What a performance by Wang
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- May
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To give some perspective to what Chien-Ming Wang accomplished today, you have to understand that he throws only three pitches: a two-seam sinking fastball (75 percent of the time), a four-seam fastball and an occasional slider.
His intent is to pitch to contact. He wants opposing hitters to chase his two-sinker and ground into outs. This strategy is an excellent one but it invariably leads to assorted singles because hard grounders get past infielders.
To be perfect for 7.1 innings is a real testament to how much his ball was moving today.
True story: Chien-Ming and I were talking in Texas on Thursday about Phil Hughes and Wang revealed that he has never thrown a no-hitter in his life. Little League, high school, college, never. “One-hit a few times,” he said. “I don’t strike enough people out for that.”
That is still the case. It’s too bad Wang didn’t finish off his perfect game. But the best news for the Yankees is that their ace is back and he is as good as ever.
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on Saturday, May 5th, 2007 at 7:04 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
anyone who actually thought wang would pitch a perfect game is an idiot. hes a 1 pitch pitcher. theres no way he ever will pitch a no hitter
losdif must be a redsox fan, definitely not a Yankees fan. Take the negativity somewhere else, and let us Yankees fans cheer our victory.
you are an idiot. anyone can pitch a no hitter. Tommy Greene pitched a no hitter. Wang is a much better pitcher than Greene.
Go Away and never come back- you loser.
Losdif, you will eat lot of crow when Wang pitches a no-hitter in the near future.
The bottom line is if we compare Dice-K and Wang:
Wang’s one pitch still hasn’t been figured out after two years.
Dice-K still has to figure out MLB hitters with his seven pitches.
Eric Milton threw a no hitter. You don’t even have to be good to be really good on one day.
Fellas; Ignore the trolls and they will go away. Thanks.
Pete:
Any news on Hughes? I know he had his MRI this morning. It was reported on Yankees.com that he was doing exercises this morning and Cashman is now holding out hope that it is not as bad as first thought.
Not only is losdif a Red Sawx fan, but he’s a complete moron, in all honesty. He’s not a “one pitch pitcher” as Peter pointed out. He MAINLY throws one pitch, but he also has two other secondary ones. Go off to some Sawx site and be happy while your “Big Three” (Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka) aren’t injured; yet.
Speaking of one pitch, if it is very dominant they will still be very successful. Mariano’s cutter is a very good example.
Hi Pete – Sorry that Wang didn’t get the game – he surely pitched well enough. Just wish that some of the other pitchers were as professional and serious about their work as he is. Also speaks English, doesn’t he?
Wang is amazing! Definitely my favorite pitcher..If I have a daughter, I think I would force her to marry Wang..or Hughes
Larry “Lucifer” Lucchino so Jealous of Wang’s success with the Yankees. Hes’ copycat and going after Matsuzaka…. Owned..
Did you watch Dice-K last two starts against Yankees? I guess, Redsox Fans arent watching when Yankees hitters beatup on overrated Matsuzaka. If not for Yankees bullpen blowing up the lead , Yankees should be 2-0 against Dice-k
Yea, I was thinking the same thing, but Wang is already married. Sorry.
Hey Pete,
Is he as soft-spoken when you talk to him one-on-one as he was today in his radio interview with Waldman? Such a soft voice for a big guy.
You picked the right guy to write your book on — they’re going crazy over here on the TV news already because of his near-perfect game. He was on the front page of the papers just last night (Sat night in Taiwan) with a close-up of his nail. I can only imagine what kind of coverage he’ll get after today’s effort.
Superbly pitched game by The Wangster today. The bullpen certainly needed it.
It has become very painful watching “The Giambino” waddle around the bases lately. He has easily cost the Yanks a half dozen runs already this Season. He has always been slow, but never THIS slow. It appears that he’s playing with leg problems , likely the calf muscle is hurting, not just “cramps”.
It is such a pleasure to be a Yankee’s fan.
overcoming adversity is such a cool thing.
Yeah, only wins are rewarded but it is such an insperation to see the team grind it out.
Now Mussina, Pettite, Wang are in the line up…
Then Igawa figures it out. Is this team’s pitching beatable? And maybe Hughes comes back soon?
Conclusion:
-Don’t need Roger Clemens.
-The bullpen is rested since all starters eat innings – keep a long reliever so Hughes can stay at a pitch count or an inning limit, or whatever they have Hughes doing.
-Yanks put up maybe 4 runs a game and win every game.
Yanks are gonna be World Series 2007 Champions.
Wang and Hughes are the reason we should wait patiently for Cashman to develop our own players.
Losdif is entitled to his idiotic opinion. did you guys hear about tim mccarver and joe buck talking about the perfect game!!! WTF!!! you cant do that i hated them before they just brought my hate to a new level
Wang also throws a changeup, though not terribly often.
What a great game by Wang! I had to give up my tickets for today’s game and I figured that as luck would have it he’d get the perfect game with me being home.
The Yanks are 3-0 on the season at home on Saturdays. Let’s say we cancel Sunday through Friday!
I would love to have Clemens here to tutor the young phenom Phil. He could get him on his own “Clemens” regiment workout program and there are alot of similiarities between the two men mechanically. Plus, that would be a formidable starting pitching.
Losdif is entitled to his idiotic opinion. did you guys hear about tim mccarver and joe buck talking about the perfect game!!! WTF!!! you cant do that i hated them before they just brought my hate to a new level
What did they say?
here is the report from yankees.com on hughes today
Up and around: Phil Hughes spent an hour of his Saturday morning in an MRI tube, and when his chance to see the image of his strained left hamstring came around, Hughes instead opted for the door.
“I was just ready to get out of there,” Hughes said. “I was just sore and stiff from laying down for an hour.”
The 20-year-old right-hander worked out with Yankees team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon on Friday on a battery of flexibility exercises, and according to Cashman, Hughes tested very well.
“Maybe it’s not as bad as we first expected,” Cashman said.
And Jorge went to Joe and apologized for calling that changeup that was hit for a HR.
I have posed this question before, but do you guys think it’s rational to have Phelps be our backup catcher?
I forgot what the stat was, but basically the average for balls put in play against pitcher is generally very close for all pitchers. It’s somewhere around .300.
The fact that Wang makes a living on balls being put into play and he pitched over 7 innings of perfect ball, that’s amazing.
they were saying hes perfect through… then the inning since the 4th and kept showing shots of him and just non stop perfect game perfect game… they also said that when phelps replaced giambi at DH!!!! that this was a defensive substitution first of all phelps isnt a good defender second… DH!!!
hes played it before but thatde help having a backup who could hit kim
I kept yelling at the TV when McCarver and Buck would mention the perfect game. My roommate seemed to get a kick out of it.
Kim,
Who would our emergency catcher be? And that would still make Phelps a 1 day a week player. Who would we fill the last roster spot with if we release Nieves?
Honestly, I think Phelps should be the full-time first baseman. He’s too good a hitter to keep on the bench. Minky is great for defense, but he’s a one position guy and he’s not starting calibur on this team. I would try to package him in with Farnesworth for a Lieber-type starter, start Phelps at 1B full time, and look to trade for a decent backup.
oh i forgot something else at the end of the game mccarver said something like theyre going to need to do something about pitching… what a thing to say after a near perfect AND THEYRE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING hes acting like theyre just standing there mccarver and morgan need to be weighted down in a river
i hear you tim
Col, if Roger Clemens wants on this team, I get rid of Kei Igawa so fast his head spins.
Matt,
You realize Igawa is signed for 5 years, right? He’s a long-term project. Cashman admitted that from the start. If they have to send him down to AAA, they will, but he’s an investment.
I never heard one report that projected him being any better than a typical fourth starter. Possibly no more than a bullpen arm. It was a bad signing and I’m not going to be happy if we skipped out on Roger to keep Igawa in the rotation.
Ok, no one would pass on Clemens to keep Igawa in the rotation. That’s ridiculous. But he’s not going to be released either.
He’s a left hander who can strike people out. His potential is a decent 4th starter or a very good 5th starter. He’s played his entire career in a league where pitchers can pitch up in the zone and not get killed. Over here, that is obviously not the case. They made an investment in him knowing that he might not be immediately successful and may take some work to get him to keep the ball down.
I think he should spend some time in AAA and work on his stuff. He’s not ready for the Yankees rotation and the moment and rotting in the bullpen isn’t going to do him any good. He’ll be a valuable part of the rotation in the future, but he needs to get some things worked out first.
Maybe Igawa has to get used to pitching every 5 days. He cant do this at the expense of the big league team. He might benefit from adjusting at AAA in this way.
The Fox comment that got me mad was when Ken Rosenthal noted, with a tone of incredulity, that Wang is the Yankees’ “ONLY proven starter still in his prime.” Everyone else, he explained, was either on the downside of their career or very young. Um, Ken, how many “proven starters still in their prime” do the Red Sox have? I’d say it’s Beckett, period. Schilling and Wakefield are 40. Hype-K is hardly “proven” at this point. Tavarez is just a recently converted reliever. Am I missing something?
Jimmy:
NOBODY rots in the Yankee bullpen!
I agree that Igawa needs to go to Scranton and learn how to pitch all over again. MLB lineups will kill his 88-90 mph fastball when its up like its been. It would not be a shock to see both Rasner and DeSalvo on the roster instead of Igawa – IF they both pitch well this week.
Anyone catch the most exciting two minutes in sports? I’m referring, of course, to Barry Bonds’ homerun trot.
With Wang pitching superbly today and giving a great lenght – 8+ innings – is our bullpen rested enough to save from potential average/poor outings by Rasner and/or De Salvo? Of course, I hope for good outings by both of them.
When are the Yankees going to lock up Wang to a long term deal??
I know that is not their policy but it will cost them much more if they continue to wait.
Yanks really need both of these next 2 games to start their climb. Splitting with Seattle at Home, while not a disaster, would be a downer.
The difference today was his slider. He was able to throw a sharp one 83-86 MPH for strikes, and to throw it away and down to get swings and misses. If he refines that pitch, and begins to strike a few more people out, his chances of prolonged success in the majors increase dramatically. Wang could be an exception to the rule that pitchers that allow lots of balls in play are risky for the future, but that’s not set in stone. Basically, it might be the difference between him being the ace he was last year and simply a good No. 2-3 starter.
This staff wins the AL East:
Schilling
Beckett
Matsuzaka
Wakefield
Clemens
But then again, THIS staff wins the AL East:
Wang
Mussina
Pettitte
Hughes
Clemens
Only my opinion. But I think Roger is holding all the cards.
Does Wang speak english?
it’s great what wang was able to do today; good for him. seems like a good dude, and he’s an excellent pitcher. i wish he could have finished off the perfect game but, as you said pete, that was unlikely given the way he pitches.
that said, the yankees are now in a position where they almost have to win every time wang, pettitte or mussina takes the mound. igawa is awful (sorry, but he’s awful. one good outing against the red sox is the exception, not the rule), and the other spot is up in the air at least until hughes comes back (i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: clemens isn’t coming to a team with an unstable bullpen and a real knack for finding ways to lose games. he said he wants another championship, and boston is his best opportunity. by a country mile, at this point.). so, that leaves the yankees with three good-to-decent starters and two massive question marks. that’s not exactly a recipe for success. what wang did today was great, but the last two games tell the tale of the yankees season. they’ve scored 19 runs over two games and managed to win one of them. if you can’t pitch, you won’t win and, right now, 2/5 of the yankees rotation and a couple of pieces of the bullpen can’t pitch. teams don’t typically overcome that. if they make changes, it’s a different story, but i don’t see any big changes on the horizon.
Having been at the game today I have to say the stadium was electric. Most fun I have had there in a few years nothing like people on their feet standing and clapping when the count gets to 3 balls just hoping not for a walk. I was glad that if he had to lose it , it was a legitimate hit and not a squeeker through someone
“When are the Yankees going to lock up Wang to a long term deal??”
nope, can’t do that . goes against cashman master plan. it’s very important to cashman that he wins without spending much. think of it as a personal goal for cashman to prove his gmhood, but don’t worry, he’s 100% in control.
I didn’t post the whole game. It was my conscious attempt at the equivalent of the players avoiding Wang in the dugout. Seriously. Maybe that makes me weird, but what the heck.
Oh, and duh – I didnt’t even say, what a tremendous game by the Wangster. He’s the bomb-diggity.
Wang does speak English, just a bit limited…
well said randy l. cashman’s not at the top of my favorite people in the yankees organization right now.
oh, and i don’t want to hear ever again about johnny damon and how he’s never been on the DL in his career. when you miss every third game with some assorted injury, you’re better off going on the DL for a couple of weeks and getting right.
Kasey:
How’s your album coming? You must have had an awful day or you wouldn’t have typed such a looong post to rain on a rare good day for a yanks starter. Can’t you just relax once in a while?
wang’s day was great, no question. i was pointing out how the last two games kind of epitomize the yanks season. it’s big picture thinking, as opposed to being jazzed about wang’s start and forgetting everything that’s wrong with the team, that’s all.
my album’s finished, comes out in september.
i did have an awful day, though.
Kasey:
Do you always feel the urge to crap on the team you root for? You end up sounding like more like a whiny kid who can’t have every thing his way.
I am not sure that’s who you are. You are right, even if Wang pitched a perfect game today, the yanks are just not playing well enough to win anything (and sure not as well as you-know-who). But the point is you still would have dwelled incessantly on it even if we had a perfect game today.
what a site. anyone who doesnt lick petes nuts or has a negative comment regarding the yankees is labled a red sox fan. lol such losers.
red sox just lost…!!!!!
>i did have an awful day, though.
Sorry to hear that, dude.
>my album’s finished, comes out in september.
good to hear!
>i was pointing out how the last two games kind of >epitomize the yanks season. it’s big picture thinking, as >opposed to being jazzed about wang’s start and forgetting >everything that’s wrong with the team, that’s all.
With the day you had, maybe you should kick back with a beer and enjoy a rerun (have DVR?) of Wang’s performance. Forget for a moment that our team finds BS ways to loose, and just relive a rare good game while it is still fresh in the memory. This is what you need after an awful day, not more expounding (or more like pounding?) of gloomy facts.
When some analysts were promoting the red sox this year with their superior pitching, they would claim that Wang would suffer from the yankees poor fielding infield as Wang is a sinker ball pitcher. I’m sorry, but this is the same infield that he had behind him last year. He will do well this year, despite the nay sayers. Dang, I really wanted to see him get the perfect game.
Hey, that’s the second time we had a starter go into the 7th with a no-hitter in the last week (both from our farm system). Not too shabby, I say. But who am I.
>what a site. anyone who doesnt lick petes nuts or has a negative…
I am surprised this previous comment doesn’t get filtered out, while I am not allowed to use the p-word for urination.
Wang speaks a little English. Most of his interviews are done through a translator. I remember when Mariano spoke NO English. Look at him now. You can barely keep him quiet
Thanks God, as Mariano would say.
Okay, now on to the real issue.
Wang is a great pitcher. He doesn’t have much, but what he does have he knows how to use. He will give up the HR’s and he will give up hits, but he will mostly get groundouts and low scoring games. Remember, he was the Cy Young runner up. Meaning if there was no Santana around, Wang would be the Cy Young winner last season.
No one has to be concerned about Wang. Let him pitch and he will do what has to be done, as he always has. He may have bad games, all pitchers do.
BUT, this is only one game that the Yankees won with good pitching. The holes still remain and will continue to show themselves as long as pitchers are on the DL and the pressure is kept on the bullpen to “save” games.
Kei Igawa is not ready for the bigs. He needs to sit, at minumum, half a season down in Scranton to get used to pitching in America and keeping his pitches down. He isn’t a bad pitcher. He isn’t a great pitcher. He is a average pitcher that is a 4th or 5th, no better and that is what the Yankees knew they were getting. Rushing him to the bigs was wrong. Cashman was wrong on that. Don’t fire him cause of that, but with the injuries, he would have been up anyway.
IF 1 – 3 can go the usual 7 innings, you can have Proctor start and do pitching by committee, if needed. Proctor was once a starter and can go long innings. We may need to slide him into the starter role till someone gets better or gets signed. With 1 – 3 going 7+ innings, the bullpen won’t feel so pressured and won’t be so overworked, so they will be able to handle 4 – 5 innings of work once every 5 days. Puling up crap from the farm isn’t helping anyone and actually hurt the Yankees, as we saw with Hughes. He made a rookie mistake and over threw to Texiera. If he had more experience in AAA he wouldn’t have to overthrow that off speed pitch and wouldn’t pop’d the hammy. He wasn’t ready. Yes, he pitched a shutout, but he pitched a shutout to the 2007 Rangers where Minky has a better record than some of their top sluggers. I could shut out the Rangers. The boy can pitch, but needs to refine his off speed pitches so he won’t put in a little extra for a curve. If you know you can throw a curve, you don’t need to do the full body slam in getting there.
As long as the bullpen feels pressure to win games cause the starters can’t, the Yankees will lose. Too much pressure is never a good thing and one thing that works against the Yankees. Too much WIN WIN WIN OR DIE attitude in the clubhouse. Steinbrenner is wrong in his militant direction of the Yankees. Too much talk of WINNING and nothing else. The players are like robots out there. They need to loosen up and have fun and use their talents to play the game.
), don’t help either.
The Media (including Peter, sorry
I love watching games of other teams as the players are loose and having fun. They actually smile and play around in the clubhouse. The Yankees need that.
I am told that some yankee fans are spoiled and consider anything less of a WS championship a colossal failure. I am wondering it this is behind most of the belly-aching about the Yanks’ “big picture” playoff chances. I just root for the Yanks as one of my hometown teams to do well any day, any time.
Yeah, I know if the season had ended today, the yanks would miss the playoffs and the sox would look like the prohibitive favorites (God forbid!!). I am aware of it. I am not stupid, thank you.
kris,
nobody’s saying you’re stupid. far from it. you seem like a good dude, and seem to have a pretty positive outlook. that’s awesome. certainly, wang’s game today was worth celebrating and enjoying. for me, though, it doesn’t erase the problems the yankees have. you root for the yankees the way you want to, i’ll root for them the way i want to. that’s all.
“nope, can’t do that . goes against cashman master plan. it’s very important to cashman that he wins without spending much. think of it as a personal goal for cashman to prove his gmhood, but don’t worry, he’s 100% in control.”
i realize you are frustrated with Cashman, but don’t you understand the contradiction in your post?
waiting to lock up Wang might cost the Yankees MORE money. so Cashman is not waiting b/c he doesn’t want to “spend much”.
it’s simply too early. he’s not even arbitration eligible yet. the way you save money in a long term deal is by buying out Free Agency years. CMW is not a FA for another 4 years. should the yankees give him a 6 year deal right now?
of course not.
2 years before he hits FA they’ll lock him up if he is still excelling. it’s that simple.
again, i understand the frustration, but let’s not bash Cashman for something that’s has no substance behind it.
Kasey:
>for me, though, it doesn’t erase the problems the yankees have.
No, not nearly. Let me add to your (valid) points, maybe it will make your day better.
1. mo seems old and unreliable. I have bad feelings now if he has to hold a one-run lead in the ninth at Fenway.
2. 3/5 (I am surprised you didn’t include Moose) of the rotation is pulling a Jaret Wright every time out, further blowing up the bullpen.
3. we are a Posada injury away from having a career .150 hitter in our lineup.
4. Bruney and Henn are untested and are in danger of flaming out anytime.
5. We are a Proctor injury away of having a Farnsworth/Vizcaino bridge to mo, who by the way is nothing to be excited about to begin with (see point 1).
6. Bosox is already 10 games over .500, while we are overly excited about our under .500 team.
>you root for the yankees the way you want to, i’ll root for them the way i want to. that’s all.
Your favorite argument. I am not prohibiting you from “rooting” the way you are entitled to. However, I think most rational people reading your posts would agree that you sound “whiny”, which is not what a grown-up usually wants to sound like. But who am I to criticize a talented man like you… (sigh)
Mariano Rivera has been breaking bats with impunity recently. Mussina was stellar in his last outing, and is completely healthy, finally. Jorge Posada is the most durable catcher in baseball. He’s been that for years. He’s had shitty backups even longer. Backup catcher is pretty far down on the priority list. Because they get so little playing time, it’s impossible to predict their performance. Doug Mirabelli has had up and down years, and he’s a solid backup. Bruney and Henn are throwing extremely well right now, and as long as they throw strikes and Torre doesn’t kill them, they’ll be fine. Henn is more of a concern than Bruney, but who has a bullpen full of proven relievers? With the way that relievers go up and down year-to-year, I’d say basically nobody. Bruney would also solve the Proctor problem, if Joe could actually bother to look at a stat sheet and take a gander at Bruney’s pitiful BAA.
The Red Sox are going to come back to earth. Their bullpen is overpeforming, and as we saw last year, bullpens fluctuate within years as well. Beckett is not going to go 30-0 with a 1.50 ERA and win the Cy Young Award. Beckett did this last year, beating up on bad offenses and getting critics to say he’d turned a corner, turned into a pitcher, and made Theo into a genius, until he ran into good offense, reverted to old habits, and gave up the home run like it was going out of style. Beckett has faced one strong offense thus far, the Yankees, and they hit him around. Schilling is still as big as a house and is a 40 year old power pitcher. Not a good combination. The league is rapidly adjusting to Matsuzaka, waiting out his array of breaking stuff and hammering his straight low-90s fastball, faster than he can adjust to them. Wakefield is certainly not going to finish with an ERA under two.
The Yankees are underperforming, and the Red Sox are overperforming. The Yankees will get Phillip Hughes back in July. The Yankees have far and away the best offense in baseball. I know you see that stat that the Yankees have led in 13 of their 15 losses as evidence of bad pitching, and I suppose it is, but it’s also indicative of crappy luck. We’ve outscored everybody this year. Our pitching isn’t as bad as its been. Our luck, with injuries and in the field, has been terrible. All of that combined adds up to a big turnaround. Down the stretch, the Yankees and Red Sox will be battling neck-and-neck for the division. It’ll be an interesting summer.
mo is starting to look like himself again. he just needs regular work.
i’ll take farnsworth over vizcaino any day of the week.
mussina looked better last time out. he should be fine if he can stay healthy and on his schedule. any little bump in the road will undboutedly lead to an awful outing.
if jorge gets injured they’ll pick somebody up. no way is nieves going to be this team’s starting catcher for an extended period of time.
bruney and henn don’t worry me. it’s the fact that joe keeps running vizcaino out there that worries me. that and the fact that igawa still has a spot on the yankees major league roster.
the red sox are playing very well. they’re healthy, they’re on a roll, and they seem to catch their share of breaks (like playing minnesota when mauer and cuddeyer are unavailable).
if pointing out the obvious flaws on the yankees team is whiny, then i’ll live with that.
criticize all you want. as long as you’re nice about it, i don’t take it personally.
Kasey,
Mo will never be what he was. He is older and now well known among everyone. His one pitch cutter is good, but it is hittable now. It doesn’t have the same bite as it used to have. He isn’t washed up, but he was smart to add a new pitch to his small arsenal. He won’t be the guaranteed win anymore. He just isn’t the same as he used to be. Pitchers declin as they get older. He is a season or two away from retirement.
He will save games, but he isn’t a guaranteed win.
Farnsworth is a joke and will lose us many games as he almost always has. I have many more memories of him failing than getting out of the inning without giving up runs.
Who exactly are they going to pick up to replace Jorge? Is there a new Catcher store open?
You are right about Bruney and Henn. Both are reliable and have shown they are. No reason to think otherwise yet. Vizcaino just needs to get used to NY. He will be better after the All Star Break and I will put money on that.
The Red Sox always play well… that’s not true. In the past few years they have. But every season seems to be a repeat of the last lately. Yankees suck. Red Sox rule. Red Sox fall apart and the Yankees end up winning the division. I don’t see that changing this year.
i’d take mo over any closer in the majors, with three exceptions: k-rod, nathan, papelbon.
farnsworth isn’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but i’d rather see him work six consecutive days than see vizcaino once.
if jorge goes down, cashman will deal for somebody better than nieves. not an all-star, but no way is nieves the starting catcher for an extended period, under any circumstances.
at some point, the yankees slow starts are going to catch up with them. it’s the law of averages. they can’t keep defying the odds every season.
yea the sox always play well especially in 5 games series at home against the yanks in August.
they finished 3rd last year.
the yanks are on there 11th starting pitcher in 30 games..
the red sux have had no injuries as of yet.. It is a long season.. Sounds like Hughes will be back sooner then expected. He has stud written all over him.. if they get Hughes back they only have 1 terrible starter….
As a Yankee fan, i view our team as in prime position to win the AL East.
I dont see it going down any other way.
Marius. . .
Wang does not have a translator. It was offered to him and he said he didn’t want one.
Talk about law of averages. Three of the bosox workhorse starters are pitching at least half a run (Schilling) to two runs (Wakefield) under their career ERAs. Does this mean their ERAs will explode over the second half? I sure hope so.
I was on the ledge last night after that debacle and today was such a good game to feel good again about Wang, Mussina and Pettite being solid and Hughes in a few weeks….
Last four Yankees starts minus Igawa: 26.1 IP (If Moose wasn’t making his first start there would have been at least two more innings) FOUR earned runs.
Last five games: 4-1
Desired 14 game stretch: 9-5
Offense since Boston series: 36 runs (5 games)
# of 200+ inning pitchers in the rotation now: 2, with Moose 3 innings short.
Bullpen work since April 29th: Bruney-10 pitches
Henn: once
Vizcaino: twice
Proctor: once
Farnsworth: twice
Rivera: twice (thank god)
Other: doesn’t matter
Myers: rubber arm and no stress on it.
The bullpen has been resting for about a week, there are three starters who will go 6+ innings most of the time back in the rotation and Hughes is about 4-6 weeks from becoming our FOURTH starter. Lighten up guys, to look at the big picture you have to be able to identify the improvements lately. I will gladly give up 15 runs in a game if it means winning the 4 surrounding it.
Kasey:
About mo, my bad feelings still stand. I am not sure you were actually trying to refute what I said. I am surprised you are glossing over this one glaring red flag.
Bruney/Henn worry me. Let me explain: They both just started his major league careers. That’s ZERO history. While it is exciting for me to watch them, it is a little foolish for a realist like you to believe in them. Ironhorse Proctor has one year of experience (abuse?)
Farnsworth has health issues. While I think the jury is out, there must be a reason every body doubts his effectiveness. Again, I am surprised you even picked him over anybody.
I agree with Marius. Who will the Yanks sign to replace Posada? John Flaherty/Sal Fasano? Don’t tell me you didn’t criticize them when they played for us.
Bosox look golden. Looks like it’s gonna be Bosox 2 Yanks 0 in championships since 2000.
So, are we done crying? Yeah, the yanks have some serious problems. Expounding on them over and over again is exhausting. Today is not the first time we realize it, and it is curious timing you picked today to remind us. You are taking all of this a tad too seriously.
So what if Bosox wins 2007 WS, and yanks miss the playoffs, are you going to “lecture” us all the way till we win (if we win) again? Even then, I think you will focus on our probable failure at repeating, instead of simply enjoying the moment. I think you are like the real-life Dr. Crane.
“Losdif is entitled to his idiotic opinion. did you guys hear about tim mccarver and joe buck talking about the perfect game!!! WTF!!! you cant do that i hated them before they just brought my hate to a new level”
It’s done all the time. Sterling did it for Wells and Cone. Didn’t jinx them. It’s their job to talk about what’s going on in the game.
I’m waaaaaay late in this discussion and don’t know if it’s already been pointed out, but Wang also throws a changeup, and he rarely throws his four-seam fastball. That’s a typical repertoire for a starting pitcher (fastball, slider, change). Wang does pitch to contact, though, which is why today’s performance was such a surprise. Same thing with Kevin Brown, who actually did throw a no-hitter.
Odd comment from Wang about not striking enough people out — he hasn’t been throwing the sinker that long, and he was more of a strikeout pitcher before he became a sinkerballer.
Who knows what would of happened after that pitch to Broussard but it was a really bad time for Posada to call for a changeup. Wang needed 5 more outs and Posada is calling for a pitch that Wang had not thrown 1 of all game!!?? He should of went with what got Wang that far. As Guidry said you have to get beat on your best pitch.
“I am surprised this previous comment doesn’t get filtered out, while I am not allowed to use the p-word for urination.”
waaaaaaaa i want my mommy waaaaaaa
Its surprising that the “Quitters, Yanks are done,Season is Over Guys” are not out in force tonight. Wondering where they are????
Anyone????
Oh may bad. Kasey Negative Nancy was out all day today bashing the Yanks and everything they did. An almost perfect game and you cant keep him down.
it is said the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a basesball. i would think it is more difficult to throw one so they don’t. just a guess.
I was at the game yesterday and around the 5th inning (due to being in my own world of watching the game with no announcers in my head) we all just started looking at each other.
In the 7th when Wang came back from a 3-0 count to K Ibanez one of the friends I brought to the game (a relocated Phillies fan) started jumping up and down and screaming.
He was ready to see history. And it was his first time at Yankee Stadium.
Posada is second guessing himself for that changeup but it was still pretty cool to watch that game – with the electricity of the crowd and Wang with a fake nail on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
And we needed those 8 innings from a starter.
I concede… hours after I said Wang is pitching like a 2-3 starter at best, he almost pitches a perfect game. That-a-boy!
“I am surprised this previous comment doesn’t get filtered out, while I am not allowed to use the p-word for urination.�
losdiff: was that you screaming “waaaaaaaa i want my mommy waaaaaaa”?