Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 03, 2008 
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There was plenty of blame to go around as the Yankees fell to the Twins.
Joba Chamberlain makes his debut as a starter today. This notebook also has updates on Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.
Jays-Yanks tonight at the Stadium. Check back later for the lineups and other updates.
About our bullpen woes, I don’t think for a minute that we would be seeing Joba in the rotation at this point in the season if our other starters, namely Hughes and Kennedy, had been able to perform as starters. Also, I don’t think you’d be seeing Girardi go to Farnsworth and Hawkins at critical junctures in games if Bruney and Albie didn’t suffer injuries. The way this team was drawn up at the beginning of the season is not the way it has played out. So Girardi and Cashman are being forced to do things on the fly. Tough to cry with any kind of credible indigation about the team we have right now and call it anyone’s fault. Unforseen things happen. That’s baseball.
trisha – Good point. We are where we are, and crying about fault does no good. However, perhaps we can play the hand we’re dealt a bit better, and make better use of what resources we do have. I’m talking here about BP options other than Kyle and LaTroy.
Dice-K is out until who knows when, Schilling has been out all season, now David Ortiz has a serious injury. The injury bug has not only bitten us. But it’s about time things got bad for our competitor.
Thank you Giants for beating on the Mets and not making last night a complete failure.
Thank you Penguins for winning and extending the Stanley Cup Finals.
Also, the easiest thing in the world is to criticize at a snapshot in time and say your psychic powers told you that a certain player would be exactly what he is at your point in time. If that’s the case then you should apply for a job as a top scout and get it.
One of the biggest criticisms about the Yankees – well two – was that they were a free spending team that was all about trading their farm away. Well Cashman decides to try to do something about both aspects and now he’s criticized for not going out and getting certain players instead of others, or not trading for certain players instead of others.
While it would be nice to have it all ways, it just ain’t real. Have mistakes been made? Probably? But maybe those things were the best for the team at the point in time they were done, maybe they were the best that was out there without overpaying or giving away the farm.
And then you will always end up with surprises. We’ve seen a revolving door of players who were supposed to be top on the list to get the job done but who failed. Contreras, Weaver, Lily, Vasquez to name a few. You don’t know until they put the uniform on and go out to do the job whether or not they are going to be able to actually pull it off. Playing in the Bronx comes with its own bugaboos.
Justin Chamberlain better do well
Joe from LI – I hear you. I think they’re trying to figure out how to mix and match and get the job done. You always go to your vets first because throwing a kid from AAA who has never played in the bigs into the 8th inning just isn’t fair. But hopefully they are going to ease Edwar into that position and maybe mix him in wsith Ollie. I don’t remember the use of the pen the day before yesterday so don’t know if Edwar could have been used or Ollie either. Those would be my choices anyway.
Have a great day.
Get used to it all you “Joba as starter” advocates. That sickening feeling that comes watching “Farney” stroll in in the 8th to help us snatch deafeat from the jaws of victory.
Girardi “still believes in him”. Too bad he hasn’t had the pleasure that we have had for the past 3 years of seeing him cave when it’s a pressure situation, time after time.
This Yankee team seems NEVER to have a shut-down inning following a scoring inning on our part. I’d love for one of the statistic mavens here to provide that info & compare to league averages.
I can think of nothing worse for a teams psyche & morale than this happening time after time along with losing laatye inning leads, which will now become the norm.
Same with our woeful pattern of stranding runners in scoring position. I for one would like to see Yankees start to use the squeeze play on a regular basis to break out of this funk.
Not panicking yet, but we need to start turning these trends around now. Too bad it’s too late to undo the obtaining of Hawkins who was supposed to be the answer to our biggest woe last off-season.
“Justin Chamberlain better do well”
It’s not Justin Chamberlain, it’s Leroy Chamberlain. Duh.
I’m going to next Monday’s game. All I need is one rainout this week and I get to see Joba’s 2nd start. Right now I’m scheduled to see Mussina for the 3rd time this season.
Does anyone know how to do a rain dance??
“Thank you Penguins for winning and extending the Stanley Cup Finals.”
Last night’s game was the first hockey game I’ve watched since the Rangers won the cup in 1994. I’m a die hard baseball and football fan, not hockey, obviously.
With that said, it was a lot of fun to watch!
Joba was always going to be in the rotation this year.
Don’t believe me? Ask Pete. He will tell you the same thing.
The plan was to get him to 140 innings and do it as a starting pitcher. That was never in doubt.
The injuries had nothing to do with it. If none of the guys were hurt, Joba was still going to go into the rotation.
To achieve that end, it was imperative to stretch him out this season.
Cashman talked about it all spring. They used him as a starter all spring. It was done to prepare him to start.
Regardless of his results this year (I don’t see him bombing as a starter) its the right move.
Out of all the pitchers they have in bullpens throughout the organization, if they can’t find one guy to pitch the 8th inning, that’s on them.
It won’t impact Joba’s future. He’s too good to be a setup relief pitcher.
Yea Clay – that was a good game. I don’t plan my schedule around hockey so I was hoping that I would get to see a clinching game. All is well.
There is more excitement today about Joba’s start than Carter has liver pills…folks around town are talking ’bout it….seems like playoff time! Pennant Fever! Go Joba! Go Yanks!
Do we still not know who is going down for Geise? Let’s hope it ISN’T Patterson…I want to see more from him.