Greetings from Gate 10
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- September
- 10
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Here we are at the Willie Wilson International Airport in Kansas City waiting to head to Toronto via Chicago.
I’ll check back in from Canada later in the day. So you’re out of luck if you were expecting to waste your work day reading my pithy comments.
There were no flights out of KC last night, which was initially annoying. But after I got done writing at the ballpark, I checked into a hotel at the airport and a few of us got together to watch the Giants game over dinner and a few drinks. It turned into a good time.
It looks like the Yankees-Red Sox series coming up this weekend will have some prime-time pitching matchups:
Friday: Pettitte vs. Matsuzaka
Saturday: Wang vs. Beckett
Sunday: Clemens vs. Schilling
The Yankees are a long shot for the division but these games could well be previews for the ALCS.
OK, they’re calling the flight. Catch you from Canada.
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on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 6:41 am by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
so how was Sunday Night Football?
Faith Hill and Keith Olbermann made their big debuts.
I have a terrible sinus cold, I’ve been sleeping off and on all day. Thank goodness I have a cat (the meow kind) who cooks and cleans!!
The Yanks always rise to the occasion against Boston. They just need to stay focused in Toronto(2 out of 3, at least). One series is as crucial as the other.
I like our chances! Must take at least 2 in case of -emergency- tiebreaker.
Digya see, Dice-BB’s ERA for his last five starts is 9.57.
The the story in the Boston Hearld was titled, “Dice Rolls Craps Again In Disheartening Loss” HA!
Dice has to pitch 4 more times, Wakefield’s back is hurting, Taverez is Taverez, Beckett has Buckner written all over him, and 38-donuts has lost 10 mph off his fastball.
This is as precarious as it gets. To get to the show, for the soxx, it may take a thief.
Could the weekend get here any faster?
College Football
NFL
and…
Yankees/Red Sox with those pitching matchups?
I just drooled over my keyboard.
Ted-
speaking of college ball, I wonder when Michigan is gonna fire their head coach, today or tomorrow?
word on the street is Notre dame’s coach blew his chance to nab NJ Giants’ job for next season.
Schilling is 3 and 4 with 3 no-decisions since he came off the DL in June. I say the Mad Blogger gets smacked around again tonight.
Hey Pete
Any word on Clemens? According to the NY Times, Torre has still not heard from him about his side session and even went so far as emailing him – with no response. If Clemens can’t make his start in Boston, who takes his place? Mussina again? or Kennedy?
The way Dice K has thrown since the All Star break his playoff spot might be in jeopardy.
Just keep taking 2 out of 3.
What is with the Red Sox ads on this page lately?
Martin – must be for all of those Red Sox trolls. Which is sort of funny.
96-66, say it with me, 96-66…WHEN the Yankees finish with THAT record, including a sweep of the BoSox, we should actually win the division, unless teams keep tanking games against Boston. I, personally, think that the Yankees are still “hot” at Toronto and will be fired up every game against those bastages. How would you all like to see an 11 game winning streak and a bunch more HRs from the MVP ? I, for one, am completely ready !
“word on the street is Notre dame’s coach blew his chance to nab NJ Giants’ job for next season.”
The word from some very reliable sources indicate that GM Reese will offer John Fox a 3-year deal to coach the Giants next season.
Dr. Acula: I wish that the pitching matchups would be that easy. Something tells me either Bucholtz or Lester will appear against NY at Fenway.
thanks pete for updates once again. not sure what i would do about updated yankee news had it not been for ur dedication in keeping yankee fans involved. this is one of my favorite place.
hi dr. acula – sounds like you and i both are down and out but like yankees both of us fight back. still bed but getting up to walk around a bit. baby steps but soon will be well enough to be back to normal.
happy to hear Arod is still keeping yankees in the game. this is his year and i hope he wins the mvp. it’s amazing being able to witness such an amazing player on the field as him and how it seems to come natural. certainly he is one of the best all around baseball players in the game this year. more success to him.
giants let me down last night. i am in no way a cowboy fan even though i have family living in the lonestar state. so many injuries with giants. special teams need work, defense, miss barber but toomer with injuries didn’t do to bad last night. eli having shoulder problems didn’t look too good. hopefully the giants can turn it around sometime in the season.
jets looked good but got outplayed by pats.
medication kicking in. pain pills finally have won the battle again right now.
Great start to this road trip. I Don’t think any of us could have scripted it better.
ah , just got back from vacation in rhode island . i love wearing my yankee hat in red sox territory . one bar tender wouldnt serve me . i had to wait for the other one or remove my yankee hat . what a bunch of clowns .
i think boston’s post season rotation will go beckett , dice-k then schilling and wakefield will be the #4 guy later on . the yanks rotation for the post season will go wang , pettitte , clemens and maybe moose if he gets his act together . if he doesnt i guess it would be hughes .
I think they really want it to be Moose because of his experience.. They’ll give him every chance they can afford to try and let him win his rotation spot back.. But if he doesn’t cut it, you’ll see young Mr. Hughes penciled into that fourth spot.
Even with Moose’s trouble I still feel safer with him in the post season based on experience alone.
Moose would get eaten alive in the post season. He can only beat the crappy teams nowadays.
¿Schilling vs. Rocket on Sunday? ¿Ist it Senior Citizen´s Day, with free admission to the first 20,000 Gerontologists?
Crosetti….weak
Dunno ’bout the rest of you guys, but I for one can’t wait to see Wang and the Yankees beat the !$!#!@# out of the Red Sox!
=D
I did laundry yesterday just so my Yankee shirts would be clean for the occasion!
It’s worth a trip to bostondirtdogs.com ASAP. I believe this is the first time RSN media has ever used the word “bust” in relation to Dice-K.
Beckett has been great this year. But old Schill, Dice-K and Knuckles McGimmick should worry no one.
Rebecca,
You’re not supposed to wash your Yankees shirts. Haven’t you ever heard of superstitions? You can’t wash the shirts until they lose. I hope you didn’t jinx us.
I know this will end up being talked about at nauseum all over the media in the next few days… But I hope theres no fallback from the Youk incident
Dice K on a bad offense like KC would have 20 losses instead of 12.
I remember a couple of smart analysts mentioned before the season began that the season being longer than Japan might play a big factor down the stretch. Also it helps that Francona lets him pitch 120 pitches every game!
Not sure about the wisdom of giving Wang an extra day’s rest. His regular rest day is Friday, and they attributed his uncharacteristic wildness (relatively speaking) yesterday to “being too strong”. The Toronto series could be Hughes, Kennedy and Pettitte, with Wang pitching on regular rest Friday night. I guess the contrary argument is that it might make sense to see if Mussina can conribute anything and lining up this way avoids Hughes pitching Sunday in Boston. But because IMO everything should be built around Wang and the likelihood of Mussina giving us a decent start on Wednesday is small, I would opt for Mussina being out and Wang on Friday.
Designatedblogger: Actually, last time I wore them was for Yanks/Sox. As soon as I ran out (I have three), they lost to Tampa…
(When I was wearing them for Yanks/Sox, it was like 95F outside. I live in an attic apartment with NO air conditioning. You don’t want me wearing those shirts again without me washing them…)
All –
The Toronto series may be more important than you think. We’re facing Marcum, McGowan, and then Burnett – all have been good. Meantime, we’re serving up two youngsters and a retiree.
Also, anyone curious why Clemens hasn’t gotten back to Torre yet?
ya, definitly don’t want to overlook that Toronto series. 19 games left, everyone is huge.
Steve HOWE you doin
I agree with you 100%. I never take Toronto lightlty, or any team in the AL East for that matter
Steve Howe You Doin, I could not agree more. If you accept the fact that catching Boston is ulikely, no win is more important than any other. Just need to pile up more than Detroit/Seattle. And while all the talk is about our young pitching, Toronto’s duo of Marcum and McGowan stacks up pretty well, the latter having given us fits this year. This makes it all the more important to lose Mussina, have Pettitte up against Burnett and Wang on regular rest Friday. Deference to Mussina is an unaffordable luxury at this juncture.
And I think Clemens’ cone of silence is inexcusable.
I was up in Maine this weekend for a wedding. They played sweet caroline, and when they have the crowd responce the singer shouted “yankees suck”. So all us NY’ers were ticked. Whent he mic came around to us, one guy near me shouted “red soxs suck” LOL.
Jennifer-
Hah, yah.. ‘Yankees suck’ is close to replacing ‘Hello’ around here.
What is the genesis of the Sweet Caroline thing? It has nothing to do with baseball and Neil Diamond is a NYC boy.
Well, I don’t know if theres a reason for it but..
Ussualy during weddings, songs like Sweet Caroline are songs that people can sing along with. And they ussualy come on well into the reception when people have been drinking for quite some time..
And, ussualy during Red Sox games, Sweet Caroline comes on well into the game when people have been drinking for quite some time..
There’s nothing like a having a winning streak during a pennant race! The team has some bumps and bruises but is so deep now that one or two guys can get a day off and they just keep rolling on.
Next weekend is so setting up to be great. The start of Nascar’s playoffs, The Fed-Ex cup final, The NFL, and of course,Yanks-Sawx.
I thought it was the song they played at the end of wins, a la the Yankees’ “New York, New York”. you would think I would know as I live in Boston– unfortunately– but I have not been to FP for forever. Only go to “home” games in NY.
sweet caroline: yankees way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tDMjxCt3×0
and here is another good one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJo9VAH7PwA
This Year-
I’m in the same boat as you. Maybe they do though.
UnionDirk –
Hey, nice comment. How bitter are you?
Dr. Acula – to your earlier point about Dice K as a concern. Some additional commentary from soxandpinstripes.com :
Dice-K’s stamina a concern
Daisuke Matsuzaka is officially a concern. After the Red Sox charged to a 4-1 lead Saturday night off Jon Leicester, the Baltimore Orioles treated Dice-K like a second-rate minor leaguer. In the third inning, the O’s scored seven times on four hits, including a grand slam by unheralded rookie Scott Moore. Matsuzaka also walked three batters, including two with the bases loaded. Boston was unable to rebound in an 11-5 loss.
It was a given that Dice-K would experience some struggles in his first Major League season. Josh Beckett was treated rudely at times last year, and he was adjusting to the American League from the pitching friendly National League. Dice-K had a more monumental jump – facing the best hitters from around the world in the Major Leagues instead of lineups with no more than five or six solid hitters in Japan. Still, even with the adjustment to more productive lineups, it is disappointing that Matsuzaka has now surrendered 20 runs in his last three starts, which have resulted in only 14.1 innings. Last night, his pitching line was eight runs, six hits and three walks in 2.2 innings.
Undoubtedly, Matsuzaka is tired. He is used to pitching with five days of rest between starts, and he throws fewer games in Japan. That is why the Sox should consider a six-man rotation for the rest of September. Regardless, since the Sox are are idle on Thursday, Dice-K will have five days off before his next start, which will happen against the New York Yankees next weekend at Fenway Park. Five days of rest between appearances would benefit Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield, and it would give Clay Buchholz another start. Or, if the Sox brass is considering Buchholz for the post-season roster and wants to minimize his innings, they can turn to Devern Hansack or Julian Tavarez, who has delivered some solid spot starts this season but did allow three runs and three hits in 1.1 innings last night.
steve phillips is chatting right now. He just started and the vomit is already leaking from his mouth: “Looks like the AL races are sorting themselves out, with the Wild Card being the only question.”
The Yankees are up by 4. and the Sox are up by 5.5? So apprently 1 game makes the difference between being sorted out and in question?
I thought he had already solved the WC riddle. Seattle, wasn’t it, Steve?
steve phillips is a major d*uche. No question. He is the reason why i hate
ESPN.com’s schedule has Hughes vs Schilling on Sunday. Is Clemens on schedule for full recovery or not?
I worry about how the old geezer’s elbow feels only a week and a half after the cortisone shot … I realize from my own experience that it gets better rapidly after a certain point, but the for first few days after a shot it’s not something you can throw a ball with. If he was just able to toss now (only guessing) I’m not sure he could be 100% for a critical start at the end of this week. More likely for his next turn in the rotation.
migames-
I become more and more convinced everyday that ESPN is just a propaganda tool paid for by the other teams to dis-credit everything the Yankees do
Ranting Guy-
I think its definitly still up in the air. I think the latest is that nobody knows if Clemens through that side session he was suppose to throw.. So who knows!
Clemens has not seen fit to inform anyone on the Yankees how he feels following a cortisone injection last week. He is in his cone of silence in Houston, which, as I said before, is inexcusable.
The Orioles are now without their top two starters: Bedard and Guthrie, for the rest of season. I believe we play the Os 6 more times – 3 home, 3 away?
This could be construed as good news for Yanks – we shall see.
MY GOD Phillips really knows nothing, lol.
Steve, if you were in Brian Cashman’s shoes, what would your plan bb with all of those young pitchers? The Yankees have far more pitching in their system than will fit into their rotation in the next few years.
I think Kennedy, Hughes and Chamberlin will be three of the teams five starters in the next two to three years. I agree with Brian that Chamberlin should start next season. He and Kennedy have a chance to be better than Hughes. They may put Kennedy in middle relief for next season, to give him some experience, but at some point he will be in the rotation as a mainstay. *All the other names we have heard this year, such as Carsons(lol) and Igawa*, can be used as trade bait, to try and fill out the bullpen with some experienced arms.
The dude’s obviously asking about the Hornes, Marquez’, Bentances’, Olendorfs, Whelean, etc and the Tommy John trio. How to fit all THOSE arms onto the actual team and Phillips goes ahead and references “Carsons” and Igawa.
ESPN.com is comically wrong MUCH about pitching matchups..IMO, you are going to see Clemens on Sunday.
keith-
I saw that too, but ESPN can nnot let the rest of the world think the Yankees actually have a farm system.
Remember, the Yankees only go out and buy their players. They don’t develop from within. It’s only those scrappy under-dog Red Sox that develop players.
Damn you ESPN. I loathe you.
Cleveland 1 game back now of LAA for better record between the two. This is the race that’s not a race, but one some Yankees (and all of their scouts) may be watching from the sidelines.
Don’t everyone assume yet that we’re playing the Angels in the ALDS…
Can we now finally put Giambi on the bench. 243 isnt cutting it. Some of you have been saying he needs at bats. Seems like the less at bats he gets the better he hits. When he came back and was pinch hitting he was much more effective than his pop fly outs and his week ground outs to second.PINCH HITTER is the best solution.
Time to give Duncan the same chance Giambi got. Cant be any worse. As far as who plays first? Bettimet has been hot and isnt all that bad there,with Mienktavich comming in for the late innings. We need to use the dh spot for banged up players like Jeter and Matsui.
I still believe that we can grab the division with a strong finish and Boston playing thier 500 ball. Wild card is pretty much wrapped up unless we just lay an egg in these final 3 weeks.
CANT HAVE PLAYOFFS WITHOUT YANKEES BEING A PART OF IT.
Well if Hughes is the backup starter vs Boston on Sunday then let’s hope he brings the stuff he brought when he almost threw the no-hitter. Schilling is no longer the pitcher he used to be, so it’s a key opportunity to capitalize.
If I was Torre I wouldn’t put Clemens out there unless he’s shown he’s back to 100%. I’d also know going into the conversation that Clemens would say he is even if he isn’t, so I’d have Posada catch his last workout to get an honest opinion.
As long as we don’t roll over against Toronto this week, another ANSKY win/sweep could bring us within a couple games. We all have confidence Pettitte and Wang will step up with their “A” stuff. The Sunday game seems to be the crap shoot.
Phillips couldn’t get through the chat without an “no way is A-rod staying in NY comment”. Alex seriously deserves an Oscar for his performance this year. I mean fooling everyone into thinking that he’s finally enjoying himself in NY so that he can pull the rug from under everyone by going to LA, Chicago, or San Francisco. Ahh, the ultimate payback for the fans and media getting on his case.
Yah the Phillips chat is very comical now.
someone just asked him about “wong”
he did answer my question. this is coming from the same guy who two weeks ago said that the yankees chances were to little to late and he just went on and on about the mariners. I wanted him to apologize for being so wrong and not knowing anything about baseball. He didnt.
steve phillips actually said these things in his chat:
about the wild card:Looks like the AL races are sorting themselves out, with the Wild Card being the only question
about the m’s chances: but they seemed to have run out of gas and may go down completely out of the race.
about the tiger’s chances: it is going to be very hard at this stage for the Tigers to win the Wild Card
WHAT?!?!?!?!
Is the Clemens cone of silence really happening, or just a ploy to lull the Sox and RSN into complacency. Roger comes out on Sunday and pitches 8 shut out innings, stunning the Sox, who expected to be swinging against pitches from damaged goods. I can dream.
Phillips doesn’t make predictions. He sits there and talks up whatever team happens to be on a winning streak, and bashes the Yankees every oppurtunity he gets.
A-Rod will play in Pinstripes for the rest of his career. Why? because after this year, no-one else can afford him
Hey Pete
I just tried posting a comment that generally flamed the Sox but it never actually posted … was it a little too naughty?
I bet that Steve Phillips is the kind of person that tips 14.5% at the dinner table. He seems like such a cheap dude. He always, week in and week out, cuts his chat at 45 minutes. That’s just funny, since some of the other guys try to outdo each other. I’m always disappointed because I value his opinion and can’t get enough of his chats. lol.
Try again:
Godfather Bellamo: Red Sox fans are a blind and hypocritical bunch, for reasons we cannot fault them.
Despite all the home grown talent the Yanks won recent championships with, and the championship the Sox won with what they would have obnoxiously dismissed as ‘greedy selfish arrogant and overpaid’ had they signed for NY instead of Boston, they do not see (or perhaps they have become too arrogant) to see that they have become precisely what they despise.
Forgive them, for it is difficult to see such things with one’s head lodged firmly in the darkness of one’s own butt.
Must have been a computer glitch …
Ranting Guy:
Yah thats just it. If a person is told over and over that they’re the greatest thing and can do no wrong, they’ll eventually believe it. Same goes for a team.
Thats why we get caught so off guard when we hear comments like the ones Youk and Pedroia made recently.. They seem out of the box to us, but since they’re told they can’t be wrong, they have no problem saying it..
And nobody in my neck of the woods would ever call them out on it.
The Yankees only need to tie the whiners from Boston to win the division. Like in 2005 they’ll have the tiebreaker addvantage
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don’t like it when players call each other out in the media. Very unprofessional. It’s almost like they want to drag the Yankees into some kind of verbal projectile vomiting match. Guess what? They won’t get it with the Yankees. Too much Torre and Jeter Kool-Aid.
Yankees need to take 2/3 to win the season series.
Yeah DMAn … I pointed that out to a friend who’s a Sox fan when that student was killed by a tear gas bullet outside Fenway after a playoff game.
If that happened in NY, I pointed out, Sox Nation would get all rabid about how its because we in NY a bunch of wild obnoxious unruly lawless criminals that the police had to bring out the riot gear etc etc … whatever they’d say. And I noted they never seem to mind how riotous things go in Detroit when their teams win.
His response was when that girl got killed outside Fenway it was just a bunch of regular people having a good time and one unfortunate thing happened because of a mistake of one cop who over reacted.
They really think this.
Ranting Guy:
It’s really incredable.. They can get away with anything..
Look at Manny.. Always asking to be traded, not running out hits, watching his HRs.. “Manny being Manny” right?
Can you imagine the flak a Yankee player would take for that?
Who would’ve guessed that August was our worst month for team ERA? Oh wait, Mussina, Clemens, and Wang all had stinkers.
Congratulations to the Andy the Rock.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....p;c_id=mlb
“I bet that Steve Phillips is the kind of person that tips 14.5% at the dinner table.”
i don’t know why, but i thought this was really funny for some reason.
he’s awful. it’s a shame we have to spend so much time refuting his obviously innane comments, but it’s so hard to ignore.
A little unrelated to the topic at hand, but in responce to Pete talking about the Pats kicking the Jets butts.
This is very interesting. Would be intersting to see what hte league will do, if this is proven.
http://jets.scout.com/2/677745.html
The more I read and hear about Bellick the more I can’t stand him. He couldn’t beat the Jets fair and square?
Jennifer-
Wow thats interesting.. I wonder if that will materialze into anything or just get pushed aside..
Hopefully it gets some more attention..
Wasn’t there another incident where the Pats bought bootleg tapes that really focused in on the QB audibles? It was found to be legal.
Will be disappointing if it’s true. Go Patriots (in my teeniest, tiniest voice on this “new york” blog
)
I hope so. If memory serves me correctly they have been accused of some underhanded stuff in the past.
THAT would be sweet…Sweep the BoSux one more time and TIE them and WIN the division, completing the TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE ( har-dee har har har ) comeback from 14.5 games back when THEY were 36-15 and WE were 21-29…..THIS is gonna be FUN to watch, all !!
I also pointed out to said Sox fans that Youkilis and the Pedroia-phile are really obnoxious in the same way a chihuahua is when it thinks it’s a rottweiler. And if they played for any other team (NY or otherwise) all Sox fans would hate their guts. Of course, the response was that they don’t, so they’re great players.
Case closed.
Whether he turned out to be a star or not, it was good to see them grimace when Damon singed here. And I do like to remind my Sox/Pats fan friends that Tom Brady wears a Yanks hat. It would be so sweet, especially after how the standings looked in May, to see them go home before the Yanks in October. It would be sweeter if NY is the last team standing of course. But to see them start crying while we’re still playing would be a good consolation.
It also seems there are a few members of Sox Nation on staff at ESPN.
I can remember a time or two in the game where the annoucers said something along the lines of “The Patriots had that one played perfectly”
Hmmmmm
The Giants defense last night was awful
Red Sox are washed up. Unless Clemens can’t come back healthy from this setback, I fully expect the Yanks, as well as the Angels and Indians, to lay a smack down on the Red Sox.
Don’t be so quick to count teams out especially the Sox.
They’ve been on cruise control since April.
As we saw last yr with Det some teams don’t play in Sept and it doesn’t effect them.
Yeah don’t overlook anyone in October. However the Sox and their obnoxious fans still do deserve a smack down.
Socks fans have been walking around with blind faith for years, never respecting the talent levels of any opposing team, much less the team they envy the most….the Yankees.
It’s been the little brother syndrome handed down from generation to generation.
Buster Olney chat:
“*Brian Cashman–Bronx NY:* Buster,are you ready to concede you were wrong and the Yankees will make the playoffs???
*Buster Olney: (1:57 PM ET )* Brian: When I’m wrong, I will admit it. At this rate, looks like I’ll be admitting I’m wrong in a chat here on Sept. 24, considering how well your guys are playing.”
I’m the one who predicted at the beginning of season that Dice K would win 26 games this year.
Uninformed Boston posters forgive Terry Francona for being inept and Theo Epstein for being unimaginative.
They demand little and are rewarded with even less.
Whew.. 19 games seems like so few, but each game is so important now.
“What is with the Red Sox ads on this page lately?”
i don’t know if anyone else answered this, but if they didn’t there’s an easy answer. the google ads are part of the google adsense program.google scans the content of the blog and ads are placed that are relevant to the content. the more the red sox are talked about the more red sox ads.
pretty soon giants, jets, pats ,and nfl ads may start popping up. that’s a sign it’s time to get back to talking about the yankees.
I’d rather not play the Sox in october.
Those games take too much out of me emotionally and physically.
Plus they got the best pitching and Ortiz.
I’d rather face LA or CLE.
randy l is this really true? I never heard that before.
The Willie Wilson airport? Wow
With all of the call ups, I’m looking for the Yanks to get a big lead and Torre, late in the game, going with an all youngster line-up…and A-Rod for the quest to hit 61.
Ahhh! No new posts for 9 hours! What am I supposed to do at work without ya Pete?
If we face Boston in October I really believe we’d win that series. I worry the next series would be a let down though. It seems after playing the Red Sox so intensely for a whole series, the next team we play (whatever team and no matter how weak they are) has just owned us.
In the Torre era, the Angels are the only single team who’s owned NY. At least they were before this season, but after the start we had this year I’m not really sure if they’re still the only team now. Anyways, I wonder the Angels compare to all the combined teams we’ve played in the series immediately following a Red Sox series.
Are there any stat heads out there looking to procrastinate at work a little?
i feel the yanks can beat any team in the playoffs , the tribe and red sox especially . its the angels the yanks have had so much trouble with . yanks have thier work cut out for them .
19 games left
Munson15-
You can read my blog, or one of the other fan-blogs! Yay!
Shameless plug. Sigh. I apoligize, ill go sit in the corner now..
More cheating by the ever so classy Patriots! What a surprise.
NFL security confiscated a video camera and its tape from a New England Patriots employee on the team’s sideline during Sunday’s game against the Jets in a suspected spying incident, sources said.
The camera and its tape were placed in a sealed box and forwarded to the league office for investigation, the sources said.
The Patriots’ cameraman was suspected of aiming his camera at the Jets’ defensive coaches who were sending signals to their unit on the field, the sources said. The league also is investigating some radio frequency issues that occurred during the game.
The league’s competition committee could conduct a conference call about the incident, which violates NFL policy, and ultimately recommend a penalty that could cost the Patriots a future draft pick or picks if it verifies that the team was spying on the Jets.
“It’s not their first time,” a member of the committee, who did not wish to be identified, said.
If during the playoffs we have Pettitte, Wang & Clemens all healthy and dealing, we’ve got to be favored in 3 out of every 4 games.
Understand ‘favored’ is not to be confused with ‘guaranteed’ but it will be a big plus when all you need is 4 wins to advance. If the 4th pitcher is doing fine then it’s an even bigger plus.
Key word being ‘If’.
GreenTea-
Yah thats interesting isn’t it? jennifer had posted something earlier from scout.com and now you posted that..
And just now I saw this on ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/.....id=3012989
So it seems it’s starting to make some waves..
I am a Red Sox fan. But I am not here to troll. I am civil. I visit this website often, even though I am a Sox fan. I like to hear other fans about perspective about baseball in general. This is a great blog that Pete is keeping here, keep it up!
Anyways, just to let everyone know, you may want to put a TBA under Friday’s pitcher for the Sox. DiceK’s start is up the air. Media is speculating that Matsuzaka is tired and needs his start skipped. Don’t be surprised if he gets scratched. He has been awful lately, as I’m sure you all know! If so, look for Tavarez to get the start. But before you start jumping for joy, please take into consideration that the Yankees did not fair well against Tavarez in April and May. Granted that was a while ago, but still. Surprisingly, Tavarez has been the Sox best starter against the Yankees.
Good luck the rest of the season! See you this weekend!
BTW – Schilling is 2-2 since coming off the DL, not 3-4.
Good, glad to see and hear this story is getting legs. Looks like the Pats are a tainted dirty team.
Ya, what randy said about the ads is true. If you see similar style ads in your email or just browsing around the internet, take a quick look at them and they will most likely have something to do with the content on the page.
Trust me I’d rather see Dice out there than, Julian. Dice doesn’t scare me.
What no one has said however (RE: Pats v Jets) is what that severe discipline would be? Would the Jets be awarded a win and the Pats the loss? Belichickless suspended for a year? Pats fined? Jets awarded draft picks?
My guess is a fine and some suspension – but probably only for the front office.
Perhaps, but I’ve also read that DMat’s start may go forward as planed based on the 5 days o’ rest he’d be getting between his past and next start (as was his way in Japan) with the day off. So who knows? Just like we don’t know what’s going on with Clemens… – this may just end up being an interesting series in more ways than one.
Would you rather have Moose or Igawa start?
The Angels mastery over the Yankees can come to an end in the playoffs provided the Yankees advance scouts give their very best detailed reports and Joe Torre applies them. Nothing lasts forever.
RedSoxFan44-
Our teams are kind of in the same boat.. We don’t know whos starting one of our games either because the Yankees haven’t heard back from Celmens yet. So who knows
SoxFan44 – Yeah Dice K has been looking a little tired lately. Given up a few long ones at the wrong time too. Until he started plunking A-Rod (very likely he was told to – even semi-intentionally plunking someone is just not part of the Japanese game) I felt bad for him with all the hype he was expected to live up to. At least he hasn’t pulled an Igawa for you guys. Based on input from friends in Japan who follow the game, at the start of the season we figured Matsuzaka to win 16-18 games but not be the Sox ace. That’s Beckett’s and Schilling’s job. But we also expected Igawa to be our #5 and win about 10-12.
Sunny615-
That ESPN article said that:
“The league’s competition committee could conduct a conference call about the incident, which violates NFL policy, and ultimately recommend *a penalty that could cost the Patriots a future draft pick or picks* if it verifies that the team was spying on the Jets. “
S.o.S.27 – is there a third choice?
Truth be told, I’d rather have Clippard, Horne, or White make a spot start than Moose or Igawa. And if none of those three, then maybe Guidry can make an emergency start…?
“The Angels mastery over the Yankees can come to an end in the playoffs provided the Yankees advance scouts give their very best detailed reports and Joe Torre applies them.”
i would say the Yankees can beat the Angels if someone ties up Torre and hides him in the clubhouse. He can come out for the ALCS, but against Anaheim, he always tries to “match wits” with Soscia and runs the team into needless outs by playing “small ball”.
DMan – is that it? Sheesh- the forfeit of the game would be within reason as well.
Peter- How bout them Pats! They cant win without cheating?
sunny615-
Yah it’d be nice teams were penalized within the season..But thats just a report, I dont think they know for sure..
Plus, just having the league come out and say ‘Yes, they cheated’.. The backlash from that will be incredable in the media and such.
But I think we’re getting way ahead of ourselves, this really isn’t much right now.. They have to review that video first..
Reason I mentioned those two pitchers is that I think those two are on the top of the list. I agree that those others would be better. I guess its choosing between crap and crappier. Guidry wouldnt be that bad of an option. If not get stottlmyer back.
“Yeah Dice K has been looking a little tired lately. ”
month – ERA
April – 4.36
May – 5.22
June – 1.59
July – 3.62
August – 4.45
Sept – 16.88
is he “tired”? or has he been fairly mediocre all year outside of 1-2 good months?
I would say less mediocre, than inconsistent. DMat can be lights out at times and then lit up like a christmas tree the next start. I suspect he has a 50-50 chance of pulling a Beckett and is either better next year – or much worse as the AL teams have gotten a good look at him by then. How he adjusts will be the key.
The way I see things, through my eyes, Dice K is pulling an 06 Beckett. Trying to blow guys away with his fastball and cutter, and completely abonding his offspeed stuff. Dice K has almost identical stats to Beckett from last year at this time. I really didn’t expect him to win 16-18. I expected about 14 wins, which is what he has given us, but hes also given us 12 losses, which many of them were due to no run support. In 10 of his starts, he recieved 1-2 runs. Mainly making him be perfect. For the Red Sox sake, maybe Dice K will be like Beckett is this year. I sure hope so. I don’t think you guys would enjoy that to much, would you!
Thanks for not blowing me off this website even though I’m not a Yankee fan – I appreciate it.
Since Fox loves to produce reality tv shows, I think Saturday’s game should be “The Battle of the Ninjas” featuring Kei Igawa vs DiceK. The first to give up a home run has to commit hari kari, thus voiding their contract and elminating an expensive mistake.
RedSoxFan44-
Thanks for not trolling or baiting!
We really don’t mind talking and such with Red Sox fans, but most that find their way here seem to want to pick fights and such, as you’ve probably seen other days.
You just know we’re somehow going to get this to 3 games back before Friday.
I don’t know how, but the Red Sox have a classic trap series in front of them and the Devil Rays have been playing decent of late (taking 2 out of 3 from us). Not saying I would be surprised if Boston sweeps TB, just saying that if they somehow lost 2 out of 3 and we win the series in Toronto, next weekend turns into Baseball Armageddon
I think the Yankees are going to be motivated to smash Toronto — Toronto has added the juice to this series with some of their antics in reaction to Arod saying “ha” and I don’t think these are going to be 3 sleepy games….That said, Toronto certainly has the starting pitching matchup advantage on paper….just hope we go up there and annihilate them.
And I can’t wait to listen to Michael Kay wax poetic all week about John McDonald who seems to be his favorite player in baseball. Anybody know if they have the same agent? It’s been excruciating to listen to him fawn all over this guy this season. It’s like he’s never seen a SS play defense before.
“Thanks for not blowing me off this website even though I’m not a Yankee fan – I appreciate it.”
It is because you are writing well thought out, balanced points. i think it is great to have non-yankee fans contributing to this site.
Judging from Clemens’ wall of silence, I wouldn’t be surprised if the news on his elbow is bad. We need to get ready for the real possibility that he won’t pitch again.
RedSoxFan44-
No problem, really. In fact, the majority of my friends are Red Sox fans so I have gotten used to talking to the enemy. ;D
Just kidding. I actually enjoy to talk to the level-headed Red Sox fans because of the different perspective I get. Nothing like talking some baseball to people who love the game and aren’t fair-weather fans.
Drive 4-5 – “Battle of the Ninjas” … that’s great!!!! Now if only TV cameras could find a rodent climbing the Pesky Pole we’d have an interesting challenge!
ResSoxfan 44:
What do you think the reaction will be in Fenway when Joba Chaimberlain comes into the game?
He’s a good kid and the look on his face told the story that those 2 pitches simply got away from him. I hope they don’t try to eat him alive.
Dice-k = Nomo
I have noticed that the Japanese pitchers seem to have the advantage comming into the m.l.b. in their first season or so. With the different delivery the bring. But the major league hitters seem to adjust and start hitting them hard. Example Nomo and Park. Watching him against us and other good hitting teams, he isnt that ace the media made him out to be. Igawa had close numbers to him in Japan and was considered to be a fourth starter at best. He will be a bust just like the others mentioned.
For the future ,I would hope we invest on hitters from Japan rather than pitchers.
Par for the course for the Pats under the current regime. Belichick has been ridiculously overprotective of the injury status of his players, with the crowning heartless moment coming when he refused to let the opposing training staff help an injured Pat (Harrison) when the Pats were on the road against Pitt b/c he felt that the trainers might relay valuable information back to the Steelers coaching staff. Let your boy suffer and not get the help he needed b/c you think that it puts the other team at a competitive advantage, what a great guy. Interestingly enough, it was that knee injury that caused Harrison to go out and get the HGH that has got him suspended.
Not too mention the Ted Johnson story that got a little play and then was swept under the rug.
“In a recent interview with ESPN’s Gary Miller, Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou revealed that during baseball season he urinates on his hands to toughen them up. Alou, one of the few major leaguers who doesn’t wear gloves while batting, is backed up by Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who says, “You don’t want to shake my hand during spring training.” Even Cubs hurler Kerry Wood mentioned on a local radio show that he’s tried the technique to remedy blisters on his pitching hand” .. slate.com
Really?
“Judging from Clemens’ wall of silence, I wouldn’t be surprised if the news on his elbow is bad. We need to get ready for the real possibility that he won’t pitch again.”
Thinking the same thing. Too upset to talk to people.
On a yankees note, I agree that we cannot overlook this swing through Toronto, especially considering the pitchers that we have to face. Luckily, Halladay is pitching a makeup game tonight so we miss him. The Yankees need to keep plugging along because DET actually has the ability to get hot (although the Bonderman injury is a big blow).
I read on SI.com (it was a question about Ellsbury and how to get him on the post season roster) that it no longer has to be a position to position match to get a player not called up before Aug 31 on the playoff roster if they have players on the DL. According to Verducci, it’s new this year that they don’t have to be position to position matches. So with 4 players on the DL, the yankees could realistically call up another AAA pitcher to take Clemens’ place. Horne or White (assuming they haven’t hit their pitch threshold).
About Joba Chamberlain at Fenway:
Personally, I don’t boo the kid. I just watch. I mean it’s baseball, I think those to pitches simply got away from him. It could have been from the adrenaline of the game. I’m pretty sure it was the 9th inning, right? And the Yankees were about to sweep us. I do know for sure that he will be booed like hell, but I won’t be in the chorus of boos. I don’t take it as anything major. It’s baseball, things happen, he did his suspension and paid his fine. People just has to move on. Thats how I feel anyways.
What Ted Johnson story??
Passer by,
the urine hands technique of Posada and Alou has been common knowledge around the game for years. I still think that it is kind of gross, but it seems to do the job for Jorge.
ew
here you go Jennifer:
“Ted Johnson Story Link”:http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/02/02/i_dont_want_anyone_to_end_up_like_me/
Rbizzler,
I gather it from the phrase “cub’s outfielder Alou” that this was a while ago. I was just wondering about its authenticity.
Just another one of those things in baseball that doesn’t hurt anyone (hopefully) and that we all just like to ignore hah.
I can’t see Clemens pitching on Sunday after the shot. Someone pointed out in a post a day or so after he got hurt that he described what he felt the same way Pavano described the ultimate doom of his elbow. If it’s just an inflammation, he might start his next time around. If it’s a Pavano thing, he should call it a career.
The shroud of secrecy might very well be part of the strategy leading up to the Sox series. But I’m with those who think it’s because it could be worse that we ‘officially’ suspect. I really hope he surprises me and has 6 good weeks left in the tank.
The Yanks need to take care of busines against Toronto or the Boston series will nothing more than a fight for survival.
Against the Yanks this year Shaun Marcum has only allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 12 innings pitched.
The Yanks numbers against Dustin McGowan aren’t much better: 4 runs on 9 hits in 14 2/3 innings.
In his only start this season, AJ Burnett threw a shutout against us.
The kids need to come up big for the Yanks and Mussina has to at least be competitive.
The spying thing just hit over on MSNBC’s website too:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20706148/
Ted Johnson, who was out of action with post-concussion symptoms, was told by doctors that he could return to practice but not participate in contact drills. Before long, a Patriots coach approached him and made it known without saying it outright, that he would be cut if the team didn’t think that he could play. So, against medical advice and in order to save his job, he went out and practiced and played full contact with his brain in an extremely vulnerable state. All at the behest of Belichick, the heartless genius. He now suffers form memory loss, depression, etc as a result of this abuse
Here is the story from the Globe:
http://www.boston.com/sports/f.....p_like_me/
Does anybody have any update on Jeter?
Drive 4-5,
Indeed, the Toronto series will be true test to our secondary pitching unit…
Thanks for the links on the Johnson story.
Mike Mussina’s quotes that he “has no idea what to expect” when he take the mound aren’t exactly encouraging. Since he said he’s never been in a position where he didn’t know when his next start was, you have to hope he doesn’t use his inactivity as an excuse.
We need him now like we needed him out of the bullpen in the ‘03 ALCS.He adapted then…he needs to adapt now.
I’m not gonna tell Posada can’t piss on his hands if he wants to
Drive 4-5,
Yah thats not really what you want to hear, especially when we know he has been throwing side-sessions and in the bullpen..
Does that mean sometimes during those sessions he was pitching great and sometimes he wasn’t? Yah I don’t like that quote either..
I was at a bar in Boston this weekend… and my Yankee hat was making my stay in the line even longer. I was offered no more waiting in exchange for burning my Yankee hat.
$3 Dollar Bud lights aren’t worth that.
I told the bouncer he shouldn’t be so insecure about his division lead, and that I would rather wait haha.
My guess is that Clemens’ cone of silence stems from the fact that he always like to come onto the stage as the macho gunslinger who saves the townspeople from the bad guys. My guess is that it is his flair for the dramatic at work here. At least I hope so. Still, it is inexcusable not to be in contact with Torre.
The way Moose put it still sounded like an excuse and that he was still pissed at the situation to me. Otherwise, he could have said that he would try to adjust and give his best to win the game for the team – why the doubt and pessimistic tone? Then again, hopefully he was just venting a little bit and he will still act like a pro and give his best when being on the mount…
This Year,
Based on your description on Rocket, here is my mathematical conclusion…
Clemens = – (Pavano)
You get an A in Yankee Mathematics 101.
Paolo,
I took his comments the same way you did.
I saw him pitch in Tampa during a spring training game against the Reds and his lack of velocity was startling. The fact that he hasn’t gained any of it back during the season is worrisome.
I read somwhere that he changed his arm angle to gather more arm speed. The new arm slot has made his breaking balls turn flatter. So now he’s going out there with no velocity and can’t throw his curve.
He’s had a heckuva career,but this might be the end of it.
Moose has been nothing but a pro about the whole situation. Rather than vent off like Bruney, Mussina stayed quiet and pondered. Now he says he’ll help the ball club in any way, but is unsure when his next start will be.
Drive 4-5,
And I hope it is not something like Bonderman is dealing with – injury or other hidden agenda since we may probably need him if the two rookies are experiencing their growing pain down the stretch…
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/.....p;c_id=det
I watched some of the Tigers game yesterday and you can see Bonderman wasn’t right. The fact that both he and Zumaya broke down makes Cashman’s Joba rules look like a good idea. These kids are their teams’ future.
“Moose has been nothing but a pro about the whole situation.”
If you call having Torre make a comment like he didnt take it to well and he had to talk to him again the next day. Or making comments like I dont know when Im going to pitch,I was suppose to pitch this week but didnt(rather than just saying “Im here to help this team with whatever and they need me for.”). He has been a crybaby from day 1. His act is old.
Hope we find a taker in the offseason.
As aloof as Mike Mussina can be, I still think the man has a lot of pride and is as shocked as anybody about his inability to pitch. Especially since there are no apparent health problems.
If he doesn’t regain his ability to pitch next year, I wouldn’t be surpised if he called it a career and retired next spring before the season even starts.
Couple of points. One, those pitches did not get away from Joba to Yuk, they were thrown to send a message to a guy who is constantly yapping, complaining and crowding the plate. And also to the Red Sox in general that the Yankees are not fond of all the beanings that A Rod and Jeter in particular constantly get vs. Boston.
Two, if Clemens can’t go Sunday, Hughes is still on normal rest so no need for a 7th starter at this point.
VERY true SOS…He’s a baby and he thinks this is still 1994 when he was a great pitcher. Hey Moose…it isn’t and you aren’t
Halladay vs. Bengals tonight. At least we miss him due to make-up.
Though some rain in the forecast tonight in Motown. Rebecca, need some of that optimism to make moon shine in Detroit tonight.
Jeff NJ,
Then I guess Joba gets an Emmy for his surprised reaction (they’re coming up soon aren’t they?),cuz he sure looked surprised by getting tossed. He really did look like he didn’t have a clue.
I do agree with your assement of Yuk.
Drive, I think Joba’s reaction that he was tossed was genuine. I was and am still surprised the ump didn’t just offer a warning, especially since Yuk didn’t even get hit or even have to move much to get out of the way. Oh and to clarify, I do not think Joba was trying to hit Yuk, if he was, he would not have missed.
I think a lot of people were surprised by the call.. I think it was a hard call to justify. I guess I understand the ump not wanting to let things get out of hand or something…
But I think umps need to be much more careful about making these kinds of calls.
Peter, I know this is a Yankees blog but . . .
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/.....id=3012989
Hope you read about this. So much for the almight Pats.
Does eveyone remember major league baseball ordering the Red Sox to remove the televisions from their bullpen a few years back? Teams were complaining that the Sux were stealing signs and relaying them from the bullpen.
I guess in Beantown cheating is a tradition.
This year: Just saw your post, sending huge OPTIMISM vibes your way!
Lohud blog: We eat, drink and sleep optimism. Believe it.
New motto anyone? anyone?
I just read a report of a squirrel flying into Canada on the back of Steven Colbert’s eagle, Stephen Jr!
Chris in Fairfield, the guy wouldn’t serve you–idiot. I run a liq. store in upstate NY( Ramar’s Liquors ). I require 1 form of I.D. from everyone unless you wear Red Sox paraphenalia. Then I require 2 forms of I.D. yuk,yuk,yuk.
All the best tonight to Roy Halladay, Scott Kazmir, and Joe Blanton.
Hmmm, New England cheaters…..the Red Sox were absolutely stealing signs and then the Pats were once again accused of stealing plays for the game yesterday….must be tradition up there…