You can have Big Stein’s tie
-
-
- June
- 22
-
Received an e-mail today from Pennsylvania about a celebrity tie auction being held for charity.
It would appear George Steinbrenner is still alive because he donated a tie and autographed it. Perhaps it’s the one he tried to strangle Steve Swindal with. They even sent a photo of the tie.
If you’re interested, you can make a bid here.
Meanwhile, I have arrived in San Francisco and just spent some time making balloon animals for kids at a local orphanage with Barry Bonds. What a guy. Usually when writers come in from out of town he has us over his place for a nice dinner. I can’t believe some people don’t like him.
Back later with the lineups as Kei Igawa makes his dramatic return to the majors.
This entry was posted
on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 3:57 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
so Pete, who do you think will own the Yankees after Steinbrenner?
maybe Larry David will bid for it. Or maybe even Oliver Platt.
“Meanwhile, I have arrived in San Francisco and just spent some time making balloon animals for kids at a local orphanage with Barry Bonds. What a guy. Usually when writers come in from out of town he has us over his place for a nice dinner. I can’t believe some people don’t like him.”
Peter made a funny!!!!
_who do you think will own the Yankees after Steinbrenner_
Halliburton.
Mabye Steve Boras. HA!
Roger Clemens will buy the Yankees for $28 million and a yellow Hummer.
Ichiro CF
Jeter
Bonds
A-Rod
Matsui
Posada extended through 2009
Damon 1B
Cano
Cabrera RF
Bench:
Jose Molina, backup catche
Mientkiewicz re-signed as the backup 1B
Chris Woodward, backup 2B/ 3B/ S
Kevin Thompson or someone else, #4 OF
If the Steinbrenner family ever sells this team the new ownership group would include Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan and Reggie Jackson. That would be fine by me.
i’m disappointed Joe Pa didn’t donate a tie.
Another possible scenario:
Damon 1B
Jeter
Bonds DH
A-Rod
Matsui
Andruw Jones CF
Posada
Cano
Cabrera or Brett Gardner RF
Gardner is in AA ball right now. He can fly on the bases and is a smart baserunner, a highly successful basestealer, and a solid bunter. His arm is o.k. but better than Damon’s and he has more range than Cabrera thus he has excellent range. No power, but has a good eye at the plate and makes contact.
He’s basically Mr. Small Ball for the rookie minimum. I’d at least give him a good look in spring training.
“Use your tab key or mouse to move from field to field.”
Now I can say today has not been a complete waste.
Seriously, how can anyone even make it as far as that page without knowing this stuff?
Andruw Jones and Barry Bonds s*ck.. get out of here go home
And the starting rotation will be
Johan Santana
Jake Peavy
Josh Beckett
Dan Haren
Wang
A-Rod’s WIFE.
After home video with Jailbird socialite is release (no pun intended).
Damon to 1st base? Barry to DH? Andrew Jones to CF? Bret Gardner to RF? Wow. Thank god you’re not our GM.
Are you seriously asking why people don’t like Barry Bonds? Come on now
Forget the tie George. Please send some money to Arsenal. They are selling the best player in the world to Barcelona for a pittance. Oh how I wish Steinbrenner would buy Arsenal. He wouldn’t let something like this happen. sigh. FOYS.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice… Let me disclose the gift reserved age.�—T.S. Elliot
THE REPORTS OF THE YANKEES DEMISE ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED
Have you received the death notice? Did you attend the funeral? Did you send flowers or make a charitable donation? I hope so. Because in case you missed it, the 2007 Yankees died. The experts declared it. Time of death: late May.
The Yankees cannot resurrect the magic of 1978, WFAN’s Yankee correspondent Sweeny Murti wrote (“This is Not That 70’s Show,â€? May 29, 2007). The New York Post’s Joel Sherman advised the Yankees to start investing in tomorrow (“Cut-Bloat Biz, 05/30/07). John Heyman of SI.Com titled his article on the first installment of the ‘07 Subway Series, “Dead Yankees Have Issuesâ€? (May 18, 2007). While an anonymous scout informed The New York Daily News’s Yankees beat reporter Mark Feinsand that the Yankees won’t “pull this out… This is not a good team,â€? and described Bobby Abreu as “a piece of garbage.â€? (“Scout Rips Yankeesâ€? June, 1, 2007).
The press corps even consulted a doctor to confirm the diagnosis. Dr. Rany Jazayerli calculates that the Yankees will finish 80-82: 20 games out of first place in the AL East and 9 games in back of the wild card winner. (Wild Card: Yankees Down, SI.COM, June 1, 2007) A prediction that has about as much scientific validity as Marx’s prognosis that capitalism would perish. The Good Doctor relies on the customary failure of teams which falter in April and May to qualify for the playoffs. Of course, his premise betrays an obvious fallacy. Few teams that have faltered in April and May in years past rival the 2007 Yankees in talent, payroll, recent accomplishment or have suffered a spate of debilitating, short-term injuries.
Now, baseball reporters, I concede, are a myopic and morbid lot to begin with. Each game demands a compelling story line. And what better than the sudden, unexpected death of the wealthy and powerful to furnish a climatic plot, wrenching pathos, and riveting drama? Still, a collective reprimand is in order. Before you publish an obituary, it is customary to wait for a corpse. But New York’s baseball scribes seemed eager to sign the Yankees’ death warrant with the body warm and a pulse still audible.
Well, if 20 games in June can illustrate any large truths about a team’s fate, it is as follows. The reports of the Yankees’ demise are greatly exaggerated.
To be sure, the body has not yet experienced a full recovery. Whether it will or not, only time will tell. For now, Yankee fans can take heart however, that the cancer is in remission.
BEWARE THE LESSONS OF HISTORY
Perhaps, it was only natural that the Yankees 14-game deficit last month would recall to many 1978. In fact, to illustrate how fickle the tabloids are, when the Yankees closed the division gap to 9.5 games on June 12th, The New York Daily News’s back-page read, “Spirit of 78.� God forbid! Beware the scribe’s comeback fantasy. It’s the death wish narrated in reverse.
In any case, the analogy to ‘78 is inapposite. The ‘78 Yankees were 14 games out of first-place on July 20th (and in an era without the wildcard, besides). Only the Baseball Gods’ intervention delivered them. Jehovah visited six plagues upon Boston. As the Red Sox lost Luis Tiant, Bill Lee, Jim Rice, Jerry Remy, Dwight Evans and Rick Burleson to injury. To embellish upon something Otto von Bismark once said, “God has a special providence for fools, drunks, the United State of America� and, it would seem, the New York Yankees.
As Americans celebrate the Spirit of ’76 every summer so should Yankee fans cherish the Revelation of ‘78. (I highly recommend reading Roger Kahn’s October Men to his end.) However, we shouldn’t confuse history with prophecy. That is, the Baseball Gods aren’t likely to stage the Resurrection twice in one century. Red Sox Nation would have to sustain injuries not only to its Reich’s Marshall Curt Von Schilling but to Jonathan Papelbon, Manny, Pedroia, Lugo, and J.D. Drew as well to portend a Second Coming. In other words, if the 2007 Yankees fall 14 games out of both the division lead and the wild-card race in late July, start praying.
BUT EMBRACE YESTERYEAR
Still, recollection of the recent past should have chastened those eager to draft death notices in May.
Just last year, the Minnesota Twins won the AL Central despite being 25-33 on June 7th, 11.5 games behind the first-place Detroit Tigers and 11 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the wild-card race. In fact, as late as August 7th , the Twins were 10.5 games behind the Tigers.
In fact, the ’07 Yankees– with the MVP season Alex Rodriguez is having and their switch-hitting catcher Jorge Posada challenging for the batting title—bear an odd resemblance to the ’06 Twins led by Morneau and Mauer. Perhaps, Wang and Pettitte can’t match the dominance Santana and Liriano achieved in the second-half of the season. But the Yankees top four starters are every bit the equal of Santana, Liriano, Silva and Bonser. And for all the confident assertions that the Red Sox won’t collapse because their starting pitching is too good, ask yourself the following question. Are Beckett, Dice-K, Von Schilling, and Wakefield really better than the ‘06 Tigers rotation of Rogers, Verlander, Bonderman and Robertson that went 19-31 over the last seven weeks of 2006? Is the bullpen of Timlin, Okajima, and Papelbon stronger than the Tigers’ late-inning triumvirate of Rodney, Zumaya, and Jones was last year?
A few other recent precedents that should hearten Yankee fans:
• In 2005, the Yankees were 10-14 on April 31st and 39-38 on June 30th– 5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East. On June 30th, they also were in 5th place in the wild-card standings, 3.5 games behind the then wild-card leading Twins. The Yankees finished with 95 wins that year and won the AL East.
• In 2005, the Indians also happen to have had a wretched start in an AL Central race that the White Sox appeared to clinch in May. The Indians were 42-35 on June 30, 2005, 11 games behind the White Sox and as late as September 24, 2005, they closed that lead to 1.5 games. In fact, had the Indians not lost three straight games the last weekend of the season, they would have qualified for the Wild Card, not the loser of that final Red Sox-Yankees series.)
• On May 30, 2005, the Houston Astros were 19-32, in 12th place in the wild card standings, 10.5 games out of 1st. (On June 30th, they were 35-41 and in 9th place, 6.5 games out.) The ’05 Astros, of course, eventually won the wild-card and the NL pennant.
• On May 30, 2003, the Florida Marlins were 26-31 on May 31st, in 8th place in the wild-card standings, and 8.0 games behind the wild-card leader. On June 30, they were 42-42 and 5.5 games behind the wild-card leader. The ’03 Marlins, as we all remember too well, won the wild-card and went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series.
• Finally, in 1995, in the 144 game strike-shortened season, the Yankees were 26-31 on June 30th, 7 games behind the Red Sox in AL East. That lead increased to 16 games, incidentally, on August 28th. In fact, as late as August 31, 1995, the Yankees were in 7th place in the wild-card standings and 9.5 games behind the Angels, the team they overtook to make the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.
To be sure, no one should conclude from the history I list above that the Yankees necessarily will recover fully from their spring coma and qualify for the playoffs. Remember: history isn’t prophecy. However, the so-called baseball experts who wrote the Yankees off on Memorial Day should be ashamed of themselves. Many of them have covered baseball for decades. By now, they should know better: April and May do not a season make.
THE PATIENT’S VITAL SIGNS HAVE STABILIZED
True, the Yankees’ recent play bodes well. Pitching, as always, is winning’s keystone. And if the team’s starting rotation stays healthy, Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, and Clemens will join the company of the AL’s three elite starting staffs—the Tigers, the Angels, and the Red Sox. (The Indians won’t deserve mention among this group until Paul Byrd, Cliff Lee, and or Jake Westbrook match Sabathia and Carmonas’ performances thus far.)
Nonetheless, the Yankees’ inability to find a reliable starter to fill the fifth spot in the rotation will continue to plague them unless Igawa can replicate his recent success at AAA or Philip Hughes heals more quickly than anticipated. Ordinarily, a team can flourish despite having an erratic fifth starter. But the Yankees abysmal start foreclosed that luxury. For the Bombers to entertain designs on the AL East, they’ll need a quality start every fifth day to overcome a seven to nine game deficit. And lest you think the Wild Card is a desirable consolation prize, keep this in mind. If the Yankees qualify for the playoffs via the Wild Card, they’d likely have to travel 3,000 miles to open a five-game series against the one team they can’t seem to beat– the Anaheim Angels.
Four other players whose performance holds the key to the Yankees success or failure are Abreu and Damon, on offense, and in the bullpen, Vizcaino and Farnsworth.
The Yankees owe their June revival, at least offensively, largely to one player– Bobby Abreu. Through 17 games in the month of June, he’s batted .403 with a .523 OBA, 2HRs, 12RBIs, and 4SBs. More importantly, he’s averaged 5.72 pitches per at-bat. Both the number of pitches Abreu sees and his perpetual presence on-base, in turn, have catalyzed A-Rod. In fact, the two players’ statistical vagaries coincide: each thrived in early April and in June and foundered in May. Because of Abreu’s discriminating eye, A-Rod, while on-deck, can evaluate almost the entirety of an opposing pitcher’s repertoire, identifying his pitches’ speed, break, and location and gauging the quality of his stuff. (All the more critical for a batter like A-Rod who likes to outthink pitchers and to guess what they intend to throw him.) What’s more, with Abreu on-base, opposing pitchers can’t walk A-Rod or throw him pitches out of the zone. Abreu, accordingly, is the pivotal hitter in the Yankees lineup, as the third batter often is. Indeed, whether he thrives or falters in the second-half of the season will go a long way into deciding the Yankees fate.
Damon fulfills a similar role. He’s the lineup’s catalyst, enabling them to hit-and-run, to steal bases, and to generate runs via speed. He enhances Jeter’s strengths in the way Abreu helps A-Rod. With Damon on first, the first-baseman has to hold on him on the bag. This expands the hole between first and second and allows Jeter to maximize his in-side out swing to go to right-field. Damon and Jeter’s importance as catalysts will only increase if Giambi remains on the DL for all or most of the season. Without Giambi, the Yankees will have to generate runs through “small-ball� rather than homeruns. Indeed, at the moment, A-Rod is the only Yankee with a double-digit home run total. Posada has hit 9 and Matsui has 8.
Which makes the recurring injuries that have sapped Damon’s power and bat speed so troubling. As they’ve proven, the Yankees can win without Giambi. But to lose Damon to a prolonged stint on the DL or to chronic, nagging injuries which accomplish the same result will deal them a mortal blow. It’s no coincidence that the Yankees’ offense has sputtered in games when Melky Cabrera leads off. No hitter with a .308 on-base percentage belongs in the leadoff spot. Actually, it might behoove the Yankees to place Damon on the DL to allow his strained oblique muscle and aching calves to heal and to acquire a DH or an outfielder who can alleviate the loss of Damon’s production. The Oakland A’s just designated Milton Bradley for assignment. He would fill this role adequately. Besides, because the A’s have only 10 days to trade him, the Yankees also wouldn’t have to surrender much to obtain him.
Sure, Mark Teixeira would make an excellent addition to the lineup, strengthen their infield, and insure the Yankees’ against gaping hole A-Rod’s possible departure in the off-season could leave. (Look for my forthcoming post about why the Yankees otherwise cannot afford to let A-Rod opt-out of his contract.) However, if the Rangers insist one or more of the following prospects– Philip Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, or Jose Tabata—then the Yankees should (and probably will) decline. No team should yield premiere young pitching prospects for a player who qualifies for free-agency in a year and, because he’s a Scott Boras client, won’t forgo it by signing a contract extension, especially one who has intimated he wants to play for the Orioles some day. Still less, should the Yankees, in particular, mortgage their future by squandering young pitching talent because their farm system is so deficient in promising position players and their major league roster is so old. Of the starters the Yankees play everyday only Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera are under 32. (A-Rod turns 32 on July 27th)
On the pitching side, if Vizcaino can solidify their respective roles and pitch consistently, the Yankees’ bullpen will evolve from a liability into strength. Farnsworth’s role is critical for the obvious reason he pitches the 8th inning and sets-up Rivera. At the moment he has a 4.76 ERA, a 1.58 WHIP and opposing batters are hitting .261 against him. If these stats don’t improve, the Yankees are going to have trouble winning 90+ games.
Vizcaino, on the other hand, is the Yankees best insurance against Torre’s tendency to overuse Proctor and Bruney in the innings before Farnsworth and Mo. As Vizcaino’s past four outings demonstrate, when he can throw his slider accurately and with the necessary tilt, he paralyzes left-handed batters. This would enable Torre to limit Myers, in late inning situations, to that one power left-handed bat most productive lineups boast– an Ortiz, Hafner, Carwford, or Morneau, for example– that can wreck a game. And it would give Torre something of the versatility and flexibility to mix and match pitchers that the combination of Graeme Lloyd and Mike Stanton bestowed in the late 90’s.
THE TIMES THAT WILL TRY THE YANKEES, BODY AND SOUL
To qualify for the playoffs, the Yankees will have to garner approximately 95 wins. Since the wild card’s inception, only three AL wild-card qualifiers have fallen short of the benchmark: (i) the ’96 Orioles won 88 games; (ii-iii) ’98 and ‘99 Red Sox won 92 and 94 games respectively; and (iv) the ’00 Mariners won 91 games. (I exclude the ’95 Yankees because the strike truncated the season to 144 games.)
• The AL wild-card qualifier won 95 games in ’06, ’05, and ’03.
• In ’97, ’01, ’02 and ’04 respectively, the wild-card winner earned 96 wins, 101 wins, 99 wins, and 98 wins.
Now, history, to reiterate, isn’t prophecy. In fact there’s good reason to argue that this year the AL wild-card winner won’t need to amass as many wins because of the league’s parity. The AL Central has three good to very good teams, the Tigers, Indians, and Twins. Even the White Sox can win 80+ games if Konerko and Dye begin to hit. While in the AL West, Oakland and Seattle each could win over 85 games.
At first glance, one could surmise that this hurts the Yankees because more teams could contend for the wild-card. But the strength of the West and the Central division actually helps the Yankees. First of all, it dramatizes how weak the AL East is by comparison. The Yankees’ current record of 35-35 would place them in 4th place in either the Central or West; they sit in 2nd in the AL East. And with the unbalanced schedule, it’s the AL East teams the Yankees play 18-19 times. The corollary to which is that the AL Central and AL West teams each have to play their division rivals 18-19 times, which, in turn, would diminish their overall win totals and thereby reduce the win total the Yankees would have to amass to surpass them. With Cleveland, Minnesota, Detroit, and Chicago, on the one hand, and Anaheim, Oakland, and Seattle, on the other, all knocking each other off, the Yankees might not have to earn 95 wins to qualify. And if they do need to reach 95, well then their route is easier. The Yankees remaining games against the AL East divisional rivals below them in the standings are as follows:
• Baltimore 15 games Estimate (11-4)
• Toronto 14 games Estimate (9-5)
• Tampa 14 games Estimate (10-4)
• [Royals] [10 games] [Estimate (7-3)]
• Yankees play 43 games against division opponents who are 80-117, .406
Compare this to the remaining schedule of team like the Cleveland Indians.
• Detroit 11 games
• Minnesota 13 games
• Chicago 12 games
• Cleveland plays 36 games against opponents who are 107-92, .537
The Yankees also play the Kansas City Royals, as I indicate above in brackets, 10 times in the second half of the season. Add the AL East games enumerated above and the Yankees have 53 games of their remaining 92 (that’s 58% of their remaining schedule) against teams with a combined won-loss record of 109-161, a winning percentage of .403.
How to get to 95 wins?
Let assume for argument’s sake the Yankees go 37-16 (.698) against the Orioles, Blue Jays, Devil Rays, and Royals. That would give them 72 wins. They will need to win 23 more games against the opponents listed below.
• Angels 6 games Estimate (2-4)
• Detroit 8 games Estimate (5-3)
• Cleveland 3 games Estimate (2-1)
• Mariners 3 games Estimate (2-1)
• A’s 3 games Estimate (2-1)
• Twins 4 games Estimate (2-2)
• Giants 3 games Estimate (2-1)
• Red Sox 6 games Estimate (3-3)
• White Sox 3 games Estimate (3-0)
That means they would only need to go 23-16 (.590) in the above 39 games to win 95. Not an impossible prospect, by any means. And as I argue above, this year the Yankees might be able to qualify for the wild-card with less than 95 wins.
The Yankees may not make the playoffs in the end, but start planning their funeral at risk of your own.
tl;dr
Matt Schweber needs to start his own blog. How on earth did that thing make it past the spam catcher? Meanwhile, he misattributed what I wrote in my SI Wild Card blog. I used Rany Jazayerli’s method to do the calculations, but Rany himself had nothing to do with that column.
Finally, Liz wins the Sarcasm Immunity Award for the day. Congrats, Liz.
Zzzzzzzz……
dude, this isn’t albanian state television.
p.s. central euro women (Hungary, Transylvania, Slovakia, Ruthenia, Croatia) are a bunch of hotties.
dude, this isn’t albanian state television.
p.s. central euro women (Hungary, Transylvania, Slovakia, Ruthenia, Croatia) are a bunch of hotties.
Dr. Acula – Don’t forget the Eastern European women as well…Lots of hotties there!
P.S. – Who is Matt Schweber and why is he posting a book-length post on this blog?
seriously. if i wanted to read a novel, i’d buy a newspaper!
Chicago Dave-
so true. Pols and Ukrainians, especially. I think a flock of storks musta sneezed and dropped their payloads of cluster hotties all over the place.
Dr. Acula – Chicago is uniquely blessed in having a large Eastern European population, and, in particular, a large population of beautiful young Polish and Ukrainian women. I miss not being able to see games at the Stadium, but the scenery here in Chicago is sure hard to beat! (My apologies to all the women on this blog that Dr. Acula and I have developed this thread…but the truth it the truth…it must be said!)
no apologies are necessary. We’re full service here, we respect women’s minds, personalities, souls, and beauty.
As Smokey da’ Bear used to say, “a body is a terrible thing to waste”
Dr. Acula – Ah, your words are true…so very true! Thanks for putting it much better than I ever could!!!
Awesome. Everyone go bid on a tie from a guy famous for wearing turtlenecks.
Chicago Dave & Dr. Acula –
Well, I guess this makes up for the tangent the ladies went off on when that A-Rod video thing was being discussed. I guess turn around is fair play.
Doreen – Thanks for being a good sport…We appreciate it!
Getting back to baseball… Does anyone know how Phil Hughes is doing these days?
Also (not that most people care)… What’s happening with Josh Phelps now? Are the Orioles going to take him back, or is he going to clear waivers and accept an assignment to Scranton?
Doreen,
I believe in balance.
I have the ARod clip on my site
http://tinyurl.com/2dtnmh
also, click on my name – if you dare
the “i’m roger clemens i want to pitch” video that pete posted up a while ago is gonna be on espn soon.
Here in SF phsyched for tonight’s and Sunday’s game.
BTW Peter: Sam’s Grill on Bush St or Scoma’s out on the warf are always great.
Go Yanks!
I don’t get why people care so much about hating Bonds. Did the guy ever do anything to you personally? If not then just shut up. Bonds is ten times the player Hank Aaron was.
Dr. Acula –
A little too “diversionary” for me.
Thanks.
I think I just “got” your name. I’m a little slow, I guess.
I guess no one has any answers to my questions about Hughes and Phelps… Bueller? Anyone?
Phelps got picked up by the Pirates today
Hughes gets the boot taken off his foot today. I believe he’ll begin throwing in 2-3 weeks
And to the guy who keeps making these lineups with Bonds as our DH, where is Giambi in this equation? Did you just make him disappear?
You know, I just realized something. Jason Giambi should seriously just go on an insane cardio workout and diet program and try to shed about 25 pounds. That way, he’d actually be able to move around without hurting himself and he’d probably still get on base 40% of the time because he has such a ridiculously good batter’s eye. It would make him into a Kevin Youkilis/Nick Johnson/present-day Bobby Abreu type of a batter. That’s my random pie in the sky thought of the day, I suppose.
Didn’t they open a new DiMaggio’s out there in the past few years?
Well as of right now…I’m high bidder on George’s tie! Prolly won’t last huh?
Think it will go the way of Manny’s BBQ grill?