Chien-Ming rocks out
-
- April
- 14
Check out this You Tube video of a commercial Chien-Ming Wang made in Taiwan. He sort of dances at the end. At least we think he’s dancing.
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on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 7:37 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
“The more young starters the Yankees give opportunities to, the greater chance they have of finding somebody they can move forward with. It’s highly unlikely all three of the kids will be quality starters. The Yankees would be fortunate if one is.”
Pete…
I bailed last night due to all the trollery.
But this line from your game post almost seems like you are giving up on the Three Amigos…. During the second week of April…
What gives?
Do you think they should have done the Johan trade. Last I saw of Santana, he was getting booed off the mound at Shea…
Apparently Wang went to the Obama school of Dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cjtRgnj7pA
LOL, I can’t believe you found out about this commercial, Pete!
Wang did some nice commercials for this year. There’s actually another one he sorta “sang” in the end (though I got to say he’s not a very good singer…).
For anyone who’s interested:
http://www.im.tv/vlog/personal/375822/3918396
What did they do to his hair? Yikes.
CMW’s commercial rocks, but Hideki even has a song in his honor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY8gvNQrRb8
my god that’s horrible… lol
it seems as if pete gave up on the generation threy….or should i say generation one??????
Making definitive statements about a team or player in April is fools gold.
Haven’t we learned anything from last year?
Every team goes through a rough patch during the year.
You just suck it up and deal with it.
Same can be said for some fans too.
The game threads turn into moron city when the Yankees don’t win.
Oh well, at least it helps Pete’s page views. That’s the only positive from it.
In 2006 ,Wang’s second year of major league , His era in April was like 5.x or something bad like that,but he turned out won 19 games that year,so I guess
we can wait a little bit to see what Hughes and Kennedy can do.
I’d like not to give up on the Three Amigos, or the entire Yankees team, in the middle of April, having only played 13 games.
It’s not been too pretty, much of the time, with respect to the offense. It’s infuriating and frustrating at times, when you know what this lineup should should be capable of doing. But I choose to believe that this “slump” will be short-lived. There’s absolutely got to be something to the cold weather and all the injuries. It’s not isolated to the Yankees. It would be nice for MLB to try and arrange scheduling to take advantage of warmer weather areas and domed stadium venues, but I doubt that will ever happen. And the weather being the weather, it could just as easily have been warm as it has been cold. There’s really no predicting. But, yes, probability-wise, you’re more likely to have inclement weather in April than not (after all, April showers bring May flowers, right?).
I’m also not going to jump on the “Joe Girardi is a disappointment” bandwagon 13 games into the season. There really is a dirth of patience! And not only among the fans, but the media, as well. Now, I know controversy sells, and headlines that scream there’s another “clueless Joe” at the helm will be more impactful than stories imploring the fan base to bear with the new manager. But it’s the spin thing that gets to me. And always, always, the spins in this world (in politics as well as sports) is always negative or at least overwhelmingly more so than positive.
Games like last night’s, where the opposing pitcher was emminently beatable, are particularly difficult to sit through, whether you’re actively watching (which I could not do, since the game was on ESPN), or following along with this blog (which somehow seemed like not much of an improvement over watching), waiting for that one big hit that never seemed to come. Turn the page.
I pray for Joba’s dad. And I hope that this string of injuries and poor offense comes to an end sooner rather than later, mostly because it’s a lot more fun to watch a team win that lose. But considering the season hasn’t gotten off the quick start we’d all hoped for, it could be far worse. Although it is technically true that the Yankees are in last place, with the teams bunched up the way they are it is certainly not anywhere near as bad as it was last year, when Boston got off to such a good start.
Reading Bill Madden’s column today and its becoming clear the Pro-Torre faction of the media, of which he is a charter memeber, relishes dumping on Girardi.
I never understand that stuff.
Comparing an April decision with playoff and WS decisions is something I would expect from a 10 year old fan or a radio talk show host. Both are the same to me.
For a guy with his number of years in the game, he shows his lack of baseball understanding overstating the play.
I suspect we will hear Francesa pontificate at length about these decisions today.
Always peppered with what “Joe (Torre) would do”.
To paraphrase Rick Pitino, “Joe Torre is not going to walk through these doors”.
He’s gone Bill. Get over it and move on.
As far as when Girardi should have told the assembled media on Joba’s situation? I’m 50-50 on that.
I can understand the position taken that it should have been part of his post-game. I can also understand the position of not volunteering that information until you have to.
Either way, I don’t think its an issue. Certainly shouldn’t be a Torre v. Girardi (comparing how each would have dealt with the news) issue and I hope it doesn’t come to that.
The Yankees are a banged up team, that isn’t hitting and their young starter is scuffling.
Welcome to April Baseball. You just gotta deal with it.
Fortunately, there is a lot of time for them to fix what’s broken at the moment.
Doreen,
The ONLY thing important coming out of the weekend is the condition of Joba’s dad.
The rest of the stuff? Just the BS of the season that players and teams deal with during the course of the season.
Joba’s dad? That’s serious. Hopefully, he will be ok.
SJ44 -
The absence of most of the “regulars” during last night’s game was telling, to say the least. I thought there must have been a second thread somewhere that those people were posting! I wish there was!
Do you ever feel like you’re preaching to the choir?
SJ44 – I agree regarding Joba’s dad being the only thing of import from last night.
I would be curious to know out of the 100 plus players on the dl how many of them came while playing in cold weather condtions. Every one of our teams injurys came while in cold weather.
Agreed it’s crazy to panic in April. With the injuries to key players, lack of hitting, and not-so-great performances by our 2 young starters, we are only 1 game under .500, keeping in mind that 2 leaders in the division are only 2 games over .500. All of that could change in one series because it is so early in the season and the tables could be reversed in a few days, just like they were a few days ago when we were on top.
A win tomorrow puts us back at .500
Agreed with SJ44, the only worry I have right now is for Mr. Chmberlin’s recovery.
I am a little surpised about Mark F. I wonder if he has heard about Heppa. I don’t believe you are allowed to release any information with this. As Joe G was quoted in the article re: the situation what happens in there stays in there.
Found this on Wiki
Bereavement list
The bereavement list may be used when a player finds it necessary to leave the team to attend to a serious illness or death in his (or his spouse’s) immediate family. A player placed on the bereavement list must miss a minimum of three games and a maximum of seven games. The team can use another player from its 40-man roster to replace a player on the bereavement list.
wait, thats what Wang really looks like without a hat? weird, kind of emo-ish, no?
Doreen,
I continue to hold out hope for change! lol I continue to hope, blindly I know, we can actually have functioning game threads that don’t turn into a wasteland of trolls.
Jennifer,
I think its safe to say most of these injuries are cold weather related.
In the Tigers-White Sox game in Chicago yesterday, played in freezing conditions, both Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen suffered hamstring injuries.
The night before, Dontrelle Willis slipped on a wet mound and wrenched his knee. He’s now on the DL.
This is what happens when you play in cold and wet weather.
Seeing games, not just Yankee games, played in heavy rain or snow flurries, as was the case in the Cleveland-Oakland game yesterday is a joke.
Its been an especially cold spring across most of the country and the DL reflects the weather, IMO.
Its the terror reign of Bud Selig and his edicts to umpires to get these games in no matter the conditions.
“Do you think they should have done the Johan trade. Last I saw of Santana, he was getting booed off the mound at Shea…”
Lets stop saying “what if” to the Santana trade. Mets fans booed him because they cant tell their own butt from their face.
Joba has been terrific and Kennedy has only had 1 bad start. Hughes has been terrible but I will wait for the weather not to be FREEZING before I make any long-term judgments. He certainly wasn’t helping his cause last night though unable to find the strike zone.
I don’t understand how they leave domes, and warm weather sights unused, while playing in cold weather conditions. Or how they have two warm weather teams playing each other. The schedule makers, or computer program really need to get it together! Why are we playing Boston on April 10th when it has the potential to be very cold. OR last year why was Seattle’s stadium left empty while playing the Tigers? It is all very foolish and the MLPA needs to look into this.
Anyone else having trouble getting posts to go through?
Ok, 3rd time I’ve tried to post this
SJ44,
I too an already sick of the ‘What would Tore have done here’ comparisons by the media.
Like Mussina said in an interview after his loss Saturday, if Manny had popped out, everyone would have said Joe was a genius, but instead it’s ‘Torre would have walked him’.
I think Giradi’s handled the comparisons very well, and I’m sure he nows they won’t stop, but I wish they would. Let him be his own manager.
Yes I was having trouble yesterday.
SJ44,
While I agree with you, it is fair to say the main stream NY/BOS based media is killing Girardi and Hughes today (see, Madden, Sherman, Vaccaro, Cafardo, Ryan, et al).
I think its way too early, not to mention way too cold, to make a judgement on a team that has started slow the last four years and still made the playoffs every year.
They are a veteran team that rises with the temperature.
The biggest issues on this team right now aren’t Joe G.’s decision to pitch to, as Mike Vaccaro so eloquently put this morning, “that circus freak hitting show” Manny Ramirez, or Hughes and Kennedy’s rough starts.
Its the physical health of Posada, Jeter, Damon, Giambi, Matsui, Molina and Mussina. And to some extent Andy Pettitte and Mo Rivera.
And of course, with all due respect, to the health of Mr. Chamberlain. That man and his son have had an undoubted effect on the team, (not to mention the media) since their arrival. I hope the best for Joba and his dad.
There are so many questions surrounding this team this year, thats what makes it fun.
Of course Rivera will hit that week-long stretch in late May where he blows back-to-back saves in grand fashion, and people will question his health and ability, as has happened every year now since roughly 2002.
Of course Giambi will be injured for an extent of time this year and people will gripe and scream for Mark Teixeira.
Of course Girardi, along with Cashman, no doubt, will take their lumps in the press whenever Ian, Phil or Joba get lit up, especially if Johan turns into the toast of the town this summer and leads the Metro’s to the playoffs.
But thats what makes it fun for me…I guess. But I do love reading the kneejerk reaction and getting a laugh. People liek Anti-Mussina calling for the heads of A-Rod and Posada, the two guys that all but carried the team offensively last season, two weeks into April!
CMW looks like he’s dancing the hokey pokey. Or maybe it’s the Chicken Dance. He probably learned it at his Bar Mitzvah.
Nice hair, too. Kind of an early Goldie Hawn look…
4th time to try and get this through
SJ44,
I too an already tired of the ‘What would Tore have done here’ comparisons by the media.
Like Mussina said in an interview after his loss Saturday, if Manny had popped out, everyone would have said Joe was a genius, but instead it’s ‘Torre would have walked him’.
I think Giradi’s handled the comparisons very well, and I’m sure he nows they won’t stop, but God I wish they would. Let him be his own manager.
AND, its not like the NYY are the only team, considered in legitimate playoff contention, starting the year off poorly…
Look at what the teams Ellsbury-Schilling-Papelbon-Network pro’s like Phillips, Gammons, et al, picked to win are doing.
Such as the DET (2-10), CLE (5-7), Seattle (6-7), NYM (5-6), ATL (5-7), COl (5-7). Just a snapshot, but still.
Waaaaaaaaaaaayyy to early to write any of these teams off…
I saw where the Front Office have suggested taking legal action against the clown who put the jersey in the concrete and are donating the jersey to be auctioned off for charity for The Jimmy Fund.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3344825
I hope they at least make the idiot pay for all of the costs to dig it up.
Poor Joba. Hope his dad is ok.
So Hughes had the flu?
Sa where did you hear that?
“I suspect we will hear Francesa pontificate at length about these decisions today.”
On his Mike’d Up Show last night he said that the Girardi move to walk Ramirez was the dumbest baseball move of the weekend and the dumbest in a long time. But then he said that he was sure Girardi learned from it, chalk it up as a Yankee rookie manager mistake and forget about it and move on.
Jennifer-Trying to find a link to the story.
My co-worker just told me that. I dunno if he just pulled that out of his butt. lol
Good god… I hope the rest of his teammates don’t see that little jig he does.
nevermind-I think my co-worker just made it up. Can’t find anything about it.
Me bad!
Well that would have been a good explaination as to why he was so bad.
SJ44, I agree that it is not time to sound ANY alarm, as with ALL that has happened over the first few games, we are only 1 game behind Boston and we all know that it is going to again come down to a 2 horse race in the AL East, right ? I do have to say that I expect Joe to make many good decisions throughout the year, but I just hope he learns not to trust Moose to decide whether or not he faces ANY hitter, when he is “later” in the game and pretty close to getting the “hook”. Also, I agree that IF Damon gets a hit in that situation, that it is unlikely that we are having any of this talk, but bunting those runners over is a pretty good choice, don’t ya think ?
yeah. But no excuses. Phil does have to improve.
I have faith that he will!
Dear Wang-No Dancing with the Stars for you.
KJenson,
Mussina also said in an interview that if he had gotten Manny out, then everyone would say Giradi was a genius for his decision. Instead we get the ‘Torre would have walked him’ from all the media. He’ll make good and bad decisions, I think more good than bad, but what annoys me is that all the media seem to want to compare his every decision to what Torre would have done. Let him be his own manager
I find it odd that the cold weather is brought up as the reason for the offense to be having troubles, yet the pitching is not. Seems to me that Hughes was blowing on his hand quite a bit. If his hand is a little stiff and a little numb from the cold, wouldn’t that affect how well he can pitch?
Girardi made a mistake in allowing Mussina to go after Manny, big deal. More troubling is the lack of stolen base attempts and not bunting in some situations where it seemed to call for it.
“a good explaination as to why he was so bad.”
The best explanation is he’s a young pitcher with a great arm who is learning how to pitch at the major league level. He’s going to take his lumps but I haven’t seen many who really know baseball not think he will figure it all out and be successful.
Am I the only one who noticed they had the fake Hideki Matsui batting right-handed in the Go Go Video?…
These struggles are the best thing for Hughes and Kennedy. They never had to struggle at any level. If they get through this, they’ll learn more. How to pitch without their best stuff, handle the adversity (especially the NY media), learn more about major league hitters.
If they don’t learn anything, well, looks like we’ll have some more Andy Hawkins’s and Dave LaPoint’s on staff.
I think early in the year, you are trying to build confidence in your players.
As we saw last night, the Yankees are going to need Mike Mussina to be productive this year because Hughes is not ready to be a front end of the rotation guy.
If it was October, I have no doubt Girardi walks Manny in that situation. But, it was April and Girardi is trying to show Mussina he believes in him.
It didn’t work. That’s baseball.
The bunt last night. Two ways of looking at it. One, very few managers bunt guys over down 2 on the road. The next hitter (Cano) also isn’t hitting. That factors into the thought process.
Two, you bunt in that situation, and give yourself two chances to score.
He probably felt Damon was swinging the bat better than Cano right now and that was his best shot at having a big inning.
Me? After sleeping on it, and seeing how feeble Cano looks at the plate at this time, I can see why he didn’t bunt in that situation.
In a way it was academic once Farnsworth imploded again.
Right now, the most important thing for the Yankees is to not lose any confidence over a meaningless April series with Red Sox and to get their health back.
Too many guys are down right now. Jeter, Molina, Posada (three pretty key components. Hard to win games without your SS and BOTH of your catchers), Giambi and Joba (for family reasons) are either hurt or away from the team right now. That’s rough and the early season schedule is unforgiving.
Just gotta suck it up, deal with it, and find a way to grind out some wins.
Stay close, stay around .500, and things will work out just fine.
Doreen
If you find a less reactionary game thread, please pass along the info.
Hughes is historically a slow starter…his April numbers in the minors aren very good either if I recall correctly. But the weather excuse is pretty lame guys.
“But the weather excuse is pretty lame guys.”
Three ways of looking at this: #1 – he pitched well in Toronto which was temperature-controlled then pitched 2 bad games in not-so-good weather. #2 – our bullpen did fine in the cold yesterday. #3 – Dice-K was all over yesterday as well… not an excuse but something to think about.
Weather is playing an issue with players and games all over baseball. It isn’t a lame excuse.
You already have over 100 guys on the DL this season. That has never happened this early in the history of the game.
In two days, the Tigers lost Willis, Cabrera and Guillen to injuries totally related to the weather.
The other night, Fausto Carmona walked 8 guys in less than 4 innings in Cleveland. He was complaining after the game he could get a proper feel on the baseball. That game was played in 28 degree weather.
JJ Putz hurt his rib cage in a cold game in Seattle. Eric Bedard’s chronic hip injury is causing him to miss cold weather starts in Seattle.
Its not just the Yankees being affected by the weather conditions, its a number of teams and players.
Its just reality, not an excuse. They just have to deal with it because, with the exception of these two games in Tampa, its not going to be better for another few weeks.
would be nice to see duncan get called up or maybe gardner as they have been hitting well down in AAA and gardner can steal some bags. need something to give this team some life right now
Someone made me aware that Gardner was injured a few days ago. How is he doing now? I think I remember quickly looking him up after and the injury wasn’t considered serious.
Some people are affected differently with cold weather. I’ve known plenty of people, my wife included, that always have cold hands. What the heck does one person not being affected have anything to do with another being affected?
This has been an unusally cold spring, (glad for this global warming, I know my heating bill appreciates it), why couldn’t it be having an affect on players who normally play during warm weather? News flash, Hugh, some people are different and therefore react differently to climate or pressure.
SJ
Everytime I read this I can’t help but agree with you. Everyone worried should take a deep breath and remember where we were last year at this time. Boston swept us behind a blown Mo save, a Jeff karsten start, and a chase wright back to back to back to back hr show. Sox have issues too. No one is pulling away. It’s april things will change. Unless you believe Ortiz will hit .043 all year and the attorney general will be our SS in August.
Wang can dance!!! haha =D
AJ, you act as if this is the first time that the weather has been bad in April. The weather in April has been awful for as long as I can remember.
i don’t think Wang was dancing at the end. it looked more like he had an itch on his back and they really didn’t want him to reach back and try and scratch it so he was trying to tough it out.
It hasn’t been this bad at one time. Since Opening Day, the Yankees haven’t played a single game in baseball weather. Not one.
I don’t ever remember that happening.
They have played more than half their games in the rain so far this year. Again, I don’t remember that happening.
Again, its not just the Yankees. Its affecting everyone in baseball.
Look at the standings in the AL. Who among the legitimate contenders, is playing good, solid baseball and are healthy? Nobody.
If baseball was meant to be played in this weather, then it would be a winter sport.
The Diamondbacks are off to a great start. Guess what? They haven’t played a game this year in which the gametime temperature has been under 60 degrees.
I think the Yankees have played one such game this year.
It makes a difference. Especially, when you are an older team like the Yankees.
if this northeastern spring bad weather( global warming induced) trend continues maybe it’d be smart to have a slew of scrappy triple a players like alberto gonzales who are expendable if an injury occurs.
the yankees (and red sox) are lucky that no players were injured when they had the two hour rain delay and had to come back out for critical innings in cold wet conditions.
baseball should not be played in under 50 degree conditions which means these early april games should be played in the daytime.
this week we watched a kansas city game played in a continuous pouring rain, a game in cold conditions wet conditions with a two hour delay where one of the best closers in the game had to warm up three times only to have fox switch in mid inning to a bunch of people who talk funny, wear patchs all over their bodies, and can only make left turns.
it makes no sense to take players who are paid hundreds of millions of dollars to sunny warm florida to prepare for the cold rainy april northeast. i don’t like the idea of not playing every game to win, but maybe resting key players in bad weather is a way to lose battles ,but win the war.
Morning guys.
That commercial is hilarious. CMW looks like K-pop star. Who said he wasn’t an Acer?
Yesterday was painful, but I have no doubt that Phil will bounce back.
Of more concern is Molina out in the context of Posada’s shoulder strain. Hope he recovers quickly. I’m glad to hear that Jorge was told not to throw. It’s better than he not being able to throw.
I complained last night about the media nitpicking rather than writing stories. Need to look at the big picture.
Stuff like another city another late night getaway for the Yankees.
Stuff like scheduling. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but if the weather truly is a problem for players, it’s not too much to ask MLB to schedule in warm weather cities and domes for the first 2 weeks or so. There’s literally a gajillion permutations of how to do the schedule. MLB cultivated this great product, they need to protect its assets, the players. We really need a younger commissioner, one who is proactive and not stuck in the old ways.
Good luck to IPK and Cleveland today. Let’s see if we can get to Sonnanstine.
In an ideal world without egos and overpaid contracts…my NYY lineup would look like this…
CF Gardner
SS Jeter
RF Abreu
3B ARod
DH Matsui
C Posada
2B Cano
1B Duncan/Giambi
LF Cabrera
What do y’all think?
Oh please, now it is the weather?
Young pitchers- Ok, they need time and patience.
Old geezers -Overpaid, can’t perform and breakdown, no fix here, until next year.Posada for 4 years? wow.
If the fan base accepts this as a building year then we can enjoy the process, if the expectation is for a championship, on this birfurcated team, it will be a painful season.
I agree Randy. Its nuts.
When the schedule used to be made by a human being, and not by a computer, its amazing how logical it was.
Now, you have dome teams dark during the cold weather period. Cold weather teams playing most of their first 6 weeks in cold weather venues, and warm weather teams staying in warm weather.
It makes no sense.
These players train year round. They aren’t lazy.
The number of groin pulls, hamstrings, shoulder soreness, ribcage injuries, and quad strains, all byproducts of cold weather, is numbing.
Its amazing how MLB can’t get out of their way on such simple matters.
They even screw up the schedule.
well, since the yanks will be playing in the dome and cold weather is the be-all, end-all excuse for their poor play, then tonight the bats should come alive and young mr kennedy should dominate. looking forward to it…
SJ, using the D’Backs as an example is weak. They won thie division last season, went deep in the playiffs and have some of the best young players in the game…not to mention their starting pitching is excellent. Its not a coincidence theyre doing well, theyre a very good team.
What’s worse, and its happening all over baseball, is playing through rain storms. Not drizzle, rain storms.
Hell, they played the Indians-A’s game through snow flurries.
Add to it, the microscopic strikezones by most of the umpires today, and you have these players, as Randy stated, making hundreds of millions of dollars, playing for over 3 hours in dangerous field conditions.
Its a lot of money tied up on the DL for owners, simply to draw a game check, instead of a rainout, on game days.
Its having an effect on the entire game.
In a way, its good news for the Yankees. Its preventing any of the good teams in the AL from getting off to hot starts.
Morning everyone.
Here’s hoping that Mr. Chamberlain can pull through. Not having Joba hurts but in this occasion, baseball is irrelevant.
SJ has an excellent point about the weather. it did look like the day before yesterday might have finally been baseball weather, but the weather deities had a little too much at the Cask N’ Flagon.
We’ll see what happens in the dome tonight.
Good team playing in baseball weather. The way it should be.
Just look around the game. The Yankees, Indians, Tigers and Mariners are all under .500. The Red Sox and Blue Jays aren’t doing much better.
The weather is making a big difference in the early part of the baseball.
Just look at the games and the DL. Its having an effect on everybody.
Its not going to be like that all season. But, it is affecting teams right now.
From the ESPN article:
“Joba Chamberlain’s sister called the Yankees during the eighth inning of New York’s 8-5 loss at Boston on Sunday night. The newspaper said the reliever spoke with his sister after the game and broke into tears, and manager Joe Girardi tried to console him.”
If Girardi only found out in the 8th, he had other priorities than telling the media.
You feel for Joba.
maybe someone can clear this up for me. it’s my understanding that the red sox have inside hitting cages available to their players to use during games under the stands, but visiting teams players have to go out to the bullpen area to find the visiting team’s cages.
the obvious advantage this would give the red sox( especially in cold weather games) with the dh and pinch hitters should be challenged by other teams. arod during the two hour delay said he did nothing to get ready to hit. he looked it. red sox hitters were at no such disadvantage.
I’m really tired of all the bashing Girardi is getting on the Ramirez thing.
Yes, we know Manny is an awesome hitter, but by walking him and loading the bases, you’re trading Manny’s BA (at the time, .256) for Youkilis’s OBP (.386) in order to score a run.
Monday morning QBing, especially from a moronic media that still thinks a player is greta because he has 100 RBIs, drives me nuts.
This criticism of Girardi has to stop. Especially this criticism that’s now reared it’s ugly head about Girardi being some kind of “idiot” or another “clueless joe.”
I’m always amazed by the amount of attention people pay to the decisions a baseball manager makes and the amount of importance people attribute to those decisions.
Baseball really is not a complicated game. It can’t be because it’s a game that is so influenced by chance and failure on the part of hitters (fail 70% of the time and your in the hall of fame as the saying goes…)
People treat baseball managers like they are head football coaches scheming new huddle offenses and coming up with a new zone blitz package.
It doesn’t work that way in baseball. There’s too much uncertainty in the outcome of any play to think you can affect that outcome purely by strategy.
I didn’t agree with Girardi pitching to Manny or to him not bunting Damon.
But you know what – who cares. It’s not that big a deal.
I can’t say with too much confidence or certainty that if Girardi had made the opposite choices the game oucomes would have been that much more likely to turn in the yankee’s favor.
Why – because in baseball, more than any other sport, it comes down to execution by the players on the field. That’s it. The pitcher throws a strike or no. The hitter makes solid contact or not.
And for that reason the vast majority of decisions any manager is faced with are highly, highly subjective without a clear “right” or “wrong” answer.
But people don’t fully consider the probabilities associated with the contrafactual decision, with the choice not taken.
For example, Girardi bunts damon there – fine. But they are down with a run and Cano right now has a 15-20% chance of getting a hit. The team as a whole has been abyssmal with RISP.
Girardi was probably thinking we’ve been so bad with men on base I can’t just give up an out here.
It didn’t work out. Fine. Girardi is as “good” a manager after the game as he was before it.
randy l,
MLB says that teams must build indoor batting cages for the home team and visitors in all new stadiums that are built.
The Yankees did that. But there was no mandate preventing them from burying it under concrete.
Just kidding. It wouldn’t surprise me if what you said was true, teams will want any advantage over their competition.
Chien Ming Rules.
Acer…not.
SJ44
Computer picking the games? Starts with the TV and ends with TV too. It’s a shame.
cb-
i agree that some early season hunches by a manager is too small a sample to make any judgements about the manager. he also had a hunch about putting matsui in right field a few games ago and look how well that played out.
i think the move to make for damon was on his own to drag a bunt that would be either a hit or move the runners over. he wouldn’t be necessarily giving up an out. it’s actually easier to drag bunt a sidearming lefty pitch because it’s coming from the direction the bunter is moving in as he slides towards first. the lefty pitcher is also falling towards third base so if you get the bunt past him it’s an easy hit.
the only reason this jumped in my mind at the time was i played a lot of semi pro ball( lefty hitter) and seeing so few quality lefties i couldn’t hit a good left handed breaking pitch if my life depended on it. from idolizing mantle and having his drag bunt down from infinite repetitions as a kid, it was a piece of cake to get at least one drag bunt hit a game off a tough lefty.
it’s also a good skill to have when you want to run over a right handed pitcher who falls towards first( and can cover the line) who’s ticking you off. not that i would have ever done that.( or recommend it to any young players who read this blog)
We look at the Girardi decision to walk Manny from one perspective. And while it may have cost them the game it did a lot to build up Girardi in the eyes of the players. Andy Pettitte was quoted in todays NY Times:
BOSTON — When Andy Pettitte watched Saturday’s meeting at the mound between Manager Joe Girardi and Mike Mussina, he liked what he saw. It was not so much the decision Girardi made that resonated with Pettitte — pitching to Manny RamÃrez turned out to be a mistake — but the idea of consulting the veteran Mussina before making it. “We’re supposed to be the guys who are leading the staff, and he talks to us to see how we’re feeling,†Pettitte said. “But other than that, he’s quiet — he lets his coaches do their work. He doesn’t seem overwhelmed to me by any means, as far as this being the New York Yankees. He seems very comfortable in his own skin, which is very important.â€
Girardi and the Yanks may have lost that battle but it may be benenficial in the long run.
That game is over; let’s focus on the next game.
“Monday morning QBing, especially from a moronic media that still thinks a player is greta because he has 100 RBIs, drives me nuts.”
Huh?
global warming
i know you are really al gore. are you going to jump in the democratic race at the last moment. or be the vice president again?
Gentleman,
Anyone of you regulars know where I can find WARP figures that date back to 2003. I’m look for WARP figures, specifically, for Johan Santana that year.
Unfortunately, Baseball Prospectus only seems to provide WARP figures that date to 2005 or so, at least those available to the general public anyway.
Thanks,
Matt
Or ladies…
Phil Hughs – Cliff’s Notes Edition.
I missed last night’s game, but have reviewed some of the threads. Can someone give me the brief wrap up on how Phil Hughes looked – not just the box score. I saw somewhere he had some nice velocity for the start, had people late on his fastball and had a nice curve working but no location.
Anyone have any first hand info. Thanks.
jason: He had no command, so when he did throw strikes (because he had to or else risk walking everyone), he got hammered.
Buster Olney posted this on his blog.
“Molina is out, and the Yankees have no idea what Posada can do for them at the position the rest of the summer. He got hurt making a throw against the Blue Jays, and it may be that his shoulder problem will persist. Posada may be destined for a summer of mostly serving as a designated hitter; he has told friends that he has never experienced any sensation in his shoulder like he’s feeling right now”
Is that true? Posada may not be able to catch ALL SUMMER???
jason,
phil had terrible control. none what soever. you could tell that he just couldn’t put the ball where he wanted to. he was missing spots left and right and crossed molina up on at least 2 pitches.
that said the quality of his pitches when he was around the plate was very good. He was 92-94 on his fastball and it had a lot of late life on it. He was confident enough in it to throw Manny 6 straight fastballs in his at bat in the first inning and Manny didn’t square any of them up or get any good swings (unfortunately pitch 7 was a very good curve ball manny sinlged on). his curve ball was there as well – very sharp break.
But again with both the fastball and curve he struggled a lot with location. That may have been the worst command he’s had in any game in the majors.
It was a strange game – not one you’d expect from Hughes. That was the kind of game you’d expect from a prospect who’s got great stuff but has a history of not being able to command his stuff, almost the kind of game you’d expect from homer bailey (minus a few ticks on the fast ball).
jason-
hughes looked how a southern california kid used to warm weather who relies on getting a good grip on his curveball would look if he pitched in really cold weather where the fenway beer didn’t need to be refrigerated. he didn’t have command. he threw hard. he had some exceptional break on his curveball( made pedroia look silly on one pitch), but he couldn’t consistently throw strikes.
the only good thing i can say is that he didn’t blow how a hammy or get hurt.
If that’s true what Olney is saying then it’s a problem. How many DH’s we have on this team? Can’t have Matsui and Damon playing the outfield and Molina catching just about every game. There’s a reason why he’s a back-up.
It can’t be imagined that the delusional Selig will look into the human side of early season scheduling because his agenda is the financial aspects of baseball as he’s demonstrated many times.
Yankee fans need to remind themselves that this will be the toughest part of the 162 game schedule both with weather issues and lack of days off. No other month will compare to April. Just staying above water is acceptable with all things considered.
This team will jell soon enough to make April a laughing matter. Joe Girardi is thick skinned and it will be he who has the last laugh with the negative faction of the media.
http://www.1010wins.com/Report:-Joba-Chamberlain-s-Dad-in-Critical-Conditi/1998803
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This kid and his family need our prayers right now, ALL.
.
ummm….. Buster Olney is not that inside w/ the Yankees, Posada’s shoulder is hurt I doubt it’s like that. Meanwhile now people can tell me Francisco Cervelli’s injury wasn’t a big deal, don’t you think he’d be up on the depth chart over Moeller.
jason – one other thing – the entire picture of his night – it really looked like there was something off in his mechancis. There was something he was doing wrong that they’ll need to fix.
First I have heard of Posada saying he can’t catch all summer.
Last night he said he was in “no pain and just had to get his strength back”.
I don’t know what’s changed between last night and this morning.
If it was a summer long injury, I think we would have known that by now.
CB, of all the complaining folks have done the last few days, especially the “let’s DFA everybody” crowd, there is one thing I agree with them on.
Kyle Farnsworth.
I don’t care if its April, he has to go.
I will be patient with Damon and Giambi for another month. If neither guy is hitting by Memorial Day, its Brett Gardner and Shelley Duncan time.
But Farnsworth? Really, enough is enough.
Its the same tired act. He can’t pitch, can’t be counted on, and right now, all he is doing is taking up a roster space.
On a team that frankly, can’t afford wasted roster spots this year, he has to go.
Scott Patterson or Albladejo should take his spot and the Yankees need to move forward.
Its admirable Girardi wants to “fix” him. However, some guys are beyond being fixed. IMO, Farnsworth is one of those guys.
” Scott Patterson or Albladejo should take his spot and the Yankees need to move forward. ”
.
Agreed, but I would specify Alby over Patterson.
.
Damon and Giambi will come around, IMHO.
Buster is just throwing something out there hoping it would stick.
Yes it is clear Jorge is concerned since he’s never had that problem, but based on what he has stated recently he should be back behind the plate soon.
Thank you all for the information. The last game against KC it looked like he was a little off as well. It is extremely hard to pitch behind in the count to a good, patient hitting team like the Sox. I guess it is apparent he has “the stuff” but just needs to master command/pitchablity as well as integrate his other pitches into his arsenal.
I posted this the other day, I am looking at Hughes in Kennedy in 5 start blocks expecting: one great (first start of the year), one good, one decent (KC although needed more innings), one not so good, one awful (Red Sox). I think this will still win Hughes 12-14 games this year.
Overall the pitching on this team, including most of the bullpen seems far superior to last year at this time.
“Its admirable Girardi wants to “fix†him”
maybe joe meant he wanted to take him to a vetinarian.
Francisco Cervelli’s injury had no impact on the big league team.
None. Cervelli had a very up and down year in A ball last season.
The biggest jump in the entire minor leagues is from A to AA.
There is no way that he was ready to play in the major leagues before completing a full season in AA.
The only kinds of prospect you could even theoretically think you could jump 10 games into the season from AA to the bigs is a Justin Upton type. And even Justin Upton failed. The tigers tried that same exact thing with Cam Maybin last year – gave him a handful of games in AA – and off to the bigs. Maybin failed miserably and his call up set back his development a lot.
Fransico Cervelli is a nice catching prospect. He is no where near the stratsphere of talent of Upton or Maybin.
There is no chance that the yankees would have called up Cervelli. None. It would be completely unfair to dump that burden on a player who clearly would not be ready to hit major league pitching, especially one who has decent, but hardly great hitting tools at best.
The yankees were always going to sign a chad moeller type and stash him in AAA to call up in case of emergency.
The only thing Cervelli’s injury did was to force PJ Pillitiere from AAA back to AA. Perhaps if Pillitiere got off to a hot start with the bat that they might have called him up because they love how he handles pitchers. But there ’s not guarantee that he’d hit any better than moeller.
agreed every time krazy kyle comes out of the bullpen i assume he is going to give up at least a run.
why doesnt girardi have giambi laying the ball down the third base line every time the shift is in effect? it is very frustrating that Giambi keeps refusing to try it.
id have giambi on a shorter leash than damon, no reason not to try duncan as it also gives us another righty
Matt, if you buy Baseball Prospectus’ 2003 Abstract, you should be able to get WARP figures for that year.
I think Amazon.Com sells the older versions.
Ouch. I think he can audition for the Nextel spot with those 3 IT nerds jamming out to Salt n Peppa’s Push It.
Or actually, maybe he can get some advice while competing on Dancing With the Stars!
BTW, I don’t think Doug Mirabelli has a job at the moment. COuld he better than Moeller?
As for Krazy Kyle, I actually couldn’t lambaste him for last night’s run. A lead-off basehit, a stolen base, and two sac. flies.
I don’t know. Maybe, he’ll get hot for a while and the Yankees can squeeze a few effective streaks out of him in games in which they’re already losing and just need “holds”
Are you convinced SJ, that Patterson or Albaladejo would be markedly better than Farnsworth? I’m not. I’m actually more a Veras fan.
Something tells me Cashman has too much invested in Farnsworth, beyond money, to cut his losses.
“maybe joe meant he wanted to take him to a vetinarian.”
No need to take a broken legged horse to the vet.
Bull, it is beyond obvious that the Farns has naughty photos on Cashman.
It is the only possible explanation as to why Farnsworth is still on this team.
thanks for pointing that out CB, I keep forgetting to take that in account, but Farnsworth 100 % needs to go IDK what is the fascination just declare him a bust already.
“why doesnt girardi have giambi laying the ball down the third base line every time the shift is in effect? it is very frustrating that Giambi keeps refusing to try it.”
I’ve seen this statement echoed many times in this forum and I don’t think Giambi would be successful at it at all.
Giambi has no speed whatsoever. Having Giambi bunt would be an automatic out 9 times out of 10 I’m quite sure. Giambi has to be one of the slowest runners in baseball.
Besides, Giambi walks a lot. Walking is just as good as bunting for a base hit. The Yanks didn’t sign Giambi to bunt for base hits. He’s a slugger and that’s what he does best.
People bring up Mickey Mantle bunting but Mantle at least had some speed. He stole over 20 bases one season. Giambi for his career has 16 stolen bases and 10 caught steals.
SJ,
I agree on Farnsworth completely. I think the vast majority of decisions a manager makes are subjective ones that are a matter of trade offs. There’s up sides and downsides to every decision and ultimately it’s up to the players to execute.
But one thing that is just intolerable at this point is Farnsworth.
I didn’t think he deserved a spot on this roster but Girardi wanted to fix him.
Same old Kyle. One of the things Girardi wanted him to do was to be “more aggressive” which really means he needs to throw more fastballs.
Well we saw yet again the magic of the farnsworth fastball. It’s a paradox of physics – the easiest 98 mph fastball to hit in the history of the game.
Enough. The bull pen put up yet another gutsy performance last night. Ohlendorf came in and let the two base runners score but that is a very tough spot for a rookie.
Afterwards – Ohlie was very good (he really does have good stuff – ball has tremendous life). Ohlie’s entire development as a reliever was as a short man – all of a sudden Girardi has asked him to fill in as a long man and he’s done a strong job (and still hitting 95 with late life in his third inning of work).
Hawkins – also pitched terrific. First time in fenway with the yanks after that disastrous opening to the season. He does what you need to do – keep the team in striking distance.
Farnsworth – gutless as always. He knew once posasa was in the game that if he letes crisp get on base its a run. No doubt. Right off the bat – base hit to crisp like clock work.
He needs to be traded to the NL – whatever they can get back doesn’t matter. Marginal A ball player and they eat kyle’s salary – fine.
They have a 6 man pen because farnsworth is terrible. They can’t keep letting 6 guys bear this load with the young pitchers having trouble giving them innings.
Patterson and Albie are marked upgrades from Farnsworth at this point in their respective careers.
They can record outs. He can’t. At least not on a level that would help the team.
Veras still needs more consistency in throwing strikes. its still an issue for him at the present time.
At this point, each passing day limits how much the Yankees have invested in Farnsworth. Its the last year of his deal and he certainly isn’t coming back.
At this point, its about how much money you want to eat.
In another month, that will be less than 3 million. Tip money to the Yankees.
Farnsworth is the poster boy for fans and media members consumed with the radar gun.
He throws harder than 99% of the pitchers in the game. He gets hit more than 99% of the pitchers in the game get hit and more than all of the pitchers with his velocity.
Velocity means nothing if you can’t locate. He hasn’t been able to locate consistently since he came to the Yankees.
At this point, if you are re-tooling the club, which they clearly are doing this year, its time to include Farnsworth in the group of guys you need to move.
my guess on Patterson is he will be up some time around June 12th as they send down Joba to convert into a SP, since that’s the time of the month the schedule gets weak.
Completely agree CB.
Unlike other years, the Yankees actually have viable options from within to replace guys in the bullpen.
Its such a downer when Kyle comes into games. I’m sure the players feel the same way.
Its impossible to have any confidence in the guy.
Great stuff, can’t pitch. It is that evil paradox.
There is one question I have that I’ve found very perplexing this year.
Last night phil had no command – none. That was clear 2 batters into the game.
Why was it that neither Eiland nor Girardi went out to visit Phil on the mound to settle him down or to fix his mechanics?
They just left him out there twisting until Girardi came with the hook.
They did the same exact passive approach in that first game kennedy threw where he was terrible.
And I may be wrong, but I think in that last game phil threw in KC – also no mound visits by the pitching coach?
It seems a conscious decision to not go out to the mound when the young pitchers are struggling. I really don’t understand it at all and have never seen this type of approach.
Girardi’s patience will run out with Farnsworth sooner than later. Many teams will take on a Farnsworth and Cashman will not need to eat much of his 2008 final contract.
Next in line for departure should be Betemit who clearly has not shown that he isn’t wasting a roster spot. His final test is not to hit whatsoever from the right side.
CB -
It’s called baptism by fire. Let the young pitchers learn from their own mistakes other than what is talked about between innings in the dugout.
JMO but, I don’t think Joba is going to be sent down to transition to the rotation.
The Dodgers didn’t do it with Billingsley last year and I don’t anticipate the Yankees doing it with Joba.
When its time, I think they will ramp him up while he is on the ML roster. More innings in relief, side sessions, etc.
If Kennedy and/or Hughes struggle for another month, that transition may happen even sooner. Part of me wishes that to be the case.
Not that I want to see Hughes and/or Kennedy struggle. I just think its time to realize Joba’s true value to this team is as a starter and the sooner that process can happen, the better.
We saw this weekend what a waste it is to have Joba in the 8th inning.
Three game series against the Sox and he doesn’t pitch because circumstances wouldn’t allow for him to be in the game.
I’d rather he was one of the starters over the weekend instead of hoping you have an 8th inning lead in order to be able to use him.
Good morning,
First off i have to say that my Birthday saturday was bitter sweet. Yanks lost but i went to the play Wicked. Story about the witches if OZ. Best play i have ever seen. Im not sure if its only in california but if not. Highly recommend seeing it.
Now to Yankee talk. I have a question to ask everyone. I saw Buckholts and Hughes pitch this weekend. I came out of it thinking that Buckholts stuff just seems criper. Hughes has been up and down since he’s come to the bigs. I know the leg injury had alot to do with his downs. It seems like after his injury, he has had trouble with his control. Not sure if he changed something in his delivery. But i know coming from the minors he was supposed to have pin point control and i havnt seen much of it.
So here it is. If this was another pitcher from the minors like Wright or Clippard for example. Would we be looking for him to be demoted to the minors? Honestly? I have been a big fan of Hughes. But i just wonder if we ignore his flaws because he is supposed to be our future ace/franchise. Potential doesnt guarantee anything in sports. Again im not trying to bash him. Just want to know if we’re a bit blind here and bias towards him.
On who they can get to replace Farnsworth -
Let’s put it this way. Remember that one game that Albaladejo came in and threw 3 innings of relief (think it was kennedy’s first start)
I can’t remember Farnsworth having even one performance since he’s been in pinstripes that was as good as what we saw from Albie that day.
Albaladejo is used to being a short reliever. That’s what he was converted to the pen to do. Hasn’t started in a while.
But Girardi put him out there on the mound to eat some innings and he finds the fortitude to get it done. And he gets it done knowing that he’s going to be optioned back to AAA the next day to make room for Pettite.
Can you imagine putting Kyle in that spot?
I agree with Alan. They talk to him between innings and, at this point, I don’t think they want to flood him with info.
The only problem with releasing Betemit is, zero LH pop or a bat on the bench if he goes. That may be the only thing keeping him on the roster right now.
CB I saw Girardi do this w/ the Marlins it could be learn to get out of your jams type treatment, I’m guessing Girardi wants to see Phil at his worst how he battles back, if anything Philip Hughes woke up today and will realize a 9+ ERA is now next to his name. Now we will see what bounce back does he have.
Thank god i’m not the only one. I cant see why he’s still on this roster. He cant pitch consecutive days or multiple innings. Other then the contract, name a reason he’s still on this team. He’s a FA after this year, he needs to be released. I’d prefer Aljadofajlno, Briton, Veras, Paterson, Ramerez, Jeff Weaver, Hideki Irabu, and Graham Lloyd at this point.
“People bring up Mickey Mantle bunting but Mantle at least had some speed”
some speed? i know you meant it as a compliment, but young( pre injury ) mickey was the fastest player in baseball. his left handed time to first base may still be a record.
i agree it’s pointless for giambi to try to learn to bunt at this point in his career. he’d probably get hurt trying to learn. david ortiz can lay one down the third base line to go against the shift because all twins are taught to bunt.
giambi should just focus on going to left center more. they are pitching him away so the ball is sitting on an outside tee just waiting for him to take advantage of it. he’s, by the way, as noted on the blog last night besides just the home run, showing some signs he breaking out of his slump.
“It’s called baptism by fire. ”
Well then if that’s Girardi’s choice he’s doing a disservice to the young pitching AND he’s wasting Dave Eiland’s strengths as a coach.
Eiland’s very good with technical issues. If Hughes is struggling on the mound Eiland should be analyzing what’s happenning and working on how to correct it.
Otherwise they may as well have kept Guidry here as the pitching coach.
Of course Hawkins thrived at Fenway. There weren’t thousands of Yankee fans booing and yelling, “Paulie”.
hes got moves on top of moves!
I’m curious why you guys thought last night was the coup de grace with Farnsworth.
As much as Farnsworth rankles me as well, he has had some effective stretches for the Yankees. I recall him striking Ortiz out in the series where Melky stole a HR from Manny but jumping over the wall. (It might have been the same inning actually.)
If the Yankees trade him, I won’t quibble. I just hate releasing guys and gaining nothing in return, especially when like Carlos Pena they resurrect their careers elsewhere.
I’d evaluate Krazy Kyle for at least one month of warm weather before I render a decision.
CB would you rather Philip act surprise the next time he is shelled or learn through getting out of it on his own. It happens our pitching coach can’t be there all the time, it’s almost a speeding process to help Philip in the long run.
He gets his butt handed to him in Fenway last night maybe 3 months from now he learns to close the door.
Its probably been asked a few times already. But in yesterdays 8th inning. Why didnt Damon lay down a bunt with men on first and second? Iv heard you guys say that you dont bunt early in games. Is the 8TH inning late enough?
Buchholz is 23 and Hughes is 21. Those two years make a big difference.
In looking at both pitchers, they are pretty similar except Buchholz, at least right now, may have better fastball command and he has a much better changeup.
Hughes’ curveball is sick. Its better than Buchholz curve and he has a good curveball.
Hughes brought it, velocity-wise, last night. 92-94 on the fastball. It actually has more late life than Buchholz fastball. Probably why he has such a hard time locating it right now.
Buchholz changeup is exceptional. A true plus pitch.
Then again, the two year difference in age and development years has a role in perfecting your third pitch.
That’s what we have to remember about Hughes. As well as Kennedy AND Joba, for that matter.
Boston’s “young pitchers”, Lester and Buchholz are older than all three young guns on the Yankees. Even moreso from a professional experience standpoint.
Bottom line, you gotta be patient with young pitchers. Can’t scrap it after 2-3 weeks, no matter how ugly the results have been.
If you do so, then you never develop your own pitching.
As much as Farnsworth rankles me as well, he has had some effective stretches for the Yankees. I recall him striking Ortiz out “in the series where Melky stole a HR from Manny but jumping over the wall. (It might have been the same inning actually.)”
oh yeh that was effective, Melky had to do a superman over the LF wall just to keep the game intact
CB–
I could have sworn I saw Eiland out there at least 2 times with Hughes
Is it me, or does Cashman seem a bit stubborn about admitting, or cutting bait, on his signings that don’t work out. I’m clearly with all of you, Farnsworth should be moved. A lot of teams need relief, someone would make a deal for him. There’s always someone who thinks they can fix a player…as evidenced here.
Fair point, Alex being Alex.
The Farnsworth coup de grace with me was the John Buck HR the other night.
Similar to last night, the Yankees were doing their very best grinding in that game. Kyle comes in and gives up a 450 foot HR to a non-power hitter who won’t hit .250 this year.
To finish it off, he gives up another run, which was essentially the ballgame.
A truly gutless performance. Last night was just more of the same.
That ended my thought Girardi, or anybody else for that matter, can “fix” him.
“I could have sworn I saw Eiland out there at least 2 times with Hughes”
yeh he was I think once in the 1st after Casey’s double and the next inning he had a quick inning and the 3rd aftrer Youkilis hard line drive, then the hook came.
SoS,
There’s a lot of second guessing. At the time I thought they should’ve done it because there were 0 outs and after the sacrifice, a base hit would score both runners.
So it went from 0 outs 2 men on, to 2 outs 1 man on.
Too many things would’ve had to go right to win last night’s game in which we went into a 7-1 hole. That’s why I’m not killing Girardi on the bunt or using Farnsworth.
Now the question is would Jeter bunt on his own?
Farnsworth needs to go… Maybe someone in the NL will think he’s worth something and we can get some pizzas and wings or something for him.
“I’m curious why you guys thought last night was the coup de grace with Farnsworth. ”
KS,
First off – I know the yankees aren’t going to get rid of him now – or at least it’s unlikely. That’s not the way Cashman works. He’s already said that he’s going to wait until memorial day before making any major personnel moves. And by then it’ll be easier to trade him.
The whole idea of keeping Farnsworth was the idea that Girardi was going to reinvent him because he’d caught farnsworth before during one of the few good years of farnsy’s career.
That was a tenuous idea at best but we hear a lot of praise for the new farnsworth in spring training. All that guff about how “Kyle never asked to not be used on consecutive days; Kyle never asked to not be used for 2 innings in a row, etc (all of which goes against his statistical performance..)
But everything we’ve seen from him once the games counted has been exactly the same farnsworth.
The reason why I think it’s imperative that they get rid of him is the stress and workload on the pen.
With young pitchers and Mussina in the rotation they aren’t going to get deep starts.
Yound pitchers just aren’t efficient with pitches – even when they are good. Tim Lincecum threw one of the best games any pitcher has all season yesterday – struck out 11 – absolutely dominant but reached his pitch limit after 6 innings and the giants had to hold their breath to pull out the game with the pen.
Mussina has been very surprising – much better than anyone could have hoped form. But he’s a 6 inning pitcher now.
The bull pen has done a great job – probably been the best in baseball over the first 10 games.
But they are throwing a lot of innings. Girardi has done a nice job spreading out the work but where that even distribution ends is with Farnsworth.
He can’t be trusted at all and he’s so limited in how he can be used (fact is he can’t pitch back to back games – I’m sure Girardi has seen the numbers) that they are effectively playing a man down in the pen. They have 7 bodies out there but only really have a 6 man pen.
They can’t just continue relying on 6 guys, especially when one is joba with his workload limits. Over time they are going to start breaking down.
How many times can they ask Ohlie to go 3 innings – that’s not what he’s been developed to do.
Ohlie has to do that in part because they are burning a roster spot on Farnsworth.
He needs to go. He couldn’t even keep Coco Crisp off the basepath when he knew posada couldn’t throw at all.
“Its probably been asked a few times already. But in yesterdays 8th inning. Why didnt Damon lay down a bunt with men on first and second?”
I don’t think it would have been a good idea. Damon had walked three times up to that point which meant at least in my eyes he was seeing the ball well. I’d much rather have Damon swing away then see him just waste an out.
Cano hasn’t been hitting anyway so even if Damon bunts maybe the same scenaria bares itself anyway. Cano strikes out, Abreu flies out.
“Similar to last night, the Yankees were doing their very best grinding in that game. Kyle comes in and gives up a 450 foot HR to a non-power hitter who won’t hit .250 this year.”
I agree, and don’t like Farnsworth, but one small quibble:
John Buck is definitely a ‘power hitter’ – he had 18 HR last year in about 350 at bats. He is, quite frankly, an all or nothing hitter. He stinks, all in all, but it’s no surprise when he hits an HR.
mel,
I dont see what the reason for not bunting was. Damon isnt a homerun hitter. So its not like we were hoping to take the lead on one swing. We grinded it out for 8 inning from 7-1 to 7-5. The heart of the order coming up. No reason not to bunt in that situation. Like they say coulda woulda shoulda. Like pitching to Ramirez with a base open. It shouldnt be a choice. Its a given. Yes Jeter would have bunted.
Hey! The Office is back. Did you watch it Thursday? Funniest show ever!!
Weather in St. Petersburg today, low 40s with 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms.
: The god of bad weather seems to follow the Yanks. Wherever there’s a drought, they should send the Yanks there.
HW doesnt matter Tampa plays in a dome
CB I suggested Farnsworth for 23 yr. old Yorman Bazardo last night since it could be a knee jerk reaction DFA move by Detroit, just IDK get him out of here. I can’t take Farnsworth anymore, he’s gutless.
Farnsworth”less” is just wasting a spot in the bullpen right now. He proved last week against the Royals that he can’t pitch more than 1 inning and even 1 inning is always a challenge for him. The only thing keeping him on the team right now is his salary. Clearly bringing up Patterson, Albaladejo, or Ramirez would be much better for the short and long run. Why not try and develop one of these young relievers so they can be really effective starting next year? Makes no sense to me.
Personally, I would like to see Ramirez up here. His K/9IP is again ridiculous this year and he only has 1 BB so far in Scranton. Last year his control was a problem and so far this season he has been effective throwing strikes.
CB, I’m in agreement with you in this respect certainly– the Yankees bullpen would benefit immeasurably from a long-man, at this point.
Despite all of the yankee’s pitching problems last night, IMO this was the most eye opening part of last night’s game.
Boston pitchers last night threw 193 pitches.
And the yankees still only scored 5 runs.
Boston threw 2 games worth of pitches – 2 games of pitches to get 27 outs.
That’s how ineffective their pitching was.
It’s not just the young pitching. Only way you can challenge for the post season and get through the struggles of young pitching is to have an offense that is going to consistently win high scoring games.
That’ll come. And it will make up a lot for the poor starts like last nights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geeREH9pkYQ
I think this is Wang’s best commercial.
Mostly they talk in english(so no language gap)
the following lines are those of the old couch:
—
Couch(in Taiwanese):The strike zone is here, but you can’t get the ball in.You want to pitch it to US?
(”US”, as a general Taiwanese slang, means “somewhere else”
and this CM obviously employs it as a pun.)
By the way, the CM I posted was made in the end of 2005, right before he got his first 19WIN. And this is the tidbit
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AX6hx7cixNY&search=%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E6%84%8F%E8%B1%A1
Farnsworth to the Mets would work but the 2 teams have little history in dealing. The Mets have the payroll resources but ………..
LOL nice move wang haha
a lot of injurys so far, just hope the guys get healthy quick.
they better win tonite, though kennedy brings nothing
Peter,
Here is the best tango dance commerical for Wang.
As spokesman of the 2009 World Games, to be held in Taiwan, he donned a tux and did the tango for a commercial.
He looked quite handsome in this film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhYbRq6SgIM&eurl
Mari,
Agreed with you. Chien-Ming looked awesome in the commercial for the 2009 World Games.
feel sorry to hear lots of Yankees were injured; hope all of them will recover very soon!!
Especially pray for Joba’s dad. God bless him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhYbRq6SgIM&eurl
This video has been removed by the user.
World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Chien-Ming Wang)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9FU7BOcDM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhYbRq6SgIM&eurl
This video has been removed by the user.
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World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Chien-Ming Wang)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9FU7BOcDM4
Great post. Thanks for sharing.