Yankees searching for offense
-
-
- May
- 17
-
I need to hustle up, finish my stories and catch a plane.
Not much to report from the postgame scene. Torre and the players said they were positive the offense would come around.
“I know we’re going to get better and I know we’re going to put a streak together,â€? Torre said. “Every time you win, you think this where it’s starting right now. But it hasn’t happened yet.”
Perception is not always reality. The Yankees went into the day hitting .276 and had scored 211 runs, the most in baseball. But they have scored three or fewer runs in five of their last seven games and lost on each occasion.
Now come six games against the Mets and Red Sox. Plenty of Yankee-haters will arrive at Shea Stadium tomorrow with shovels prepared to throw dirt on them. But you may want to hold off.
“Doesn’t this happen every year?” Ozzie Guillen said. “The Yankees have a bad spring and then when you look up in August they’re in first place.”
This entry was posted
on Thursday, May 17th, 2007 at 6:19 pm by Peter Abraham.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
If the yankees manage to crawl out of this nice hole they have dug and make it to the playoffs I will be speechless.
The kind of lead and record the sox have right now makes them incredibly difficult to catch barring a couple of sweeps by the Yankees.
Our pitching and bullpen is finally back on track, lets get the bats squared up now.
From Ozzie’s lips to God’s ears. Wait, Ozzie thinks Jeter is God.
Can we blame the hitting on the “performance enhancement” coach? Or will Clemens “go home between starts” contract suffice?
Ok I took my medicine and read through most of the game posts. These are hard times to be a Yankee fan. I for one welcome all the bandwagon fans to go back to the Mets. One of these days, we’re going to go on a run, where we win like 12 of 15. I look forward to those times and wish them God speed to get here soon.
Let’s hope Ozzie is on the mark with that statement even though I usually think he is full of it. Still 75% of the season to go and we have a pretty talented roster. We may or may not have buried ourselves with the BoSox but we will be in the race for the wild card ’til the end. Lets hope Andy can help us build some momentum tomorrow for the remainder of this tough stretch.
*“Doesn’t this happen every year?� Ozzie Guillen said. “The Yankees have a bad spring and then when you look up in August they’re in first place.�
It does happen every year, but I wish the Yankees would stop pressing their luck by playing awful ball in the spring. I don’t understand why 29 other teams can get out of the gate running but the Yanks can’t.
Amen Jeff NJ
That quote by Guillen makes me a little hopeful. Yes, yes it does happen every year!
Then I remember that Guillen is nuts. So if he thinks the Yankees will take the AL East, it’s probably not going to happen in reality.
OK, I havent lost hope, but its kinda grim after these losses. Just when you think it might be over, they throw down another gose egg.
But hopefully, Ozzie is right. I mean, if the Red Sox can open a 9 game lead in just 6 weeks, why can’t the Yankees catch them over four months? Seems doable, if they get it together ASAP. This weekend is critical.
Were you speechless last yr when the Yanks were down 5 games in July and won by 11?
Just asking.
And I think exchanging Randy Johnson and Jaret Wright for Andy Pettite, Clemens and Hughes is a pretty solid upgrade.
Holy &#$*%()&#@
Hard times to be a Yankees fan!?!?! Come on people. They’ve played a mediocre 38 games. You want hard times? Go be a Pirates fan. Go root for the Royals. The Nationals!
Now, I’m not claiming the Yankees are magically going to pull this all together and win the division by 8 games. I’m not even saying they will be over .500. But to claim the apocolypse because they Yankees don’t win the division every year is a sign of a bandwangon fan. Your real worry is: How can I be cool rooting for a team that isn’t winning. The next time the Yankees go 9 years without making the playoffs, then I’ll agree. That’ll be a hard time to be a Yankees fan. Until then, just root for your team to win.
Amen.
These aren’t hard times to be a Yankee fan. Your franchise will have it’s high and low points. You need that low point sometimes to reach your best highs. We needed to go through Mel Hall, Dion James, and Chuck Cary to get to Jeter, Bernie, and Mo.
I hope we summon the strength as team I know we’ve got and beat the crap out of the Mets and Red Sox this week.
Reflaxion: I heard the theory the poor start trend is because their ST is more country club than boot camp.
If Damon is unavailable, compact the order to bat Jeter leadoff. SP and bullpen have been a bit better. Just have to wait it out. The win streak will come, there’s too much talent on this team.
These two quotes in that post are 100% true:
“Every time you win, you think this where it’s starting right now. But it hasn’t happened yet.â€?– Torre
“Doesn’t this happen every year? The Yankees have a bad spring and then when you look up in August they’re in first place.â€?– Ozzie Guillen
That pretty much sums up the whole season in a few sentences. It says that the Yankees ahve been playing very bad ball, but yet, they are the Yankees, and are built to be in the postseason, meaning nothing will change and the Yankees will get there once again.
these next 9 games are going to be the season eye-opener
mets, sox, angels.
jeez
I wish someone had the ambition to write down the names of all the people who have the “sky is falling” mentality and when the Yanks win the division they would call them out on it. I am not that ambitious but as soon as the Yanks go on a big run all will be right with those people and they will be the first people to say they knew the Yanks would make the playoffs. Only reason I hate reading this blog: giving up. I can stand people being negative but saying the season is over in May is absurd. I agree the Yanks aren’t playing good and I’ll be the first person to say that but the season is far from over.
These next 9 are gut check time. The 3 best teams in baseball.
I’d be a lot more worried if the pitching was brutal. But it has been good and the pen is starting to come together.
dka, dion james wasnt half bad, i wouldnt mind having his left handed bat to come off the bench
Cash has really got to be hitting the phones to look for a right handed hitter with some pop. The bench needs some help.
dion james hit over 330 one year for the yankees, and was on the 95 playoff team, strange his career ended right after that, who knew
either way he’d be more productive then cairo/melky/nieves (jesus is he really at .035)
sad times to be looking for dion though, a few people are right, 12 playoff appearances in a row, the redsox used to finish ahead of us every year in the 80’s
who knew, look the sox have only 4 players left from their 04 team, if this year is over, which it might be, they can get this thing back on track very quickly
2009
It is always darkest before the dawn. We will turn this thing around. Believe it.
Plenty of room on the wagon right now. Lots of empty seats and leg room. I wonder if they’ll let me drive.
I have said from day one that this was not a great offense. It is too old, too heavily left handed, no clutch hitters, not enough power, and they cannot sustain rallies. Great offenses show consistency and win games.
Then there is uncle Joe (the worst manager in baseball) Torre who bats a dog like Abreu leadoff. What would possess him to do that?
I am so sick of this team. They do not play with any heart or enthusiasm. I now watch any game that I can find on the Satellite rather than this over priced boring team.
This is the ultimate low, but I would rather watch the Mets…at least they play like they give a crap.
Anyone notice Farnsworth hasn’t k’d anyone in his last five appearances? I smell our first bullpen injury…..
The last couple of years it seemed as if things picked up from slow starts after an air-clearing or come-to-jesus team meeting. With the stretch of mets, sox, angels ahead, now might be a good time for this year’s meeting. No panic, but a collective acknowledgment that it is time to take it up a couple of notches in the refuse to lose department.
EricVA, since you addressed my comment about it being a hard time being a Yankee fan I assume the rest of your post refers to me as well.
I agree it can’t be fun rooting for those teams, but the expectations aren’t there and the media attention isn’t there and I guess I don’t I know what that’s like, closest I have is the Knicks. I root for them, and even watched games after they were eliminated, but when they eventually lose it is not as painful because the reality was no one in their right mind really expected them to get too far, at least I didn’t. So with the Yankees pedigree and history it is reasonable to expect that they will compete for a championship this year, so yeah it is more painful right now to watch the Yankees play so terrible especially while the Red Sox are kicking ass. We’ll come around and compete, I still think we’ll make the playoffs, I’ll believe that until we don’t.
I actually agree with your comment in regards to your quote about “the apocolypse because they Yankees don’t win the division every year is a sign of a bandwangon fan.” Of course that doesn’t describe me so I assume you are talking about others.
Your other line about “Your real worry is: How can I be cool rooting for a team that isn’t winning.” I can only assume you also meant that for someone else cause I’m a little too old to worry about being cool, fonzie. I root for the Yankees in the worst of times. I watched almost every game of the 89 and 90 seasons so I remember very well what it was like.
Anyway I was just trying to keep us positive reinforcing that good times are around the corner. Guess you missed my point. Apology accepted.
Hard time to be a Yankee fan? Were any of you around in the really bleak years?
I agree about the bench. I think they need an infusion of youthful energy. I’d like to see some guys who are hungry to prove themselves on the bench. I like Cairo, and he was great for us a few years back, but I’d rather have a younger, more athletic, faster, hungrier player with some energy. The thing that gets me about these recent losses is how flat they are and how BORING the games are. There’s no spark or life and when they’re down, no sense that a comeback is on its way. Give guys like Omir Santos, Chris Basak, or Angel Chavez a shot. Or, if Phillips can back up at 2b and 3b, bring him up. Cairo and Nieves are giant holes in the roster. I know our bench is the least of our concerns, but Jimmy Johnson with the Cowboys used to send his players a message by cutting role/bench players. Tony Womack, an established starter was moved aside for Cano, why not give a younger guy a chance.
Check out the stats:
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....mp;cid=531
Yankees searching for offense? Shouldn’t it really read,Yankees searching for a manager?
Let’s see, bat A-breu lead-off, he’s an onbase machine.
How about playing Giambi, who can hardely walk.
Let’s take out Desalvo in the 4th, heck he’s getting knocked around, we don’t want him to grow as a pitcher by making him work through it and at least get to 100 pitches or at least go 5, no we don’t want him learning how to win or at least gut it out without his best stuff.
Let’s bury Rasner, pitch him every 10 days or so, he’s already been labeled a long-relief guy, why pitch him in the 4th inning when you’re behind by a few runs?
Bring on Vizcaino, he can save the day with a plus 6 era.
Yes, Yankees offense is in a funk but it shouldn’t last; too many professional hitters.
But does bad in-game management happening repeatedly, suddenly get better??
JeffNJ-
Yes I was referencing your comment about it being hard times. But the rest was not a personal attack on you…I don’t know much about you. I was talking about the dozens of people on this comments section (the one’s that make it unreadable) that ditch the team as soon as they aren’t chic anymore. Case in point: Paul Calta (above) “I am so sick of this team. They do not play with any heart or enthusiasm. I now watch any game that I can find on the Satellite rather than this over priced boring team.” Really? What real fan ditches their team not even a quarter of the way into the season?
I remember a few years back when the NY Giants lost their last 8 games. I watched every last minute of every game. Why? Because I’m a fan.
Also, since I’m ranting, I think anybody who wants Andy Phillips on the roster needs to go away now. Forever. Not that I don’t like Phillips, but you are the same people who lamented him being a backup last year, saying that he can’t hit or field and needs to be cut. Now you want him back? Give me a break.
“Hard time to be a Yankee fan? Were any of you around in the really bleak years?”
i never thought i would say this after an Annie Savoy post, but AMEN.
It’s not as much of a hard time as it is a frustrating time…which I think makes it more difficult to watch.
The potential is there…but I’m seeing a severe lack of motivation or drive from this club which angers you to watch them roll over and die as the highest paid team.
Yankee21;
You hit the nail on the head on several issues and you are correct Torre should ahve been canned years ago. He is the most over rated manager in the history of baseball. With the payroll and the team they give him year in and year out, how can he not win.
The fact is that his laid back phony kum bai ya attitude wore off years ago. He cannot motivate this lazy underachieving bunch. His in game strategy is so bizarre I don’t know what to think anymore. He must have dementia.
But now that Roger (the ultimate team player) Clemems is here, Joe will finish out the season. This team stinks , the manager stinks, and the general manager stinks. Tear it apart now and lets move forward.
As a fellow survivor of the “bleak years” myself – amen again.
I also never thought I would appreciate an Ozzie Guillen quote.
Watch the Mets play. Watch jose Reyes. Look at the enthusiasm. Where is that on the Yankees? It is like this team is embalmed the way they sleepwalk through games. They don’t even protect their hitters when they are thrown at. No excuse for that…none at all. At least in that game where Phelp hit Jojima and Proctor threw at Betencourt; those two showed some heart. I’ll bet Uncle Joe fined them for not being “classy”.
Welcome to the club EricVA. These people LOVE people that are not on this team. They almost idolize anyone in the minors like Chris Britton or Wil Nieves during spring training. People were going nuts that Nieves would not be on the team (glad he’s here for one hit and not even getting on base during that hit). Also they think every reliever in the minor leagues is going to come in with the hand of God and strike everyone out. I’ve tried to talk sense into them but it’s usless. They hated Andy during ST and now they think he is great. I don’t think a lot changed between now and then. Don’t waste your time trying to convince them otherwise because they just change the topic. The best fans are the one’s who want to trade every player that is unproductive like it is possible to make several big name trades in May and get more than 30 cents on the dollar. People say trade away everyone who isn’t doing well and eat half their salary.
Will people stop talking about ENTHUSIASM. This is a professional baseball team with many experienced veterans. There not going to be jumping around and chest bumping during a series in Chicago in MAY. They play with the same passion I have seen these guys play with since they came into the league back in the 90’s. They ARE trying and they DO want to win whether or not you psycho-analyst watching the games believe it or not.
Bernie Williams had a .936 OPS against LH pitching in 2006 with a .323 BA (133 AB).
Considering our struggles against LHP in 2007, and our bench, does the ice begin to thaw, Peter?
I love Andy Phillips but unfortunately he is a AAAA player.
Peter,
I am not talking about the rah rah crap, I hate that. What I am talking about is playing hard, play like there is some enjoyment in it, and I do not feel that all players are giving their best out there.
IGAWA will surely be on Cashmans tombstone come the All-Star break…..$51m and healthy but he cannot be used and they need to bring up a kid for this weekend….RIP Cashman
RIP Cashman and don’t let the door hit you in the behind on the way out. See ya.
Paul,
I’m not trying to pick a fight. But who do you see playing without heart or passion? I’m not seeing it but maybe I’m missing it. Seems like they are all just having a tough time getting solid contact on the ball.
Igawa= biggest overreaction by a GM ever. Knew he needed to get everyone off his back b/c of Dice K and he overspent on a guy that he probably didn’t even want that badly
Hi Nick B;
The two that come to mind are Abreu and Cano. Something about them bothers me this year.
And you are correct I am probably generalizing way too much but as most of us here in this blog I am so frustrated with this team.
Cashman will have to answer for Igawa. When we could have Lilly or Meche or Suppan right now.
20-20 hindsight but Dice K would look good between Wang and Hughes for the next 6 years too.
The posting system cost us that one.
Bernie messed up. Huge.
If he would have come to camp like Torre asked he would have made the team easily and he would right now be on pace for 500 at bats.
Terrible move by my favorite Yankee.
Paul Calta,
Name one player who is not “giving his best” and an example of what you observed to this effect.
Yeah if I was going to pick two players I didn’t think would struggle it would have been Abreu and Cano. Abreu is in a semi-contract year and Cano still needs to make a foothold on this team. But I guess thats why this game is so hard to predict.
Paul Calta:
This team is embalmed and sleepwalks through games?
I really love reading horse crap like that. Just what would you know about what goes on in the locker room and on the bench? You don’t see enough NBA, NHL or NFL out there so there’s no “heart,” right?
Phelps went out of his way to unnecessarily hit Jojima. If someone had done the same thing to Posada, under the same circumstances, you’d be screaming that the guy was a thug. It was unnecessary and unprofessional and risked injury to a player who was not blocking the plate with the ball nor attempting to tag Phelps. That’s not cool, Paul. That’s why Phelps got hit the next time he got to the plate. I understand that Phelps is trying to cement his place on the team and impress management with his aggressiveness, but that’s not the right impression and not how you play the game. That’s also not “heart.” That was bush league stupid.
As for Proctor’s decision to throw behind Betancourt, it came after warnings to both benches. It was over at that point yet Proctor needlessly got himself and his manager suspended (and Proctor as fined). Proctor who plays a key role in the bullpen was unavailable for four games. On top of that he helped motivate Seattle for the next time they face the Yanks. Sorry, Paul, but Proctor does not deserve anyone’s praise for that one. That was a brain fart from somebody who should know better.
Big hint: In general, encouraging players to lose control and give in to frustration is not really how big time pros play or manage.
Talk about running away with the division… Boston won again.
I am baffled by Cano but I feel he is a great hitter. I cannot understand his lack of patience at the plate. I cannot give you a good example of why I feel he is not doing his best, it is more of a feeling. He just seems to shrug off poor performances.
Abreu however does not go into the corners, does not run hard after balls, and just looks lackadasical in the field.
It scares me when I start hoping Ozzie Guillen speaks the truth.
Andrew23, the Red Sox only finished ahead of the Yankees 4 times in the 80s. The Yankees finished ahead of the Red Sox 6 times, and by larger margins than the reverse.
Paul:
Paul:
I feel your frustration, Paul, but you gotta slow down a little and think before you slam.
Cano is in a protracted slump and players are told to shrug off bad at-bats and concentrate on getting it right next time, so they don’t carry frustration and doubt from one at-bat to the next. They will not get out of slumps faster if they stress out some more after each strike out, grip the bat tighter the next time up and make anguished faces the whole game so you could see their embarrassment on TV.
As for Abreu, he played the field that way last year too. Only he was hitting so nobody said much about it.
Murph;
Actually some valid points. I guess with Abreu my expectations were so high; that he was this five tool all star, which he is. I am disappointed by his ouyfield play. I have to admit though, if he were hitting .330 I probably would not notice his fielding. Thanks for the reality check.
Think of the Yankees as a big corporation. What happens to the CEO or senior management when stock goes down, when you don’t hit revenue targets, when you lose market share? Especially when you have much higher than competition capital expenses?
What should happen to management on the Yankees? As a minimum they should be replaced. Without question, Torre needs to go he isn’t producing with all the assets he asked for, no excuses, no results, no fooling real fans, he needs to be replaced. JOE MUST GO! JOE MUST GO!
Who is starting that list of people that think the season is over….please put me down in the #1 slot…
They will be 12 out by the time Clemens rides in on his white horse to be an adequate 6 inning starter at $1m per start….
A wild card birth would be a pleasant surprise, get in the playoffs and anything can happen…
George will blow this thing up pretty soon if this keeps up
This is a hard time but you should have been around to see Horace Clarke, Rich McKinney, Jerry Kenny, Mike Kekich and Jake Gibbs.
Eric-
I was, that was even a harder time for Mrs. Kekich and Mrs. Peterson…do you remember that episode ?
Don’t forget Gene Michael at SS…
I’m actually glad the team has started so slow. If nothing else, the weak-willed softies among us have been exposed and their perfidy documented, while the reward for the faithful will be all the more sweet.
What amazes me most about the rats-off-the-sinking-ship types is that their memories are so short. Hasn’t this exact same scenario played out in each of the past three years?
In ‘04 Boston waxed us in April for something like 6 of 7, we promptly took a 10 game lead, and then they almost caught us in the regular season. In ‘05 we were putrid early (starting guys like Redding and May) and came all the way back. Last year we were 4 back on July 5th and finished 11 in front (that’s a 15 game turnaround in 3 months for those who can’t count.)
The only difference I can see is that this year’s team has way more talent than any of those did. With any luck, our rotation in a month will be Wang, Pettitte, Clemens, Mussina and Hughes (no Kevin Brown, no Jaret Wright.) Our bullpen is loaded with power arms and is the best we’ve had since the Stanton/Nelson/Mendoza salad days (no Wayne Franklin, no Tanyon Sturtze.) The line-up will lead the league in runs scored (anyone who thinks Matsui and Cano won’t hit is a fool) and Boston will come back to earth, sooner rather than later. They’re as old as we are and their injuries are coming. Ten games back on May 17th means we have to outplay them by two games per month for the rest of the season. Hardly impossible.
Keep the faith.
randyhater,
you got it all wrong. those people jumping ship are going to be the first ones to start cheering when the yanks catch the sox. they will say the team is done now, give up until july and be right back on the bandwagon. you mark my words.
Randy Hater…
so you figure we can just spot them an 8 or 10 game lead each year and run them down ? Another 5 game sweep in Fenway coming up….
Please factor in that Beckett and Dice K are giving them solid starting pitching, coupled with that a-hole Schilling and Lester on his way back and that is a very good rotation…their pen with Papelbon and Okijama is solid as well….
Cashman went shopping in Japan and came back with a $51m A Ball pitcher who needs to be rebuilt mechanically….
oh yeah….Damon and Giambi are cripples who will soon be sharing the DH spot….
Vizcaino stinks and Farnsworth is the wild thing. Proctor also needs work. None of them are championship players and hopefully the Yankee brass will see this soon.
Whatever, Nick B. No one has jumped off any wagon here. I have not. I’m just saying this team sucks and you ought to start worrying. THE TEAM should, it’s fucking June already almost. This team needs to be fixed. Nieves, for example, is not a championship player! He can’t even hit big league pitching.
Just don’t be naive to glaring faults. These are the same faults that are causing us to lose.
BX 12,
Didn’t say I liked spotting them a big lead, but seeing as we’ve done it each of the past three years and lived to tell the tale why do you think it’s impossible now?
Beckett doesn’t scare me. He started hot last year and how’d that work out? Him and Papelbon are already showing signs of breaking down and I guarantee Swilling and Wakefield see the DL at some point this year. Lester didn’t impress me much pre-cancer and I’m thinking teams will catch up to Okajima’s 86 MPH heat second and third time around. I like Matsuzaka but he’ll ahve his ups and downs.
I’m with you on Igawa and the day he signed I predicted Billy Connors would be “fixing him” by June 1st. Still, with all the guys we have on the farm I’m not expecting to see him again this year in meaningful games.
the offense will come. unfortunately, there is no “magical meeting” that can turn the offense around. we all know the talent that matsui, abreu, and cano have…not to mention arod. the good news is doug is coming around hitting recently to back up his amazing show at first base. we do need to get younger, but take into account the situation we have in about 3 weeks. clemens will be back. more importantly, in my opinion, hughes will be back and he has the kind of stuff that can get a team to the post season and through it.
we have seen what donnie working with arod did in the april. lets all just hope that he has something up his sleeves for a few of our other guys. mark my words, if we are 6 games back come the all star break, we will be in the playoffs.
PL
May 17th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Bernie Williams had a .936 OPS against LH pitching in 2006 with a .323 BA (133 AB).
Considering our struggles against LHP in 2007, and our bench, does the ice begin to thaw, Peter?
—————————————————–
OH SHUT UP ABOUT BERNIE ALREADY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HE’S OLD HE CAN’T FIELD, HE’S ONE OF THE WORST PH IN BASEBALL, HE WOULD NEED DAY TO DAY ACTIVITY AND IF SOMEONE CAN SIT ON THIS COMPUTER AND TELL ME BERNIE IS THE REASON WE’RE LOSING THEN THIS TEAM IS DONE.
Bernie is 38 has one of the weakest arms ever in defense and has no route to the ball in the OF. Stop w/ the Bernie BS he’s not the savior he had his chance come ST prove you still can play he chose not to end of story move on. The manager Joe Torre has to do a better job, Cashman needs to make some moves this season.
In my opinion, here are the real reasons why the Yankees are in trouble:
-The rotation was best with injuries when the season started. As a result, not only did we suffer poor starts, but the pen was strained. Then, when starting pitching stabilized, the pen was unreliable because it was exhausted.
-Torre failed to minimize stress on the pen, overused particular relievers while neglecting others, made questionable substitutions in close-and-late situations, and continues to give Abreu more at bats than anyone else on the team despite his terrible slump.
-The team has had bad luck. Good offense rarely coincides with good defense. The team is 2-7 in one-run games. It doesn’t get blown out often, but has lost a distressing number of games by 3 or fewer runs. (This is probably why the team seems so frustrating to watch – because a win usually seems within reach.)
-The bench lacks a dangerous bat.
-Nieves is as bad a hitter as a major league player can conceivably be.
-Damon and Giambi are playing injured.
-Maybe the problem we’d least like to admit, the Sox are the best team in baseball and it’s not even close. They have the best record and they lead baseball in runs scored and runs allowed. As a result, they have jumped out to their substantial lead in the division.
Note that none of those problems deal with players not playing hard. While the Yankees are not #1 in baseball in runs scored anymore, they’re only down to #2. Are the other 28 teams dogging it even more than the Yankees?
“Him and Papelbon are already showing signs of breaking down”
Yep, did you see papelbon today? Looked like he was on his last leg.
and by some moves I mean players and possibly the coaching staff.
players like Melky and Cano I can deal w/ being in a slump even today Cano had a double and atleast Melky showed some signs of hitting vs the CWS
Abreu, Damon, Matsui , Giambi (WHERE ARE THESE GUYS !!!)
Matsui has looked like a damn scrub this season
Giambi don’t get me started on him
Abreu looks like a dog out there
Damon is paying attention to Boston instead of his hitting
SHOW SOME DAMN FIGHT !!!! SOME ENERGY DAMMIT !!!
and by some moves I mean players and possibly the coaching staff.
players like Melky and Cano I can deal w/ being in a slump even today Cano had a double and atleast Melky showed some signs of hitting vs the CWS
Abreu, Damon, Matsui , Giambi (WHERE ARE THESE GUYS !!!)
Matsui has looked like a damn scrub this season
Giambi don’t get me started on him
Abreu looks like a dog out there
Damon is paying attention to Boston instead of his hitting
SHOW SOME DAMN FIGHT !!!! SOME ENERGY DAMMIT !!!
Confidence seems to be a key issue on this team, there is a lack of confidence in each other as players, the batters lack confidence in the pitching staff and vice versa, it stems from lack of playoff success the past few years, who will step up and lead this team?
Brandon, let’s be fair. Matsui, the so-called scrub, is batting .287/.400/.460 and has a 139 OPS+ this season. That’s equal to his career best OPS+, set in 2004.
What can you say about Damon and Giambi? They’re not playing well because they’re hurt. Even with his problems, Giambi is still getting on base (.393 OBP).
That’s what particularly bothers me about these “show some energy” comments. They ignore the fact that many of these players are actually contributing.
Matsui is the latest Yankee to decide to ROB US OF $$MONEY$$! He has LOST IT COMEPLETELY. He is ruining everything. I don’t even have the energy to point out all the other flaws. There are just too many.
I hope the team reads this. READ THIS YANKEES: YOU F-ING SUCK! GET IT? YOU SUCK! SNAP OUT OF IT.
The damn Captain is suppose to lead this team
But again Derek Jeter when are you going to step up, just like I’ve been saying for years and we dissed Sheff when he said it Jeter isn’t the leader of this team. Yeh I know I’m gonna hear crap after I say it but Jeter is a “paper captain”
Completely*
Who cares about how much Igawa is getting paid? Are you writing his check? If not, shut up about it. Igawa’s contract is movable, he’s relatively young, and the Yankees actually don’t need him once Clemens and Hughes get back. Stop crying over it.
Also, will people quit bringing up the past? Boston has practically revamped their entire team and bullpen.
This site needs to learn the difference between ‘bandwagon jumpers’ and people who are fed up with this level of play. No, I don’t think the Yankees are winning the division this year. Sorry I’m not sitting here lying to myself saying “BOSTON SUX!11!!!11!” like a moron. Can the Yankees win the Wild Card? Sure they can. But they need to turn it around and they need to turn it around now.
First off, I wouldn’t trade Jeter for anyone in the league,
2nd, you guys are right, Jeter is not true captain in the sense of kicking some butts which this team needs.
We need a trade to really shake up this team.
Whoa chill w/ the Jeter trade BS, I said he’s not a captain he’s a good hitter, but he’s a paper captain
Brandon, let’s be fair. Matsui, the so-called scrub, is batting .287/.400/.460 and has a 139 OPS+ this season. That’s equal to his career best OPS+, set in 2004.
What can you say about Damon and Giambi? They’re not playing well because they’re hurt. Even with his problems, Giambi is still getting on base (.393 OBP).
That’s what particularly bothers me about these “show some energy� comments. They ignore the fact that many of these players are actually contributing.
—————————————————
Jeremy Matsui has almost been almost non existant this season, OPS, OBP % those numbers can all be lumped up by back to back blowouts and then he can go on one of those 0 fors .. point is Matsui has not looked like Matsui, Abreu looks dead , Damon and Giambi IDK what to say about them. It’s not looking good at all.
and Jeremy I just checked Matsui’s numbers .287 w/ 2 HR he hasn’t hit .287 for an MLB season since 2003. He is not batting to his potential. There is a lack of urgency to this team IDK what it is but it needs to be hit in the mouth.
We’re 5.5 games out of the Wild Card and it’s May 18th. Relax. Talk to me in July. 123 games left. Shake up the bench if anything (bring up Santos for C). You’re stuck w/ the lineup whether you love it or not.
“so you figure we can just spot them an 8 or 10 game lead each year and run them down ?”
Yeah. That sounds about right. Thats what makes it fun.
To those citing 2005 – after 39 games in 2005 the Yankees trailed Boston on by 2.5 games.
Please stop with the 2005 nonsense.
To all of the Boston trolls on this blog:
Be very careful.
Basketball 2007: Dallas Mavericks
Hockey 2007: Buffalo Sabres
SportsGuy9695
Sorry its Over
I am a huge Yankee fan, Every year they give us a scare but we always come back. This year feels Different, I dont know how you other feel, but there is a problem with this team and it might be time to split this team up. We are now 9 games out of first and Boston is the best team in baseball, so winning the Division is over. Making the playoffs keep fading away with all the games we are losing. At first I was like ok its the 1st month they are just a little rusty. Now we are in the 2nd month and this is what we got. Johnny- .256, 2 Hr, 21K to much for a leadoff hiter. Abreu- .242, 2 HR, Looking bad in the OF, 36K for a guy that suppose have one of the best OB % in the league. Cano- .234, Just looking real bad these days. This team is just getting to old. Its time to find ways to trade these guys. I know Cano should bounse back. Guys that I cant wait to trade are Giambi, Abreu, Damon, Matsui. Dont get me wrong they all did an ok job with us, but this year is showing how sometimes you need to get young players in here. I hope I am wrong about this year, and I will keep going to there games every weekend when they are home a watch them loose and maybe they turn it around, But if they dont you can say goodbye to being a playoff team every year for awhile. Sometimes it takes time to RETOOL. I sill have some faith but admit all yankee fans are nervous. ( Sorry if I misspelled some words)
I feel that hideki matsui is quite symbolic of yankee futility this season. He appears like a statue, emotionless, and mechanical. Wouldnt cash money like a mulligan on those 4 yr 52 million deals he gave to both damon and matsui. Sometimes a given isnt always the best option. I have said it before and will say it again. call up a shelly duncan or even *gasp* a tabata if he is healthy and see if you can catch some lightening in a bottle. The outfield is brittle, old, and not exciting.
Man, there are an awful lot of dim bulbs on this blog. We’re second in the league in offense, and you continue to bash the offense for the position we’re in. Please stop and think before you write. The pitching staff was destroyed by injuries. It’s being built back up again. Sure we have some guys in slumps, but this offense is built to overcome that. Jeter, Posada, A-Rod… carried this team early. Cano, Matsui, etc… they’ll have their runs.
Stop with the Matsui bashing. For God’s sake, he’s not the reason we’re in this mess. That’s just flat out ignorant. The guy has a .306 batting average in May. The only Yankee with more RBI’s than him this month is Jeter (1 more RBI than Matsui) Sorry that’s not good enough for some of you. If you guys are going to bash people, at least do it with facts.
Trolls.
I got sick listening to Mike & Mike this morning. They were ripping Farnsworth like hes a nobody and how dare he say anything against the great Roger Clemens. I don’t think they even know who Farnsworth is. Their commercials all day yesterday were promoting their in depth analysis of the Subway Series and they talk about Clemens, Clemens, Clemens and some more Clemens, then they had Steve Philips on and what do they waste his time with? CLEMENS!
anything can happen, it’s baseball
remember that
the season gets turned around tonight at shea.
I would like to ask something of everyone who thinks the season is over. Please stop posting comments. If you have already ‘mailed it in’ for this season, then what is the point in watching the games and engaging in conversation about them.
Pete, maybe you can set up another blog site for all the people who think the season is over, and then you all can go there.
Honestly, if you are a true fan, why would you concede the season IN MAY? I understand that currently the Yankees are 9 games out of first, but as one person pointed out prior, we had a 15 game turn around before, and it can happen again.
So please, if you think the season is over, please pack up and head somewhere else! There are a lot of us here who will be pulling for our team until the bitter end, and I don’t feel like reading all of the ‘the season is over’ posts.
Yanksfan LV…
Optimism is good, but reality needs to be sprinkled in from time to time….sitting around watch YES replay 1978 and 2005 does not do you any good….
You hitting play on your TiVO and watching the 5 game sweep at Fenway does not send Dice K (or more importantly Igawa) back to Japan…
This season is what you need to look at….Giambi and Damon are virtual cripples….thinking they are something other than on the way down is just silly….bad, ugly years left on those deals…..
I will give you that Abreu, Cano and others will hit. The pitching is coming into form…..they will rip off some 8-2 runs but the issue is the hole they dug and the fact the Sox are better than they were last year…not .700 ball surely but they are solid and could wind up on a 12 game lead before Clemens rides in on his YES provided white horse to become a 6 inning adequate starter…
Wildcard will be tough but hopefully the AL Central eats itself
Report: Giambi Tells MLB To Apologize
Yankees Slugger Upset Over Steroids Issue In Baseball
(CBS/AP) CHICAGO New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi says Major League Baseball should apologize to the public for its widespread performance-enhancing drug problem.
Claiming he’s likely been tested for performance-enhancing drugs more often than anyone, Giambi told USA Today in a story on its Web site Friday that the apology is long overdue.
“I was wrong for doing that stuff,� Giambi told the newspaper Wednesday before the Yankees played the Chicago White Sox. “What we should have done a long time ago was stand up—players, ownership, everybody—and said: ‘We made a mistake.’
“We should have apologized back then and made sure we had a rule in place and gone forward. … Steroids and all of that was a part of history. But it was a topic that everybody wanted to avoid. Nobody wanted to talk about it.â€?
Giambi reportedly told a grand jury during the BALCO investigation in December 2003 that he used steroids and human growth hormone. He told USA Today this week he’s thankful for MLB’s testing program for steroids and amphetamines that was revised before last season. MLB does not test for HGH, but Giambi said he does not use the drug.
“Unfortunately, (the rumors) are going to be a part of it. But that’s OK. I’m probably tested more than anybody else. I’m not hiding anything,� he said. “That stuff didn’t help me hit home runs. I don’t care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball.�
So, who has extra tickets for Sunday?
Hey good news everyone, not sure if anyone noticed but the wild card leading Tigers lost not one but two games yesterday! So the deficit is only 4.5 games! Guess the season isn’t over afterall. Let’s get back in the win column behind Andy tonight, then split the next two. Have to finish the 12 game stretch at least 7-5, so that means going 6-3 in the next 9. A sweep in one of the series will go a long way.
Giambi looked like an idiot and puppet when he appeared at the stadium to apologise for nothing at that press conference a few years back….
“that stuff didn’t help me hit home runs…”
oh yeah…he took it to increase his hat size and help with his glove….he is a clown and his body is breaking down quickly….he is aging in dog years and will not be coming back for old timers day in 20 years…
this blog is just completely worthless when things are going poorly.
the idea that the yankees can’t make up 5.5 games in 123 games to get the WC is just so absurd, it shouldn’t even be dignified with responses.
the yanks have scored MORE runs and allowed FEWER runs than the Tigers. they are very close to Cleveland in these categories.
yet these teams are 8-10 games over .500 while the yanks are 3 games under.
mountains upon mountains of empirical data show us a team’s record can be predictably estimated using RS and RA. so what has gone wrong for the yankees?
1. bad luck – offense and pitching have yet to synch up. i’ll be shocked if it doesn’t happen over the next 100 games.
2. mariano – whatever was wrong with him early in the season cost the yanks 3 games.
3. bad in game management – never torre’s strong suit, but the yanks have played a lot of close games so far, and he has been exposed
4. injuries – horrible string of injuries, preventable or not, there has been no stability in the OF and in the rotation
this team WILL turn it around and they will make a run. is it too late to catch Boston? no, but it probably won’t happen. FINE.
stop obsessing over what Boston is doing. start obsessing on the Yankees and what they need to do to put themselves in the playoffs. i really couldn’t care less if they win the WC or win the division. i really couldn’t.
get into the playoffs with Clemens, Pettitte, and Wang and i won’t be afraid of anyone.
let’s go.
and to those who want to blow up the team and start over, it’s not an option. there are very few tradable commodities on this team who don’t have no trade clauses. we’re all in. that’s it, this is the team.
Figuratively speaking:
The sun is shining in old Boston town today!
Keep up the good work Yanks. You’ll be 15 out by Thursday!!!!
3 out of 4 from a tough Detroit team….need I say more?
Even Tavaras gives us 7. You’ve got to be kidding! All is well in Red Sox Nation today!
Look on the bright side: Manny & JD haven’t even warmed up yet! You can really forget it when they do!
Have a nice weekend! Try to get some sleep.
Hmm, good post. Let the competition bury the Yankees now, that will make it that much more surprising, shocking and painful to them when the Yankees come all the way back. They will freak out and their king Chris Russo will be shown to be a just a loud mouth disc jockey.
hmmm,
All good points. I still feel very good about this team. People in the South Bronx feel good about this team. Once the pitching is lined up we are going to be very tough to beat.
I love the Red Sox Trolls. I would never waste my time on a Red Sox Blog. Who cares? I’m a Yankees fan. But these 5 year old Sox fans love to come over and try to stick needles in the voodoo doll. Being fans of a franchise that his such a historic and horrid record of failure and disappointment, and only one good memory in the last 90 years, you’d think they’d be even a little humble. What miserable people.
Trolls, please get a hobby… perhaps playing in traffic or eating ground glass.
How annoying.
Sorry. I know the way to defeat a troll is to ignore it… but sometimes I just can’t help it.
The Sox finnaly got an anjury (Bekett. You think old man Shilling is going to last the season or Dice-K can throw 125 pitches every game and not be affected at the end of the year?
hey trolls….yea..you Murph and Sully…Red Sox suck
We laugh at how you all hold on to your past. That’s what we like about you best, but all those great, great players who won you many chamionships in the past are not going to walk through that door. The one guy who’s going to walk through that door (Clemens) is old and a 5 inning pitcher. Now Joe is saying Roger’s going to start against Toronto. Hey why don’t you give him an extra day rest and get him really ready and let him pitch at Fenway Joe? What? You don’t want him to get shelled his first game back?
Classic! That would tryely put the last nail in the Yankee coffin for 2007!
RS Troll…
Clemens is a 6 inning pitcher, get it right. The Yanks caculated that when they handed him $1m per start.
Umm actually only one Kennedy was shot in the head, the other took it in the gut.
But anyway, anyone hear that Percival is trying to make a comeback? I say give him a shot, he can’t be worse than Vizcaino can he?
1. yanks need to win tonight ( friday vs. o. perez )
2. one game at a time ( that being said … )
3. 2 of 3 @ shea would be awesome and
4. yanks have their big 3 vs the redsox ( moose , wang and pettitte )
5. attention hmmm , thinking about the wild card in may is as usless as your comments .
Anthony….you are right, forgot my history
Percival has not pitched in what two years ? You would think that Britton gets the next shot as he is 10 years younger and pitching well…..
hmmm is right, the comments on this blog get worse with the team’s record.
If the Yankees lose, mindless posts appear demonizing any player who didn’t get a hit. Now Matsui is apparently a target, even though he’s playing about as well as he always has as a Yankee, and isn’t even slumping – he is 8 for his last 21, with 3 doubles. Yet he had a bad game yesterday, so now he’s not showing “fire” or something.
This is one reason it’s not always fun to be a Yankee fan. For whatever reason, many Yankee fans are quicker to condemn a player than support him, even when that player isn’t playing poorly (see, e.g., Rodriguez, Alex). Since there’s no rational way to argue that Player X is dogging it, these fans resort to cliches like “he’s not playing hard.”
“We laugh at how you all hold on to your past.”
it’s better than not having one.
Hmmm-
Good post.
Personally, I would love to see the Yankees have one stretch of games where the weather is not an issue. It really doesn’t look good for this weekend – you get the feeling there’s going to be another doubleheader, which messes up the rotation, yet again, right before Boston comes into town.
By the way, Beckett is on the 15-day DL with a “strained middle finger,” whatever that means.
The thing about the differential between the Yankees’ runs scored versus runs allowed, and their being 2nd in runs scored, is that it’s a little misleading. How many times have the Yankees won blow-outs or at least by wide margins, only to follow it up with a game where they score 1 or 2 runs? It happens far too often. They win in dominating fashion, usually, but they’re losing too many of the close games. How many save situations have there even been this year? Mariano makes a weekly appearance, and some of those are just to get him work.
I feel like there’s some weird “feng shui” thing going on. There’s an “off-balance” feel to this season. It didn’t get started on the right foot, what with Carl Pavano being the opening day pitcher and all, and it’s been difficult getting back to being “right,” if you know what I mean. Kind of like “bizarro” Yankees, if you will.
But, everyday is an opportunity to turn it around.
Off topic — does anyone else enjoy listening/watching Paul O’Neill and Joe Girardi? I wonder how they’d be without Michael Kay, but my husband pointed out that neither one is a play-by-play guy, so they need someone to move things along. Anyway, I like their insights, their sense of humor and their general manner.
“5. attention hmmm , thinking about the wild card in may is as usless as your comments .”
sorry, not everyone can contribute as much as you do with every post.
“2. one game at a time”
did you think of that all by yourself?
I would say yanks get swept by Mets and take 2 out 3 from Sox. 2 lefties are pitching for Mets Vs Yanks and their offense will kill the yanks awful rookie starters.
Andy Pettite Vs LEFTY Odalis Perez
Darrel Rasner Vs LEFTY Tom Glavine
Tyler Clippard Vs John Maine
Goodluck with those pitching matchups. By the way no DH so Giambi & Damon will be out of the lineup.
Am I the only fan who cares more about the 3 games with the Sox than the Mets?
By the way the Sox play the Braves, so in the next 2 weeks a lot of ground can be covered.
Well at least you have something to laugh about. Because everyone else is laughing at our AAA team playing in the majors.
15 out by Thursday!
The pending doom is killing me!
Has there been any news on Pavano in the last week? The last thing I heard was that he was going to an LA doctor to get another opinion.
Doreen,
Becket has an issue with some skin peeled off his finger. He has a history of blister problems.
From SportingNews.Com:
The Red Sox will place Beckett on the DL to give his blistered finger enough time to heal. He already had been set to miss Friday’s start. Now he’ll miss one more. The Sox expect him back on the hill May 29 against the Indians.
Please don’t tell me you think Pavano is the answer!
He’s been our problem the past 3 years!
Does he room with Igawana???
Met’s sweep us up and throw dirt over us this weekend!
Red Sox field team from last August just for laughs…and still sweep at the Stadium!
Thanks, Deep to Left.
More of the same on Pavano. He’s Dead To Me. Just let his memory go. (what little there is).
From SportingNews.Com:
May 10, 2007 – 10:09 p.m.
There was no word on the results of Pavano’s exam by Dr. Lewis Yocum, the fourth physician to examine his elbow.
How much do you want to bet Pavano goes for a fifth exam? He may want to set a world record.
I love how the troll rip Clemens as a “6 inning pitcher”. First of all, if all the Yankee starters went 6 quality innings each time we would be thrilled. 2nd, CLemens pitched in the NL where when his time at bat would come the situation would dictate pinch hitting to gamble on getting more runs. That won’t be an issue pitching here with the exception of one start at Colorado or San Fran in late June. Trust me, he is going to pitch deep into games with the Yankees. The Red Sox will rue the day they pinched their pennies and offerred Clemens a pay cut to pitch in Boston this year.
The Braves just lost 3 out of 4 to last place Washington. The Sox were 15-1 against the NL last year.
Try another one. Anymore? Does anyone else have anymore pipe dreams to throw out there?
Mets sweep up 3-0
Sox sweep us again 3-0. Prediction Runs scored three game series RS: 35, Yankees: 5
Don’t even bother playing the Angels. They’re our Daddy!
Just mail it in. Angels sweep us 3-0. Oh wait a minute….they’re already mailing it in! In fact they’ve been doing it the past 40 games!
Bring Back Hensley Meulens!!!!!!!
Actually, I just wanted an excuse to say the name Hensley Meulens…
hmmm.
agree with you about the pythagoraen standings. the yankees have a plus run differential that should result in a better record. maybe it’s bad luck and maybe they are not doing the little things that are difficult to measure that win games.
in the “art of war” the general auditioning his warfare skills for the king lines up the palace servants and starts to teach them how to march. a few servants laugh when they make mistakes. the general promptly cuts their heads of with a sword. no more laughs. the leftover servants learn to march fast. the general gets the job.
the point is a few heads may have to roll to get everyone’s attention. one head that could roll that wouldn’t hurt one bit and could do some good would be kerrigan’s. cashman hired him in the first place as a 100% outsider from tampa and even from torre. if you remember, he was brought in to help randy johnson and to be a cashman advisor. i rightly or wrongly looked at him as a cashman snitch. soon he was the bullpen coach and soon he might be the pitching coach if enough things go wrong in the next few weeks.
i’d put in a catcher out there to be bullpen coach who’s no threat to the pitching coach.
firing the bullpen coach may seem inconsequential, but it does several things. it tells bowa, that he and kerrigan are not going to be teamed up again like in philly. it tells all the players that heads are beginning to roll. it allows the bullpen to have someone out there who doesn’t look like he just drank curdled milk. i realize this goes counter to my analogy of seriousness, but the bullpen is one place where there needs to be some looseness. kerrigan looks like he doesn’t have a funny bone in him to loosen things up when needed. i think the players know he’s a conduit( the nicest word i could think of) to cashman.
kerrigan has had problems everywhere he’s been. the longer he stays the worse it seems to gets until he’s fired. if you say a bullpen coach doesn’t matter, then this firing functions just as a wake up call to everyone else and kerrigan takes one for the team.
when it get’s to ten games behind,someone will likely be fired if it stays there for more than a few days. kerrigan’s my man for the job for the above reasons.
i feel like i can post this everyday, but yeah, i agree with hmmm.
“since 1918..Red Sox WS 1, Kennedys shot 2″
best screen name ever.
“Off topic—does anyone else enjoy listening/watching Paul O’Neill and Joe Girardi? I wonder how they’d be without Michael Kay,”
Paul and Joe rule, but yeah, who will ask Joe about taking a foul ball of the face mask every time it happens?
You think Kay would remember the answers to some of the questions he asks every other day.
Saucy — LOL! So true, so true.
To be, or not to be in last place by Sunday night?
That is the question!
….to be! (in last place)
The last place Yankees. Hey down there! How do ya feel?
Frustrated? We ALL are.
Giving up in May? That’s just plain dumb.
This team will start clicking and the W’s WILL come.
We’ll talk in October…
Furthermore, we TANKED in the 2005 playoffs. Emulating teams that ultimately failed is not the way to go. Lets try 96, 97, 98, etc.
Not 97, I meant 99.
what surprises me is a player that showed so much anger is so likeable when broadcasting. he seems really comfortable with what he does.
i actually think kay is getting better, even though he’s kind of redundant at times.
randyhater: “I’m thinking teams will catch up to Okajima’s 86 MPH heat second and third time around.
Sheffield: “He’s good — real good,” Sheffield gushed. “The way he pulls up his leg, it looks like he’s going to tilt to the side, but then he comes over the top with the curveball. Then he comes back and throws the fastball in there, and it’s nasty. Then he comes at you with his forkball, which is even nastier. He’s one of the most impressive lefties I’ve ever seen.”
Hmm, randhater or sheffield. Who’s opinion should I trust?
i’d go with hmmm
that guy’s usually on point