Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Aug 30, 2007 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Roger Clemens may be 45 but he knows how to handle a big game as the Yankees beat the Red Sox.
Ian Patrick Kennedy was an easy choice according to Brian Cashman.
Manny Ramirez will be a out today. This notebook also has some Rocket revenge, a song for Joba and Chien-Ming Wang looking forward to his start today.
Ran across the Wanger as I was parking today at the Stadium. He seemed calm, but then he always does.
Back later with the lineups.
As a Sox fan a few days ago I predicted that the Sox would take two out of three games. Obviously my crystal ball has some problems! I admit it…I’m getting nervous. Tonight’s game will be crucial for both teams. Either the Yankees go down to five games or the Sox go up by seven. You guys are playing good this series and I can acknowledge that! lol
Peter,,,,please go talk to Joba and get him to change that song ! Imagine the reaction in Yankee Stadium when that song starts ? Tell him this is New York and we don’t take kindly to Country Music out He-ya !!! LOL !
In fact, after listening to that song, my ears are starting to bleed. I can send the doctor’s bill to either YOU or JOBA,,,,which do you prefer ? (j/k)
I think this is a big start for Wang. He hasn’t been Mussina-terrible, but he’s been in a mini slump…today would be a great time to return to form, especially with Manny out of the lineup.
Great articles as always, Pete! So, now Joba has a theme song! Too cool, and I can’t wait to see him walk out with it playing!
Here’s hoping Wang follows suit and gives us a good game today. Can’t say I’m sad to hear Manny’s out. He can stay out as long as he wants!!
Exciting time to be a Yankee fan! Thanks to Clemens for taking up for our players. (That was one of the things I liked about Proctor, too.)
GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Starters brought up from the minors this season:
Matt DeSalvo
Chase Wright
Tyler Clippard
Phil Hughes
Ian Kennedy
What a year.
Don Vito — I’m from the South (and a Yankee fan) and us folks down here can appreciate some good Tim McGraw!
As long he keeps pitching like he has been, he could come out to Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips and I wouldn’t care!!!
When do playoff tix go onsale?
interesting thing about last night: the situation won’t qualify for the “close and late” stat, but anyone who was watching that game last night knows that was a VERY clutch HR by A-Rod. just a huge HR.
keep that in mind when comparing “close and late” stats.
I found this interesting, from Pete Abraham’s article. A quote from Alex Rodriguez about Manny Ramirez’s injury.
“Said Alex Rodriguez: ‘Keep him out all of September. It would be great.’”
Things like this are why Arod will always rub a lot of people the wrong way. There is not much class in saying you hope someone who is hurt does not recover quickly, regardless of whether he plays for a rival baseball team. People read/hear stuff like this and it puts things like the “slap play”, the “‘Ha’ play”, hard slides into an ugly light.
I love watching Rodriguez play and root for him every night but I often wish he would think before speaking or at least know when to shut up.
Seattle’s starting a bum vs. Cleveland tonight (Horacio Ramirez, 8-4, 6.67 ERA). How annoying is it that this guy beat the Yanks twice earlier this year rrrr. The Yanks could take the wildcard lead today with their ace against Schilling who’s a hasbeen (not awful, bad, or even lousy -serviceable at best now thus a hasbeen cuz he was excellent for many years).
Seattle catches a huge break not having to face Toronto’s ace Roy Halladay or #2 starer Shaun Marcum this weekend as the former started last night and the latter starts tonight. At the same time, the Yanks catch a huge break not having to face Tampa Bay’s ace James Shields or #2 starter Scott Kazmir this weekend, so advantage Yanks cuz Toronto > T.B. It’s imperative the Yanks sweep Boston then Tampa Bay. If the Yanks do that, I think they’re at least a game ahead in the wildcard going into their series vs. Seattle.
8-2 (win over Boston today, sweep of T.B., 2 of 3 vs. Seattle, 2 of 3 vs. Kansas City cuz they are much better than they were last year with ace Brian Bannister and #2 starter Gil Meche) should propel the Yanks to the postseason cuz no way do I see Seattle going better than 5-5 on their roadtrip vs. Cleveland (one game), the Yanks, Toronto, and Detroit (3 games each, 10 games total). Yanks 8-2 and Seattle 5-5 means Yanks would be 3 games ahead of Seattle for the wildcard with only 18 games to play incl. only 3 vs. a really good but beatable team (Boston). I couldn’t see worst than 11-7 in that final run.
Seattle really runs into a buzzsaw starting tonight:
Makeup game at Cleveland with no day off for travel after getting swept in L.A. then 3 @ Toronto, New York & Detroit.
3 vs. Oakland
4 vs. Tampa Bay (they’ll most likely draw Shields & Kazmir thus the series is no 3-1 gimme for Seattle, Seatle isn’t sweeping them)
3 @ Oakland
4 @ L.A.
4 vs. Cleveland incl. a doubleheader
3 Texas
Only 14 home games left vs. 17 road games. The only breather series is the 3 vs. Texas to close the season, but it might not even matter then. Seattle doesn’t have one breather series. If they split w/ T.B., they’re screwed
My prediction:
74-59
1-0 Boston
3-0 T.B.
2-1 Seattle
2-1 @ Kansas City, possible sweep
2-1 @ Toronto
1-2 @ Boston
3-0 Baltimore
2-1 Toronto
2-1 @ T.B.
1-2 @ Baltimore
93-69, wildcard winner by 4 games (Seattle 89-73)
Yanks have 3 games to give up (90 wins, wildcard winner by a game). I honestly don’t think Seattle or Detroit are winning 90 or more games.
up until this year alot of a-rod’s home runs have been tack-ons or meaningless . this is true . not all but certainly alot . this year he has been a monster . hitting , what was ultimately , the winning home run last night and pretty much all season long . a-rod has been hands down the mvp this year . even i have to say that a-rod has earned every cent of his contract this year .
great pictures on Nomaas.org today just amazing
“up until this year alot of a-rod’s home runs have been tack-ons or meaningless . this is true ”
why, because you say so? i say prove it.
his distribution of HRs looks perfectly normal:
+4.. 66
+3 41
+2 30
+1 55
Tied 143
-1 61
-2 33
-3 26
-4.. 53
the guy has hit over 320 HRs in his career with the score within 2 runs.
nothing like making up a BS claim b/c you don’t like the guy.
Glad to know he chose indian outlaw. I have been saying that is the song to go with. Who cares if its country that beat at the beginning rocks
Those pictures on nomaas.org are…intense.
I wish my job was “running into the Wanger at the Stadium”.
To Joba: “I Like It, I Love It” (I want some more of it!!)
Hey Pete, where’d you get the idea to call him Ian Patrick Kennedy?
The decining tandem of Ortiz / Ramirez added to a no show Drew will glare in the playoffs for the Boston Socks. No depth on the bench.
Early exit ….
Mike,
I lot of people here are referring to him as IPK. If he pitched for the Red Sox, he’d probably go by Patrick Kennedy!
Hey Pete:
The guy from WCBS880 had nice things to say about you today:
http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/8.....tId=861039:
“By game time, the Press Box, and the Auxiliary Press Box, where I sat, was filled to capacity. As I walked through the maze of bodies I spotted the self-proclaimed “Mayor of Idiotville,” Peter Abraham, cranking away on his keyboard. No one works harder than Pete. He keeps his blog updated constantly and answers his hordes of posters consistently, even though some of the posters in his comments section are clearly escapees from some of the finer insane asylums in the Tri-State Area. With the level of breaking information and clubhouse tidbits that Pete provides, he has taken sports blogging to a new level, and he should be commended for it–even if he did run Josh Phelps out of town.”
IPK, i like it….
“The guy from WCBS880 had nice things to say about you today:
Phil Allard is the lead columnist at nyyfans.com calling him “the guy from WCBS880″ is like referring to Paul McCartney as “the guy from Wings”.
Maybe Allard is a man of the people…anyway, I like NYYFANS, it’s a bit more refined than NOMAAS is
so 880 AM is wings? and nyyfans.com is the beatles?
guess i’m missing out.
and Joba’s song should be something by Rage Against the Machine.
Bulls on Parade?
speaking of Bulls – Terry Francona used to manage Michael Jordon in the minor leagues.