Rain in Chicago
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on May 15, 2007 
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Here we are at U.S. Cellular Field where it’s pouring. No word on whether they will be able to get the game in. I’ll keep you posted.
Meanwhile, they moved the press box here. It used to be on the second level behind home plate. Now it’s on the fourth level down the right-field line. It’s a terrible view but, frankly, I’m surprised more teams haven’t done this.
I am sure this has been covered, but how many NY area papers tend to send beat writers to away games?
Pete,
Is it true that Jason Giambi is going on the DL? Per ESPN Radio Michael Kay…
looks like clearing upo after 9 pm..
giambi is a big waste always hurt… I hope it is not true.. I assume Kay knows more then us…
Giambi cannot run and not get hurt… he is a joke….
So would the transaction be Giambi to DL, Villone up to the majors? Talk about a thin bench. That leaves Minky, Nieves and Cairo, that would be so pathetic.
I just heard that Ron Villone was called up to the majors. Anybody have any confirmation on that?
Interesting. If Giambi goes on the DL, how do you play it?
Melky to CF, Damon to DH? I’d probably go that route and see if that helps Damon stay healthy.
I love Damon and Giambi but their bodies, and contracts, are real hangups to this franchise. You root like crazy they will be able to hold up but, its not looking like either can hold up for a full season anymore.
I just checked the weather and it says from 5pm – 12am that it will just be cloudy.
Tino Martinez is on the Michael Kay Show right now and he NAILED IT in describing the team this year.
He just said, “I don’t see guys getting after it all the time. Just a couple of guys, but too many guys get hurt, take nights off and aren’t getting the job done. It seems like not enough guys care about being a championship team”.
He just summed up the Yankees in one paragraph. I don’t think anybody will call Tino a “troll”.
He is 100% correct with his assessment of this team.
Well now’s as good a time as any to tell all of you that the 2007 Yankees’ problems can be summed up in one word: OVERBLOWN.
Facts are facts: The Yankees are 17-19, 8.5 games behind Boston, but here’s why I think they are:
1. They had their ace Wang for only one start and their #3 starter Mussina for only two starts in April. Had both been healthy all April, I’d have to say the Yankees are at least 20-16, 3 games better than their current record (the Yankees win two extra games with one and an extra game with the other).
2. Mariano blew his first two save opportunities. If he saves even just one of them for a 50% success rate, the Yankees are 21-15 (added to extra wins with Wang and Mussina healthy). He was a batter if not a strike away from closing the game he blew the save in in Oakland.
3. They pitched well enough to win at least another game in Seattle this past weekend but didn’t. It happens.
So 22-14 wouldn’t have been unreasonable considering the track records of Wang, Mussina, Mo, and the Yankees offense.
You tell me the Red Sox are still 26-11 with Beckett for only one start and Matusaka for only two in April and Paplebon blowing two more saves, you’re nuts.
I consider this 17-19 start a result of two injuries, a bad pitch to Marco Scutaro, and either an on point Jarrod Washburn last Friday or an on point Horacio Ramirez last Sunday (take your pick).
Giambi has this yr and next on his agreement. Damon has this yr and 2 more I think..
Giambi cannpt move, I find that amazing that if he moves he gets hurt and literally can only move one base at a time.
the weather report I saw said run until 9 pm Chicago time….
another lefty tonight.. lefties should not be as much of a problem as they appear to have been lately…
stuart, If Giambi is a waste why do you hope he’s not hurt? That doesn’t make sense.
“Melky to CF, Damon to DH? I’d probably go that route and see if that helps Damon stay healthy.”
yeah, that’s probably what i would do.
“I love Damon and Giambi but their bodies, and contracts, are real hangups to this franchise.”
i’m not sure Damon is quite at this point *yet*. he’s only 1 year removed from an awesome season. he was banged up a bit last year, but still played 149 games and played great.
I think Pete should do an interview with Tino Martinez.
He just came out and said he doesn’t think enough guys on this team are playing hard and really want to win. That’s pretty heavy stuff from a guy not known for making controversial statements.
I think it would be an interesting story to hear from some of the mainstays of the dynasty who are retired now (O’Neill, Tino, Brosius, Cone, to name a few) and see what their opinion is on the Yankees this year.
Tino came out swinging today. No vanilla quotes. I would be interested in knowing if he is alone in that assessment or if some of the other former players feel the same way about this team.
I hope they bring Shelley Duncan up for a cup of coffee. He is having a great year in AAA.
You can’t call up Villone to replace Giambi- way too thin…gotta send a pitcer down (Henn) or DL (Vizcaino)
i’m surprised nobody’s suggested calling up Shelley Duncan as replacement DH yet…
Giambi, while a decent player, and seemingly good guy, was the beginning of the bloated payroll with limited results. Terrible signing at the end of the day, although the Yankees do need him given their current state.
just heard Henn down (dont quite get that one)
Buster Olney reported according to ESPN http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=2871106
that the Yanks have called up Ron Villone but I cannot find out any other info? Anybody else hear anything?
“i’m surprised nobody’s suggested calling up Shelley Duncan as replacement DH yet…”
if Giambi goes on the DL, this would be a really interesting experiment.
never happen though.
they’d call up KT.
I do not think Giambi is a waste when he plays but he always is either hurt or has some nagging issue.
if he plays DH he is very good, high OBP etc..
but he is always hurt
Oh b.t.w. the Yankees schedule is pretty light after 6/3, with their ONLY tough stretch being 8/16-30 (4 vs. Detroit, 3 at the Angels, 4 at Detroit & 3 vs. Boston) but they’ll have Wang/ Clemens/ Pettitte/ Mussina/ Hughes or DeSalvo then barring anymore injuries and I have to say that Yankees rotation is top to bottom better than Detroit’s, the Angels,
and yes, the Red Sox’.
Also, I read George King’s article today where he said if the Yanks keep playing like they have recently through next Wednesday, Clemens will have to help them make the playoffs through the back door. Oh, like how the Red Sox have made it to the playoffs since 1998, George? You might want to add “like the Red Sox have made the playoffs” after “back door”. Where would Boston have been all these years without the wildcard? Not in the playoffs. Kind of hard to make it there when you actually have to win your divsion. That’s why I don’t want the Yankees to win the wildcard cuz if they win the World Series as one, yeah it’s a win, but it is their worst World Series win as they have NEVER needed the wildcard to win it. I still say 1918 cuz that’s the last time Boston was the best team in their division or I should say league back then right?
Oh, you’ve GOT to be freaking kidding me! Another possible rainout??? >8^(
I hope the forecast Bill saw is true instead.
I’m in the Loop right now and the rain has all but stopped. I think they’ll play.
all you have to do is make the playoffs. last yr. tigers were the wild card and St. Louis won 83 games. making the playoffs is the key then it is a crap shoot…
Does anyone have the audio from the Tino interview on ESPN ?
I LOVE Tino.
That being said. Is he in the clubhouse? Is in on the conversations with Joe Torre, the one where the manager asks if a player can play, the player says, yeah, coach, I may not be 100% but I want to be out there, and Torre says, well let’s just give you one more night off so we can get you closer to 100%?
Unfortunately anyone not currently on the team, unless they have a pipeline into the goings-on INSIDE the clubhouse, are really no more reliable a source that you or I sitting at home watching the games on tv and making our assumptions.
stop calling wang an ace… he has no strikeout pitch. One 19 win season does not an ace make.
** THAN you or I
Conflicting reports… the one I posted earlier was from accuweather.com.
However, weather.com says T-Storms till 9, then “Few Showers” from 9-11.
Guess we’ll have to wait and see…
Looks like Clemens is working to get back by the Jays series at the end of the month. I like that he wants to help out the team. Of course, cynics will say that he’s doing it to get paid that much more, that much sooner.
This team needs a wakeup call and attitude adjustment, and I think that Clemens is just the person to do it. According to mlb.com he was calling his pitches before he threw them, even giving the batter a warning before he went high & tight.
Henn is the guy sent down. He has an option remaining and they didn’t want to lose Villone. Makes sense to me.
For example, what if Vizcaino can’t be fixed and they have to get rid of him? They have another veteran pitcher to take his place and can call up either Henn or Britton.
Its not like Henn has pitched well lately. Seems to be the proper move, IMO.
You guys are so stupid, Giambi was the best hitter on this team last year and many years before it.
I think the definition of an ace is the pitcher who, when he’s on the mound, you are probably going to win that day. Under that definition, I bet most of the Yankees would call Wang their current ace. There are a lot of pitchers who can strike out a bunch of buys and not necessarily get a win.
IIRC, Tino is still close to Derek Jeter, Mo and Posada, and I am sure he speaks to them on a regular basis.
I wouldn’t classify Tino as an “outsider”.
All you have to do is watch these guys play every night. They don’t look like they have been playing hard.
Or, more appropriately, enough guys look to be playing hard.
Bottom line, he said it and that’s very interesting, if nothing else.
I live in a Chicago suburb and a tornado hit 5 miles from my house about an hour ago.
Most of that stuff is moving away from the South Side and moving towards NW Indiana and Michigan.
That doesn’t mean the t-storms won’t postpone the game, but the most severe weather probably won’t be anywhere near The Cell.
Actually saucy I sent Peter an email a few weeks back on that. Asked him if he thought the Yankees might do it.
the Henn move is fine but if Vizciano does not turn things around real soon I say adios… Britton and Henn deserve there chances and if it was not for Henn having more options I assume Vizciano would have been gone.
One thing that Tino was horrible at was Baseball Tonight, I think he was the worst player correspondant I have ever seen, not including Fernando Vina and Eric Davis from this year of course.
Just took a peak at Chicago Radar. It looks like this front should push through within a couple of hours. I think they’ll be able to play from a precipitation standpoint… the question is just how much rain they’ve had already today and how well that field drains.
Pete, what does that field look like? Is it underwater?
SJ44 -
I’ll grant you Tino’s comments are interesting. Do you honestly think Jeter, Posada and Mariano would be telling a former teammate that their current teammates are dogging it? Don’t you think that would make an already stressful situation even worse? (The stressful situation to which I refer is the inconsistent play and hitting slumps, not any personality issues.) I still maintain that right now Tino is as much an observer as anyone else.
I think friends share things with friends. I think they talk baseball all the time.
For example, you had Jeter saying, “I never talked to Clemens about coming to the Yankees”, and you have Clemens saying, “Jeter wouldn’t leave me alone” about coming back.
Guys talk. More than we ever know about publicly.
Do I think guys have talked to Tino about this team? Yes, I do.
I also think Tino has played the game long enough to know what he is seeing.
Its pretty clear that it looked like some of these guys don’t play hard every night. I think its fascinating a guy, who is not known for saying anything but vanilla quotes (one of the reasons why he was not brought back by ESPN) would come out so strongly about this team.
He sounded like it really bothered him that the effort wasn’t there every night.
Its not like he is some out of control fan. He is a guy just saying what he sees and, (IMO) what he is being told.
Either way, I think it would be a very interesting story to get the take from other former Yankees about this year’s team. Hearing about what former players see is something we can all learn from, IMO.
no way the field is underwater, the rain here has only started in the last 2 hours. it just started again after stopping for awhile.
LOL @ Fernando Vina. That guy lived down the street from me when we were kids. That guy was a piece of work. I saw him go into some kids garage and beat the heck out of him with the kids mom watching. After we asked him why he did it because we didn’t know there was any beef between them. He said he wanted to see if he could get the kids mom to cry by beating up her kid.
Easy for Tino to say. Which player or players are dogging it, exactly? It’s no trouble to make generalized pronouncements that the team lacks fire, but it’s much tougher to single out anyone who is playing poorly because he lacks “passion.”
There are about 4 “Aces” in the majors. Santana, Halladay, Carpenter and Oswalt. Wang is right on that next tier. Who needs strikeouts when hitters can’t make contact with a 95 mph heavy sinker? Anyone that talks about K rate obviously has never played the game and doesn’t watch the game.
Tino was probably talking about A-rod, Jeter, Posada, Mo, etc… Who cares what Tino said, it is something that can never be proven, and if he really wanted to say something, he should call them out by name. This does nothing for anyone. People have been saying that Abreu looks like he isn’t trying for years, hasn’t stopped him from being successful.
Also: There alot more than 4 Aces in baseball.
You had to bring Villone up. A gamer who you know can get outs. Henn showed some real promise. A homegrown lefty with good stuff. He’ll be back real soon. And worse comes to worse he’s legit trade bait.
I think many a team can use a versatile lefty out of the pen especially one thats young and making nothing.
Anyone know who the last Yankee to hit for the cycle was or where I could go to find out? Thanks!
When you win the team shows heart. This team just needs to go on a little run right here and everyone doubting the heart will come around. Winning changes a lot of perceptions.
Curly
Isn’t Clemens an “ace?” Or is he on that “second tier” with Wang?
I think that, for $28 million, Brian Cashman would prefer that you include Roger in your List of Aces.
2Yankees143-Tony Fernandez was the last Yankee to hit for the cycle in 1995
Cycle: Tony Fernandez
Clemens is not an ace anymore and he is not making $28 mill. I think it is $18 max but at 44 yrs old pitching 6 innings he is not an ace….
ace’s have to pitch deep in games… danny haren is an ace, he win and loss record is irrelevant look at the other stats, Barnadon Webb is an ace also…
This “not playing hard” thing really has me jazzed.
Define “not playing hard.” I only observe that EVERY Yankee ALWAYS runs hard to first base, or at least as hard as they can (which is different for each). Does it mean that they don’t get a hit? I’ve heard that trying TOO HARD can prolong a slump. Does it mean that you share some humor with a teammate on the bench, or crack a joke during a losing game? Sometimes humor can be a good stress reliever. Getting your teammates to lighten up is not necessarily a bad idea. And you have NO IDEA what they’re saying to each other during a game. And I didn’t know that being morose was required if you’re losing a game, and scowls were proof of one’s tenacity.
I’m just trying to guess here how someone comes up with the observation that a team isn’t playing hard enough. My conclusion is that the only way to know for sure, same as with “team chemistry” is if your team is winning, then surely they’re playing hard and have good team chemistry. If they’re not winning every game, then clearly they’re not trying hard enough and there’s no team chemistry. It’s all a bunch of bull.
Just because you go deep into games doesn’t make you an ace. By that definition, Jake Westbrook would be an ace.
besides going deep in games obviously an ace needs to be effective. low ERA, good WIP, etc…
There’s no question that a lot of Yanks are not playing well, but who do you think is actually dogging it? It’s hard not to look listless when you can’t get hits, but who is actually not playing hard? Abreu has been consistent about not playing hard in the outfield, but he came with that reputation. Damon did seem to come into this season out of shape, suggesting he may have been dogging it this offseason, which continues to have repurcussions, but I don’t know if that’s who Tino or others here have in mind. Just curious who the guilty parties are supposed to be….
Brian the Red Sox Fan. First question. Why would a Red Sox fan even post here? Do you have that much free time? Are you that bored and lonely in life? Like seriously. You need to get a life.
Or you just upset because you’re boy Schilling wasn’t included on the Ace list?
When Clemens pitches he may be an Ace but since hes throwing in Tampa and is 44 yrs old I don’t think he qualifies. You can win a lot of games with 3-4 guys on the next tier in your rotation. Like Pettite, Wang, Moose.
And the money thing. I don’t pay it. I don’t care if he gets 700 million a pitch. The Yanks obviously have the money. So I’m glad they’re spending it.
Stuart – I’m not trying to be confrontational, but there’s a disconnect between someone being the highest paid player in the game (pro-rated) and NOT being considered an ace.
Having said that, I don’t think he’s an ace, either. So is he worth the money?
If you’re going to call Webb an ace than you have to include Wang in that group. I still think its a one person group. Johan. And everyone else can follow him up.
Hey, I am not Tino Martinez. I am just stating what he said.
Obviously, he feels some guys aren’t playing hard or he wouldn’t have said it. Who. what and why? Unfortunately, Kay didn’t follow up with him during the questioning. It sounded like he was surprised Tino even said it.
That’s why I suggested a story with some of the former Yankees and get their observations on the team.
They played the game. We didn’t. Perhaps Tino sees things that tipped him off on guys not playing hard, or was told guys aren’t playing hard. I don’t know. All I know is he said it and, for a guy not known to say anything controversial, whether folks want to believe him or not, its a pretty interesting comment about this team.
Accurate? Probably a good idea for someone in the media to follow up with him and see if he expands his comments any further.
Curly …. I haven’t been offensive …. why the animosity?
This is the era of the Internet, where we can all expand our horizons. I’m taking advantage of that fact. I would encourage you to do the same, and you may find find it personally enriching.
P.S. I don’t think that Schilling is an ace, either.
Doreen, exactly. Concepts like “chemistry” and “passion” are nothing more than filler material for analysts who don’t want to do actual research on the teams they cover.
Not only do the spiels about the Yankees’ lack of passion conspicuously fail to single out the “passionless” players, but they also can’t explain why anyone on the Yankees would have any rational reason for not playing as hard as possible.
SJ44 –You have nothing to feel bad about for relaying what Tino said. I think it’s really interesting. And I wasn’t saying I agreed or disagreed with what he was saying — I simply wonder which players some of the people here might be the ones who are dogging it, if any. I’d love to know. I don’t SEE evidence of it, other than maybe in the outfield, but that doesn’t mean that other more astute observers (like Tino, certainly) may see evidence of it, and unlike some people, I’m open to the possibility of being persuaded either way. Just curious. You did say you 100% agreed with Tino’s assessment, so you probably have some thoughts on this, and I assume others do as well.
I meant: some of the people here might “see as” the ones who are dogging it.
SJ44,
I doubt anyone on the team had anything negative about a teammate to say to Tino, or would say anything negative to him
My hunch is this is just Tino’s way of summing up what he thinks is wrong with the Yankees. He’s a player, not an analyst, so he speaks in a player’s generalities.
I just got home from work, and just logged on – I agree wholeheartedly with Doreen.
I watch a lot of the games on TV. I specifically look at how hard they run out struck balls. They run. OK, so Posada and Giambi look like they’re stuck in molasses – they’re still faster than me – but they run it out. Last year Damon was being applauded for lightening the atmosphere; now for trying to cheer the team up he’s being crucified? Give me a break.
They don’t have a good record because when they were hitting, the pitching wasn’t there, and now the pitching’s there, but too many hitters are slumping. That’s the classic definition of a team slump. However, the track records are there, and except for a few – Mussina (who’s last couple of starts have been great) and now Clemens come to mind – they are not pushing 40 and at the end of their careers, so they should play to their baseball cards. It’s a matter of when. Yeah, I would love for it to happen now, but it hasn’t yet (we’ll see about tonight). Yeah, the Red Sox are leading a charmed life. We’ll see if it continues. In the meantime, I see no benefit from bitching, moaning, and playing Chicken Little, or the 2007 version of “I saw it coming first” that seems to have become popular with the advent of ESPN Sports Center, and media jocks.
curly shut the fuck up
brian the red sox fan, the yankees have a ridiculous amount of money to spend, there is no salary cap so why not spend the money to entice clemens to come play ? is he worth the 18 or so million they are giving him to pitch ? no. is zito worth the 17 million he makes a year ? no. alot of people aren’t worth the money they make but the difference with clemens is the yankees needed a pitcher without making a trade, he was the only decent one available, they probably asked him what he wanted and they told him. they have the money. big deal. what else would they have done with that money ? probably pocketed it. so they might as well spend it. and thats why everyone hates yankee fans because they have tons of money and they are willing to spend it without hesitation
Whatever happened is done already, but when Jeter gets a whif of what Tino said there won’t be a pipeline to Tino anymore. Jeter’s pretty good at plugging leaks.
O/T, but I didn’t realize what a big deal the minor league is. Just found milb.com and they’ve got game casts and live audio of all the games. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are playing a double header today. If there’s no Yankee/White Sox game at least you can catch the minor league game. Colter Bean and his less than stellar ERA (I don’t think his MLB ERA followed him, he must’ve gotten hit really hard down at SWB)is on the mound right now. On second thought, you may want to catch the second game. Bean’s getting hit pretty hard right now in the top of the 1st.
No but I bet you are Doreen. The biggest know-it-all to grace this board with their presence. So I take it that Tino, a guy with tons of experience and Yankee clubhouse experience, has no idea what he is talking about. Right? Right.
SJ44,
At the end of that interview Tino said that they determine who is playing ‘hard’ and who isn’t by measuring the exact number of granules of dirt and size of all grass stains on each uniform after the game. They used to have a clubhouse kid do it, but now they make Marty Miller do it because he ruined the season. Randy L. has already nominated Cash for the job after the all-star break because he needs help understanding the ‘numbers of the game’ and this exercise will be a good start.
BTW, the Dirty Grass-stained Leaders (or DGS) so far are Jeter with 248 granules per game (GPG) followed by Jorge with 198 GPG. The bottom dwellers are ‘Cadillac Cano’ with only 43 GPG and ‘Trade Bait’ Abreu at 27 GPG! Even Torre has a GPG of 31 from all of the times he falls down asleep in the dugout or trips on the way out to the mound.
“This “not playing hardâ€? thing really has me jazzed.”
Me too, Doreen. Its unbelievable.
Ahh, random attacks on Doreen. Reminds me why I dont post here as much anymore.
“Get a Clue”, were you calling Doreen a know-it-all? I’m not sure if you’d find another person on this blog that would agree with you there. Personally, she’s one of a handful of people whose posts I look forward to reading here. If you were suggesting that, you might want to take the advice of your own username.
You people are so “shocked” by this because you have your overly-optimistic heads stuck so far up your a$$ that you have no idea what is happening in reality anymore.
Can you really tell me that everyone in this lineup is playing hard? Giambi and Damon whine about pain everyday! Abreu is collecting his check and not even putting in an effort in the outfield. Cano looks lost and kills every rally. Matsui needs to start stepping up and so does the bullpen. Vizcaino and Co. are going to be the weakest link if they don’t pull it together.
If Tino has a pipeline into the Yankee Clubhouse he did a bad thing by opening his mouth on the radio like that. I’m sure the players thought he’d keep things in confidence. I think he’s just speculating about everything. I can’t see how anyone on that team is not playing hard.
“Reminds me why I dont post here as much anymore.”
Agreed. This is why I am putting together a small message board where I can control who posts and who doesn’t.
Good to see you, Angel. Another one of my favorite posters.
Does anyone know if it’s still raining in Chicago?
Optimism is a such a horrible thing. Let’s all be bitter like ‘get a clue.’ Sounds like fun.
Tonight’s lineup, courtesy of Michael Kay:
Damon (DH)
Jeter
ARod
Posada
Matsui
Phelps
Abreu
Cabrera (CF)
Cairo
Lineup juggling with Cano and Giambi out.
On the Tino stuff. I don’t know how folks can criticize someone who played the game. Does anybody really think they have more insight than Tino Martinez when it comes to baseball?
He said what he said. You can disagree with it if you like but, that’s doesn’t mean what he said isn’t true.
Just because you don’t see guys “not playing hard” doesn’t make its not happening.
That’s why I suggested perhaps Pete follow up with him.
When a guy who hasn’t said squat in a controversial way his entire career, says what he said, it is very interesting.
Instead of just rejecting it out of hand, which is illogical given Tino’s pedigree, perhaps we should consider what he said and see if there is any follow up on his comments.
BTW, Derek Jeter and Tino Martinez are very close friends. I doubt you will see Jeter freeze him out. Its not like he said, “Derek Jeter told me…..”.
He spoke about his observations of the team. Even if he was told something, he didn’t give up anybody in the interview.
Don’t shoot the messenger just because he said something folks may not like hearing.
Anybody know whether the game is getting PPD or delayed or what?
I’ll come visit when you get that going, Wolf.
Tino has a pedigree?
Learn something new everyday.
“Instead of just rejecting it out of hand, which is illogical given Tino’s pedigree, perhaps we should consider what he said and see if there is any follow up on his comments.”
But isn’t that just as illogical as deeming it credible because of his pedigree and falling all over it, because it happens to support your point of view?
With regards to Damon always complaining about injuries, I’ve thought for a while that Damon has plays the “man my ____ is really killing me, but I’ll be a trooper and go out there and play.” Ideally you want a guy who stays healthy by not being so unflexible and unconditioned that he injures himself on routine plays. What’s weird is that the tough guy that Damon seems to be wouldn’t even talk about his injuries. I guess my point is, if you’re injured, then you can’t play. If you’re not injured, then play and get the job done. 80% doesn’t do it for me, it’s an excuse. You’re in or you’re out.
Perhaps Tino is referring to the rotating door we have in the outfield and in the DH spots. We have prime time guys and they need to be out there. If there is a legit reason not to be out there, then sit down.
Lets all be like rbizzler and be completely and totally clueless and naive to what is in fact occurring in reality. On Earth, this team can never show up and play like a team and it shows. The pitching either stinks or 90% of the lineup stinks both offensively and defensively and they will do it at the same time and in the same games.
There are glaring holes that need fixing.We are 8.5 back and headed into a touch stretch against good teams, including the Red Sox who we have to beat. We can’t even beat Texas and Seattle for half a month (who btw was without King Felix) and yet I’m supposed to sit here and feel good about the weekend? Lets all be like rbizzler. That is insanity.
brian(red sox fan)-
this explains why clemens is worth that much.
http://www.nyjournalnews.com/a.....271/SPORTS
“Curly …. I haven’t been offensive …. why the animosity?”
you’re a lawyer right. how’d you make it through law school? being a red sox fan is by definition offensive from a yankee point of view. unless you want to talk about beckett’s blister/ripped finger problems,nancy drew, coco crispy’s batting average, or papelbon’s lower velocity and arm slot that hints of shoulder problems, i can’t think of anything from a red sox fan at this time that would be enlightening.
So, Angel, you don’t think its interesting what his observations were on the team? He could have played it vanilla, like the employees on the YES Network have, and said, “its the injuries, they will get it going, etc”.
He didn’t say that.
The guy played in the major leagues for 15 years. He’s been in that clubhouse. He’s played with guys on the team.
His point of view doesn’t count because it runs counter to what you believe?
I think he said some interesting things. He didn’t have to say it, and, IMO, some follow up on the comments would be great.
He can’t say he was “misquoted”. Obviously, he believes what he said.
Perhaps, if Kay was sharp enough to ask for specific examples, he would have been more forthcoming.
But, to just reject what the guy said out of hand, who knows more about the game than you or I will ever know, is “illogical”, regardless of your point of view of what he said.
What’s also “illogical” is to say, “he doesn’t know anything that’s going on or, “How does he know”? How does anybody know he “doesn’t know what’s going on”.
He didn’t preface his comments by saying, “I don’t know what’s going on, I am not around the team”, etc…. He said what he said.
That’s why I suggested Pete follow up with him and see if he will be more forthcoming.
Let’s all be like ‘get a clue’ and light ourselves on fire because the Yankees aren’t playing well right now. You should change your handle to ‘get a grip’ or maybe ‘i need a new hobby because this one isn’t cutting it.’ Kinda long, but you get the picture. Let me ask you this, do you actually enjoy it when the team wins?
Maybe we can get a crew together to go to your house and help you board the place up for the weekend so you can come up with your master plan to ‘fix’ the Yankees. Anyone interested?
Get a clue –
If Tino had said something even as specific as “I don’t see everyone running out the ball,” or, “the outfielders seem tentative when they’re chasing balls in the outfield,” or, “there doesn’t seem to be communication among the fielders on particular plays,” — that I could give a lot more credence to. But, I’m sorry, there is just no way he can talk about “heart” and “passion” of any particular player, or about their desire or lack thereof to win. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that professional athletes who are competitive by nature would be okay with losing. Especially in the Yankees culture, where a winning philosophy is relentlessly preached. It’s not like the Chicago Cubs, where losing has become a way of life.
SJ44 — It might be interesting to hear what other former players see, but it has to be specific, not a general commentary. Tino was a great player for the Yankees — gutsy, gritty, everything you want a player to be. Not everyone is like him or Paul O’Neill. Heck, by comparison, Jeter is a marshmallow. It may be true that some of this year’s Yankees aren’t “intense” but it doesn’t necessarily follow that they don’t want to win enough.
I didnt say that, I’m not dismissing what he says at all. I just think putting more weight on it than its worth is just as illogical as dismissing it. Just like anytime John Flaherty or Joe Girardi make comments about what goes on in the clubhouse. I take them at face value – I dont read more or less into it.
He said it. He might have heard it from someone, or he might not and just be offering his opinion – I dont think we can say one way or the other. I think implying that there are guys in the team who aren’t trying hard and not naming names and leaving it out in the open like that is taking a bit of a cheap shot actually.
He may just be throwing down the gauntlet and trying to motivate or light a fire under them. Thats a possiblity, I suppose. You know, kinda like Reggie Jackson does once in a while, lol.
Curly I played for 15 years and have watched for well over 20. He needs another pitch. People are gonna adjust to where the ball is going. It’s already starting to happen.