Game 54: Yankees at Twins
-
- May
- 30
YANKEES
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Duncan 1B
Cano 2B
Molina C
Cabrera CF
Mussina RHP
TWINS
Gomez CF
Casilia 2B
Mauer C
Morneau 1B
Cuddyer RF
Kubel DH
Young LF
Lamb 3B
Harris 3B
Perkins LHP
Mike Mussina (7-4, 4.39) vs. the Minnesota hittters.
LHP Glen Perkins (2-1, 2.77) has never faced the Yankees before.
Notes: Jason Giambi is 12 of 23 with seven runs scored, six RBI and three homers in his last six games. … Hideki Matsui is 14 of 27 with 12 runs scored and six RBI in his last seven games. … Johnny Damon is 16 of 34 over his last eight games. … Robinson Cano is 1 of his last 15. … A-Rod is 4 of 25 over the last six games with two RBI. … Duncan is 2 of his last 19. … Girardi said there was a possibility that Posada could be back on Tuesday. But Thursday looks more realistic.
Back later with updates. See the previous post for news on Joba.
UPDATE, 6:17 p.m.: They’re playing Prove It All Night on the sound system at the Metrodome. Just wanted to mention that. Mainly because it’s one of the five greatest Springsteen songs ever.
Everybody’s got a hunger, a hunger they can’t resist,
There’s so much that you want, you deserve much more than this,
But if dreams came true, oh, wouldn’t that be nice,
But this ain’t no dream we’re living through tonight,
Girl, you want it, you take it, you pay the price.
UPDATE, 6:22 p.m.: They just opened the gates to the fans at the Metrodome. There are 75 fans behind the Yankees dugout and seven behind Minnesota’s.
UPDATE, 7:38 p.m.: Here is Joba Chamberlain’s pre-game interview as he talks about starting on Tuesday:
UPDATE, 7:42 p.m.: It’s always nice to see a fellow Yankees blogger at the game. Especially when it’s the lovely Tiffany of Ultimate Banter. Minneapolis will never be the same.
UPDATE, 8:10 p.m.: Glen Perkins’ warm-up song was Fake It by Seether. Nice choice.
UPDATE, 8:31 p.m.: Fortunately Johnny Damon is getting a day off (after a day off). He is hitting .313 against lefties, by the way.
UPDATE, 10:01 p.m.: Mussina had retired 10 in a row before that hit. He has allowed only two earned runs so far.
UPDATE, 10:27 p.m.: Imagine what the score would be if the Yankees were running the bases with some sort of common sense.
Meanwhile, Mussina is done after 109 pitches. Shelley’s error in the first cost him 18 extra.
UPDATE, 10:31 p.m.: Jose Veras walks the No. 9 hitter to start an inning in which he has a two-run lead. Excellent work, Jose. J.B. Cox, please pick up the white courtesy phone.
I’m fairly sure Chris Britton kidnapped Girardi’s dog.
UPDATE, 10:41 p.m.: Edwar Ramirez does it again. 14.2 innings, no runs. Now Krazy Kyle is warming.
UPDATE, 10:53 p.m.: The Joba Plan has but one flaw, of course. But the good news is that plenty of fans around the league get souvenirs.
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on Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 5:32 pm by Peter Abraham.
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I am sick of Duncan being in the lineup. He is a liability on defense and you could drive a truck through the hole in his swing.
Time to DFA Shelley. Major league teams already figured him out. He has been awful except for his first week in the majors.
Teixeira is young than Duncan.
LET’S GO YANKEES!!!
“I don’t think people understand what this is it’s probably the first ever real face lift this rotation will see.”
This happens every year without fail, Brandon, I can’t let you minimize the additions of Clemens, Johnson, Brown, Rogers, Small, Chacon, Clippard, Wright, DeSalvo, Halsey, Wright, Ponson, Clausen, and a gazillion others.
(I apologize to any sensitive yankee fans who weren’t ready for some of those difficult memories.)
The Yanks would send Duncan down to AAA, not DFA him. He still has options.
Any idea if the Yanks bring up another arm to eat some innings when Joba is out on Tuesday?
it finally seems like we are turning the table…
i look for Shelley Duncan to break his slump tonight.
Steph I’d guess White or Karstens
“Any idea if the Yanks bring up another arm to eat some innings when Joba is out on Tuesday?”
I really hope they aren’t just planning to keep Ohlendorf as their long/mopup guy. He’s just not suited for that role. He’s a 2-pitch guy. he’s suited for short work. Send him down and get giese. He’ll be a HUGE change from Joba, it’s not like sticking him in the pen will stunt his growth, and you can just kind of piggyback them until Joba’s up to 90+ pitches.
Posted by Gordon Edes, Globe Staff May 30, 2008 05:07 PM
Your faithful Globe correspondent was having difficulty making connections from the clubhouse, but as you’ve ascertained by now, Daisuke Matsuzaka was placed on the 15 day disabled list with a minor rotator cuff strain. The Sox purchased the contract of infielder-outfielder Jeff Bailey, who is here and could see action this weekend, when the Sox face lefties Garrett Olson and Brian Burres.
White walks a lot of guys and Karstens has been terrible so far. I hope that neither comes up. Horne should be back to AAA soon, so tehy need a spot in the rotation for him. Giese’s actually been good. Let’s get him up here and see if he can get some MLB hitters out for a while.
Odd choice for Joba to start against the Jays. They take a lot of walks. It seems like starting him against the Twins, who like to swing a lot more, would better maximize his pitches per inning.
Whozat I think this might be to your liking
“He had an excellent outing. Minimal amount of pitches, that’s the longest he had gone. I’m very pleased with what Melancon did (Tuesday). Since he’s been here, he’s been very good for us.â€
“You start looking at the clicker, and you think oh my goodness gracious, he’s got three innings in, and he’s got about nine pitches per inning. That’s pretty good, it was unexpected to be honest with you. We’ve got to protect him a little bit, we’d like to use him in the next few days. If we let him throw a few more pitches than that, we’d probably lose his services for about three days.â€
ThunderThoghts
Let’s get a win tonight!
From Pete A’s previous post:
“Joba seemed enthused about the idea and doesn’t plan to dial back his emotions. “You’re going to see the same person,†he said.”
THIS IS THE MOST important part of the entire debate about Joba’s role that the pundits and “chattering class” has missed out on. Joba sees himself as a starter, he has succeeded throughout his career as a starter and his desire to fulfill this role is crucial to his success.
If anyone follows the metropolitans, Heilman has been pissed off for 2-3 years b/c he wants to be a starter (and incidentally get paid as a starter rather than an 8th inning guy)
When you have HIGH-end talent, you allow them to have input into how they are able to contribute to the success of the team.
/end of rant
Of course, Karstens and White are on the 40-man, so that helps them. I’d rather see them pass igawa through waivers to get Giese up here, though.
ThunderThoughts * sorry Mike A.
I don’t really expect it to be Karstens. He’s still rehabbing the injury and has been getting mashed in AAA.
Passing Igawa through waivers would be nice…especially if a team picked him up.
Red Sox placed Dice-K on DL with rotator cuff injury.
Steph,
They should tell him, “Everyone gets put on waivers, even Manny Ramirez”.
Hope there are some St. John’s fans out there—- we just beat the Texas Longhorns down in Houston in the College World Series tournament.
GO JOHNNIES!
Re TKinDC – I don’t follow the Mets that closely (I obviously live in NY), but I’ve thought they’ve screwed around with Heilman too much. Yeah, he had difficulty as a starter at first, but he does have some good stuff. I really thought they should have given him a chance when they were short of starters last year, let alone this one. As Pete and others have said, you’re better off getting more good innings that a starter can provide.
I grow tired of the obligatory leftie-rightie match-ups that result in Joe G. sitting the hottest bats. Giambi at first, Matsui DH and Damon in left, please.
Again, I seriously doubt if Damon will hit less than .170 against lefties. Although Damon has less power against lefties, his career avg and obp are nearly identical against lefties and righties.
Duncan this year v. lefties? hitting .211 with obp of .279
65-70 pitches for Joba on first start? How many innings is that, two? two and two thirds? FTLOG, please bring up a long man from AAA.
Melky’s inability to do anything as a righthanded batter is a problem.
“I grow tired of the obligatory leftie-rightie match-ups that result in Joe G. sitting the hottest bats. Giambi at first, Matsui DH and Damon in left, please.”
It’s not because it’s obligatory. It’s because they haven’t given up on Duncan yet. Whether they should have or not is something worthy of debate. Personally, I think they should have brought Lane up already and given up on Shelley. And be actively looking for a righty 1B option.
If it was obligatory, you’d see Ensberg out there too. Him, they HAVE given up on.
Also, don’t forget that part of the whole year-long strategy is to keep the vets healthy. Damon gets two days to rest his legs this way.
Hey Tampa Bay Rays
You’ll disappear from this board (along with your team from the top of the AL East)soon enuf.
“Melky’s inability to do anything as a righthanded batter is a problem.”
True. His ABs looked a lot better from that side early. He’s looked like crap up there from the right this month. They clearly thought that Duncan could be their platoon righty in the corner OF positions this year, and he just hasn’t panned out. I’m continually curious how much it’ll take to get Matt Murton. I think he’d be a great OF fill-in and could be a solid fall-back if they decide not to hang on to Abreu after this year.
Hi, I only had time to skim today’s threads. So the main revelation is that Melky is Joba’s son? That’s cool that they ended up on the same team.
I think they will use Britton in a kind of long man role. He can at least throw 2 innings.
Last time Britton was up they used Ohlendorf more as a short man so hopefully we don’t see him back in that role.
Don’t expect Joba to be efficient with his pitches in that first start. That’s just not a realistic expectation.
Young power pitchers have to learn how to be efficient with their pitches, particularly when and how to go after strikeouts. Tim Lincecum is having a terrific season but he’s having issues with pitch efficiency.
As a reliever the primary concern is to try to get outs by missing bats regardless of how many pitches it takes. That’s what Joba has been doing since last August. It might take him a while to get out of that mode.
A short start is in now way a failure or a problem. It’s just part of stretching him out and transitioning him to the pen.
Did anyone else read about 1B Ben Broussard being picked up yesterday? I just read about it over at mlbtraderumors.com .
Seems like another Morgan Ensberg type player…
Wow, 75 fans behind the Yankees?
Pete, did you do a head count or use one of those tickers?
““I grow tired of the obligatory leftie-rightie match-ups that result in Joe G. sitting the hottest bats. Giambi at first, Matsui DH and Damon in left, please.—
This is somewhat like “gravity sucks” or “I would like to eat chocalate cake each meal”
After our Yanks go 162-0, call me!
Hey gargoyle, see you guys at the bottom, alone with your $200 million plus payroll.Nah, what am I saying, you guys will be there by yourselves.
“Seems like another Morgan Ensberg type player…”
I think he’s there for depth. Miranda keeps going on and off the DL with a shoulder issue, Lane may soon be up to take Ensberg’s slot, and then the AAA team has Eric Duncan and only Eric Duncan to be their 1B.
An interesting article on Long over on yankees.com. I find it interesting that he spends very little time studying up on opposing pitchers. He certainly puts in lots and lots of work with the hitters, so I’m not saying I think he’s lazy or anything, but it’s all about them. I’ve noticed that the Yankees tend to do very poorly against pitchers they’ve not seen much before, and I wonder if that’s because there’s a lack of organizational emphasis on scouting opposing pitchers. Or, maybe the hitters tend not to want that kind of info. I dunno. It just seems to me that having more of a game plan against guys the hitters aren’t familiar with would be helpful.
Peter,
Huh. Completely went over our heads. International edition of the NY Times had it on the 27th.
I’m wondering if Broussard should keep his night job. He seems quite successful. “bringining grunge back to Seattle”? I wonder if Broussard=kasey…
http://www.benbroussard.com/
Shoot! It sounds like there would have been room for me – should have hopped on a plane!
Love “Prove It All Night,” Pete and now I won’t be able to get it out of my head all night, thank you very much.
Found a dead baby squirrel or chipmunk in the pool today. And a live frog. Fun times!
I sure hope the guys getting rest during the season have a chance to show how much the rest has helped them when they’re hitting beyond belief in the playoffs! (Actually, I have no problem with guys like Damon, Matsui and Giambi getting the appropriate days off to rest.)
Let’s Go Yankees.
“Huh. Completely went over our heads. International edition of the NY Times had it on the 27th.”
Yeah, I saw that back on the 27th. I just figured that no one thought it was a big deal, so no one brought it up.
Cabrera doesn’t have ‘it’ tonight. 3 hits in the first, 2-0 Boston.
Whozat, is it just Kevin Long who doesn’t spend much time on opposing pitchers, or does that reflect the organization’s approach on the whole? Given all that I’ve read about how much Girardi and Rob Thomson prepare for the games, I’d find that surprising. But what do I know.
They aren’t playing Damon 4 days in a row on turf.
Its the logical thing to do.
The last time he played 4 straight games on turf (last year) he hurt his back and legs.
He’s been playing most of the season with a groin injury.
They are going to do everything possible to keep guys like Damon, Giambi and Matsui, guys who have histories with leg injuries, healthy over the entire season.
That’s what you do with an older team.
“An interesting article on Long over on yankees.com. I find it interesting that he spends very little time studying up on opposing pitchers.”
I don’t think that’s a major aspect to the job of hitting coach. That’s really something that falls on the major league scouts who get to see the upcoming pitchers in person.
Hitting coach is really oriented around mechanics and approach – things that ideally stay constant independent of the opposing pitcher.
They’re major league scouting of opposing pitcher does seem to be an issue – particularly last year few years in the playoffs when the other team had a better game plan against the yankee arms than the yanks had.
It seems like the team finally has as little momentum. Alex came back, there were some wins (6 of
Joba’s in the rotation. I think we can all agree that this is the best move for this season and future seasons.
Posada’s on his way back.
In two weeks, this team might have a completely different look and feel. As someone who reads a lot of posts and doesn’t post that much, the tone of this board seems to have improved recently. There might actually be some optimism out there.
Now it’s time for veterans to perform. If we get even 80% of what Damon, Giambi, and Hawkins are capable of we might be on to something.
How did that smiley face appear? I wanted to type an 8
you typed “8” then a ”)” right next to it. that’s the code for that smiley
“Now it’s time for veterans to perform. If we get even 80% of what Damon, Giambi, and Hawkins are capable of we might be on to something.”
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’d rather get 0% than 80% out of Hawkins.
Well, now I know how to type the sunglasses!!! Thanks, kd and MikeyJ.
How does Ensberg fit into this? There was some leap in logic I missed.
oblig-a-tory: binding in law or conscience.
Synonyms- required, requisite, essential.
Duncan’s starts over the past two weeks:
O5-26: Olson- LHP
5-25: Washburn- LHP
5-23: Bedard- LHP
5-22: Burres- LHP
5-21: Olson- LHP
5-15: Kazmir- LHP
In fact, I don’t see Duncan having started a game against a righty since April 5th (I may have missed a start but I don’t think so).
That’s pretty close to an obligatory leftie/rightie match-up.
So, because they didn’t put in the suckiest bat on the bench (who is a 3rd baseman, by the way and hits from the same side of the plate as your regular third baseman) then Joe G. is not wedded to leftie/rightie match-ups?
By the way, yesterday was an off-day. I’m pretty sure that Damon is well-rested.
“Hitting coach is really oriented around mechanics and approach – things that ideally stay constant independent of the opposing pitcher.”
fair enough. I wasn’t sure. It does, always, seem to me that they lack a good game plan when going up against guys they’ve not seen much of.
Seems that there is also a DH spot and a left-field spot that Damon and Matsui can rotate out of. Matsui is more than capable of playing a game in left-field to give Johnny a break.
“By the way, yesterday was an off-day. I’m pretty sure that Damon is well-rested.”
That’s not the point. They’re going to rest him during one of these games on the turf. Should it be the one against the lefty, or one of the others?
“How does Ensberg fit into this? There was some leap in logic I missed.”
Because if Girardi was swapping in all his righties every time they played against a southpaw, Ensberg’d be in there too. That would indicate that he was slavishly following the platoon matchups, which is what you were implying.
I you think a little, I’m sure you’ll get it.
Hey Pete, Are the Yankees signing for those 75 fans?
I also tore a back muscle getting out of bed one morning, that should preclude me from ever sleeping.
Whozat & CB …. Re: The role of hitting coaches ….I get the impression that the Sox hitters spend a lot of time looking at videotape of opposing pitchers and/or their own at bats. And their scouting reports are (allegedly) very detailed in terms of pitcher tendencies (e.g. in the playoffs, they were told to lay off Carmona’s sinker to the arm side, that it would move off the plate – it did).
But I have no idea if this is self-motivation (especially the tape analysis), or is emphasized by the coaching staff.
Having said that, it seems as if all of this nifty tape anlysis only works in home games, so, who knows?
“Seems that there is also a DH spot and a left-field spot that Damon and Matsui can rotate out of. Matsui is more than capable of playing a game in left-field to give Johnny a break.”
And he is. Today.
Look, if you want to argue that Shelley shouldn’t be on the team, fine. But if you think he should be getting ABs, then today’s exactly the kind of game he should be in.
Its not a factor of being “well rested”.
Its guarding against an older player having to play 4 straight days on turf. Think of it as preventive medicine.
Especially when the last time he did it (4 in a row on turf) he got hurt.
They have to do that with guys Damon, Giambi and Matsui if you want them to hold up over the entire season.
Matsui leads the AL in hitting. Don’t you think one reason why he is doing so is because he isn’t playing everyday?
When he had his consecutive game streak going, he would go into funks, both offensively and defensively, that lasted quite a while. Many Yankee fans used to scream for Torre to give him a day off.
We haven’t seen those funks this year have we?
How about Giambi? Isn’t this about the time he ends up on the DL every year? Hasn’t happened, has it?
One of the blessings of Posada getting hurt is, he is going to be fresher than he has in years in the second half of the season.
They aren’t going to run these guys into the ground. While some may think the game tonight is all that matters, a manager has to think big picture as well as the game at hand.
“I also tore a back muscle getting out of bed one morning, that should preclude me from ever sleeping.”
Depends. Is your bed widely known for exacerbating existing back problems? If it is, then your analogy makes sense and you should certainly not sleep in that bed regularly.
I wanna see how this Kershaw kid does for the Dodgers while waiting for the Yankee game. How old is he? 20?
Good luck to him..
Pete,
Speaking of Bruce, I just got back from his show at the Arsenal stadium here in London. It was a great show and lasted almost 3 hours. I saw him here last December and he was great then, but tonight’s show was much better and longer. In addition to “Prove It All Night”, he played both “Rosalita” and “Candy’s Room”, which was the first time I have heard either in concert in around 25 years.
Go Yankees.
coco crisp just went all the way to second on a swinging third strike that the catcher missed.
then he stole third.
...and was out on a suicide squeeze when cora missed the bunt.
Peter, what is so unbelievable about the Yankees having 75 fans over their dugout with far less over the Twins dugout? I suppose that would be the case considering the fans get to see the Twins every night.
“coco crisp just went all the way to second on a swinging third strike that the catcher missed.
then he stole third.
…and was out on a suicide squeeze when cora missed the bunt.”
Wow. That’s just horrendous play by everybody.
Great Springsteen song. Great Springsteen guitar solo at the end (when played live)too!
I have two Field Box tickets for Monday 6/9. The seats are 3 rows from the field down the left field line. Stadium Club passes are included.
I would like to get most of my money back, so I want to sell them for $80-$85 each (face is $95 each).
Anyone interested???
If I was making the point that Girardi went with leftie-rightie matchups with every postition possible, I would have stated so. However, since the comment was limited to one player in particular, Shelly Duncan, it is pretty evident that I was referring to Girardi’s slavish devotion to starting said player (Shelly Duncan) solely due to leftie-rightie match-ups. This conclusion (that of slavish devotation to Shelly frequently/always starting against lefties) is supported by the above comment that he has not started a game against a right handed batter since April 4th.
So, when there is a leftie on the mound, we can pretty much write off 1/3rd of the line-up due to Duncan, Molina and either Cano or Melky not hitting (seems to be a correlation where neither can ever hit in the same game).
Jerry,
That’s so awesome!
“I don’t think that’s a major aspect to the job of hitting coach. That’s really something that falls on the major league scouts who get to see the upcoming pitchers in person.”
CB is exactly right (IMHO)
If you are a good golfer (and I am not) you don’t spend time looking at different holes, you try to groove your swing.
There are 13 pitchers on each of the 15 clubs in the AL. I don’t think you focus on them as a group, you focus on how to get yourself right.
hhhmmm.
Well, not the greatest start for the Dodgers kid
They are trying to see if they can get anything out of Shelley Duncan. They have an option on Jason Lane coming up this weekend.
If they decide to keep Lane, they have two options:
Call him up and send Duncan down, since he has options.
Call him up and DFA Ensberg. Only problem with that is, it leaves Betemit as the backup infielder for the entire infield. Not sure if they want to do that.
If they don’t want Lane, they have to release him on or around June 1. One would think that’s a factor in all this.
As Whozat said, these are the games Duncan has to play in order to get those answers.
If you want to write off the entire lineup, that’s ok.
But, they play the games for a reason. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in a given series.
Unless of course you had Seattle beating Boston 2 of 3 because they looked so good in NY against the Yankees.
Is it just me, or does anyone else think that Bob Sheppard is dogging it?
There is a difference between an occasional off day and sitting your best hitters six times in the past 12 games because of obsession with leftie-rightie matchups. As for matsui hitting better, it may be because he is well-rested or it may not be- if it is the former it is likely because he has played the vast majority of his games as DH instead of in left field. Since my baseball experience is limited to high school and the company softball team, I am not an expert, but it is hard to imagine that getting off the bench four times in a game to hit, only 1 or 2 of which led to you getting on base, is an exhausting feat that requires an off-day every two or three days.
Again, the point isn’t just tonights game- the point is that Shelly has sucked, can’t hit, and yet is put into the line-up every other or every third day because OF LEFTIE-RIGHTIE MATCHUPS!!!!!
you highlight those lyrics as if they are poetic or something
“I grow tired of the obligatory leftie-rightie match-ups that result in Joe G. sitting the hottest bats. Giambi at first, Matsui DH and Damon in left, please.”
Nowhere in this message did you refer to shelley. You only whined about “obligatory lefty-righty matchups” If Girardi was actually a slave to matchups, he’d be playing Ensberg as well. If, instead, he still wants to see if Duncan has anything to offer as a platoon bat to balance the lineup against lefties (something that the team needs), then his behavior makes perfect sense.
Personally, I think Duncan isn’t going to perform in this role. So, I’d have no problem with him getting cut for Lane right now. But, the roster is what it is right now…and I understand the appeal of getting both Damon AND giambi two days in a row off from the field, and cutting out one day that they’d have to play on turf.
Lester Holt,
Springsteen is a poet.
stolen base,thowing error by varitek scores 1 for the birds.
“the point is that Shelly has sucked, can’t hit, and yet is put into the line-up every other or every third day because OF LEFTIE-RIGHTIE MATCHUPS!!!!!”
Well, he’s certainly not better than any of those other guys against righties. They still think he might be a useful bat against lefties, though. And that’s something the team really could use. They won’t find out by not playing him.
He’s not being a slave to matchups…he’s trying to find out if this guy is going to help the team. I don’t think he is. You don’t think he is. I suspect the team is pretty close to that conclusion as well. This may very well be Shelley’s last chance. But, there’s no way to find out other than playing him, so…
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7812
Question, do they not let MLB players get more than one shot at their photo or do they choose silly faces on purpose? I mean, with yearbook photos you always expect those to be bad but these are million dollar stars and half the photos of them are horrid.
I just don’t want to be here tonight to witness the beginning of another losing streak.
Damon isn’t sitting for lefty/righty reasons. He’s sitting because they don’t want to play him 4 games in a row on turf.
“But, they play the games for a reason. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in a given series.”
Um, that’s not completely true- over the course of a season I can pretty much predict with a fair amount of accuracy who will win and who will lose- if that were the case teams would start Jeff Weaver every game and have a line-up full of Willie Bloomquists with the theory that “no one knows what will happen”.
It is not unforseen that Bedard, a far better pitcher than Tim Wakefield, would get a “W”. Had Dice K not been injured, leading to the Sox going to their pen in the 4th inning, they would have won that game. The first game of the series was a toss up- Felix would ordinarily be better than Sabathia, but thanks to the anemic M’s line-up, the Sox won that game.
Tseng—
You are so right!!!!!! You just made me laugh so hard, because I have thought the same thing. What the- one shot and done? No proofs?? what?
Baseball is too poor to waste money on taking more than one shot. I mean, they’re suing little leagues over copying uniforms and team names, right?
Obesed Poopi on fire, again
“I grow tired of the obligatory leftie-rightie match-ups that result in Joe G. sitting the hottest bats. Giambi at first, Matsui DH and Damon in left, please.
Again, I seriously doubt if Damon will hit less than .170 against lefties. Although Damon has less power against lefties, his career avg and obp are nearly identical against lefties and righties.
Duncan this year v. lefties? hitting .211 with obp of .279”
Yes, you are clearly correct- no where in that post did I mention Shelly Duncan- except for the part where I said, “Giambi at first, Matsui DH and Damon in left” which would have resulted in Shelly Duncan being removed from the line-up. Likewise, when I said that Damon has a career average against lefties comperable to that against righties, and then referenced Duncan hitting .211 this year, I wasn’t referring to Shelly Duncan, I was referring to Sandy Duncan- the reason she can’t hit is because she only has one eye.
Tseng –
You know what they say – people with the most money are the cheapest!
Street poet. Or Turnpike poet.
“Duncan this year v. lefties? hitting .211 with obp of .279”
No one has argued that Duncan has been hitting well this season. No one has argued that Damon’s average against lefties is better than Shelley’s right now. However, you continually ignore WHY they’re sitting Damon and what that means for the rest of the lineup. You also CONTINUE to ignore the point that this team could REALLY use a guy with good platoon splits against lefties. I agree that Duncan’s not that guy. The Yankees don’t seem to have decided that yet. Given that…their behavior makes perfect sense and is NOT a slavish playing of the matchups. There’s a guy that they continue to want to see if he’s going to contribute against lefty starters. Because that has value to this team. How would they find that out by not playing him, exactly? A day on which they want to sit Damon seems like the perfect day to play that guy, doesn’t it?
Tiffany of Ultimate Banter?
Your link doesn’t work.
I mean, I guess I can’t blame them for going after little league. A lot of these teams have larger fan bases than teams like the Marlins and the Orioles, after all.
aw, that’s a shame. An error by Pedroia.
Tough break for the little ferret.
“Lester Holt,
Springsteen is a poet.”
thanks, I wasn’t sure, but now that some guy named Clay Buchholz stole my laptop, (aka Joe) said so I guess it must be true.
keep in mind that many people also find Jim Morrison “a poet” as well
Whozat,
Forget using logic. Anybody who truly believes they can pick the outcome of games with extreme accuracy ain’t gonna get the concept of why Damon is sitting.
I’m sure he also knew the Yankees were going to hammer Bedard the other day. Ironically, a game in which Duncan hit a 3 run HR.
“Tough break for the little ferret.”
hahaha
“Forget using logic. Anybody who truly believes they can pick the outcome of games with extreme accuracy ain’t gonna get the concept of why Damon is sitting.”
‘strue. I dunno. I guess if there’s one thing I’ve learned here on the internet is that not everyone argues from facts and not everyone uses logic to move from evidence to a rational conclusion. It’s been really weird.
evenin everyone.
i too am a little iffy about Shelley always being in the lineup… i know they want to get him going but there IS no where for him to play everyday, so what, have him play everyday while he’s struggling so when he gets hot you can insert him as needed? whatever.
so Joba is gonna start. Can’t wait. if he reaches his pitch count by say, the 5th, who comes in for long relief?
lovely evening here in PA. i’m camped out on the front porch with the game on my laptop while barbecuing burgers and dogs. ah, the american summer..or late spring.
This should be a good evening: watching my Bruins play baseball and watching Fullerton play later to go with a Yankee game.
Let’s see if the Yanks can right this porous ship.
gametime!
C’mon Derek.
Good to see the Yankees being a bit patient with a pitcher they haven’t seen before.
Who are these lame announcers?
Steph…. Have to pull for the Sun Devils….
O’s tie Sux at 2-2 on a Huff HR
Unlike the HR that John Sterling just saw, this HR actually counted.
Can we please get lasik for John?
is the sound messed up for anyone else on MLB.TV?
I’m sticking with my SoCal pride and my college team. I’ve got to respect Fullerton, though. Always excellent.
Did alex get good wood on that? I’m watching on Gameday
We’re watching on My9, and the sound is just, well, weird. Michael Kay sounds like he’s a mile away from the mike or something. I can’t quite put my finger on it.
kd –
Yeah. Alex hit it well but right at ss.
Well, except for the fact that I don’t care much for the Twinkies’ announcers’ voices, no, I’m not having any trouble with the sound. What level feed do you have it on?
I’m not even getting the announcers on MY9, just game sounds.
My9 broadcasts always seem a bit weird to me.
Hey, we’ll take that!
good job Hideki
400
which one are you on Steph
A lucky bloop by Matsui! Wow, I thought the SS had that.
Nice job, Bobby & Hideki!
thanks doreen. gameday is the bane of my west coast existence.
I’m on 1.2 M.
Ah, just changed to 800 and it’s working
It’s a slower feed, but the picture quality is better. I’ll check and see what happens at 400k.
Steph the Twins broadcasters aren’t any worse than Michael Kay.
“A mustache and a thong… that just doesn’t go together.”
-FSNO announcer.
I checked through all of them, and they seem to be working. Just going through those annoying commercials…I liked it better when they didn’t have any.
Steph,
Kurt Suzuki (Oakland A’s) was a catcher on the Fullerton championship team. He’s from my side of the world.
Yeah, Fullerton always seems to put something together even when they don’t have the best players. They’ve got some good ones coming into the school from the signing session. Same as the Bruins.
If it’s a Bruins-Titans match-up for tomorrow night, I’m seriously considering making the drive over to Fullerton to watch it.
Mooooooose
Nice wait to start, a K
That was a wicked curve he had there. Gomez ran out of the box.
Not that it matters but Shelley’s brother Chris just got sent down to the miors today. It really is amazin how this game can humble some people this is a guy who was on fire last year and then got hurt at the end of the year and just has not been he same since
Obesed Poopi with a 2-run HR?
come on Moose!
I suppose I should complain about the Twins’ announcers. ESPN U’s are much worse…completely uninformed about schedules of the schools and other things.
I thought Chris Duncan was in the league a few years now – didn’t even think he was on the border to get sent down
little leaguers make that play
Duncan has been taking throwing lessons from Big G?
ugh
He really learned nothing from Tino.
That was a REALLY timid throw.
Oh Shelley..
shaking my head
Isn’t their arena named after a cross-dresser?
Big test, Moose vs. defense.
Uh oh. Someone made an error behind Mussina. You know what that means. 9 run inning!
Not good Shelly, he’s throwing himself to a demotion
Everyone ignored me weeks ago when i said Duncan is not the answer at first. I also said he is nearly as bad as Giambi. Now I’m thinking he might be worse.
That wasn’t a very good throw.
Duncan had a couple of good years in the majors. He hit over 20 homers in each of the past 2 seasons, but he has really been struggling this year…and was completely dead at the plate in May.
And now his brother made a terrible throw over at first. He had plenty of time to get the runner.
This ump has had a super tight strike zone each way.
That wasn’t a botched play by A-Rod, that ball took a wicked hop to his left.
Shoddy defense… not good.
Shelly’s last games as a Yankee
The defense seems to disappear when Moose pitches lately…
Mike Mussina is the biggest head case.
I continue to be amazed at how an organization with the resources that the Yankees have can’t find a guy who can throw to 2B. It’s surreal.
Jerry meals has been super inconsistent.
An error behind the Moose=many runs
Good evening all!
C’mon Moose, get out of this!
Let’s Go Yanks!!!!
damn – can’t even blame Mussina for this – he’s doing his job getting ground balls – one got thrown away that would’ve ended the inning and the next two just scooted by on the turf/hit in the right place
So is this another game where Moose gets 2 outs gives up 8 runs?
Our defense looks slow and old.
Another pathetic performance from the “borderline” Hall of Famer
This stinks…............................................
What ever happened to striking guys out.But hey another 5 innings pitcher.
This looks exactly like Moose’s recent start when Jeter made the error that snowballed into a nightmare first inning.
Dammit shelley couldn’t you have just thrown that ball on line?
It’s deja vu all over again as Yogi would say…
horrible defense behind Moose so far.
Wake up boys
Oi…this is starting to look ugly. Why is it that the defense seems to disappear with Moose on the mound?
Yanks tend to get opposing hitters out of slumps…......
Yankees should take note… singles seem to work just as well as the long ball..
3-1, afraid this could be a long night that will over soon.
How can anyone blame Mussina for this? Ground ball to Duncan – no outs. Ground ball that ARod should have handled. No outs.
I feel like I’m watching Ian Kennedy pitch.
Moos has got to be saying why me
an error and two balls just out of reach of the infielders
“Mooooooose
Nice wait to start, a K”
I should have turned off the tv and gone out right then.
Horrible defense behind Moose? There was one error.
good-bye Shelly
Anyone watching? Why did Moose not attack Mauer?
The error hurts, but the walk and subsequent 3 hits hurt more.
At least it’s the first inning. The Yankees still have 8 more innings to go.
Jeter web gem
Well good first inning by the Twins!
That was a beautiful play by Jeter. Saved a run and another runner being on.
Jeter saved some more runs right there
Shelley Duncan is not a major league starter at any position. He’s a dead-pull hitter with a massive K rate and low walk rate. And he’s a butcher at any position.
I’m am running out of reasons to believe that this team is anything but a mediocre team in transition. That was pretty much the worst case scenario, and that’s what we’re looking at. Unless Chamberlain hits the ground running as a starter, which is quite possibily not going to happen, and Kennedy and Hughes return and dominate, I don’t see much to look forward to until 2009.
Thata boy Moose STRONG START
Trisha, take your web gem, we will take our 4 runs.
Bring it…
today’s most predictable occurrence:
A) the joe girardi over-managed his lineup again
B) that duncan couldn’t handle playing 1B
C) that mussina gave up multiple runs following an error
D) all of the above
anyone? anyone?
so yeah, that could have been worse. Put up a couple against this tomato can while Moose works on the NYT puzzle and all will be well.
Just about time for a “come to Jesus” talk.
Neil –
A-rod should have had that ball for a double play.
“Horrible defense behind Moose? There was one error.”
So you thought Alex and Shelley didn’t make their own little mistakes? They could have handled it, yet they didn’t.
The ball can take bad hops on astroturf. The umpire might have an inconsistent zone. Add Shelly’s gaffe, you add a ton of pitches to what might have been a quick inning for Mussina.
I think the defense looked a little sloppy. You don’t have to have an error called to believe a play could have been made. Not every error is called.
bring joba in right now, bring what? In case you didn’t hear Joba is not going to be brought into a game until Tuesday so if you are waiting for that you will be sadly mistaken.
I’m out.
Be nice to our guest, Ben.
Let’s go Yankees!
E) kasey waits all the way until the first inning to be negative.
Is there a designated troll from every team to visit in here?
I hope the bats are awake tonight
shelley needs to follow his brother….
watching that 1st inning a how Jetes dove for that ball he will not play SS for the rest of his career.
Shelley has been useless since this season.
I think there must be trolls from every team that take an invite to come here. Just ignore them.
Im so sick of watching shelly duncan!!!! He SUCKS!
hopefully mussina shuts everyone down for the next 6 innings.
My lord these Twin broadcasters are hideous. They’re actually idiots. At least Hawk has some baseball intelligence. These are just talking heads.
I spoke too soon when I said that I got the YES broadcast for every game but the Sux series. Damn.
Maybe I’ll see whether the MLB broadcast has YES sportcasters.
No, I don’t hate everyone who disagrees with me, and I shouldn’t call a Twins fan visitor a troll, that’s true. Especially when someone who pretends to be a Yankee fan is worse than any of them.
I was a Shelly supporter based on last year’s performance but not anymore. Clearly, he needs to borrow Chris Britton’s car and head back to Scranton.
Nice to see Jeter on top of his game tonight!
They are hitting this guy hard just not much to show for it so far.
You mean Britton hasn’t gotten enough frequent flier miles to give Shelley a plane trip?
Would it kill Jeter to look at a couple of pitches?
Trisha, while the Twins broadcasters are far away from the best in the league, quit acting like Michael Kay is anything special either.
Call me superstitious, but Moose started his winning streak at the exact time when Hank started making comments a day before his starts. As soon as Hank stopped talking, Moose stopped winning.
Duncans running out of chances…tex will look great playing in that new stadium next year
Cabrera pitching a beauty for the O’s. Tie score in the 6th.
I can’t wait for when we play Pittsburgh..the Pirates trolls should be fun:
“Aaaaarrrrggggghhhhh”
“Ahoy Matey!”
“Thar she blows”
“Shiver me timbers!”
Good approach to hitting swinging at the first pitch after two, two out hits
Ever wonder why our young pitchers never perform like the young pitchers from other teams?
Like the hitting approach tonight, first hittable strike swing. Hits should start falling later.
Gonzalez hit another double for Trenton he is 2 for 4 batting .330
our favorite delinquent is 1 for 3 w/ 1 R
Hard to hold that inning on Moose.
I’m not a huge fan of his pitching style but, you gotta make the routine plays in the field. They didn’t once again in that inning.
We aren’t talking about making great plays like Jeter did in the first. A routine groundball to first, gives Moose a scoreless and light pitch count inning. Unfortunately for the Yankees, no play at first is routine.
For 7 years, this franchise has ignored defense at first base.
If you are scoring at home, that’s 28 runs (yes, I’m keeping a running tally of defensive plays blown by Yankee first baseman this year for a project I am working on for a client) in 54 games this season.
That translates into giving away a run every other day due to poor defensive play at first base.
Nobody is asking the Yankees to have a Gold Glove first baseman. Would be nice but, I’m not even looking for that threshold for a first baseman.
However, to have a 209 million dollar payroll and have 2 third baseman and 2 DH’s manning the position is just inexcusable.
Ironically, this team wants to rebuild with young pitching while ignoring defense.
That’s a losing strategy.
If they aren’t going to improve the defense, especially at first base, instead of retooling the pitching, go after more offense and win 10-9 games.
I think that would be the wrong way to go. But, if improved defense doesn’t go with improved pitching, you won’t see improvement on the mound.
For a team averaging less than 4 runs a game on the road this season, giving away 4 runs in the first ain’t what the doctor ordered.
“Would it kill Jeter to look at a couple of pitches?”
you can clearly see him favoring his shoulder
WTF do we need defensive drills now ?
S.A. I sure wish you would quit acting like your team is great for some reason. I mean I am not here to talk a bunch of smack, but please don’t act like the Yankees are the greatest thing ever this season. Just look at Matsui’s effort on that last play for evidence.
Over/under 12.5 hits allowed my Moose tonight
Yanks are putting on a defensive clinic tonight.
So what do people know about Jason Lane? How’s his defense at first? Also, when is the draft? We need Cashman’s full attention to filling the holes sooner rather than later.
“S.A. I sure wish you would quit acting like your team is great for some reason. I mean I am not here to talk a bunch of smack, but please don’t act like the Yankees are the greatest thing ever this season. Just look at Matsui’s effort on that last play for evidence.”
LMAO
“Whiff (Cano’s bat) ”
I got to admit really funny
Is there an official stat kept for number of errors made behind a pitcher throughout his career? Cause Moose has to lead the league in that department. HAS TO. The sad irony of it all is that he himself is the best in the league at fielding his own position.
I know he has to deal with variables and get the outs anyway, blah blah…but all the errors get frustrating! As much as I love Shelley, he has been brutal to watch this year in the field and at the plate. And Jeter too lately.. still my favorite player of all-time and I greatly respect his playing hurt, but PLEASE, take a few days off Cap’n!
Oh and not to sound like a music snob, but Seether? E-gad…
...the only good Seether is the single by Veruca Salt!
I find it almost unbelievable that a Twins fan would have the audacity to come onto a Yankee blog and scold and chastize Yankee fans. Pathetic.
I think the Yanks have to consider giving Lane a chance to play up here. He’s not a stellar defensive guy, but he can probably make the throw to second better than what we’ve seen.
The draft starts June 5.
What I’m hoping is that there is a team of Twins trolls tonight and they’r working shifts. Maybe this one will tag out and the smarter one will tag in.
Ok, sorry, ignore, ignore.
Absolutely, SJ44. Especially when you’re preaching the necessity of throwing strikes, pitching to contact. The pitcher has to have faith in his defense in order to do that. Otherwise, the pitcher is going to try to make perfect pitches all the time and that never, ever works out. Pitching and defense, I’ve always heard, go hand in hand.
looks like 2-1 in New Britain Alfredo is going for his 2nd CG
Trisha, why is that?
Get to work bats
I can’t get it.
In order to accomodate Shellley in the line-up, then Matsui who used to be as the DH, in left field, I also don’t understand Joe use Jeter as the first hitter, whom we know Jeter has been slump for quite a while.
No love for Seether? I actually like their song “Broken” with Amy Lee.
Didn’t we just pick up a 1B and send him to SWB? I forget who it was. Don’t you think that was a focused pick up and maybe the thought is the guy will soon join the Yanks? I think whoever it is played for a bunch of ML teams. I believe his BA wasn’t stupendous, but I am hoping that his glove is!
Anyone give me the name? I want to check out his fielding stats.
“If you are scoring at home, that’s 28 runs (yes, I’m keeping a running tally of defensive plays blown by Yankee first baseman this year for a project I am working on for a client) in 54 games this season.”
SJ44 – who is your client? Doug Mientkiewicz?
Even if Cashman gets the worlds best 1B in the draft, that player is not going to be of any help to the major league club any time soon.
“If you are scoring at home, that’s 28 runs (yes, I’m keeping a running tally of defensive plays blown by Yankee first baseman this year for a project I am working on for a client) in 54 games this season.”
Wow. That is absolutely staggering. And innately disturbing.
Anyone still wanna defend not bringing back Phillips or Minky? And actually, I know I will get at least one “but he’s a below average baseball player” response to this, but would it be possible to get Phillips back? I don’t think he stuck with the Reds did he? (now cue the “well there’s a reason for that” comments. lol)
What do you know? Mussina gets bombed and SJ44 has a post that covers about sixteen paragraphs detailing why. Thanks, Moose for subjecting us to that piece.
Gomez needs to cut that ball off to hold him to a double.
atta boy Bobby.
Now get him home
Yeah, the Yanks picked up Ben Broussard after he was DFA’d from the waivers and released from the Rangers. He’s in AAA.
DFA’d from the waivers? Boy, my mind is not working right now. He was DFA’d and put on waivers. There we go.
How can you justify keeping Mussina in the rotation? They need a reliever, another starter who can provide innings and a right hand bat.
Actually, I read here today that Phillips got a call up.
Steph, I don’t know a lot about him but I’ll see what I can find out. I will dance a jig if the scouting reports talk about his stellar fielding!
Punch him out ump.
“If you are scoring at home, that’s 28 runs (yes, I’m keeping a running tally of defensive plays blown by Yankee first baseman this year for a project I am working on for a client) in 54 games this season.”
That is just disturbing
This game isn’t over. No matter how many people here say it is. Or no matter how much Moose tries.
Andy Phillips actually just got a call-up from the Reds a couple of days ago.
“How can you justify keeping Mussina in the rotation?”
JB, I think it has something to do with the wins.
“If you are scoring at home, that’s 28 runs (yes, I’m keeping a running tally of defensive plays blown by Yankee first baseman this year for a project I am working on for a client) in 54 games this season.â€
That’s what happens when you don’t have a real 1b on the roster. With a team of contact starting pitchers. Smart?
Doreen,
Exactly. Wang, Andy, Moose, Joba and Rasner. Four of those five guys pitch to contact.
That starting staff is definitely good enough for the Yankees to win games.
Putting bad defense, especially at first behind them? You are defeating the purpose of rebuilding your pitching staff.
They don’t have to spend 200 million dollars to find a first baseman.
Geez, just sign Scott Hatteberg for NOTHING right now. He can play the damn position 2-3 times a week.
To do what they are doing is criminal to the staff.
If I was a pitcher on this staff, I would be going ballistic right now. Its not right and its not fair to the guys on the mound or the rest of the team.
If they got a real first baseman, they can rotate Giambi from first and DH during the week. They can take him out for defensive purposes late in games when needed.
It keeps everybody fresh, everybody involved, and it actually improves the team.
I have no idea why this concept is so foreign to the Yankees.
Its a headscratcher.
Amen! A-rod w/ RISP!
come out of that mini slump MVP!
Alex isn’t running right.
GiDP?
Well we will take that DP. Now get this roided guy out Perkins.