Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 11, 2008 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Chien-Ming Wang got his sinker back as the Yankees beat the Athletics 3-1.
Nevada native Darryl Rasner has a “home game” tonight. This notebook also has updates on some upcoming lineup decisions, Jason Giambi and some draft signings.
Johnny Damon is back to being an offensive sparkplug.
I am really happy for the Wanger to get a win after 38 winless days! Nice haircut!
CMW, back on track!
Now is the time to trade Damon.
Wang is on the money last night.
I am so happy for Wanger.
if you’re losing Giambi and Abreu at the end of the year, you can afford to keep Damon on for the remainder of his contract.
how is it that the forum is suddenly making me defend keeping veterans?
hopefully, we’ve got some offense tonight to go with a little bit of Razzle Dazzle. 3-3 and a sub-3 ERA is downright criminal.
pete — DARRELL rasner
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com....._id=434480
i love your work though,
Why, oh why does Melky insist on sliding headfirst into first base? It obviously slows him down. Maybe he’s out of gas by the time he gets close to the bag, but he probably would have been safe if he hadn’t hit the deck, which slowed him down.
Joe needs to fine this behavior big time. It’s a really bad habit — I’d prefer if he picked his nose…
Someone needs to make a split screen video, showing Melky running full speed thru first base on the left of the screen and last night’s run and dive into first on the right side of the screen. This way Melky can see first hand what is going on and hopefully rid him of this habit.
I read somewhere a while back that the head first slide may actually help get to the bag quicker, but it has to be executed perfectly (which I don’t think Melky has been doing). It explained how the extended arms and upper body are in front of the body’s center of gravity during a head-first dive. That is the advantage. However the combination of friction from sliding on the ground and the lack of your legs actually pushing you forward anymore leads to it being pretty rare that it actually helps get there any faster.
If the fielder isn’t in a position to step on first, a throw to the right of the bag for instance, sometimes it may help when trying to avoid a tag.
Why would you trade Damon, the man is a proven winner. Go back to Game 7 in Yankee Stadium, 2004. Damon 2 homers including a Grand Slam to help beat the Yankees. Everybody wanted to bury this guy last year and look what he’s done this year. Whenever a player has a track record it’s easier to give him a little more time. Damon is the perfect example. Yankees 2008 World Champs!
if you’re losing both Giambi and Abreu, I don’t think we’re realistically going to fill in two outfielder spots with youngsters who are still in AA, so a productive Damon will certainly be welcome in left field.
Hmm..Broussard released without getting a chance to see what he could do on a big league level. Guess he should have done better than that measly .326 in AAA.