The Sunday Links
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- September
- 14
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The Yankees split a doubleheader against Tampa Bay. After a tepid first game, they managed to win the nightcap. Brian Heyman has the story.
A telling quote from Mike Mussina: “I just think there have been times when we don’t look like we’re doing things the right way, or we’re certainly not playing the game the way we envisioned.”
Phil Hughes could start Wednesday. This notebook also contains an admission from Joe Girardi that his coaching staff could change.
The Sunday Baseball Beat focuses on Junichi Tazawa, a player you’re soon going to hear a lot about.
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on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 3:03 am by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
The coaching staff isn’t the problem.
It’s the inexperienced manager that needs to go.
and whoever had the idea to hire him.
The first game on saturday was hernendous….we were doing everything wrong EXCEPT for the captain who went 3-4 and at one point in the game he had all of the yank’s 3 hits + outstanding fielding plays as well….that’s why he’s captain LEAD BY EXAMPLE, and for anyone to question his ratability they’re obviously blind. Ponson came through but Nady is just purely outstanding. He’s going to be a big part of this rebuilding phase after the season, he’s the clutch player we’ve been waiting for. Abreu should be gone and Giambi during the off season to bring in new talent…ugh its just sickening to watch these yankees right now…
hmmmmm – a universal baseball draft? at what ages of eligibility? closed shop union? right to work laws? involvement of “advisors”? monetary equality? i sense a TON of legal hurdles will delay it for many years!
Frank G
September 14th, 2008 at 4:06 am
The first game on saturday was hernendous….we were doing everything wrong EXCEPT for the captain who went 3-4 and at one point in the game he had all of the yank’s 3 hits + outstanding fielding plays as well….that’s why he’s captain LEAD BY EXAMPLE, and for anyone to question his ratability they’re obviously blind. Ponson came through but Nady is just purely outstanding. He’s going to be a big part of this rebuilding phase after the season, he’s the clutch player we’ve been waiting for. Abreu should be gone and Giambi during the off season to bring in new talent…ugh its just sickening to watch these yankees right now…
____________________________________________________
Ponson was in trouble the entire game, and, it came back to bite him. As far as Nady goes, he had one hit and he’s struck out 1/3rd of his at bats as a Yankee, but, it’s Abreu that you want gone. Abreu was 2-4 in the first game with a double and a homer, but, only Jeter showed up, huh? Jeter is no team captain. He can lead by example, but, if he isn’t saying something to the players that everyone thinks has quit on the team, then, he’s either not doing his job, or, that is all bS to begin with. Jeter isn’t the only one doing his job. Don’t let your Jeter love turn you “obviously blind”.
Pete,
Thanks for the great articles. So that’s what you did on your “off” day?
I think that the NPL is going to have to cut down on the years of servitude, uh, service. 9 years is way too long.
The Japanese are so funny. Because this kid asked politely, the league has to give it consideration and respond in a respectful and timely matter.
Looks like Boras did his homework on this one.
Won’t be surprised if the Red Sox cross the line in the sand first.
They’ll justify it by using Okajima and Matsuzaka in some way.
I knew that Moose would be disgusted with the offense differential. I’m telling you, Sidney’s the lucky charm (half the time anyway).
Speaking of disgusting, Schilling’s a pig. Can you imagine if a Yankee pitcher said what he did? That’s right you can’t. Would never happen.
I had to go back and check. But, yes indeed, you did dis K-rod. Zing.
And I caught Torii and Ludacris on an interview. Torii looks like a cool guy and he seemed totally embarassed. He had just learned about the suspension and was joking about it in the sit-down.
Their joint project looks like a great opportunity for artists to get their work exposed to a broader audience.
This team has neglected defense for too long now. They’ve fallen in love with offense and homeruns and have relied on said to cover up their defensive deficiencies. Giambi, Posada, Matsui, Abreu and even Jeter have cost this team dearly in recent years with their sub par defensive performances. You’d be surprised how much this pitching staff would improve if you had competent, reliable fielders manning key positions on the field. I can think of many games where this team has given the opponents extra outs and kept innings alive. I know this team is rated highly in fielding percentage but if you watch the games you know that their lack of range and execution has cost this team more times than fans care to believe.
This team is so finished…..why isn’t this blog?
I love this blog.
I have seen tazawa he has a good fastball with good location, a 12-6 curve around 76 and a average change if I remember correctly.
Changes will start with the Cashman decision. From there it moves to the coaching staff. Meacham should be replaced with current bench coach Rob Thomson. Tino should be Girardi’s bench coach.
No significant player changes until free agent filing period begins which is the first 15 days after the World Series ends.
About Meacham — did anyone else hear Michael Kay say wonderingly, “Jeter didn’t pick up Meacham” as he was running the bases?
Jeter has completely ignored Meacham for quite a while, whipping his head around as he runs as if he saw “Exorcist” too many times as a child, keeping track of the state of play for himself.
Obviously he doesn’t trust Meacham to do it and hasn’t for some time. But Michael Kay didn’t notice until yesterday.
And as far as Thompson replacing Meacham, Thompson is a stat-head. We don’t need a stat-head to coach third base. We need someone who has good game ‘reflexes’.
on 9/21 in the 9th inning, a wicker man type ritual with meacham would be a perfect way to finish yankee stadium history
“We need someone who has good game ‘reflexes’.”
Agreed – And his name is Lawrence Robert Bowa.
We’ll even buy him some steel-toed boots to deal with a certain 2b that has some performance issues.
I’d bring back Bowa as a potential replacement….he’s not only the best 3B coach and a primo motivator, he isn’t a bad manager….more volatile than Torre, and less polite than Girardi….nice to have around in case we decide next year that is still isn’t happening……
“About Meacham — did anyone else hear Michael Kay say wonderingly, “Jeter didn’t pick up Meacham†as he was running the bases?”
Oh yeah, saw that. It speaks volumes.
For all the talk about lack of offense, the Yankees really suffered from a loss of leadership, IMO. It’s too soon to separate out the merits of Girardi’s performance from all the other distractions, injuries, etc. But he’s not Joe Torre – yet – and everybody knows that.
Torre; Saint Joe, Uncle Joe, Sleepy Joe. The man ran the team using The Stare, was an MVP, and an almost Hall of Fame player. Joe T was a master manipulator of his team, his organization and for a long time and to great effect, the media. He had his flaws and maybe his mojo was running out of steam, but he was God in that clubhouse and he got results from a very flawed team every year after 2001. You can’t lose Joe T’s presence and not suffer a huge drop in leadership voltage. And what is leadership about other than inspiring confidence and getting players to believe they can jog through hell? Results follow.
Unable or unwilling to get into their heads as Joe T did, Girardi seemed to substitute work ethic and personal responsibility for mind control. It sounds like infantile horsecrap to think that multimillionaires need such stroking and handling, but it’s all about giving them confidence and focus and keeping the background noise to a minimum so they can go one game, one at-bat, one pitch at a time game.
Bowa was a leader at 3d base, as well as an integral part of the team’s overall leadership, with Zimmer’s fire and passion for the game and the smarts, both strategic and interpersonal. He was reputed to be a real presence in the clubhouse, a tough love, father figure, keeping after Cano and trying to tether A-Rod’s helium head to terra firma. I just don’t see Meacham as that kind of guy. He sure wasn’t like Bowa as a player.
Curiously, the Yanks also kept Pena around even after denying him the skipper job. That tends to be a bad move, considering the bad feelings that linger after someone gets turned down for a job. It should have been up or out for Pena, IMO. If they kept him around thinking he was important to the Latin American players, they got it wrong.
Girardi probably thought he didn’t need a “whip” as his second in command. He knows better now, but it’s too late for Thompson to turn into a hammer. Girardi as well has to be careful not to do a Jekyll and Hyde transformation and try to be something he’s not for next year. But they should spend some serious time putting together a stronger supporting cast for Girardi. I don’t think O’Neill would make the time commitment necessary to coach in any season long capacity with the team, but Tino might. He’s already got a regular front office gig with Cash. That would be a good thing.
Bottom line: they can lure all the free agents they want, bring up special talent from the minors, but if they don’t have a deeper coaching staff in 09, this is a 4th place team, IMO. The right leadership leads to focus, confidence and wins.
Pete and my fellow lohud bloggers,
I wanna say thank you so much for your help in my trek to new york and Yankees stadium for one last time.
I finally made it in last night after a 12 plus hour drive from Chicago. Got into Jersey at about midnight.
I have tickets for the next three days and the stadium tour on Monday morning. Anyone going?
Again, thanks to all for your help……and a big thanks to Pete. You da man!!!
don’t worry all. Hank’s new “staff” will show us the way.
End sarcasm.
Is there a strange thing happening with offense all around the league? Granted the year isn’t over but things are trending down for offensive numbers around the league.
In 2007, 11 players had 100 or more walks, in 2008 only 1 player has more than 100 walks so far.
In 2007, 32 players had more than 100 RBIs, for 2008 that number is currently at 15 and overall RBI totals are way down.
In 2007, 25 players hit 30+ HRs, for 2008 that number is currently at 18 and in much greater decline when 40 HR is the mark used.
In contrast though the K totals around the league have gone down. Is there a new focus on strike 1/2 pitchers who are letting guys make contact in order to preserve pitch count?
Is the effect of drug testing or a change in pitching syle more likely responsible for the change in the offenses?
Traditional offensive teams like the Yankees and Sox are likely to have only 1 or 2 players break the 100 RBI mark. Maybe it’s a fluke or maybe it is a trend that teams are going to have to adapt to.
Should the Yankees not have their way today at the Stadium, the Giants will in St. Lousy.
The Jets could win at the Meadowlands.
All the best to all 3 teams.
I just got two good bleacher seats off stubhub for Tuesday for only 21 bucks a pop. Anyone now who is pitching on Tuesday?
Look, I’m not going to pretend that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to making up a coaching staff or how to motivate professional athletes. But I still have my memory intact (even at the ripe age of 53) and I clearly remember last off season when the Yanks were intereviewing Joe G, Donnie and Tony Pena. The media – print and Pete’s blog here – were all glowing with how prepared Joe G was in his interviews, and how everyone, from ownership (that’s Hank and Hal) were impressed to the nth degree by him.
So, it wasn’t a decision made solely by Cash. The whole organization, seemingly, was in favor of Joe and going in that direction.
What’s that famous line – “Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxRKY_Xg5tQ
this is the tazawa video if anybody want’s to watch.
it is over 8 minutes long so you get a good look.
i hope the red sox don;t get him.the yankees are interested in darvish but who isn’t.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/.....8105.story
How did he get near the players entrance. You can’t just walk up there, you have to get through police security. I think Joba needs to get a restraining order. Clearly this guy as a screw loose.
restraining orders are not worth the paper they are written on imo.
yes you have to prosecute crimes and be vigilant but it just seems to me that once a restraining order is filed it turns for the worse.look at all these celebrities,it does nothing.
i only say this because about 15 years ago i knew a girl that i wen’t out with a few times that filed a restraining order and her x bf shot her,she lived but wasn’t the same.
i think it might have been a standoff hostage type thing that made cnn,long ago,can’t remember all the details.anyways sorry for drifting away from baseball,go yankees.
bruce- True but clearly something needs to be done. Curious how he got near the press gate. Like I said, you can’t just walk up there.
Wow sorry to hear that, very scary.
the yankees need to look at tazawa and darvish.tazawa i think won’t have a posting fee because he isn’t under contract.he looks good and is young.boston i heard is going to go after him hard and should have an advantage because of dice-k.
the yankees have to be very agressive with pitching in the offseason.they need to build a good staff excluding any kids like joba,hughes,kennedy.that is the difference.pretend they don’t exist and start with wang and maybe mussina for one more year.
they need 3 more solid pitchers.
Well, Bobby Meachem has to go mandatory.
Girardi I would keep another season, can’t put all the blame on him.
Pena can stay, he’s awesome. But definitely please release Bobby Meachem and the bench coach.
New Staff, New Stadium, New motivation and new players for the hope of a 2009 world series.
As far am I’m concerned, the Yanks need a new third base coach and a new hitting coach. Girardi is still learning, and probably could use a better bench coach by his side, an older guy with who’s seen everything (ala Don Zimmer). I still think Girardi was the right choice, and I don’t think Torre would have done much better with this team. They were ravaged by injuries (more serious injuries than I ever remembering a team having in one year). Wang out for 90+ games. Matsui 55 games, Hughes & Posada almost all season, Bruney first half, Joba over a month, ARod 21 games, Damon first time on DL. Who did I forget? Hell, I remember the first time Posada went down, Molina pulled a hamstring. Even the backups were getting injured!
Two-time 19 game winner Wang goes down in June. How do you replace that? Young gun Hughes breaks a rib and is out all season. Joba becomes a starter, Yanks are still in the hunt, then he goes down in the beginning of August.
The Yanks can still win 86 games or so. I gotta believe—even with the offense being crap and the Yanks not getting any offense to speak of out of the C position all year—that if Wang and Joba had been healthy all season we could have won even just 5-9 more games than the 86. That would’ve given us 91-95 wins. Maybe enough to win, especially if those wins were against teams in front of us?
I know, I know, every team has injuries to overcome and the Yanks had many more problems than that. Still, would Mattingly, Pena, or Torre done better? At least Girardi handled the reliever well.
the people around this impersonator wether it be security,fans,players have to assume that this guy might be a threat but unfortunately it takes a lot to get arrested and locked up to the point he won’t be a threat anymore.
is this guy just trying to capitalize on the attention or is he really sick?
if he keeps being a problem or starts saying crazy stuff or won’t back off then you have to assume he is a problem.
maybe joba should talk to him nicely after security searches him of course and tell him to please stop because he is uncumfortable with it,it is what happens after that that you have to monitor.
take a few pictures with the guy,sign a few things for him and then tell him to cut the crap or else a 100 mile an hour fastball might find it’s way upside his head.
it’s one thing if the guy is just riding out his 15 minutes but if this person keeps going after his 15 minutes are up then he is a problem.
go yankees.
The bench coach isn’t going to be fired. He is very respected within the the organization. Maybe they reassign him. But he won’t be fired.
I agree with the Meachum comments, he MUST go. Jeter completely ignored him, he didnt “miss” him, I doubt he trusts Meachum anymore and likely figured he was better off making the decision himself. It wasnt the first time in the past month or two people have ignored Meachum. At the start of the year Meachum was a windmill over at third getting guys thrown out by 5 feet. Then he became a red light as I recall several missed opportunities. And now it is obvious the players appear to lack confidence in him. Time to go.
“Telling” because Mussina was veteran who criticized the team last week? Anyone who’s been paying attention knew it was him.
“Telling” because Mussina was the veteran who criticized the team last week? Anyone who’s been paying attention it was him.
Jennifer–
the cops will let you pass the barrier if you need to pick up tickets in the main office—you walk right by the gate where the players come in ( i got to walk right by mariano once that way)
Jeez. Nice typing, jackass. What am I doing up before 1 on a Sunday? I should still be sleeping.
I’ve gotten through there as well, but it was with a group and one of the players security guys.
the thing that bothers me is that when things didn’t work in past years the yankees kept trying different things until they got on the right track.
this year they stayed the same path,it didn’t work from day one and on the last day it doesn’t work.
they should of tried to trade cano with prospects for a good young pitcher,taken ponson and rasner out long ago,started aceves earlier,maybe coke.
that pitching staff was doomed as soon as wang wen’t down,it was easy to see.pettitte,rasner,ponson are not the answers,all have around a 5 era or higher.
instead they trade 4 or 5 good prospects for 2 players that we do not need and will have to be let go or signed for big money.they could of used tabata and the others to get this team right.now they lost 5 good prospects that could of been used properly to fix this mess,especially tabata.
cano,tabata,olendorf,karsens and the others could of brought a good young pitcher,center fielder or first baseman,very bad move.
Joe from Long Island
i’ve been around a lot of pro baseball coaches in my lifetime because of living in sarasota in the winter most of the past 25 years. the orioles have had a minor league complex there forever( used to be major league), white sox, pirates are also there. i’ve known them from being in spring training locker rooms as a bullpen catcher and from taking their money on the golf course( i get to practice more than they do).
baseball coaches are not rocket scientists. what they know is baseball from a lifetime of experience. different coaches have totally different life experiences when they played. the coaches who were really good players are a bit different than the ones who had to give up pro baseball early because they just weren’t that good.
i’m not saying a coach can’t be good if he couldn’t do it himself, but experiencing something you are teaching doesn’t hurt. for instance torre and mattingly are very good hitting coaches. the present yankee coaches are all(except pena) ex players who were journeymen at best.
again some great coaches come out of this pool. but last year the yankees had coaches who were stars. mattingly,torre,guidry,bowa,etc. on a team like the yankees that will always have star players i think you’d better have some coaches that these stars can look up too.
the reason is that one of the first thing players on a team do is check the mlb credentials of a coach. they won’t say it on the record ,but they do.this present staff has little mlb experience. no way the players on this team listen to them the way they did with last year’s staff.
As for K.Long, I say bring him back. He is the same guy that helped them score 960+ runs the year before. One thing I would like to see though is some players… ARod included tone down on their swing a bit sometimes with runners on base. Look at Longoria PH last night, with a guy on 2nd he just put it in play, instead of swinging for the fences. Stinging a few hits together is much more productive than swinging for the fences and resulting in a popup. Sorry, as anyone who has watched this team all year knows, this is the most frustrating team to watch in history. They have loads of talent but find ways to lose this year.
i think girardi was too much of an admirerer and friend to the players and didn’t motivate them.there is more to it than following a book to the t.he has to let them know when he is not happy with their performance and do it in a way that they still respect him.
a good pitching staff wouldn’t hurt either.
i think sabathia would be a good start,now you have cc,wang,joba and maybe mussina.joba should be taken out of the mix.2 pitchers are still needed.
i would not sign burnett,maybe sheets,perez.dempster scares me.
maybe sheets and mak a trade for a good young pitcher.
anyone wan’t to see fielder on this team at first base,trade cano and then some for a peavey type.
this is where tabata,olendorf,karsens would come in handy.package cano,tabata,olendorf,karsens for peavey or volquez or someone similar.
every time i read one of the game articles, the poor quality shocks me. a key point in game 1 yesterday was that dope Molina getting ticked that Shields hit him, and then running out of the baseline to cause Damon to be out. after that Jeter singled, Abreu doubled – if Molina doesn’t pull a rock, the Yanks maybe get 2-3 runs and then who knows.
not a word of this in the game article. it’s not just this paper – the NY Times article was just as bad.
the beat writers for the Yankees are really awful. it wasn’t that long ago when, if you read about a game you didn’t see, in most papers you’d get the key points spelled out. now – forget it. they describe games about as well as Giambi throws to 2B.
Pack a salami sandwich for Meacham and put him on the bus.