Live chat right now
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 12, 2009 
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Please go to our Pro Talk Live page and get your questions answered. Hope to see you there.
Lots of e-mails after last night’s game and I’ll try to address those on the air.
The chat is sponsored by Friedrich Air Conditioning.
I don’t see a chat.
The livetalk page doesn’t work on my PC. Ah well.
http://yes.mlblogs.com/archive.....ve_on.html
Brilliant blog post.
Stupid connection error…
I can’t listen, darn it not having a private office.
chat’s not working. I guess that reflects Friedrich Air Conditioning. I’m not buying their products anymore.
There is no video, also there are no responses to questions.
Click the live chat play button to the lower right of Pete’s video.
Ugh, Pete calling Holliday, Jackson, Cabrera for the ’10 outfield.
Please tell me he’s joking about Holliday!
Don’t think Holliday will be here. Either a trade will happen or Damon back for a year.
Poof! Pete disappeared!
Think Pete is right about Mauer. Think he stays a Twin.
Just a question…does anybody now want that water bottle after pete’s sweaty hands were all over the cap of it? I would probably sanitize it for 2 days from the Big Mac grease
Great chat, Pete. Thanks!
Pete -
Great chat. You were in rare form. I guess a late night drive from Boston to Westchester will do that!
Great chat Pete! I am weary of Holliday being a Yankee, I’d prefer Bay just to get him off the Sux.
I’m going to be leaving to go to the Yankees game in a few minutes. Yes, I know it’s early. Don’t ask.
Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face!!!
Great chat, Pete!
Great chat as always nice set up over there at LOhoud headquarters different than the hotel rooms lol.
Great idea with you and Kim JOnes should be great cant wait.
Doreen, hope you bring the Yankees good luck!
Now we’re advertising Mets’ gear here? (See top of page.) What gives?!?!?!?
Caught some of the chat. I think Pete is right about several things – Girardi managing closer like every other manager does; no real impact player pending in AAA; need to use Dave Robertson more in 7th; change in baseball favoring younger (non-PED user) players.
One interesting line was that about the OF next year possibly being Holliday-Jackson-Cabrera. That would leave Swish and maybe Damon or Gardner on the bench. Not too bad.
Google ads go off what is said on the page. If you talk more yankees more Yankee ads.
On a message board that I frequent. People purposely spoke about certain topics, and it changed the ad.
Fran, -
Me too!
TTFN.
He couldn’t be serious about Holliday being a Yankee. He’s having an awful year.
http://yes.mlblogs.com/archive.....ve_on.html
Brilliant blog post.
Just reposting in case those at the chat missed it.
Francesa topics for the day:
Jobber to the pen- he’ll ignore the fact that he’s the second best starter
Break up the Met core
Theo has done a “much better” job then Cashman
This is why Santana is the best pitcher in baseball because he gets through that 8th inning
Every time we’ve been here (Yankee Stadium) it’s been raining
CC is good but he’s not Johan Santana
I said Aceves would implode
I submitted two decent questions but instead Pete got two questions from Anthony Murillo. They should get a new moderator for the chats.
Wait till they’re in OUR house –
i read the blog you linked and the big thing that popped up in my mind is that yankees played the redsox only 12 times in 1998 – they play them like 19 times now – thats 7 games more – that could be the difference between making the wild card and someone like the angels (or rangers)making it since they get to play the mariners and a’s – as well as the giants, padres, dbacks and rockies in interleague while the yankees play the mets and phillies and braves (OK the nationals too but thats only 1 really bad team compared to 4 for the angels and rangers)..
seems like there is definetely a huge disadvantage in playing teams in your own division more than the others – 7 more games against the rays and red sox means 14 less games against the mariners, a’s, and royals..
sab, as of right now we’re in wild card, so it’s not hurting too much!
Hi all. I just tuned into Pete’s chat and it seems like I am hearing the rewind. All I can say, just from hearing the start, is THANK YOU PETE!!!!!
I know I am the eternal optimist, but even we optimists get down every once in a while. Even though I can think very rationally about this series, I still feel pretty disappointed, primarily with last night’s game.
We are so lucky we will be getting Bruney back (point, Yankees) and I have never been so happy to hear the name “Xavier Nady” in my life (two points, Yankees).
I don’t get frustrated often or easily, but geeze louise. Listening to Swisher last night on the postgame, I was hoping that he would do more than smile and blow it off and blame it on the game of baseball (it happens) – but that’s what I was hearing. And yes, while there is enough blame to go around, there is no question that Swisher cost us runs, both defensively and offensively and killed rallies. When you lose two games by one run, it’s hard not to think about Swisher’s mistakes. At least for me it is.
Sorry to be a downer. Again, I am grateful to the way Pete opened this chat session. It at least gave me back the perspective I woke up without.
All of that said, I will be happy when last night is a distant memory…
GO YANKEES
Wait till they’re in OUR house, he is right…but the first comment had me laughing. Now that was taking out some frustration.
I’m confident we’ll make the wild card.
I’ve learned by now not to gurantee or else I’ll jinx it.
running the bases like some scalded chimps….classic
true – and we’d be playing the rangers in the first round – i’d take that in a second – the sox would have to face the tigers – and verlander twice if it went 5 games…
DB, I liked the second guy. He nailed the first guy.
“running the bases like some scalded chimps”
Somebody should make that happen. I’d pay to see that. Maybe not the scalding.
Rob L from previous post @ 11:33: Yes I metioned to my wife the WB Mason guy looks like Flash. She doesn’t see it. I also think Vicente Padilla (Tx pitcher) looks like comedian George Lopez.
Trevor,I hope he doesnt go the Santana route unless he wants to look dumber than he already does.
Santana hasn’t made it to the 8th inning YET this year
Francesa topics for the day:
Jobber to the pen- he’ll ignore the fact that he’s the second best starter
Break up the Met core
“Theo has done a “much better” job then Cashman
This is why Santana is the best pitcher in baseball because he gets through that 8th inning
Every time we’ve been here (Yankee Stadium) it’s been raining
CC is good but he’s not Johan Santana
I said Aceves would implode”
So dead on the Fat Man talking points…I would Add
The New Stadium is a bandbox
I would trade for Arroyo
The players hate Joe
Burnett, Damon and Swisher are clowns
Bill, Padilla = Lopez…I’ll agree with that. That WB Mason kid doesn’t look anything like Flaherty though except for no lips.
Swish IS a clown…he’s a terrible baserunner/defender.
Thank God we have Melky out there.
I don’t HATE Swish, but he’s done some damage to the team this last series.
Sean,
I don’t think the moderator likes me. I’ve submitted several good questions under both m & mel for about 3 live chats, but they don’t even pop up. But certain people have 2 or 3 of theirs show up. I don’t take it personally, but I would think that of the hundreds of people tuning in, many of their questions aren’t popping up either.
But I love that gayle and some of the others got a shout out from Pete. Nice.
It’s ok to hate Swish…he is a moron. Melky is a much better defender in right and I’d rather have GGBG in center. Swish should be relegated to right handed platoon with Matsui for DH until Nady gets back
“I also think Vicente Padilla (Tx pitcher) looks like comedian George Lopez.”
I always thought Padilla looked like he came from the left side of the Evoluion of Man diagram.
it’s long been said that momentum is the name of the next day’s starting pitcher.
the yankees roll out a good one almost every day with the exception of wang being in spring training because of cashman’s overreaction to joba getting hit.
when wang gets finished with his spring training then the yankees will roll out a good starter every day.
they will likely have a very good regular season record because of it.
a series like the red sox one leaves a hangover, but hangovers don’t last longer than the next victory which hopefully will be tonight.
don’t underestimate livan hernandez. this game is not a lock. he can be very bad enough times to keep his era above 5.5 but he usually will go 6-7 innings and not give up more than 4 runs.
on paper it’s a mismatch between joba and livan, but the whole yankee staff would be smart to watch how livan gets hitters out. he doesn’t throw . he pitches.
i hope hernandez does well but joba better and the yankees annihilate the mets bullpen.
How long before he goes Jobber to the BP ?
m and Sean, I asked four questions and Pete’s moderator fielded two. Last time he didn’t field any. It’s got to be tough to do depending on how many questions are thrown out there.
I don’t care what Francessa says or thinks. The most important thing is that the Yankees get back on track. After that, we can laugh at Francessa.
those fussing about stupid francesca’s stupid topics for the day…the discussion here sometimes is not much better, and the stupid topic that goes at the top of that stupid list is idiots moaning about francesca…enough already
Anyone see Pete blush when I asked him about the female trhowing the first pitch?
Mike is actually being very mellow today. He simply is saying the Yankees are 1-10 in elite games this year, and are not a special team this year, and you know what? he is right, so far at least.
0-8 VS the Sox
1-2 VS the Phillies.
Otherwise they beat up crap teams and stage fun comebacks.
Can anyone argue otherwise really?
There is ONE positive to take out of last night’s game – the absolute silence after Arod hit that bomb to center. Timed perfectly. Caught the crowd right in the middle of their stupid chant. It was beautiful!
jennifer
June 12th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Google ads go off what is said on the page. If you talk more yankees more Yankee ads.
On a message board that I frequent. People purposely spoke about certain topics, and it changed the ad.
Thanks, Jennifer. I didn’t know that.
(Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees …)
Why can’t we develop young studs like Bowden and Hunter Jones?
Mike is worn out today… he is very somber. I thought he’d be irate, Alex from Bedminster style.
People are down on Swisher, and he’s certainly not a perfect ballplayer. However, quietly, he’s been one of the team’s best hitters.
He’s one of the few patient hitters in the lineup, along with Teixiera and A-Rod.
There were a lot of atrocious at bats in the Red Sox series – Jeter, Damon, and especially Cano, who has just fallen off the map again.
At this point, Cano is what he is. You just have to hope he gets on a hot streak and racks up a lot of hits, or he has no value offensively. Cano doesn’t walk, refuses to take pitches, and swings at everything.
There’s no hoping that will change at this point.
Cabrera has regressed as well, but that’s to be expected. He’s a fourth outfielder at best. He’s played admirably so far, but the decline to his numbers of the previous three years is inevitable.
Cano and Cabrera certainly aren’t the only problems with the offense, but given that they are “hopes for the future” on a badly aging roster, it’s certainly discouraging to see them continue to struggle with plate discipline.
Baseball Fab, they beat a lot of first place teams. What doe he mean by elite? Because the last I checked we won two of three from the Texas Rangers just before they took two of three from the Sox.
rconn23, you’re right about Swish being a great hitter…Cano will get hot like he alwys does, and Melky is not the future, AJax is.
randy, I know you’re right. I’m pretty cool with losses. I’m never big on the blame game. But I am having great difficulty purging the images of Swisher two nights in a row – and then that little smile when he talked about how it happens.
It annoys me to lose by one run with that crap. And then the umpire from Wednesday. GRRR!!!!
Oh well. Onward and upward. Think I’ll go do some errands.
GO YANKEES!!!!!
Baseball,
We’re a good team. Not a great one. And it has nothing to do with talent. This past series was a microcosm of what we are.
1-10 against BOS and Philly
Mike is right.
Besides, the point of the game is to win as many as possible.I don’t care who Mike Francessa considers “elite, we’reating all the teams the “elite” teams are beating, and apparently we’re pounding them even better since right now we’re in the wild card and only two games out.
I think we’re a great team.
I think to Mike the Elite teams are the Phillies and the Sox, EG the teams you could reasonable assume we have to beat to win a World Series.
Yeah, we’ll probably go 4-2 against a depleted Mets team and the Nationals (they’ll lose the Wang game). Probably go on a run against the Seattles and Baltimores of the world and look great doing so. But what has that proved? That we can beat teams with 1\3rd the talent of us? We had our chance to make a statement against Boston and Philly and failed.
Tiger tale: Bruney, who will make a rehab appearance Saturday and could return Tuesday, currently has custody of the Tiger Woods figurine, having defeated Gardner in their regular Tiger Woods video game battles. “Now she’s going to blog that,” Gardner told Bruney and other teammates. Thanks for reading, Brett!
http://kimberlyjones.mlblogs.com/
We’reating should be we’re beating.
Texas is not an elite team. They are merely taking advantage of an Angels team that has imploded.
Yeah, we can beat the 2nd tier teams because that is what we are.
Well to switch gears, our record against Boston signifes nothing more at this point than what it does. After all, we were 6-0 against Cleveland and. Well you know the rest.
Can’t wait for Nady to come back.
Yankees will take the divison. Optimism is back!
See ya all.
ed H no problem. It was quite comical. It worked, what ever was being talked about in the thread the ad reflected it. So if people keep talking about the soxs or Mets the as on top will be for them.
Please. The Sox have a chance to run away w/the division. The question is, will day?
We beat a Rangers team that went out and took two of three from the Sox. The METS took two of three from the Sox. Well I’m confident we’ll beat them. Believe it.
“However, quietly, he’s been one of the team’s best hitters.”
He’s also been one of the team’s worst hitters. His May funk was as bad as his April/June success. I said yesterday… Swisher went from having above average value to having below average value when Nady went down.
Having Xavier and Swisher split time would be the best thing for the team. Swisher and (to a lesser degree) Nady are better in small doses, than as everyday players.
RMEL –
The Rangers aren’t a crap team, and neither are the Rays. And neither are the Tigers, for that matter. Those are 3 quality teams we’ve beaten.
And far as Francesa goes, personally, I don’t care to hear(or read, in this case). If someone claims to do a sports show, but doesn’t do his homework on the things he’s talking about, he’s BSing. Pure and simple. Why should I listen to someone who literally doesn’t know what he’s talking about?
Yeah we are beating who we should be beating, and losing to teams who are better than us.
Makes sense.
Jaocb X, than pparently the Red Sox are not elite because a “bad” Rangers team took two of three from them..right after we beat them.
“Why can’t we develop young studs like Bowden and Hunter Jones?”
God how I’d wish to have Hunter Jones on this team.
If I’m Alex From Bedminster today is the day to get on diet cokes bad side.
Who cares if they lost 2 of 3 to the Phillies. They’re in the NL.
And they should of taken that last game against them. It’s not like they’ve been over-matched against “elite” teams. They’ve had chances to win most of the games.
Will day is will THEY.
Joekuh, we agree there.
Look, they looked bad against the Red Sox. Really bad.
But as much as people may not like to admit it, those games against Seattle and Baltimore mean every bit as much as the games against Boston – in the grand scheme of making the playoffs and winning the division.
No excuse for being 0-8 against the Sox, and quite frankly I’m sick of hearing “But we beat Texas!” because that doesn’t matter. Before the Yanks can ride down the canyon of heroes they have to beat the Sox, end of story.
Wang killed us in the Cleveland series, as did our hitting with RISP. We should have destroyed Sabathia in that 1st game, he had no command of anything.
And that bug game killed us
rconn23, I totally agree.
7*7, either way. The point is we lost.
Al from BK-Um, no they don’t. They need to win a WS.
Those two things don’t actually HAVE to be connected. I’m not saying, “But they beat Texas!”. I’m not even saying we’re better than the Sox. I’m saying we’re right there.
How can you compare the Indians to the Red Sox?
The Indians were a team with no pedigree or big game experience. The Red Sox have won 2 WS in 5 years and have been to 3 game 7s in that time. They have one of the best postseason pitchers of all-time. A team that has a winning core and do everything right.
Cleveland was a 1-yr wonder.
randy – you’re spot on about Livan and Joba. Joba, and others, should take note of how Livan works. He truly is a pitcher. The one good thing is that he usually doesn’t go long, so they have to use their pen.
rconn23 – I think Robbie and Melky have stepped it up this year. Yeah, they can have their swoons, Robbie is definitely in one now, but they’re not the reason we lost the three. Poor starts and an 8th inning meltdown is why.
Why does TeixeiraMVP keep changing his screen name? We all know who he is. Mr. Positivity, Yankees are the best and can do no wrong.
Arnold, we’re not comparing the Indians to the Sox, we’re saying we dominated the Indians in the regualr season and they beat us. That could happen. In 04′ do you think the Sox were saying, “How do we beat the Yankees, we’ve never done it before and they have championship experience!”
We are like the Pre-09 Anaheim Angels. Dominate everyone else and get dominated by the Red Sox.
Lose em close, lose em late , get blown out, just find different ways to lose each game.
F7 TD, actually I be;ieve the Angels dominated the Sox until the playoffs.
be;ieve is believe.
The point is we owned Cleveland that year in the regular season. How did the playoffs work out? You cannot predict what will happen in baseball. That’s why they play the games.
As much as these posters want to jump off a bridge with this “poor me, I’m a Yankee fan and the RS beat us,” you cannot predict baseball.
The logic is flawed, anyway. The Yankees lost to the Sox, therefore the Sox are a better team, according to the experts here. The Sox lost to the Rangers; does that make the Rangers better than the Sox? How does that square up with the Yankees beating the Rangers then? It doesn’t. Play ball (100+ more times this season).
You guys really think we’re hitting Beckett in October?
And who pitches the 2nd game against Lester who has owned us? Wang? Burnett? Neither can matchup to Lester.
We just do not matchup well with them at all. Gone are the days when we used to dominate their pitchers and bullpen. Penny is throwing shutouts against us, Nick Green is getting big hits etc.
The tide has turned.
Becket vs. CC? I know CC’s playoff numbers, but the cream rises to the top. That’d be a good game.
Lester vs. Joba? Joba.
Burnett vs. Dice-K? I’d take Burnett.
Penny vs. Andy? Penny got lucky. I’d take Andy.
The point is we absolutely COULD beat them, we’ve just played badly those games.
raymagnetic
June 12th, 2009 at 2:17 am
“The team just plays scared and gutless against Boston. How many mental mistakes did they make today? Baserunning, fielding, at the plate etc. They play scared.”
Is there empirical proof that they are scared? Playing scared is another one of those cliches that idiot talk show hosts and people on blogs like to use.
What are they scared of, really?
===========
Raymagnetic, I had a nearly identical dispute w/a poster on another forum – could be the same guy, this Yankee community is smaller than one would think – and I had to laugh out loud when I read your reply.
This “scared” stuff people are trying to peddle just makes you question their basic intelligence. Good answer. And thanks for saving me the trouble
“I think Robbie and Melky have stepped it up this year.”
I’ll agree they both made good 1st impressions, but overall saying they’ve stepped it up is a stretch.
Melky doesn’t produce anything away from the Stadium. He’s got 2 homers in his last 150 AB’s and has a .283 OBP over the last month plus. Cano has posted a .295 OBP over his last 50 games.
To their credit, they are playing some good defense. We generally don’t expect much from Melky, but Cano is viewed as a superstar type by many on the blog and he’s spent most of a season and half defying that.
Whatever swoon he may have gone through, Swisher has the 3rd best .OPS on the team. He’s third on the team in home runs, and second in RBIs.
While his defense is less than stellar, a great argument could be made that the team could be five or six games back without his offensive contribution, especially early in the season.
Xavier Nady? Solid player, but that’s about it. He may hit for a higher average, but he’s another guy like Cano and Cabrera, that hacks at a lot of bad pitches. He doesn’t get on base like Swisher.
And his defense is only a modest improvement other that of Swisher.
“Those two things don’t actually HAVE to be connected. I’m not saying, “But they beat Texas!”. I’m not even saying we’re better than the Sox. I’m saying we’re right there.”
You do know that in all likelihood to win the World Series we will need to beat Boston in an ALCS showdown right? At the end of the day it is likely gonna be Yankees/Sox so we DO need to beat them.
“Scared” is a 20/20 hindsight reaction fans use when desperately searching for a reason we lost.
Angels were 12-19 against Boston from 04-07
Did well against them last year though.
They are also are 1-9 in the playoffs against them since 04.
Al from BK-In all likelihood. Not necessarily. They could easily lay a first round egg. So can we, but it’s not impossible that the Sox lay an egg the first round and we don’t.
R+, I was thinking of last year.
Francessa is right. The Yankees are not a special team. Problem is that’s a trait they share with 29 other teams. No special teams exists at this point. Yankees are a Top 5 team in MLB despite not being special. Maybe Top 3.
Steve B, you’re saying NO team is special?
What in the world are you talking about TeixMVP?
Joba won’t be starting in the playoffs, he’ll be in the pen after he reaches his innings limits.
Penny will be long gone by the playoffs. Buchholz or Smoltz will be starting that game, or perhaps Wakefield.
And what has Burnett shown you for you give him an advantage in any game?
No matter how one tries to spin it, 0-8 is a tough bone to swallow….In fact it’s choke worthy……
WHO is Teix4mvp?
I had no idea I was being referred to.
The Yankees played poorly. They weren’t “gutless” or “scared”.
This isn’t boxing or UFC, it’s baseball for crying out loud. No is scared of anybody.
That’s just silly.
The hitters couldn’t cash in with RISP and the pitchers couldn’t throw strikes consistently. That’s just bad approach and bad execution.
Don’t overanalyze.
“Steve B, you’re saying NO team is special?”
You understand me perfectly.
Who are the elite teams the Red Sox have beaten? Get back to me if they take 2 of 3 or sweep the Phillies.
The AL as a whole is down this year, not the powerhouse people thought in the Spring.
Angels look like a shell of themselves. No bullpen, ravaged by injuries. Not a vintage Angels team this year.
Tampa has also been ravaged by injuries and got off to a very slow start. Though they look like they are starting to heat up.
Cleveland was a disaster, as was Oakland. Minnesota has been a disappointment.
Boston is the only elite team in the league. We’re on that 1-A tier. Slightly above Detroit/Texas, not on Boston’s level.
Trevor,
We’ll, we’re the 2nd best team in the league and they took 8 straight against us. That has to count for something.
“Who are the elite teams the Red Sox have beaten? Get back to me if they take 2 of 3 or sweep the Phillies.”
Depends on how elite is defined for MLB purposes.
As for the Phillies series, having Lester (all those Phillie lefties) and Beckett going while missing Hamels does kind of bode well for them.
Hey guys, A-Rod bats 625 vs. Livan. Nice.
The AL as a whole is down this year.
Angels were killed by injuries and a bad bullpen. Not a vintage Angels team.
Tampa got off to a slow start and has been disappointing, though they are starting to heat up.
Cleveland has been a disaster, as has Oakland. Minnesota has been disappointing.
Although 0-8 is certainly inauspicious, it is certainly not an epitaph. The 2009 season has a long way to go and just enough of the narrative has been written to establish the drama for the story line yet to come. It’s going to be exciting and I’m so glad I’m a Yankees fan and care about this stuff.
You can consider the Yankees elite but I don’t think Francesa does. Listen to him talk about the Yankees you would think they weren’t in the same class as the RS.
If anything the Sox have had some loses to not so elite teams, Mets are one and under 500 against the West.
They miss Hamels but I still think Philly is taking 2 of 3. That team can hit anybody. Their offense is off the charts.
Francesa does not consider us elite. I’m inclined to disagree.
Philly is throwing out Blanton, Bastardo, and Happ this weekend.
They’ll be lucky not to get swept.
When we played Philly, it was more evenly matched… our #2 vs. their #2 in the 1st game, our #5 against their #5 in the 2nd game, and both #1s in the 3rd game.
We are not as good as the Sox right now. But we’re right there with them and if all our pieces click into place one of thse series then we could jump ahead of them.
Bastardo is pretty good.
That Philly series could have gone either way and II think if we played them again we’d win.
I still can’t believe people are trying to excuse the Yankees for 0-8 against the Sox. That is on them and they better hope they finish with the better record because we will lose any tie breakers with the Sox.
Trevor:
I consider the Yankees among baseball’s elite right now.
Everyone loses to non-elite teams.
On Sox/Phillies, I don’t know. Philly somehow has a losing record at home and the pitching edge definitely goes to Boston. Think it goes 2-1 either way.
Guys, Francesa is not the least bit interested in objectivity. What he is interested in is the number of listeners, callers, and ratings. He generates this by saying outrageous things that get fans outraged.
Who knows if he really believes what he spouts. Or if he cares.
Also, there’s no evidence that they know how to get the best out of Wang. Dave Eiland, the pitching coach, seems baffled.
In the bullpen and before games, Eiland said he likes what he sees. Then the game starts and Wang loses his consistent arm slot.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/.....s-on-wang/
tyler kepner
“I can’t go stand behind the mound with him during the game,” Eiland said. “He’s got to go out there.”
The Yankees could do worse than call on the former pitching coach Ron Guidry as a troubleshooter, as Peter Abraham suggested on his blog during the game. It’s hard to argue with the results from Wang during Guidry’s tenure: consecutive 19-win seasons and a strong working relationship with the pitching coach, which seems to be missing now. Maybe another set of eyes and a familiar, friendly face could help. At this point, it couldn’t hurt.
————————————————————–
the wang conundrum is exacerbated by the losing streak with the red sox. it really puts pressure on cashman, girardi, and eiland.
eialnd has his hands full with burnett and the bullpen. wang is almost too much for him. kepner is right that eiland seems baffled.
the problem is that cashman, girardi, and eiland have decide one more game for wang to pitch well. considering his wife is having a baby the day before his next start it’s kind of a strange time for an ultimatum to wang.
this is what pressure does to yankee management. they choke and make bad decisions.
the reason i say this is because they knew he would need 4-5 starts to get his innings and pitch count built back up after they themselves knocked his conditioning back by calling him up too soon.
giving an ultimatum is dumb because they are not sticking to their own plan and are having a knee jerk reaction to getting swept in boston.
what are they going to do with wang if they don’t complete the task of getting him going? there is a domino effect to the pitching staff. if wang is pulled from the rotation he’s not going to the bullpen. they’ll have to disable him with some made up story and he’ll have to do some fake rehab before pitching again.
it’ll be a while before we see wang again. this is just no way to handle someone with his stature.
I’m not excusing it at all Al, it’s embarassing. I’m just saying it’s not the give all end all.
Depends what we consider elite.
I don’t think we’re as good as Boston or Philly. But we are slightly better than Detroit/Texas.
We’re like 1-A
We’re not quite up there w/Boston. But we’re close.
I think we’re about even w/Philly. I know they won two of three, but a three game sample is pretty small.
If Philly used Madson to close instead of Lidge, we likely get swept. Lidge should have never been in there when he sucked so much. Manual handed us a win.
But regardless, we lost 2\3 at home in an evenly matched series.
He’s right about Joba though. We win that game if Joba is ready for the 8th. He should be a starter no doubt. But a pen with Bruney/Joba is dominate.
WE win THAT game w/Joba in the eighth.
But taking Joba out weakens the starting staff.
How in the world do the Sux miss everyone’s ace pitcher?
Philly is a very weird team
They have the worst pitching staff in baseball, yet they are 12 games over .500, despite the fact their closer has blown 6 saves and lost 3 of them.
They have guts and know how to win. That’s what it comes down to. Certainly they are not doing it with pitching.
I think we are going to have a rough stretch here.
Yes I know these are series that we SHOULD win and usually would but I have a feeling we are going to let this Boston stuff get in our heads and start blowing it.
Don’t be suprised if we start losing some series.
I think it’s offense more than guts that’s winning them games.
Good defense doesn’t hurt either.
We’ll have Joba there in the playoffs
Of course, if Burnett continues to suck and Wang doesn’t figure it out… then maybe not.
But we’re likely looking at a Joba-Bruney-Marte setup core in the playoffs.
Dr. Cox, we didn’t collapse after the last sweep.
The thing is, Manuel figures, and I agree, that the Phils’ are a much better team with a functional Lidge than without. He took a calculated risk to lose that game, and the following one if you remember, in an attempt to win more games down the road with a capable Lidge closing.
Similar to Joe’s early thinking with Jose Veras, which he thankfully has moved on from.
“How i the world do the Sux miss everyone’s ace pitcher?”
Luck. They even missed CC in the previous 7 games.
Cox,
I wouldn’t be surprised either. I can’t get excited about facing Livan Hernandez after that gutless showing against Penny. He’ll probably throw 7 shutout innings against us. And a no name rookie tomorrow…
What is the criteria for an elite team? Not just good, or very good, but elite? I like to keep it simple and would say that an elite team is one that wins at least 100 games in a season. You can say a lot about hitting, pitching, defense and “clutch” play, but it is ultimately about winning.
So this year, who is on pace for 100 wins, which turns out is a .617 winning percentage? It’s one team, the Dodgers. Isn’t one team out of 30 is sort of the ratio that one means when you use the term “elite”? The Phillies and Boston are the only other teams that are at .600 or above and so, for now, nobody else should even be in the discussion.
Depends if that’s your criteria for elite.
Of course Livan is going to allow hits. He’s going to put a million men on base.
The question is… can we drive them in? We didn’t in Boston.
1. They can call it the Curse of Newbury Street when the Yanks are playing deep into October and the Sox are shopping with their wives and milkshake distributers.
2. Of course it was Farnsworth who served up the cookie down the middle on the seagull walkoff in Cleveland.
OUR house – Using Joba ( a band-aid ) to stop a dam( the bullpen ) wont fix it. Its up to the guys in there and Cashman/Girardi to get it together. Joba is a SP. Future top of the rotation pitcher at that. Why the HELL would you want to put someone of his talent in the pen?
From Rotoworld. Wasn’t familiar with this rule.
According to the Lynn Daily Item, Jonathan Papelbon has been fined $1,000 by Major League Baseball for violating pace-of-game guidelines.
Pitchers are allotted two minutes five seconds to get situated on the mound during local television broadcasts. Papelbon reportedly took 3:34 to accomplish the task on Wednesday night against the Yankees. “The rules are the rules,” said the Boston closer, acknowledging the fine was fair. If Papelbon is cited again, he’ll be docked $3,000. A third violation calls for a $7,000 fine
e?lite??[i-leet, ey-leet] Show IPA
–noun
1. (often used with a plural verb) the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.
2. (used with a plural verb) persons of the highest class: Only the elite were there.
3. a group of persons exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group: the power elite of a major political party.
Joekuh, I DON’T want Joba in the pen. We agree.
Ed H., still up to interpretation. I don’t see 100 wins in that definition.
“Yes I know these are series that we SHOULD win and usually would but I have a feeling we are going to let this Boston stuff get in our heads and start blowing it.”
the yankee players don’t get up for the red sox which kind of sucks , but on the flip side they don’t seem to let losing bother them that much either.
if joba pitches well they likely win tonight.
“You guys really think we’re hitting Beckett in October?
[...]
The tide has turned.”
Very dramatic. I’m not worried about October yet.
“Seagull Walk-off.” That cracked me up. Like I said, that park must double as a landfill.
You guys are way too hung up on last night’s game. It’s over, get over it. I’m not even going to think about the Red Sox until August. The Yanks just have to go out and keep wining series. If they do that they’ll be fine.
New Day, New Team, New game…..Time to move on……Time for another 15-5 streak……The schedule allows for a very good June, regardless of Fenway…….
Here’s the story: We have wild card. We’re two games back.
That’s all that’s important.
My bad OUR house, its just that the “OMG PUT JOBA IN TEH PEN NOWWWWWWWWW” crowd really gets to me lol
I don’t think the team played “gutless” or “listless” last night, or any time we’ve played the sox so far. We’ve been simply outplayed. Disappointing, but factual. But its only 8 games. EIGHT. All we need to be focused on is : we’re 2 games out of 1st and its early June. We’re on a good course. Don’t let this bad stretch knock us off of where we’re going. Start a new streak tonight.
“We have wild card.”
I don’t start looking at the wild card standings until September.
“if joba pitches well they likely win tonight.”
This is what baseball really boils down to. How good does the starting pitcher perform.
Even last night – on a night where the offense was awful and nearly completely inept – that team had a shot to win a game it had no business winning.
And the only reason the yanks even had an iota of a chance winning that game in which the hitters were terrible was because of CC. That’s it.
I know some people have started with the CC not an ace, he gave up 4 runs to the sox, etc. nonsense but he’s a phenomenal pitcher and he’s the guy I’d want out there to win a do or die game. I think he’s great. He gave the team every last ounce of brilliance he had last night. Every single pitch he had.
Wanting more from him is essentially saying that he shouldn’t be human.
One thing people need to understand – not all pitch counts are the same level of effort. CC had zero room for effort last night especially in a small ball park and against the line up.
If it was clear to us at home watching the game that the yankees offense was out to lunch against the “overwhelming” brad penny don’t you think CC saw that?
So every pitch had to be perfect. One mistake and the team goes down 2-0 and good chance that offense is completely demoralized.
Given the context of that game throwing 115 or so pitches is much higher energy and effort than it would be if he had been staked to a 4-1 or even 3-1 lead say in the 3rd or 4th.
Wait till they’re in OUR house
June 12th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Ed H., still up to interpretation. I don’t see 100 wins in that definition.
—————————————————————
No, clearly there is no pre-established guideline for what makes an “elite: MLB team. The criteria are certainly debatable. But I think that if you want to have the discussion about who are the elite teams, you have to find a way to honor the meaning of the word. From the definition, you’re looking for the very best, the highest class and the most dominant.
My best attempt to do that is to go by wins, since baseball is a sport and sports are about winning. The very best teams win 100 games or more, so that what I go with.
“And the only reason the yanks even had an iota of a chance winning that game in which the hitters were terrible was because of CC. That’s it”
True. What was more interesting is how he lived the whole night on the outer half of the plate (and 3-4 inches off the plate thanks to last night’s ump). Don’t know whether that was his plan or a response to the early warning, but he was hitting his spots, getting stronger as he went and was generally pretty special.
“Francesa does not consider us elite. I’m inclined to disagree.”
pete should ban the name “francesa”.
is this the francesa blog?
who gives a crap what a talk radio guy says.
letting this guy francesa drive blog comments is ridiculous.
personally i just assume anyone who’s talking much about him isn’t worth reading.
I’m as pissed off as anyone right now, but the Yankees are not an elite team? Ok, they are not as good as the Sox, but they are as good as anyone else…..though I’m not sure that’s saying a lot. Francesca is just a reactionary – wow, he says the Yankees aren’t special. No doubt he thinks the Sox are special…..guess what? They aren’t. They are very good, but special teams would be teams like the 1998 Yankees, the Big Red machine, etc…….Saying the Yankees aren’t special and implying that there ARE those types in MLB is just Big Mike catering to PO’d fan base.
I don’t understand why Girardi won’t use Robertson?
This is what Yankees need to do or they will be lucky
to get in as a wild card. DH Arod for the rest of the season
can’t do both this year. Move Jaba to Pen. To bad they fired Torre, they need him……….. Joe Girardi cant do this, to much talant it’s to big of a job for him. Pena????
Fan since Bobby Murcer was the best thing they had.