Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on May 21, 2007 
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Sorry for the lack of posts today. Got back from the stadium at 1:30 a.m., watched “Sopranos” and “Entourage” and didn’t get to sleep until the wee hours.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of A.J.
On to the links …
The Yankees avoided a sweep by beating the Mets 6-2. Brian Heyman has the story.
Tyler Clippard arrived early and stayed in the game late for the Yankees.
Rick Carpiniello isn’t sure what firing Joe Torre will accomplish.
Bernie Williams delivered the commencement speech for Iona College. Harold Gutman was there to watch.
Back later with the lineups and other news. Jason Giambi told us last night that he would be in the lineup as the DH and that his left heel is feeling much better. All he needs to do now is get a hit.
AJ is a punk. Meadow is smokin hot. Thats all I have to say about that…
That’s awesome. My graduation speaker was then-governor of Iowa and peripatetic Presidential candidate Tom Vilsack. Which was sort of a drag because I attended college in New York State, not Iowa. He only got the nod because his kid was in the class behind mine.
Giambi needs an orthotic custom-molded to his mouth. He is talking way too much these days for someone who seems completely unable to do their job.
Aj is going to get caught by Dad and be groomed for a spin off series
I thought the line at the end of “Entourage� was pretty funny,
i was saying last night that the only way they could end this show in a way that would disappoint me was if they had aj be the successor.
ugh.
i personally think that the build up to the finale has been great.
When I graduated from Emory, the commencement speaker was the one and only Hammering Hank. I don’t recall a thing he had to say, but the funny thing was in the program it gave all his stats, and before he was introduced they read them all out. When the next speaker came up, something like an international award winning neurophysicist, my friend looked at me and said, “How many HR’s did he hit?” Definitely had to be there, but I don’t think I ever laughed so hard.
Everyone may bitch about something on The Sopranos. But everyone watches it. And everyone has an opinion on it. And we’re all going to miss it when its gone.
Until Chase needs the dough and starts churning out movies.
Maybe they’ll be plot driven and actually exciting.
I’ve been disappointed w/ this season and echo your sentiments on AJ. His incessant whining is grating to say the least. Lots of red herrings – Tony and Bobby in Ep 1; the Feds uncovering Tony’s first victim in Ep. 2; the sudden gambling issue seemed forced; Junior and the crazy Asian kid, the Arab kids/terrorism angle, etc., To this point, these story lines all seem pretty much irrelevant. And why would a boss act as conciliatory as Tony did in agreeing to a sit-down w/ Phil re Meadow and Coco? The guy was clearly out of line and caught the beating he deserved. And this is after Phil embarrassed him in the first sit-down re the asbestos removal issue (insert Jerky Boys joke here). What’s to talk about???
Question is, who dies Tony or Phil?
will Chase ever really need the money, though?
he’s got to be making a killing off the DVD sales alone.
Good to see this site board is being used for other things then just crying about how bad we are!
Pete, hold off on putting up the line-ups for as long as you can. I’m scared to see that Sox line-up tonight and how they have beat Wang his last 2 starts against them. Can Clippard pitch tonight? He’s the only good thing we got going!
“Back later with the lineups and other news. Jason Giambi told us last night that he would be in the lineup as the DH and that his left heel is feeling much better. All he needs to do now is get a hit.”
Well if his heel is better than maybe he’ll get a hit….
Big Poopi’s at it again. Must’ve been drunk when he was interviewed. Lippin’ off about how good they’ve got it going. Too bad for him that it’s not September.
Hey Pete,
What’s your take on Mariano Rivera? Not much has been said about him today, but he again gave up another run via the homer. Is it still the consensus among writers that he’s just not getting enough work? His velocity seems there and his location looks decent from what I can tell.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thanks Pete.
Mel:
As much as the Yankees’ tough start can be attributed to bad luck and players performing below expectations, the opposite can and should be said of the Red Sox.
The Sox’ second half is tough with a couple of long road trips. They’re on the road for most of August.
Looking ahead a bit, I think the Yankees do have the schedule needed to catch Boston. Their September schedule is made up of teams the Yanks should by all rights be able to handle — TB, SEA, @KC, @TOR, @BOS, BAL, TOR, @TB, @BAL. Aside from the three-game set at Fenway, not a playoff team in the bunch. Toronto is going to have a long summer with that pitching staff.
Mo also threw 27 pitches (the same amount as Proctor did in two innings), so I’m wondering if he’s even available tonight.
Also, perhaps you could tell us who the last AL rookie pitcher was to win his start and get a hit in the same game (since 1973).
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of A.J.”
Amen, how did a son of Tony’s get to be such a nancyboy? Although Tony has become more often ruthless and less likeable this season.
Christopher was becoming irritating – so maybe they are preparing us for AJ to meet the same fate.
Hey mel,
Too bad’s it’s not September for you, so you could forget about how embarrassing your team ended up being!!!!!
Sox are playing loosey-goosey plus the good chemistry on team equals to sweep against scared/tight-playing-last place team with a fan base that expects way too much from a last place team!
You’ll be out 20 by June 1st!!!!!
Re: Sopranos-not everyone watches-I find that it is obvious and absurd-a Mafia Don in therapy-please-at least it was mined to humorous effect by Deniro/Crystal-I will admit it is well acted with good production values-but as far as I am concerned they should have stopped making mob related dramas after Gfather Part 2
“You’ll be out 20 by June 1st!!!!!”
LOL
quote]Tyler Clippard Myspace Page
http://profile.myspace.com/ind.....d=21745547
Thanks to Jim Bambauch of Newsday for the tip
Here’s an article on Clip
http://www.newsday.com/sports/.....ists/quote
Actually, there is no way they can be out 20 by June 1st. They have only 9 games left in May and are 10.5 games out now. Nice try though.
I’ll stop feeding the trolls now.
Clippard’s delivery is going to get him in trouble. He appears to pitch differently based on pitch selection. Scouts are going to pick that up.
“You’ll be out 20 by June 1st!!!!!�
See Red Sox trolls just don’t have the minimum required math skills to be able to have a meaningful discussion, much less actually insult Yankee fans. I think it’s because the Boston kids get confused by the 3 R’s, when none of the words they speak have R’s in them: “I paaaaahked the caaaah the baaaaaaaaaaaaaaah”
dr,
No he doesn’t.
The only part of his delivery one could see as a “giveaway” was the followthru (whether he fell right or left).
First, the fall-off is well after the ball has been released, so the hitter cannot use that as a sigh, since it wiuld be too late. Second, his falling off didn’t seem to follow any sort of pattern. Perhaps hitters can make something out of it if they see it often enough, but I’m confident the Yankees will catch it and tell him to hide it before that happens.
Regardign Clippard’s delivery.. one wud assume that his coaches wud have tried to tell him that.. Joe Morgan had nothing to discuss all game yesterday.. but for the way he fell off .. based on the change or curve..
one thing tho.. i still doubt how much one can pick up from his fall-off as by that time the ball has been delivered and very likely dealt by the hitter..
DR:
It matters not one whit, because once Clemens arrives, the names of Matt DeSalvo and Tyler Clippard will not be intoned by Bob Sheppard for the remainder of the season.
But hopefully the Yanks’ pitching coaches pick up on whatever hitch Clips might have and can work it out in Scranton. Then again, these days, Yanks’ pitching coaches couldn’t pick their nose.
On Clips–I do like how he stalks around the mound between batters. Shades of Fidrych.
I think one of the Mets said Clippard throws his elbow at you and then the ball is there. Does the herky-jerky movements of a pitcher distract a hitter that much?
anything that distracts the hitter from picking up the ball as early as possible helps. el duque was known for “hiding” the ball in his delivery… it effects different hitters differently, and some can adjust better than others.
Randy 1:
Re: Clippard’s follow through.
I’m not so concerned about Ty tipping his pitches one way or the other depending on which side he falls off to. In terms of mechanics, however, didn’t we just get a reminder with Igawa that it’s important to be able to repeat the motion, with the same delivery and release point? It may have worked last night, but when Ty starts to go a little haywire, as all pitchers do, and get in a rut, won’t it be hard as hell for Posada, Guidry or some other pitching coach to know how to get him back on the right path? Wouldn’t there also be an excessive or uneven wear and tear issue?
“What’s your take on Mariano Rivera?”
i’m hoping it’s just rust and not pitching enough. what bothers me is he’s not getting swings and misses and/or broken bats and his command is poor.. i have one theory , whatever it’s worth. most pitchers move the ball one way or the other.when a pitcher can move it both ways with location, they’re usually a star. when rivera had the cutter only with the 4 seam fastball , he was moving the ball one way. because of players stepping up or away to get a better swing at the cutter, he came up with the two seam fastball that runs in on righties. it’s been effective ,but the more arm motion he uses to move it in towards righties, it may take away from the movement on his cutter. i wondered about this when he first started using the two seamer more a few years ago. he also worked on turning over a change in spring training. anyone who’s played golf knows that when you try to alternate playing a fade and a draw that you can have accuracy issues. very few golf tour pros not named tiger do it easily . nicklaus used to take a month off to get the draw down for augusta( nicklaus usually played a fade).
in effect rivera had the best draw in the game. now he’s added in a fade and maybe lost his command of both. that’s the idea. don’t know if it happening of course.
i would like to see rivera go back to throwing more cutters to get it nasty again and get his command back. he can always mix in a few two seamers to keep hitters guessing, just not so much.
My guess is you have seen the last of AJ. The last two episodes will be mob business. Phil will get his head handed to him and Tony will evade the FBI.
murphydog-
that wasn’t me about clippard, but my two cents worth is that his two motions are so weird that maybe he’ll be the exception to the rule. it’d be tough to change something so ingrained in him. it upset joe morgan watching it so maybe it will cause the same reaction in other hitters. it’s one thing to watch a ball coming out of a hand, but another to be watching the body for a tipoff. how does the hitter go back to the hand and the pick up ball if he’s looking at a knee or leg?
tyler clippard might just be ok. he’s got this far with it. he saved the day yesterday.
“It matters not one whit, because once Clemens arrives, the names of Matt DeSalvo and Tyler Clippard will not be intoned by Bob Sheppard for the remainder of the season.”
Pettitte
Clemens
Mussina
Wang
am i missing someone?
Clippard or DeSalvo will be here until Hughes gets here, and no one knows when that will be.
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t watched last night’s Soprano’s don’t read this.
When A.J. popped up out of the pool last night I shouted “NO!” at the TV.
Thank you for the good post. I really love this tv series. Can’t wait for the another episode ! Keep up the awesome work with that