa going he needs to give them 6 or more innings. Tuesday they get Wang and Posada should be back by Tuesday. Then they only need to get back Moose and figure what is going on with the ultimate loser Pavano….
I like the Yanks spunk, they lost 3 tough games. The Pedroi play in the 8th kind of typified the whole series, just not good enough…
I blame this game and the season so far on Cashman. This is absolutely hands down the worst starting staff they have had since Torre was the manager. Karstens and Wright should be on a AA bus to Chatanooga no where near the Yankee locker room. Igawa was a panic signing for not getting Matsuzaka, granted he has pitched better lately but come on, these are the Yankees. Hughes should be out there at least in the next 2-3 weeks, come on. Granted Pettitte was a good signing but he and Wang are the only 2 legitimate starters that they have right now and we don’t know how Wang will do. Mussina is toast, I see a 5.30 + era this season and only about 20 starts. Pavano is the biggest bust besides Weaver in Cashman’s tenure, it’s an absolute disgrace that Cashman still has a job and that he was allowed to put together this staff and if I were a member of the bullpen right now I would sue Cashman if I developed a shoulder or elbow injury due to over use by Torre. Cashman had several options to sign legitimate starters this past winter, ie. Lilly, etc and boy are Proctor and Vizcaino and Henn, and Bruney paying for it. This weekend was so painful to watch, I don’t know what I hated to watch and cursed more, the incompetence of Torre to use an overworked bullpen or cursing Cashman for giving Torre this mess of a staff. If George were still George he would have Cash’s head on a stake. Also to think that the Yankees got no starting help from the trades of 2 HOF’s. Oh Well, if my friend Peter doesn’t care why should I?
Tim you are a fool.
there starting staff will be good not great.
Moose is not toast, pettitte, and wang can pitch. Igawa we will see, Pavano is a loser.
Try some young guys if they do not pan out, call up Mr Hughes… They have the best offense in baseball.
ALso you need to give the young guys a few tries. Look at Henn looked terrible 2 years ago, yes he is not starting but looks like he belongs as a reliever.
Farnsworth inability to pitch back to back etc and Meyers inability previous to this year to be more then a lefty specialist can be a problem that causes all the other relievers to have to work even more then they have to because of the undermanned staff…
I doubt it will or can happen but I would love to get rid of Farnsworth…......
THey Yanks trading a old DH sheff for Sanchez and 2 other good arms they have a future.
they traded Johnson for Vizciano and 2 more good arms… WIll any of these 5 pitchers make it who knows but they have chance…
The Yanks will be fine…It is a long long season.
I am sure guys like Tim will post in about 4 months and admit they were wrong!!!!Yeah right, never happen.
Tim,
I gotta disagree with all that. You have 3 of your 5 starting pitchers, and the sixth guy, injured, and guess what? You are going to lose some games and overwork your bullpen. No getting around it. No general manager can prevent that.
To say nothing of one of your big bats on the DL and two others missing games.
Geez, what do you expect?
“Also to think that the Yankees got no starting help from the trades of 2 HOF’s”
Tim:
Johnson looked old and washed up last year and ended the season with back surgery.
Sheffield is a good player, but not a HOFer. Additionally, he missed most of the season to injury, and never regained his stroke when he returned. At his age, that makes for a serious question mark.
I think you are significantly overestimating their value in trade.
anyone worried that the fallout from this series will carry over into the weekend?
they’ve got to be at least a little bit demoralized after losing the way they did.
the bullpen is absolutely gassed.
igawa up tomorrow, which means six innings or less and more work for the ‘pen.
they could be feeling this series for a week, much the way the red sox felt the sweep last august for a week.
hey, didn’t somebody suggest that we would see the exact opposite of last year’s sweep play out, right down to bullpen burnout? who was that? somebody who’s just a negative jerk and obviously knows nothing about baseball, right?
anaconda’s awfully quiet these days.
I bet you Igawa pitches a complete game.
Despite being swept, I feel really optimistic.
Without 3 of our 5 starting pitchers, Matsui, Posada, and Damon for two of the games, plus worn out middle relief and a rusty Rivera, we came pretty close to winning all three games against Boston’s best.
I pity them later in the Season when our team is healthy.
So what we lost three straight, we hammered the sox best 3 pitchers, and we have a ton of injuries, so we definetly won a moral victory, and when we get all of our best players back we will destroy the sox. I am a little concerned about derek though striking out two times in the 9th inning against pimplebon, I really thought he was going to lead us to victory, but I guess he cant do it all the time. next weekend we sweep them, hey these are april games they dont even matter, wait till we get them in October, when they always choke.
Wait, it’s April and the Sox are ahead of the Yankees? Didn’t that happen last year? Or was it two years ago?
It’s happened every year for, like, the past 8 years. Big F’n deal.
Can’t blame Jeter for King against Paplebon, he’s got nasty stuff. It’s refreshing to hear from some Sox fans that they were terrified of A-Rod coming to the plate in the 9th.
A-Rod accounted for about half of the 17 Yankee runs, what a monster.
Turn the page.
I’m not worried at all, in fact I’m heartened by the way the Yankees were in every game with two replacement levels starters v. the much hyped Sox rotation.
But for Mo’s blown save, the series would have gone quite well.
Not worried. Does it suck being swept? Yes. But you know what? Boston threw out their top 3 pitchers, and the Yankee lineup hit them for at least 5 runs each. On the other end of it, the Yankees threw out one of their top starters, who pitched a good game, and two kids, one of whom is at best the 6th starter when people are healthy, while the other had 2 AA starts before being called up. Despite that, the Yankees got the tying run to the plate at the end of every game. Not much more you can ask for there.
As usual, Kasey, you are in dreamland.
I guess you couldn’t have read any of my 20 comments from over the weekend since you announced that you didn’t bother reading everyone’s comments after last night’s game and thought it was necessary to tell us.
Nice try, Kasey, but you are always such a bore when you address this team’s so-called weaknesses.
By the way, every knowledgeable Yankee fan knows there will be no carry-over to next weekend. Demoralizing losses really don’t linger with this team just like emotional highs don’t usually linger either. They were supposedly riding high after the sweep on Thursday, but it didn’t really have carry-over effect this weekend at all.
Last season, this team was embarrassed and played one of their worst games of the season the Thursday preceding Boston Massacre II. I guess that embarrassing loss that didn’t prohibit this team from going to Fenway and clobbering the BoSox for 5 games in four days.
It’s disappointing to see the team squander two games against their arch-rivals, but I’m not exactly ready to jump off a bridge. This team will bounce back as they always do. The cavalry is coming with Matsui tomorrow and Wang on Tuesday. According to Pete and other beat writers, Moose also should be back within the next 7-10 days.
As far as this weekend is concerned, I watched this team pound the supposed dynamite trio of the Red Sox for 3 games and did it without 2 everyday regulars in two of those games and 3 everyday regulars in the other—not to mention that they had to do it with 2 rookie starters that won’t be in the rotation once the regulars return from the DL.
Am I happy about it?
No, but I’m far from worried and hasn’t changed my opinion of this team one iota.
I guess you must be happy about this weekend’s results because you do most of your “gloatingâ€? after a Yankee loss—rather than a win.
Hmmm, funny how that works out.
don’t you mean friday against the red sox. i dont understand how he can play against the yankees
“anyone worried that the fallout from this series will carry over into the weekend?
they’ve got to be at least a little bit demoralized after losing the way they did.”
Kasey I’m sure it stung a little bit but I’m thinking the guys are going to come out with more fight in the next series, not dwell on it.
The offense was great 5 or more runs in each game.
As for the pitching, Torre needs to trust his starters (Pettite and Igawa) a little bit more and let them go a few more innings each start.
Karstens- I would give him another start before throwing him under the bus; this was his first start of the season (after an injury) the others had their bad starts let him shake of the rust first, if it continues send him down.
I heard Rasner was sent down to AAA is that true? If so why send him down and keep Wright? I thought Rasner did pretty good his last outing. As for Wright the 4 hrs was a fluke, how often does that happen? An there are some pitchers out there who are much worse than Wright.
Torre fried the bullpen and it cost them 2 losses in Boston. Proctor for a third night in a row. Great move. Torre is getting paid $7 million to win these games, not to screw them up.
You guys all stink – Proctor is off to a slow start just like last year…Torre hasn’t blown his arm out yet. I think he managed all the games just fine.
Here’s an idea. Let’s limit the number of pitchers that can appear in a game.
I’m not discouraged at all by this performance, nor do I think the Yankees are. This series was always about the fans, not the players, so I don’t see the Yankees getting too worked over by it.
This was probably the hardest series of the season so far, the Yankees looked tough the entire time. Facing 3 of the best pitchers on one of the best starting staffs in baseball, with only 2/3s of their line-up and 2 AA starters, the Yankees were only outscored by 4 runs. The Red Sox were on their heels the entire series.
If anyone expected the Yankees to win the last two games of this series, they were dreaming. But both times, the Yankees were inches away from a win. And in the first game, the only one which even comes close to an even match-up, the Yanks only lost because of a rare fumble from Mo. That happens sometimes, but not very often.
Clearly the team and fans are going to be bummed about this weekend, but I think any reasonable examination of the series has to conclude that Yankees did much, much better than expected. They owned Schilling, they owned Beckett (at least for a few innings), and they did pretty darn good against Dice-K. Meanwhile, the Sox could only squeeze 4 more runs out of the run-down Yanks staff. By all accounts, this series should have been a reverse Boston massacre, but instead it was a close battle the entire way.
If nothing else, the Yanks are consummate professionals. They’re not going to be overly thrown by the sweep. It’s something to learn from, and to prepare against for next time. And, as our guys get rested and healthier, things can only get better.
In the meantime, go A-Rod!
Is there any chance they will move Chase up a day? How can they have him face the soxs again?
What was his reaction after the game? Is he holding up? Is he okay? I feel terrible for the kid. He was coasting along than all of a sudden 4 homeruns in a row. My question is why didn’t someone go out and speak to him after the first 2? they waiting till the 3rd!! He needed to be slowed down!!
You get over this weekend and get right back on the horse and take 3 from TB.
Well I walked into work this morning to find a broom on my desk. Not so good. lol
But honestly I don’t feel too bad. Why?
1- We beat up on the Sox “aces” who are so “dominant.” That looks good for us in the future if we ever do get some solid pitching.
2- Mo will be fine. Always seems the beginning of the year is tough for him especially vs the Sox.
3- Major league hitters should beat minor league pitchers. As a Yankee fan I went into the weekend realitically thinking if we won one it wouldn’t be a failure. Pettitte are only true starter of the series, gave us that chance.
The over use of the bullpen so early (reminds me of 2004) and the fact that Torre marches Proctor out vs the Red Sox time after time does worry me though. Vizcaino seems to either be really good out of the pen or really bad. Day to day it differs. If Farnsworth is are guy I much rather see him in there every now and then instead of Proctor getting into 143 games.
Oh well I am holding onto this broom till next weekend.
As a Yankee fan i dont think this dissapointing weekend should cause anyone to panic. Yes we got swept, and our pitching was pretty bad, but there were also some real positives. For one, our lineup killed their big 3. I thought the best part was, we jumped all over Beckett again. I was worried that he might have figured some things out from last year and re-established himself. It was good to see that our offense was all over him right from the start. I also think it is pretty clear that Schilling isnt even close to being what he once was. He has to be absolutely perfect with his control in order to beat us. One mistake and the ball goes 400 feet. Also, Dice K was very hittable. Other than Abreau i did not see one guy in our lineup that looked overmatched (and that includes Nieves).
From the NY side I thought the biggest positive was Pettite. I think he showed us that he is ready to jump right back into the rivalry. He pitched extremely well. He was far and away the best starting pitcher in the entire series for both teams.
We are also going to get Wang back this week. We all know that this is big. He will help with eating up innings and getting our pen the rest it needs right now. Now, what we need next is either Moose or Pavano to get back and do the same. We are going to need help in the bullpen, and it looks to me like that 8th inning is going to be a challenge for us all year. We all know what to expect from Farnsworth (inconsistency), and i am not convinced that Viscaino has the stuff to get through the 8th either. I guess Proctor could be that guy, but he seems so much better in the 6th and 7th.
Lets not refer to 3 of our 5 starters being out, we all know Pavano doesn’t count. Counting on that bum to pitch is the biggest mistake of the offseason. That guy is a heartless loser and the players should take him to an alley and beat him senseless.
Having such an old “experienced” staff is going to present some problems this year. Having an old staff with a few workhorses isn’t a bad thing but we don’t have any of those guys. We have a lot of 6-7 inning pitchers which means by October our bullpen will be on fumes just like last year. Wang is the only guy on this staff that can throw 7+ innings consistenly at this point in his career. Bringing up Hughes is not the solution either b/c the last thing we need is another guy on a low pitch count. Let him build up his arm in AAA and we’ll see him next year. I honestly don’t know if there is a solution b/c Roger is a 6-7 inning guy to and w/ Houston he rarely pitched into the 8th. Not saying we are done for but for the sake of saving our bullpen for October we could sure use a guy that eats up some innings.
It’s not time to panic b/c our offense will get us into October but I think a move has to be made if they want to get past the ALDS.
We get back in the win column tonight people. As for Wright pitching Friday, I think it’s worth it being that he’s a lefty and many of those Fenway HR’s will die in death valley at the stadium. Better to give him one more try than to mess up the rotation by moving everyone up a day. Not to fixate on hte Sox, but next weekend they’ll be facing Wright, Igawa then Wang, so the pressure will be on them to win the first one. Also we’ll miss Beckett and Schilling not like they are scary anyway.
We get back in the win column tonight. Welcome back Hideki!
I agree that even though it was a sweep, we held our own against the Sox’s three aces. We’ll get them this weekend.
Regardless, did anyone else enjoy seeing Jeter hit his first homer of the season off of Matsusaka? That was awesome.
The only thing I feel bad about is the bullpen. This bullpen could be one of the best in baseball if the starters could give 6 – 7 innings. I hope when Wang comes back he can give some 8 inning starts, and hand the ball straight to Mariano.
I want the Yankees to win. I have to say that first.
Because, they had a very difficult time with the D-Rays first time around. I know that the first week of the season was an aberration, but the D-Rays are still a pesky team. Posada is not catching and so far Nieves has not shown a propensity for throwing runners out. The D-Rays, once on base, are going to run silly.
I know everyone is anxiously awaiting Wang’s return. Let’s remember this is going to be his first start since spring training, not counting rehab, and I would not expect to get the innings from him that would normally be expected. Igawa is Igawa. Steady improvement, but he’s needed to go into at least the 7th inning.
Until all the Yankees starters are healthy and in a steady routine and rhythm, I don’t expect too much to change over the next couple of weeks.
That the Yankees managed to score those runs against the Red Sox this past weekend is encouraging for our offense; but pitching wins games most of the time and the Yankees haven’t had consistency at all. The bullpen is a good one, and I don’t think they are burned out, but I do think they’ve been over-taxed, and that’s not going to change unless the starters can go longer into games. You may be able to quibble with exactly which pitchers Torre brings in when, but you can’t argue that he has been using the bullpen too much. He hasn’t had a choice—he hasn’t had a complete starting staff this season yet, has had to rely on rookies, and aside from Pettitte, no one’s really stepped up to fill the need.
It is not unreasonable to think that if the Yankees score 5-plus runs in a game that they should be able to win. And that means all the pitchers need to do is have a consistent 4 era, which is average. I think the staff will get there, but I don’t think it’s going to be as soon as we fans hope.
Let’s hope their success versus Matsuzaka translates into breaking the “spell” that new pitchers seem to have had on the Yankees. I do have to say also, that for this three game series the Yankees had 2/3 of a lineup, and still did pretty darn good.
“I think it’s worth it being that he’s a lefty and many of those Fenway HR’s will die in death valley at the stadium.”
not those hard hit HRs hit last night…. Jeter’s maybe…
>>> As for Wright pitching Friday, I think it’s worth it being that he’s a lefty and many of those Fenway HR’s will die in death valley at the stadium.
GREAT point by Mike Francessa just now:
They were talking about how ESPN showed the conversation between Tavarez and Dice-K where Tavarez was telling him to bust A-Rod in to make him uncomfortable. Why do no Yankees bust the Sox guys in? EVER?
Again I question Torre’s use of the pitching staff – Andy is cruising along and he yanks him on Friday. Proctor is so overworked coming off a season in which he is overworked.
Francessa with another point “I don’t want to knock the guy who they threw last night, but he’s not major league ready, he can’t be ready after 2 starts above A ball. To take a line from Parcells, ‘Take the Huggies off’ it’s time to stop babying Hughes – you can’t throw a kid like they threw last night against Boston, it’s not fair to him or the team, Hughes is the phenom, it’s time. And someone needs to tell Joe to give Proctor a week off, he’s thrown in 12 of 17 games this season.”
Did you guys see Tavarez tallking to Dice-K before the game about Pitching Arod and bust him inside.Do you think Redsox players are Classy by throwing to Yankees battters? I don’t think so.. Even their Redsox Fans lack class. throwing pizza to each other.
Idon’t think Matsuzaka hit them intentionally, I think he tried to pitch inside but doesn’t have inside command – if it were Tavarez on the mound, then yes it would have been intentional, but the point is, intentional or not, Boston pitchers have been drilling Yankee hitters for years. Not too long ago Pedro put Soriano and Jeter in the hospital on the first two pitches of a game – and the Yankees never do anything about it. Papi and Manny own the Yankees and they are never buzzed let alone hit.
I want Payback and hit Ortiz to get hit in the face. I want Blood, He’s lying in floor.
How many times Redsox Players Hits Yankees Players? Can you please tell me ?
Pedro – Hit Jeter and Soriano
Timlin – Hit Jeter in the Head
Arod – Hit by Bronson “CrazyBoy” Arroyo
I don’t like it when pitchers throw at guys to hit them intentionally. I don’t think Matsuzaka was doing that. I am glad the Yankees try to stay away from that kind of baseball. BUT, if the Red Sox throw first, and the Yankees retaliate, the Yankees get punished, not the Red Sox. It is kind of counterproductive, the way the rules are set up, to retaliate. And in a close game, you do not want to put runners on base. Hitting batters just makes no sense to me.
I do agree, though, that they seem to need to be more aggressive against Ortiz and Manny. Those two are WAY too comfortable hitting against Yankees pitching.
Sox pitchers have been drilling Yankees for years. And they do it because it works and they know that Torre will not retaliate. That is why Manny and Papi own the Yankees. They have NO fear of being hit or even buzzed inside. I believe that YOU wouldn’t hit our players deliberately, but unfortunately, YOU are not the one pitching for your team. It is time Papi and Manny get one in the head!
If Papi doesn’t “lean in”, then why does he have that “mattress” wrapped on his elbow??
I called it last night that with two outs no one on in the third they should have plunked Manny, instead he hit the first of 4 HR’s. Couldn’t have worked out worse than it did.
let them smile, let them get drunk with this sweep, cause when the yankees win in october the 27th world series it all will become tears for them
Did Ferrytek take his dosage of roids on Thursday night right before the series? The man couldn’t get a hit to save his life going back to May 2006, but then erupts against the Yankees for three straight games. I thought him and Lowell were the HUGE surprises for the Sox over the weekend. And of course, Rivera blowing the Friday game.
Dice-K is embarrassed that he hit two guys. That’s not his game. All that Japanese honor and style doesn’t include that. Hitting two guys was nerves and lack of control and along with giving up 6 runs, he pitched like crap and he knows it.
Chase Wright on the other hand threw four meatballs and four left the park. MLB batters swing at meatballs even if you knocked them down on the last pitch. To put it mildly, hitting your spots is a lot more effective than hitting batters. When you hit batters on purpose, it’s a concession that you think you are not effective. It’s a sign that you have lost your cool. It can even get you and your manager thrown out. It puts men on base which is the opposite of what a pitcher is supposed to do. Instead, move their feet, throw inside and low or at the knees and move the ball around. Walk the guy if you can’t pitch to him.
Think of the caliber of Yankee pitching the Sox have seen over the last three or four years. That’s why they are hitting HRs. They are comfortable at the plate because the stuff they are seeing isn’t that hard to hit.
They put a broom on your desk?
They should have put a Swiffer instead.
That’s the broom of choice for those who think sweeping a team with the gift of two rookies pitching is something worth bragging about.
Just keep that broom handy. The Sox will be needing it back soon.
I would never, ever, advocate throwing at ANYONE’S head, including Manny and Ortiz. Murphydog has it right. You keep them off balance if you can, but mostly the pitching needs to be better, in general.
Bill,
Why are you calling Varitek a boat?
Man, I’m still bummed about last night. I thought I’d get over it because its April, but it feels like a series loss in September. I know it shouldn’t but it does. Probably because its the Sox and I hate losing to those guys ANY TIME.
The Yankees have the most insane offense, they always do and we should have killed those guys each game this weekend. Seriously, we should have won each game and I’m glad we hung with them, but that really doesn’t mean anything.
But for the past few years, we’ve had to endure the revolving door of no-name AAA guys who make me hold my breath on every pitch. You know how bad they are when Andy comes in in the 8th and reminds you of what a great pitcher is. It kinda looked easy. He mowed them down. Chase/Colter/Jeff Will be good sometime, but why are we watching them in a series in Fenway in 2007? Its severly painful. Its not entertaining.
Is it just bad luck? Maybe. But all I can say is that Mr. Torre and Cashman had better sit down and figure out how to change the pitching situation TODAY while there is still time.
What is the best rotation we can put on the field? Moose, Pettite, Wang, Igawa….who else? Sheez, this is where I get uneasy. There is nobody else. Pavano is toast…and after that, well, its the AAA guys. One injury is all it takes.
Fly to Houston and do whatever it takes to get Roger TODAY. Put Phil on the fast track. Find another proven starter for #5. Some how, some way.
Keep Karstens for long relief with Bruney and Igawa.
Give Proctor and Vizcaino a week off. We need them down the road.
I’m really not panicking, just losing sleep.
I really wanted to see Manny get plunked last night. I would never say straight bean to the head, but a well placed fastball to the side of Manny should definately be in order. I know he hit the ball well for the homerun last night, and there’s no doubt he is a great hitter, but he lacks class. You don’t stare down a pitcher, flip the bat and walk the first 10 feet to 1st base. Did Jeter do it on his homerun? Arod gets excited, but he never disrespects and shows up the pitcher. The fact that you just hit a 400 foot bomb off of them should be embarrassment enough.
Igawa will go 7 tonight, if Torre allows him to approach 100 pitches.
Yeah – Hollweg44 – I hear you. Manny & Papi are great, but so damn cocky. Hit the homer and run around the bases. Yanks never do anything like that. Like you said A-Rod may toss the bat but thats cuz it’s a walk-off homer.
Sox have a handful of guys with no class. Also, a few complainers. Schilling whines about calls at will. And if Big Papi strikes out looking it looks as though he gets very teary-eyed as he takes 10 minutes to walk back to the dugout.
So next weekends rotation should be chase wright,wang and then kei igawa, thats not bad in the last 2 you would think. The sox have won 5 close games over the past week which does speaks volumes of how these 2 teams are going.
Just imagine how ugly this would be without Arods 2 walk-off homeruns. I understand the Yankees want to save money but I think Todd Pratt would get a bloop hit every once in awhile unlike Nieves.
Any change Torre can try Farnswoth tonight and give some of the guys in the pen a week off.
Proctors arm may fall off by May 1 if this keeps up.
Andrew, why would Igawa pitch AFTER Wang this weekend, when its Igwawa tonight and Wang tomorrow night? That’s backwards.
bill i guess i do have that backwards either way i would think the last 2 games next weekend the yankees should get at least a 5-6 inning outing from the starters with it being igawa and then want, chase wright seems to throw to many off-speed pitches to deal with a lineup like the redsox right now.
Not worried, but I think its about time we call up Phil Hughes and stop running out these jobber minor leaguers like Karstens and Wright. Neither are prospects and we’re wasting our time trying to make them into something they’re not.
“Chase/Colter/Jeff Will be good sometime”
Comments like this kill me. Why will they be good sometime? Because they play for the Yankees? Colter Bean is a Quad-A player. End of story. Jeff Karstens is a crappy fly-ball pitcher that is going to get taken deep often by good hitters. Spot starter at best. Chase Wright is a soft tossing leffy that dominated A ball at 23 after 4 years at that level. If he has a MLB future its as a LOOGY.
People that make comments like this are the same morons that think Melky Cabrera is the second coming and not just another dime-a-dozen weaking hitting 4th outfielder.
Are they kidding? Enough with Chase Wright!! How do we put a guy back in there that turned in such a shoddy performance. The guy is not going to be a big leaguer and we’ve got guys who are languishing in the farm system. What the hell was the point of all those trades? It’s time for Cash to stop this idiotic holding back of our talent.
AND GET RID OF NIEVES!! I don’t care about his guts, I want to see someone who’s not an automatic out. I wish we had brought back Fasano, that guy was cool. Figure out a way to trade Melky for a good backup catcher and bring up Tabata.
They did try and trade Melky over the winter for that reliever in Pittsburgh. It may be time to see Hughes after a few more starts in AAA. Or how about that guy Ohlendorff ??? they got in the R Johsnon trade.
“People that make comments like this are the same morons that think Melky Cabrera is the second coming and not just another dime-a-dozen weaking hitting 4th outfielder.”
Hey Adam, you’re the moron. How can you say Chase WON’T be good sometime?....Oh, just based on last night? Idiot. I’m just saying he’s too young to pitch on the Yankees today, in high pressure situations like that. He MIGHT have a future and maybe last night was good experience, but the Yankees can’t afford to have that happen again.
Yeah, I’m tired of Nieves as well Anthony. Bringing up Pratt would have been 100x better idea than Nieves.
let’s just win tonight…but cashman et al. better get on the stick b/c this pattern of blowing gams b/c of sub-par pitching needs to stop… and nieves reminds me of the cacher before Falsano…Stinette? he was horrible…and so is neieves…