Big herd of goats at Camden Yards
-
- May
- 28
It would be easy to look at last night’s game and say that LaTroy Hawkins lost it.
And he did.
But Hawkins is simply at the end of the line of players who helped toss this game away:
* Derek Jeter had one of his worst nights as a Yankee. He got picked off second in the sixth inning with two outs and Alex Rodriguez up. He then couldn’t get a bunt down in the ninth inning with Johnny Damon on second and struck out.
In the 11th he somehow got thrown out at the back end of a 4-2-5 double play. And it wasn’t close. Then in the bottom of the 11th he made an ill-advised throw to the plate trying to get Melvin Mora, allowing Aubrey Huff to go to third.
* Alex Rodriguez threw a ball away in the second inning that cost Ian Kennedy an unearned run. Then with the bases loaded and no outs in the 11th he manages to ground into the 4-2-5 double play. “Stick your glove out, make a lucky catch and get two out of it,” he said afterward.
Lucky? He hit the hard grounder right at an infielder, the one thing you couldn’t do. Striking out would have been less damaging.
Rodriguez made another later error in the fourth inning, one of three the Yankees made on the night. They also had a passed ball.
* Ian Kennedy was given a 4-0 lead and gave up four runs in the second. You can’t do that.
* Ross Ohlendorf was given an 8-4 lead and gave up four runs in the fifth. You can’t do that.
* Wilson Betemit played first base like there was a minefield four feet from the bag.
* Then we have Hawkins, who with the bases loaded and one out and Alex Cintron up in the 11th, left a pitch up. You’re in desperate need of a grounder and you leave the ball up?
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on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 2:11 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
t’was quite whack
t’was quite SUCKED !
Can’t be serious?! If anything, that DP in the 11th was Jeter’s fault. He had the play in front of him, and even with that he went back to second before going to third.
A-Rod hit the ball as hard as one could. A couple of feet to left or right, and that was a two-run single.
This game reminds me of that loss in Detroit last year at 4 AM in extra innings (game only started at 11 after a rain delay), except it was Henn on the mound who gave it up. Both were painful.
Man.. I completely support Joba moving to the starting rotation, but it is 2 losses by BP in 2 days.. got to get a decent Joba replacement pretty soon given the current W/L record..
My list of goats tonight in order of ineptitude tonight are:
1 through 3. Hawkins
4. Jeter - awful game
5. Ohlendorf - future Pirate
6. A-Rod - hit the ball in the OF with the bases loaded
7. Betemit - made Giambi look like Donnie Baseball in ‘86
I can’t fault Alex for hitting into that DP-I mean he hit a bullet…
It’s baseball, you can’t always control it…
Wow, I’m a bit thankful now that we were out celebrating my mom’s birthday…I was spared the pain of watching the game.
If Kennedy’s out for his next start, who gets it? Joba? Surely it won’t be another Igawa experiment…
Jeter did have a horrible night, but I don’t blame him for trying to get that runner at the plate. With Hawkins t-ing it up, the only way we were getting outs was with some creative work in the field. Even if he held Huff at 2nd, is there a person alive who fealt that Hawkins would strand him there?
Tough loss, but if it punches Hawkins’ ticket some good can come from it.
Nevermind. Kennedy’s headed to the DL.
“Tough loss, but if it punches Hawkins’ ticket some good can come from it.”
Hawkins: should never see a mound beyond mop up duty.
I wonder how Kennedy is taking all of this?
Joba called Kennedy in some article his best friend. Think that will create a rift?
Put Kennedy in relief. start him off with 1 inning and let him work his way back to a starter. Why send him to Scranton if he has already proved he can pitch there. let him learn in th big leagues even that means putting him in the bullpen.I still believe in this kid.
“Put Kennedy in relief.”
You realize what the definition of the word relief is?
What is it about Ian Kennedy’s starts that makes you think he’d be useful in that role?
Wouldn’t it be better to let him work things out in the minors?
theres some candor for you
Kennedy is going to the DL, so it’s not possible at this time, but I’d also been thinking that maybe Kennedy belongs in the pen. It’d be worth a try, at any rate.
As for A-Rod, it’s true that he got the worst possible result there. And calling the play lucky is certainly an exaggeration (and an ungracious one at that), but so is holding him (or Jeter) up as the evening’s second biggest goat. This one’s on the pitching. All three of them.
Arod scorched the ball and it was unlucky that it was right at roberts. Matsui hit a weak grounder that found a hole. That’s how baseball works. You can fault arod for the 2 errors, but he at-bat in the 11th with a, yes, unlucky result.
Kennedy would be a bad option for the bullpen, unless its as a long reliever, which this team needs. He walks too many guys and doesn’t have a dominating out pitch. Furthermore, using him in one inning roles isn’t going to help his development as a starter.
I said they should start him off with one inning then, see how he does, if he does good, then give him 2 innings & so on. How do you what he’d be like in the bull pen? How do you know what Joba will be like as a starter? I’d rather see kennedy learn up here then in scranton.
Paging Steve Trachsel….
I don’t understand this team.when they can hit but they can’t pitch(hold).
i said earlier that it was the worst game i’ve ever seen jeter play, but i dont think the throw home was his fault, i belive the catcher makes the call, the relay man has to know where he’s throwing before he gets the ball, while his back is still to the plate.
LOL. The Yankees blow two four run leads, make three errors, can’t score runs with the bases loaded and 0 out, yet it’s Hawkin’s fault?
You guys have got to be kidding. Talk about a scapegoat.
Pete, great random picture. definately got a laugh from me when i got to my computer this morning.
A-Rod hit the ball hard. You can’t fault him for hitting it right at someone. My sense is that Jeter didn’t get a good jump and was out at third because he wasn’t sure if the ball was going to be caught.
But I’m supposed to be OK with all of this right, Pete? After all I shouldn’t “sweat every pitch,” because this is going to be a “transitional year.”
New Joba Rules 1, New York Yankees 0.
kennedy should be down in the minors learning to pitch. he is green and it is time for him (after the dl) to stay there so he can come up and contribute. this thing about learning to pitch in the majors is a joke. he is not a major league pitcher yet and not even close. please send him to the minors and teach him to pitch.
The problem with the Yankees is that they are rushing these kids thorugh the minors. They have to stop doing that. Let these kids pitch at each level for a year. They are rushing them and then paying the consequences for it.
I remember Jeter being defended by PA a few weeks ago when he hit a double play ball in a similar situation as Rodriguez- hard hit but right at a fielder- and we were told that Jeter did his job by hitting the ball hard and couldn’t control where it went.
Pete,
Your insight along with your sarcastic choice of words provides for a great daily read. Keep it up. I along with many other fans appreciate it.
Obviously the play happened after many peoples’ bedtime…Derek Jeter got doubled up at 3B because he could not see if the ball was going to be caught and had to go back to 2B.
Ken Singleton saw it (and stated it several times), Michael Kay saw it, those of us who can stay up past 10 PM saw it.
What about the umpiring? That was the worst strike zone I’ve seen this year, alternating between wide and super wide. WHy were the Yanks forced to hit in a downpour while the O’s got to wait until things cleared for their last wraps? I’m not supposed to think about umpires, but I Know Dumuth’s and Denning’s names now and I want to know where they live too.
Pete put it all together. That’s why I was so outraged last night. Like the Aflac goose in the commercial with Yogi: AAAAGH!
Nice graphics, dude. You are evolving into a multimedia maven!
Pete, this is your best write up yet. Spot on!
But the brunt of the blame goes to LaTroy Hawkins, Matsui comes thru in the clutch and he blows it. Between him and Farns we have quite a pair of useless relievers.
Can someone check the stats of this team in extra innings on the road the last 2 years. It seems like the yanks have lost on an abnormally large amount of walkoffs
can’t blame A Rod on the double play. he couldn’t have scalded that ball any harder.
Whatever number of games Joba wins as starter this year, there will be twice as many games in which the bullpen blows late-inning leads. Nobody in the pen can protect a slim lead in the 7th and 8th inning other than Joba. Expect to see many more crushing losses like this.
A-Rod hit the ball as hard as one can. You would have to be an idiot to blame him for hitting it at a fielder… Or just have no understanding of how baseball is played.
definitely some bad plays by sevaral people. but they ended up w/the lead. then Hawkins made his latest bid to be this generation’s Eric Plunk.
the goat list is missing one or more people: whomever decided Hawkins should be on the roster. obvious from ST on that they had several better candidates.
farnsworth is more eric plunk-like in that he throws un-godly hard but isn’t very good.
I think that sums it up pretty good, Pete.
I felt bad for Derek when he was picked off. I don’t think I have ever seen that look of embarrassment on his face before. I wonder what is wrong with him. Is he injured?
Painful and disappointing game to watch.
Jeter getting picked off of 2nd was bad. Jeter striking out while trying to bunt was bad, though, with a man on 2nd, having a guy who hits to the right side of the infield at will try to bunt was questionable. Jeter getting caught in the 4-2-5 DP was understandable — that ball was scorched to second. Jeter was thinking line drive. He got stuck in between.
Alex’s first error was bad. Alex’s second “error” was a very catchable ball for almost any 1st-baseman. Alex hitting the ball on the ground with the bases loaded was frustrating, but he did scorch that ball. He didn’t willfully try to hit it on the ground. He was maybe trying to hit to the right side, which you might question by saying just get it in the air. But really, I can’t blame Alex for that.
Betemit is scary at first base.
The offense put up 9 runs. Even with the 3 errors, you’re talking about 1 unearned run. Weak pitching was the (sad) story of this game. (What about maybe talking to Ohlendorf after the second home run in the 5th?) How a team with the largest payroll in baseball can’t go out and find a couple of decent (i.e., consistent) relievers is beyond me. I know starting pitching is hard to come by, and I’m fine with taking the time to develop some young guys. But if one of those young guys has a rough outing, you need to be able to rely on someone to come in and keep you in the game. And it’s been a long time since the Yankees have performed well in games that are close in the late innings or go into extras. I’ve been happy with Farnsworth lately. But the guy can’t go 2 innings or back-to-back days with any consistency. So he’s like half a reliever. Joba’s great, but he needs to be a starter. That leaves Rivera — and he can’t carry all of the burden out there.
I remember the Yankees having mediocre starting pitching and a strong pen. And I remember them having excellent starting pitching and a mediocre pen (with a good closer). But this is ridiculous. Shaky starting pitching and a hit-or-miss pen?
It’s difficult to invest 4 hours watching a game that you just know is going to be blown in the late innings.
“The problem with the Yankees is that they are rushing these kids thorugh the minors. They have to stop doing that. Let these kids pitch at each level for a year. They are rushing them and then paying the consequences for it.”
This is the Yankees problem - they are a team of extremes. We have two types of players - young/inexperienced and post-prime veterans. When the vets can’t get it done, they have to rely on the young guys. But that puts pressure on the new guys to perform and they’re prone to mistakes. Its a bad situation all around. That’s why I can only hope that this year the Yanks will clean house and start fresh with a new team in the new stadium. Its time for this team to truly rebuild.
Pete-
Baseball is a Hard Game.
ARod has about 1/2 second to recognize the pitch, swing and hit the ball hard. Which he did. Asking hime to guide it away from the infielders and other players is a bit too much.
DJ ran hard to third base as soon as he saw the liner wasn’t caught. If, instead he took off and got doubled off 2nd you would be taking him to taks for that.
Latroy Hwakins left a pitch up and “you can’t do that”. If he could throw the ball where he wanted to he wouldn’t be Latroy Hawkins.
My biggest beef was Jeter getting picked off 2nd. The 3rd base coach is supposed to help him out here. This is so out of character for Jeter that I am going to blame it on Bobby Meachum. He sucked as a player too and is a memory of the darkest days for Yankees fans.
“Then with the bases loaded and no outs in the 11th he manages to ground into the 4-2-5 double play. “Stick your glove out, make a lucky catch and get two out of it,” he said afterward.
Lucky? He hit the hard grounder right at an infielder, the one thing you couldn’t do. Striking out would have been less damaging.”
Wow Pete, you are an idiot.
hey diane….you need to back off from the name calling. If you want to call someone an “idiot” why don’t you subscribe to the “many” distasteful blogs all over the internet? Pete does a very good job on this site, and should be commended for a clean, professional website. Try to refrain from the useless insults….