Two out of three ain’t bad. But in this case, it would be
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- June
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The Nationals drag a 16-45 record into Yankee Stadium tonight. They are 3-15 since May 25 and over the course of the season have blown 15 of 24 save opportunities. Their starters are bad and their relievers are worse. The Nats have a 5.34 ERA, the highest in baseball.
Washington has lost nine straight on the road and is 6-23 away from Nationals Park.
GM Jim Bowden resigned on March 1 amid reports that he may have skimmed money from bonus payments made to Latin American prospects. Now manager Manny Acta is said to be day-to-day and there is already speculation that Bobby Valentine will come in next year. Don’t worry about Acta, he’ll be managing the Mets before too long.
It’s tough to say the Yankees need to sweep. The Nats do figure to show up, after all. But winning two out of three won’t be satisfactory against this team.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Agree 100%.
You can’t give away these freebee games. Tampa swept them. Boston you know will sweep them.
To be quite honest, 2 out of 3 is satisfactory against any team. This is baseball, you can’t win every game.
That being said, I expect the Yankees to sweep.
“They are 3-15 since May 25 and over the course of the season have blown 15 of 24 save opportunities. Their starters are bad and their relievers are worse. The Nats have a 5.34 ERA, the highest in baseball.”
Two things:
1) Expect the comeback kids to have a big weekend (hopefully it won’t be necessary though).
2) Maybe THEY would want Jose Veras?
I’m not going to say anything about this because last year I said they will sweep the lowly Pirates and they took 1 of 3, IIRC. You never know. I just hope Wang pitches in a winning game.
With the way yankees preform against pitchers they have not seen or have only seen a couple of times, I would be absolutely shocked if they swept.
Any word on what the corresponding roster move for Bruney will be?
Veras (waive), Tomko (waive), Robertson (option)?
They dropped Daniel Cabrera, why would they want Jose Veras?
as for the unknown rookie syndrome, I think Singleton mentioned on YES that rookies making their first start against the Yankees were something like 3-18 over the last couple of years. Unknown rookie syndrome is all in our heads because those games stick out at us
This Yankee team has proven the years to be complacent and not beat up on bad teams the way they should.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this Mathis kid shuts us down tonight.
This stinks of the broadcaster kiss of death.
I have a weird feeling this series won’t be as easy as it should be. I hope I am wrong
We might lose the Wang start.
“Lita and Trish > Everyone else. Well, Stephanie. I have a soft spot for Stephanie.”
CONT.
Matty, Big boobs who could forget her. As for Trish she was in a league of her own, Lita faded away but still hot.
I’d have a hard time choosing between
Trish,Mickie James,Maryse and Kelly Kelly…Oh lord would that be heaven, throw in Layla w/ straight hair and that Brooke girl that left.
The team is surely feeling that they should win all 3. As we all know, however, sometimes they play “high strung” and tighten up when they should be having fun dismantling a team with so few advantages.
Here’s to the Yankees competing, but having some fun doing it.
While the Red Sox currently have the lead in the AL East over their rival Yankees, they also have the lead in projected American League All-Star starters, along with the upstart Texas Rangers.
In the latest results of All-Star balloting released on Tuesday, the Red Sox have two players among the eight starting spots in All-Star voting while the Yankees have just one potential starter in the Midsummer Classic set for July 14 in St. Louis.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....p;c_id=mlb
Are you guys talking about the women of wrestling????
I don’t mind the Yankees not making the All-Star team. Better for them to get the 4 days rest and not risk injury.
I’m not even going to bother voting. Hmm, maybe I should vote all BoSox and hope something happens…
So Eiland, if the Yankees lose to them,do we get to blame the stadium too?
Very rarely do we impose our will on teams we should beat up
They’ll probably win 2\3 and and play a couple of lackluster games
2 out of 3 would be good actually. With Wanger going on Wednesday, you just don’t know what you’ll get. Washington actually has a decent offense, it’s their pitching and defense that are god awful. The Yanks should be able to pound their way to 2 out of 3 at least with CC and Joba going in the other 2 games.
But it’s just silly to guarantee a sweep against any team in the MLB and say that anything less than that is a failure. Wanger could give up 6 runs in 3 innings and the Nats happen to pitch well that night, you just don’t know.
Yes, Erica.
Agreed
a sweep is needed here. Nobody will lose to these guys. I wish we were in the NL and got to play Wash, Pitts, SD etc. We`d make the playoffs every year
JGS – Reposting from a few threads ago on facing pitchers for the first time:
Yankee record this year against starters they have never seen before is 9-4.
We remember the bad games (Nieve on Saturday, Uehara opening day), and forget the ones where the Yankees tatoo the youngsters (Holland, Richmond, Porcello).
its time for all of you to start stuffing the ballot box, teixeira needs some love and i don’t want to see chin pubes starting the allstar game
Just read Torre’s book, sounds like David Cone was a great mixer in the club house. wonder how Burnett would take to him?
Do players REALLY want to go to the All-Star game? Or is it just all PR spin? I’m sure Jeter would rather be with Minka than making out with bromance buddy Pedroia.
“You definitely have to,” Rivera said of being aware how the ball jumps. “You can’t give them a chance to put the ball in the air, it’s risky. You have to pitch to your strengths, but it’s risky. The ball definitely flies.”
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06.....174445.htm
JGS
June 16th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
They dropped Daniel Cabrera, why would they want Jose Veras?
as for the unknown rookie syndrome, I think Singleton mentioned on YES that rookies making their first start against the Yankees were something like 3-18 over the last couple of years. Unknown rookie syndrome is all in our heads because those games stick out at us
=======
That’s very interesting. Another example of how subjectively fans view baseball. They get “snagged” emotionally, and that emotion lingers and colors any new or even contradictory historical information.
It’s much harder to cling to those visceral convictions in baseball, however, because it’s the ONLY sport where statistics – especially offensive ones – can throw cold water on emotionally-charged conclusions.
I, too, cringe when I see we’re facing an unheralded newbie or first-time “nobody.”
Brandon-
Growing up in the 80s I used to watch the Superstars of Wrestling with my daddy every Saturday. I thought the Lovely Elizabeth was the most beautiful woman on the planet. LOL.
It actually made me very sad when I found out she died of a drug overdose.
they can hit but we always lay an egg vs. guys we haven’t seen don’t think we have faced any of these guys… even if we sweep if we win the wang game 14-10 there is still a problem
Scorpio -
I think the players can find better things to do than spend 4 days in St. Louis in the middle of the summer.
I know if I was a player and I only had this mini-break before the stretch run, I’d want to spend it relaxing somewhere.
If Jeter didn’t make the team, MLB would have a meltdown. Tex would be okay too. Everyone else could use the rest to rejuvenate creaky and recently repaired bodies.
I am sure there is a huge ego boost by getting voted to start the all-star game. I think Derek Jeter is also one of those players who comes to life on the ball field. I think everything else is probably second priority to him
“That’s very interesting. Another example of how subjectively fans view baseball. They get “snagged” emotionally, and that emotion lingers and colors any new or even contradictory historical information.
It’s much harder to cling to those visceral convictions in baseball, however, because it’s the ONLY sport where statistics – especially offensive ones – can throw cold water on emotionally-charged conclusions.
I, too, cringe when I see we’re facing an unheralded newbie or first-time “nobody.””
=========
Bod – I was the same way, so much so that this year I decided to keep track (yes, I have no life). It was amazing to see how wrong I was to worry about facing the new pitchers.
Randy, in response to a post of yours from earlier……where did you get the idea that AJ ever trashed Jorge? You’re calling him a mercenary, saying his pie routine is stupid (if you thought it was ok before everyone started talking about Posada, then I’m not sure I understand the problem? ) and basically saying he’s not a real Yankee. This debate has taken a very nasty turn towards AJ and I don’t get it. It’s one thing to criticize his performance, but everyone is criticizing his behavior off the field and I’m sorry – I don’t see what he did wrong. I thought maybe he gushed a little too much about Cervelli, but not once has he ever come out and knocked Posada.
I wonder if he should just stop the pie thing. People seem to resent it and it’s too bad because it’s a fun thing.
they better win 2 of 3 but they SHOULD sweep. no excuses.
Largo
June 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
“That’s very interesting. Another example of how subjectively fans view baseball. They get “snagged” emotionally, and that emotion lingers and colors any new or even contradictory historical information.
It’s much harder to cling to those visceral convictions in baseball, however, because it’s the ONLY sport where statistics – especially offensive ones – can throw cold water on emotionally-charged conclusions.
I, too, cringe when I see we’re facing an unheralded newbie or first-time “nobody.””
=====
Bod – I was the same way, so much so that this year I decided to keep track (yes, I have no life). It was amazing to see how wrong I was to worry about facing the new pitchers.
=====
It’s funny, somebody of note (whom I can’t recall, lol) once said that if you had teams switch uniforms and play a game, most people wouldn’t know the difference, and would assign characteristics from a player’s tendencies to the imposter.
I don’t doubt it.
didn’t know about the 9-4 vs. pitchers faced for first time just i guess the frustrating thing is seeing a journeyman starter with an era above 5 look like koufax that’s why we all remember it the 7 inninngs of 3 and 4 hit ball
melky doesn’t like the pie and im sure there are other teammates who feel the same way but will play along with it,
That was saddening when Ms. Elizabeth died
I grew up watching her at her later stages and was introduced to Sunny, Rena Mero Lasner (w/e she boinking nowadays), Chyna (who was in Playboy amongst other things) than there was Kimberely Paige she was my reason to watch WCW. WWE is was Sunny.
I could live with 2 of 3. Baseball is such a game of inches that you can’t really be mad at a team that wins two out of every three games.
I actually like pie. I’m just not a whipped cream fan.
You gotta expect CC to win tonight.
I’ve been hoping for the real Wanger to come around for a while and I always hypothisized that his wife’s pregnancy was distracting him. We’ll see about that.
Joba needs a bounceback from that last lackluster performance.
I’ll take 2 out of 3.
There’s been some discussion about HBO and Joe Buck lately. I didn’t see the show but I’m not too into Buck as many aren’t. Having Artie Lange as a guest on the deries premier is definitely a head scratcher and I even kind of like the guy. Artie tells a story about his father bringing him to game 6 of the 77′ Series that is hysterical. I think he told it on Letterman and it may be on you-tube. Any of you ONeill banner fans would definitely appreciate it.
Whoever is running HBO Sports seems to be determined to destroy it. Cancelling Inside the NFL was mind-boggling and most likely led to losing Costas who was the face of their sports programming.
This has the making of a Nationals Pitcher throwing a no-hitter all over it
We’ve pounded the highly touted rookies like Derek Holland, Porcello, Brett Anderson,
It’s the guys like JA Happ, Anthony Ortega, Nieve, Koji Uehara, Brian Bergsann etc. who have shut us down.
(Yes, I know Bergsann’s line looked worse than it was but if you watched that game, we did nothing against him until the 7th inning when he was tiring and the pen let his runners score)
Whatever, I’ll take 2 out of 3. A sweep would be icing on the cake, but winning the series is all that matters to me.
Brandon ! “B/c the Yankees don’t believe in young and athletic in the OF”
June 16th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
That was saddening when Ms. Elizabeth died
I grew up watching her at her later stages and was introduced to Sunny, Rena Mero Lasner (w/e she boinking nowadays), Chyna (who was in Playboy amongst other things) than there was Kimberely Paige she was my reason to watch WCW. WWE is was Sunny.
****
I stopped watching at that point. I think my final straw was the Survivor Series my dad ordered on PPV and they had the women wrestling in a gravy match. At that point I was a teenage girl and I was definitely not intrested in that.
None of those women could ever hold a candle to the Lovely Elizabeth. She was actually classy
Yeah, the thing is you can look at the stats and say “we should sweep” but wins and losses in baseball can be seperated by inches, so if we lose one of the three games but win two others I can’t be mad that we didn’t sweep.
Oh, and Kepner didn’t dig up anything new- let’s not give him the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. That quote from AJ was out there…and no one really seemed to have a problem with it then. All of a sudden Kepner phrases it to make his ridiculous point (revealing and carefully? Please!) and people are ready to kill AJ. Sorry – I heard AJ’s comments for myself and they were no where near as bad as they read. When I first read them myself, I thought AJ may have been implying something about Jorge, but you have to listen to him speak. Everyone is just looking to kill AJ about something, so at this point I guess it is what it is. Everytime he says something or does something – OMG – he’s just the same stupid jerk he was in Florida. If you don’t like the signing, then fine – blame the Yankees for making a bad decision. Do we blame untalented, mediocre pitchers for not being good enough? No, it’s not their fault they are who they are. Why are we blaming AJ?
Again, Kepner wanted to make a point and he chose to use Burnett to make his point – totally manipulative.
since when is a sweaty towel with whipped cream sprayed into it considered “pie”
“didn’t know about the 9-4 vs. pitchers faced for first time just i guess the frustrating thing is seeing a journeyman starter with an era above 5 look like koufax that’s why we all remember it the 7 inninngs of 3 and 4 hit ball”
=======
Jamy – I know what you are saying – sometimes I think we actually watch the games too closely and have negative impressions stick in our minds while blotting out the actual results.
Also, in at least two of the games this year (Bergesen of Baltimore and Ortega of the Angels) the rookie pitched well but the Yankees got to the bullpen. And it also helped that Brad Lidge blew the game for JA Happ when Happ pitched pretty well.
Erica what about Debrah ?
CB, SJ, Randy l etc. know what they are talking about
Their posts on AJ in the previous thread were spot on
its gotta suck to be a fan of the nats, if they even have any.
It just seems as if pitchers we should smash shut us out, and then we need to get to bullpens.
To be fair, we’ve done a GREAT job of getting to bullpens, even the great Boston pen. What people forget is that during this last Boston series our pen outpitched the Boston pen.
“its gotta suck to be a fan of the nats, if they even have any.”
It won’t be long till the Nats become the NL’s Rays, Bobby V + high draft picks and $$$ to spend on FA BP help and some SP, it won’t be long.
I would think its worse to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Can you imagine rooting for a team that trades every half decent player for prospects?
Is that record that Singleton pointed out the record of the pitcher or the team record in those games?
Yeah, there have been games where we did nothing against the starter but won the game anyway because we got to the pen (a la JA Happ, Uehara etc.).
Like the other guy pointed out… we seem to do much better against highly touted young pitchers than the mediocre ones or the journeymen.
Congrats to Wang and his lovely wife on a healthy baby boy….Justin happens to be my favorite name in the world, so he made a fine choice. I guess his nickname will be Joba…..Isn’t Joba’s real name Justin?
Strasburg, Zimmerman, Lannan anchoring the rotation
Zimmerman, Guzeman, Dukes, Dunn, NJ in the middle of the lineup
They must get some BP help though. They need to sign like 4 guys this winter.
Actually Betsy, Joba’s real name is Joba. He may have changed it though.
“I would think its worse to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Can you imagine rooting for a team that trades every half decent player for prospects?”
They have some talented kids 2-3 yrs. away.
Starting w/ Pedro Alvarez
“since when is a sweaty towel with whipped cream sprayed into it considered ‘pie’”
*That’s what I wanna know.* Kimberly Jones should ask the tough questions like the one above and stop messing around.
The Yankees just aren’t playing well right now, despite Sunday’s win, so I’m absolutely not assuming anything. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they lost 2/3. They have real issues, regardless of their opponent. I expect that they will come out flat tonight – I’m just not overly impressed with their offense despite the numbers.
I think Joba’s name was Justin and he had it legally changed to Joba
Justin Louis Heath is Joba’s real name, according to Wiki
If the team is complacent and think they can just show up and win, then there will be in for a rude awakening.
They are still a ML team. They have a good offense. They are throwing out Lannan who has had a very good year in the 2nd game. We also face 2 rookies in the other games.
I can totally see today’s game being like a 3-2 affair where we sleepwalk through the game.
“Joba’s real name is Joba. He may have changed it though”
I think he did legally change it. But his given birth name is Justin.
“Joba agreed, and eventually had his name legally changed.”
I gotta read articles in their entirety.
I remember Phil Hughes said on his blog that whenever he wants to annoy Joba he just calls him Justin and doesn’t stop. LOL.
The series won’t be as easy as some people think because most seem to be expecting huge blowouts. Beating the Nats 4-3 is just as good as beating them 15-2.
As bad as they are, they have won games against the Phillies & Mets this year. They split a two-gamer in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. Why would it be so surprising if they took one of the three games? Especially since Wang has been so poor and is up against the Nats’ best pitcher (a very respectable John Lannan). If Wang pitches like he has been pitching, the Nats can hit him. They are actually a decent offensive team for a team with a record as bad as they have. (they are 5th in the NL in Team OPS, though only 9th in runs scored).
No major league game is easy – even if the opponents have a lot of players who shouldn’t be in the majors. The key to this series is to get into that dreadful bullpen as soon as possible.
Where’s KGsturn? Uses a sexist profanity and disappears?
Betsy, whenever I read your comments I get this sudden urge to fire Girardi.
Jobas real name is justin, but im pretty sure he legally changed it to Joba.
You think if Tex hits an important home run they’ll start chanting MVP? (Although it would be nice if he could keep the avg. at 290 or higher.)
The Nats are a team who shoots themselves in the foot. Worst defense in baseball, mental errors, strikeouts galore, terrible pen, etc. and other teams capitalize on mistakes.
They are not as bad as their record says they are. Would anyone be shocked if they play crisp baseball and play inspired in Yankee Stadium? Yankees have to be ready to match their intensity. Not just show up and look at their record and assume they will kill them.
“You think if Tex hits an important home run they’ll start chanting MVP?”
i think its still a bit early for MVP chants, no?
I think Tex needs the love and support of this blog to boost him into the all-star game. The idea of Youk beating him grosses me out. I don’t want to see that a$$ shaking during the ASG
you gotta have faith (i love cisco!), you’re right, but I’m asking if they’ll do it, not if it should be done. Besides, it’s all in good fun.
I’ll look forward to the Yanks playing in DC in the near future.
That’s a cool stadium and DC’s a great town to visit.
Tex needs to improve his avg. a bit.
I am not sure why anyone wouldn’t be impressed with the Yankees’ offense – they rank in the top 3 in every important category, including #1 in OPS. Every starter other than Melky (107) has an OPS+ over 110. Even Gardner is hitting around league average (and his stolen base rate makes him probably a slightly above average offensive player, especially for his position).
If this offense doesn’t impress, I am not sure what offense would impress. And how can one judge an offense beyond “looking at the numbers”, anyway?
*Yankees were too corporate and stiff* they lightened up with the pies and belt, *no biggie.*
Bronx Jeers, they’re going to be playing in D.C.?
Bronx Jeers-
The Yanks playing in DC yells road trip
I feel more sorry about Royals fans. At least the Nats have nice uniforms. The Pirates have a nice one i saw this weekend. Royals cant even get that. And we all know its all about the uni’s. Pinstripes being best.
Tom K, I totally agree. We have a great offense.
Adam Schein couldn’t propose to Santana yesterday… not after that start.
The Mets logo is a joke, such a ripoff of the Yankees logo. I mean come on, they could do better than that!
I hate the name Mets (yes I know it stands for Metropolitans). Yankees is a great name. Red & White Sox are rather stupid names. I don’t get what Royals have to do w/Kansas City, though.
The offense is the reason we are not in last place.
27th ranked ERA in baseball. 2nd worst bullpen in the AL.
Offense is keeping us afloat while our pitchers figure themselves out.
Speaking of unis, did the mets dump the dominoes looking inaugural patch? I didn’t see it at all in the series.
Schein, while watching the Sunday game: “No, Santana! How could you do this to me? I made plans in Vegas…”
M-
They might only wear it at home. The Mets do have about 37 different uniforms. So unnecessary
“At least the Nats have nice uniforms.”
You mean, the ones that say “Natinals” on them??
It is possible that Lannan & the Nats offense could take the 2nd game vs Wang. Losing that game wouldn’t bother me that much.
2 out of 3 wouldn’t necessarily be “bad”, but I agree that a sweep against the Nats is expected and 2/3 will be kinda disappointing (and it will probably mean CMW doesn’t “produce”, which will make it even more disappointing). I saw the Nats play the Mets at Citi earlier this season, and they are definitely the worst MLB team I have ever seen play. Need to dominate
Yeah, that game w/Wang pitching is not a toss up, but more ven than any other game. Losing today’s game would be pretty embarassing.
Must get a sweep. Red sox Rays will sweep them. Cannot lose ground. I wish we were in the NL and got to play Nationals, Pirates, Padres etc. Yanks would never miss post season.
I think Yanks should approach Mets to trade Gardner (National league type player) for Church. Put Church in right, keep Melky in CF full time and away we go
Per Wikipedia:
“The “Royals” name originates from the American Royal, a livestock show, horse show, and rodeo held annually in Kansas City since”
ven is then.
Do the players or the Yankees get paid for the appearances that Steiner auctions off with them?
Anyone know?
Hey AJ – less talking about the catcher/ballpark and less pies and more wins!!!
he also leads the league in walks and wild pitches
that is not going to get it done
Tom in N.J =-Thanks. Okay.
Still, kind of obscure.
Let’s hope this baby is Justin time to turn Wang’s season around.
(chortle)
I don’t get what Royals have to do w/Kansas City, though.
———-
I spoke about this a year ago and thought this would be a good time to bring it back.
Teams that need name changes or trades.
Los Angeles Magic
Los Angeles Bullets(clippers name sucks)
Minni Lakers
Golden State Nuggets
New Orleans Jazz
Memphis Kings
???
Erica,
maybe, but I was hoping they would have enough sense to dump the ugly logo. Looks like they had another patch that looked oddly similar to the Yankees one. more traditional.
As far as the Nats series goes, just win the series. We just came off a brutal week where they’ve had one legit win.
Nah, I doubt Melky stays this close to 300. His avg. will drop and then you’ll want Gardy to platoon. And anyway since when did the Mets think Gardy was as good as Church?
Yankees have always lacked that killer instinct to finish off teams (either series or in games themselves).
2\3 would not be a surprise at all. We just never step on the other team’s throat.
This is intresting about why Cleveland Indians is named the Indians:
“in 1913 a popular player named Luis Francis Sockalexis died. He had been the first American Indian ever to play pro baseball and the team was renamed in his honor.”
Anyone ever been to ProPlayer Stadium (or whatever they call it now)? I’m thinking about going down this weekend. I’m guessing it isn’t the best place to watch a baseball game. At least I can legally get away with wearing my white suit in Miami, so thats a plus!
Stultus,
The D.C. ones with the red white and blue arent bad.
“I don’t get what Royals have to do w/Kansas City, though.”
I ran this by the blog last year and thought this would be a good time to do it again.
Teams that need to change or trade its name.
Los angeles Magic
Los angeles Bullets
New orlean Jazz
Golden State Nuggets
Memphis Kings
Min Lakers
Cleveland King?
???
No I’m just sort of assuming they’ll be playing in DC sometime in the next couple of years as the interleague schedule seems to work that way.
Tom K, I’m not overly impressed because to me, the Yankees take too many innings off. They’ll go innings without doing squat, then they’ll bunch together some runs later on. They are dreadful at executing the fundamentals – forget asking them to get runners home from 3rd and less than two outs and forget asking them to score with a runner on 2nd and no outs. Horrible. Of course it’s a good offense, but not a truly great one..It’s also an offense that is completely built for the regular season and not at all built for the post-season.
Winning only 2\3 is a huge missed opportunity.
This is the worst team in baseball, on pace to dethrone the 62 Mets as the worst team ever. The worst pitching and bullpen in baseball. A team that is reeling, passionless, and is going to fire their manager.
You can say all you want that “any ML team can beat another”, but this just isin’t a bad team, it is a dreadful team. We could get 3 free games in the standings. Tampa swept them. Boston will sweep them. In a division that will be decided by a few games, not sweeping this series may loom large. You will not get an easier opponent.
I guess the Kansas City Corn Farmers just doesn’t have the same ring to it, huh?
I think we’re a great offense.
Congrats mel, the best team won this year.
I had a rough few days. Red Wings lost and Lakers won. I had to convince myself its only a game. At least the Longhorns are still in it(dont ask me to name more than one player on the team).
Manuel hates Church- think of it this way, with the NL to AL exchange rates Church who is hitting around 275 in NL will probably hit 250 in AL and Gardner was is hitting 270+ in AL should hit near 300 in NL. Would be great for both teams
Forget about who is catching whom, pies in the face or how we fare against new pitchers. Let’s talk about the real story of the day….The return of the Attorney General to the Bronx.yes another one of those players that some posters wanted to annoint to new levels just like those other greats like JOsh Phelps, Andy Phillips etc.
Why would we trade a 270 hitter for a 250 hitter?
Thankfully Yanks didnt believe their own hype on Nick Johnson, and thankfully he is no longer a Yank
Anyway, the Mets have no power as it is, so making a trade for less power seems kind of dumb.
SoS,
Thanks. That’s mighty big of you. BFF?
This is a bully offense. They will destroy bad pitching, pile on in games that are already decided. They will hit plenty of HRs as well.
For all the talk about how our pitching has killed us in October… look at the 05-07 offensive stats in the postseason.
gayle,
The AG is back? How did that happen?
Yes, we really piled on leading 6-0 in Boston. What a shame that we couldn’t save those runs for another game.
Wait a minute…
If the offense puts five runs on the board it did it’s job. After that it’s the pitching that causes you to lose.
Or is he on the Nationals?
he’s on the nationals
mel,
I have to say, there was a point in that finals that i actually thought i was watching Jordan talk. It was after the failed 4th quarter of Kobe and he was talking to the media and said it doesnt matter if i hit a wall or not. What if i did? A guy in the media says well what if you did? He said it wouldnt matter? Why not? Because i would run through that wall. That was the ultimate competers response. My idol was Jordan and i have to say that this guy is the closest thing to him.
“This is intresting about why Cleveland Indians is named the Indians:
“in 1913 a popular player named Luis Francis Sockalexis died. He had been the first American Indian ever to play pro baseball and the team was renamed in his honor.”
”
Good tidbit, Tom. I just assumed it was Brett Tomko’s great-grandfather who named the team.
Kobe is awesome, but Lebron is more fun to watch.
I think when Gardner gets put in the game for defense and they move Melky from CF to RF I think its wrong. Melky won that CF job, and should not move. Besides having a much better arm I think Melky is a better OF. Girardi once said he puts Melky in RF when Gardner is in becuase of Melkys arm. I agree that Gardner is faster but I dont think he gets as good as a jump in CF as Melky does
If you get Church it eliminates the urge to put Gardner in CF and gives you help where you need it in RF where Swisher is a defensive nightmare. And to think the Yanks were willing to give Swisher a shot at CF. He is entertaining but he has trouble fielding, average arm at best, hits so-so, and is an awful baserunner. Cannot believe after watching him everyday that the Yanks also discussed giving him the 1B job before they signed Tex.
It was Rick Vaughn bobblehead night at Progressive Field in Cleveland last night. Awesome!
Melky and Gardner-The player with the better arm generally goes into the corner position when someone of at least comparable if not equal defensive skill goes onto the field. Nothing to do with who is or isn’t the better player.
adam warren is pitching right now for UNC on ESPN2..he was drafted by the yanks this year…hes hit 94 so far
Gardner has a better UZR than melky in CF
anyone not watching damon oppenheimers chat on yankees.com is missing some interesting stuff
“I think when Gardner gets put in the game for defense and they move Melky from CF to RF I think its wrong. Melky won that CF job, and should not move. Besides having a much better arm I think Melky is a better OF. Girardi once said he puts Melky in RF when Gardner is in becuase of Melkys arm. I agree that Gardner is faster but I dont think he gets as good as a jump in CF as Melky does
If you get Church it eliminates the urge to put Gardner in CF and gives you help where you need it in RF where Swisher is a defensive nightmare. And to think the Yanks were willing to give Swisher a shot at CF. He is entertaining but he has trouble fielding, average arm at best, hits so-so, and is an awful baserunner. Cannot believe after watching him everyday that the Yanks also discussed giving him the 1B job before they signed Tex.”
why in the world would the yanks trade for church…swisher is the starter and thats that…church is nothing special…swisher contributes a lot to this offense…gardner is valuable to this team even if it is just pinch running…something church definitly cant do
“Yes, we really piled on leading 6-0 in Boston. What a shame that we couldn’t save those runs for another game.”
I hope this post was a joke. You can’t seriously cherry pick ONE game, can you?
“The D.C. ones with the red white and blue arent bad.”
That’s true. It’s funny to look at some of the absolutely hideous uniforms of baseball past. Like the Pirates and Astros. Even the D-Backs unis look pretty lame today.
I like it when some of the teams wear the old negro-league uniforms.
Thanks, Ralph.
Yeah this guy looks pretty good so far
who is the other stuart posting.
this is the angry stuart out of california.
hopefully tomko will be gone today, he is a retread with no upside.
bruney should help…..
Mike, of course it was not a joke. My point is that we play a lot of close games and actually don’t blow out teams often. I used that game as an example that just because a game looks over doesn’t mean we should stop scoring runs.
Yes, we really piled on leading 6-0 in Boston. What a shame that we couldn’t save those runs for another game.
Wait a minute…
If the offense puts five runs on the board it did it’s job. After that it’s the pitching that causes you to lose.
—————————–
Wow, talk about completely missing the point
children, children
why are veras, tomko, berroa on the team?
why was tomko up here to begin with?
Well, when Bustnett is on the mound, no lead is safe. So in that regard, it is good that we “pile on” in his starts.
Don’t know if any of you guys are near a TV but one of the Yankees top draft picks this year is pitching on espn2 for unc in an elimination game.
OX 232, I know that my last bit about five runs a game was not the point. I was making a different point.
My POINT was that we have been playing a lot of close games this year. As I said earlier, when you have a chance to blow out a team, don’t rag on the offense for “piling on”. Eventually those “pile on” runs may become important.
“It was Rick Vaughn bobblehead night at Progressive Field in Cleveland last night. Awesome!”
That might be the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.
SoS,
It’ll be interesting to see when he starts to decline and how quickly he goes.
He’s a lot of things to us, but his mid-range game this series startled me. I don’t delve too much into ancient history, that’s past the 90’s for me
, but it might be unparalleled.
As for the Indians name that’s interesting. Native American groups still trying to change the name/logo?
“Don’t know if any of you guys are near a TV but one of the Yankees top draft picks this year is pitching on espn2 for unc in an elimination game.”
Good thing Posada isn’t calling that one.
Couldn’t resist.
Why would any team stop piling on? i.e. stop trying to score?
m, the arguement is that we’re a “bully” offense piling on bad pitching. To which I argue that we have played a lot of close games (and won quite a few) and that situations like what happened in Boston DO occur, and then you’ll be happy for every “extra” run scored.
Congrats, Wang family! Like I said last night, I’m fairly certain that this whole baseball thing was a scam for Wang to have his baby born as a U.S. citizen. No wonder he never bothered to develop his secondary pitches.
The lines for tonight’s games are out of control. The Yankees are -360 right now. That means you would need to stake $36 to win $10. The run line (Yankees -1.25) is where the action is for this one, but that is -190 at my book, which is pretty bad too. The smart money is on the Nationals; the smartest money is not betting on sports, of course.
m, if you’re out there, I skimmed some of the comments on the earlier threads on the contentious topic de la semaine. If you were in any way referring to me with your “smart people on this forum comment” (and I have no reason to think you were), you may be guilty of forgetting or not understanding my postion on Posadagate.
Back when this first came up (and a few times since then) I have written that I don’t think that Posada is the best *defensive* catcher on the team, taking into account all the things a catcher does behind the plate. But I do think he’s the best catcher on the team, taking into account all the things a catcher does both behind the plate and at the plate.
So if you hint that people who disagree with you aren’t recognizing the gray in between the black and white, you are doing a disservice to many of your fellow commenters.
I disagree, Pete. Two out of three is always good. A sweep is better and you play for that, but you don’t take it for granted and you don’t scoff at taking the series. (On any given day…yada, yada, yada).
I would be happy if the Yankees won every series from here on out.
And by the way, Welcome to the World, J. J. Wang!
Unless I’m forgetting something we have won every series since losing five in a row at home except the Boston series.
m,
I think what he meant was that the Yankees offense over the years has had a tendency to score 15 runs in 1 game, and then only 2 runs the next game and that sort of thing… not consistent with the offense.
But that’s what a HR/OBP predicated offense will do to you. And those are the types of players we have and we have to play to our strengths.
Church is a solid OF and proven major league hitter.
We lost the Phillies series too
I think our offense has been different this year. More balanced, as evidenced by less blowouts. The games like that Santana game are few and far between.
4 x 4-Right, forgot that one. Thanks.
You know, I hope Girardi is smart enough to keep Robertson up in the bigs. He is much more deserving than Veras ever was. Can we stop with the negativity on Posada?
I don’t think “bully offense” is a derogatory term. That is the baseball slang for HR/OBP reliant offenses. Which is what we have, and thus, where our inconsistency comes from.
I don’t see how a lineup built around not making outs and hitting for power is going to be feast or famine. Considering a lot of our power hitters are also .300 hitters?
The only guy we have who isnt an average hitter is Nick Swisher.
Jeter: .300 hitter
Damon: .280-.300 hitter
Tex: .280-.300 hitter
A-rod: .300 hitter
Matsui: .300 hitter (maybe not now due to injury but he has always been a line drive doubles guy for us)
Cano: .300 hitter
Melky: .300 hitter
Posada: .270 hitter
Our entire lineup will fluctuate between .270 and .320, which is excellent. We don’t have many hitters who are straight hit for power / walk guys.
Gardner has a higher OBP than Melky
I don’t see how the fact that all of our hitters are capable of going deep could be construed as a bad thing. The only way an offense would be better without HRs is if their average/OBP was much higher, or they all happened to collect their hits for the game in the same inning.
I think Matsui is going to end up as a 260 hitter w/power.
Just throwing this out there:
Anyone else think that CC is the best pitcher in NY?
I haven’t paid that much attention to the Mets, but I know the knock on Johan was that he would often take himself out after 6 when he still had some left in the tank to protect his ERA.
On the other hand, CC has always been an absolute beast always willing to take the ball (see last year’s stretch run).
I’m still steaming from that hack Mike Lupica putting “He’s No Johan” on the back of the paper the day after the Yankees signed CC. Another reason why I no longer read any of the NYC fish-rags !
yeah Gardner OBP is 354 and Melkys is 344 close
but Melkys SLG and batting average is higher, and Melky hits in the clutch
Nah, Johan is better than CC, bad last few starts aside.
That being said I’m glad we didn’t make the trade because I really like Hughes.
Gardner is gritty and gutty, but I’m almost hitting 300! Come on! And Gardner has no arm.
Oh and whoever said Manuel dislikes Church and would want to trade Gardner there – Manuel dislikes Gardner too.
C C is better- hes pitching in a much tougher league and division. There is a huge difference between AL and NL especially among the mediocre and weak teams
I steal bases, making up for my lack of slugging percentage. And of course I’m gritty and gutty.
Church is terrible this season. Met’s would love to trade him but who wants him. He’s slugging .375 or something.
Posada’s the best catcher the Yankees have had since Thurman. Any pitcher that blames his problems on any catcher is a loser.
Yeah except when they gave you the sign in Boston and we banged into a double play
““This is intresting about why Cleveland Indians is named the Indians:
“in 1913 a popular player named Luis Francis Sockalexis died. He had been the first American Indian ever to play pro baseball and the team was renamed in his honor.””
In 1961, a utility infielder in the twilight of his career thought it would be a great idea to have a team in the Anaheim area of California. He had a brilliant year on the bench, even though he spent his younger years playing with the likes of Lou Gehrig and was already on the cusp of retirement.
After the season, the team was named in his honor. They are now known as the L.A. Angels of Anaheim.
Amazingly, this player remains in the major leagues 48 years later, sitting on the bench for the New York Yankees.
Who else but the Ageless Wonder, the Earl of Errors, Angel Berroa.
warren’s delivery is similar to robertson…
Good point CC Johan. Maybe the numbers on both pitchers would be different in different leagues. But if I had to choose one, last few starts aside I’d take Johan.
At least I didn’t BUNT in Boston (Melky cough). I guess Melky forgets that with my grit and guts I would have stolen a base anyway. He lost us that game.
I’m better at conserving my energy like when I hit a ground ball to the infield and don’t bother running it out so I’ll have more energy for later. I learned that from my idol Bobby Abreu.
I was bunting for a hit! Anyway, any GOOD baserunner would have been on second already…
Nick,
lol. No, I’m really talking about the people who refuse to admit that there just might be issues with Posada behind the plate. Like I said earlier, I don’t just make stuff up. And I don’t slam on Posada either. I just think that it might be affecting the pitchers. This year’s staff. Not Clemens, not the staff from 5 years ago.
And the people who only see the black or white are doing a disservice to those who have polar opinions that don’t agree with them. The condescension is only flowing one way in the Posada discussion. As far as I know, I’ve been respectful in my posting on the topic.
I don’t think Posada is negatively affecting the staff. I really don’t.
no question
anytime any AL pitcher loses his job on his AL team he can always go and pitch (and usually successfully) in the NL
I don’t get the sense that the Yankees are a “feast or famine” offense this season. The last two years, particularly last year, oh my goodness, it was awful! Ten runs one day, zero the next, and you could take it to the bank. This year seems a bit more consistent. A big win doesn’t necessarily mean a measly loss the next day.
I think there are never enough runs.
And even though the bullpen has been much, much better than the first couple of weeks to this season, I still have a hangover, I think, about the implosiveness that might hover just below the surface. So, I think tack-on runs are definitely NOT tacky!
Trisha – from a prior thread – I like Mike Mussina, too.
vb03-Very funny. Good delivery of the punch line.
Yeah Doreen I agree.
Three unknown pitchers do not = a sweep for Y ankees. Now, if someone like Santana were pitching all 3 games….
“vb03-Very funny. Good delivery of the punch line.”
Haha thanks, these Berroa jokes never get old.
Just like the man himself!
Oh, and I am open to the idea that Jorge has nothing to do with the starters’ ERA.
If the Yanks loss the series to Washington, the world will come to an end, or at least on New York sports radio.
I loved the Moose. Bt I’m not cool with the coments on Mo. Say what you want, he was right, just telling the truth. I didn’t like it.
I just watched the joe buck show clip from last night on Huffingtonpost.com
that was SO BAD
I think the Yanks offense is like this. During the game (or until there back is agianst the wall) they do not have as many good at bats. They try to pull the ball too much, dont take the ball the other way etc.
Once behind, or in the last innings back against the wall they seem to have better at bats, work the count, take the ball the other way. Thats on Girardi. He needs to make them accountable for all at bats regarding the situation in the game. Thats why I believe they have had an UNUSUAL amount of last inning rallys and wins
For today I am a So Miss fan.
Sorry about the confusion of the piling on run discussion.
I still don’t think that the team says, let’s slow down and save some for tomorrow. You take what they give you because every game is different.
Wait till they come to our house -
The discussion was looks, I think, regarding Mike Mussina.
Oh wow, the typos on my last post were really bad.
“The condescension is only flowing one way in the Posada discussion.”
That’s absolutely not true.
But yes, *you* have been very respectful in the posting that I’ve seen, though not always accurate in describing some of the views that others on your ’side’ have articulated.
as much as I dont want to see it, i expect adam dunn to smoke a couple out of the park.
Doreen-Ah. Didn’t know.
In any case I stand by my last comments on the Moose. Say what you want about looks, I won’t comment.
vb03- that was brilliant delivery!
Yeah, it’s the same thing with the two sides to any debate, be it politics, sports, or even the coke or pepsi debate.
Both sides think that the other side is ALWAYS wrong, that those who believe in it MUST be horrible people, and that any arrogance CAN’T be from their side.
In actuality in almost every arguement both sides of the arguement have merit and there’s very rarely more jerks or idiots on one side than another.
The Red Sox have been unbelievably lucky in pitching matchups so far this year.
They played the Blue Jays twice and missed Halladay both times. They played 3 games against the Tigers and missed Verlander AND Jackson. They missed Hamels in Philly, and will miss Josh Johnson this week (Marlins’ ace). If they play the Nats right after the Yankees do, then they will also miss Lannan, who is far and away the best Nationals pitcher.
Jorge Posada is one of the top 2 or 3 catchers in all of MLB. (when considering offense + defense) The more playing time he gets the better.
The only catcher I’d prefer over Posada for 2009 is Joe Mauer and that should tell you something considering he’s been the single most valuable player in all of MLB despite missing 24 games.
I agree Patrick.
Wait till they come: ha, I don’t think any of the Posada Truthers are horrible people and some of them make some decent points.
Wait, now I’m supposed to describe what others on my side are articulating? Or are you just calling me a fence sitter?
You give me a headache sometimes.
I’m trying to be as subtle and tactful as I can when talking about Jorge because he is a beloved and valuable Yankee. Because I don’t want to offend anyone. If I wanted to make a direct point, I’ll use a winky emoticon.
Yeah Nick, but the point can be made with the Joba debate: To both sides it is a ridiculous debate, the answer is obvious, and anybody who doesn’t get it is an idiot!
True?
“vb03- that was brilliant delivery!”
Thanks Erica.
Anyone who thinks Joba belongs in the pen absent extenuating circumstances IS an idiot!
(J/K)
“Wait, now I’m supposed to describe what others on my side are articulating?”
You’re not supposed to do anything, but just yesterday you made more than one “no is saying that Jorge….” kind of statements when “I’m not saying…” would have been more correct.
One of them was something like “no one is saying Jorge should be pipped” when some people have said exactly that. Someone else (one guess who) posted “the Yankees have a HUGE problem with Posada”.
Someone else’s goofy comments don’t make you a goof, but your reasonable comments don’t make anyone else more reasonable. That formula works for all of us.
Here is my problem with the “Posada is the problem” debate.
Who are the two prime examples of “proof” Posada is a “problem”? AJ Burnett and Joba Chamberlain.
AJ Burnett is pitching EXACTLY as he has his entire career. Look it up. No change this year under Posada.
Was it Greg Zaun and Rod Barajas’ fault he was so up and down in Toronto?
How about Florida and their multitude of catchers? Were they to blame?
I could see if AJ numbers declined dramatically as a Yankee. That hasn’t happened. He’s pitched like he usually does…very inconsistently. Blaming it on Posada in a passive aggressive way? A copout to me. He’s the guys with the ball in his hand. If he can’t find the plate, that’s on him.
My conclusion? Perhaps its AJ, and not the catchers, who are at fault for his career inconsistency. It can’t be ALL the catchers faults in his stops for his up and down career.
Joba has been shaking off catchers, often to his own detriment, since he’s been a starter. He hurt the team and himself last year when he over did it and at times has done the same thing this year.
Folks need to learn who to pin the blame on for bad performances. When a pitcher pitches poorly, and has a track record of acting and pitching a certain way in given situations, that’s not on the catcher. That’s on the pitcher.
Is Posada perfect? Of course not. However, the examples people are using about his “failures” are very, very flawed.
Give me better examples than a guy who has been maddeningly inconsistent (AJ) at every stop in his career, and a kid (Joba) who is learning to be a starter.
As you get older, you don’t lose your skills in calling a game. You lose physical skills, not gamecalling skills.
Jorge Posada is probably the second best catcher in the AL behind Joe Mauer. Trashing him for the lack of performance of starters who are inconsistent seems to be a big cop out to me.
At some point, guys who aren’t accountable for their own play run out of scapegoats.
I have no problem with opinions, we all have at least one! LOL! I do have a problem with Nonsense being portrayed as factual and appropriate to diss a player.
I personally liked every player move the Yankees made this off-season! Yes Burnett over Lowe or someone else. I was hoping that the Yanks would have signed Sheets, but in hindsight I was wrong on that and most of you were right! I truly wanted ManRam too, and even though I still would love him here the Roids thing is best left on the West Coast! LOL! Again many of you were right. But all of those things were opinions. Don’t try to convince me with CERA or SS defensive skills data to make your point. A SS that was injured and played is a lot better than one who just collects checks, AKA Pavanoish!
I enjoy most everyones views, especially some more than others! LOL! Yes Trisha I enjoy what you say normally, but I just couldn’t understand your bent on Posada.
One more thing, please let Veras get well before his is pitched again or DFA’d.
I don’t think Jorge is the problem by any means, but from my limited POV, I think he needs to develop a better rapport with some of the guys.
I remember that game where Veras couldn’t get himself together in the 9th inning of a game and Jorge was clearly seething.
Well, Nick.
Let’s just eliminate all the confusion.
I stand on my own little island in this debate. I’m on neither side. I’m not on trisha’s side, nor SJ’s side.
I think that there *might* be a problem.
And I don’t think that anyone is calling for Posada to be replaced as the starting catcher. No a single person.
Posada’s negatives as a catcher have always been about not blocking the plate and letting too many balls get passed him.
Calling a game was never an issue with pitchers who could throw good strikes.
“If they play the Nats right after the Yankees do, then they will also miss Lannan, who is far and away the best Nationals pitcher.”
Jordan Zimmermann is pretty good, he throws hard with pretty good command and has a nasty breaking ball. Hasn’t won a game in quite a while due to pitching for the Nationals, but he has a bright future in their rotation.
“Jorge Posada is probably the second best catcher in the AL behind Joe Mauer. ”
There’s no probably about it. He *is* the second best catcher in the AL behind Joe Mauer. He might be the second best catcher in all of baseball. You could argue Brian McCann is the same or better.
I just don’t get the complaints. Even if Posada’s pitch suggestions are hurting our pitching staff (which has been disproved by many people) his offense offsets it. By all metrics he is an average defensive catcher. The fact that his bat is so far above average means he is the second or third best catcher in all of baseball.
LOL yeah playing .666 ball the whole season isn’t good enough right. Give me a break, winning every series is all you want, it doesn’t even matter who you play. I am doing a little research on the 1998 team cuz I’m writing a speech about them, and I was leafing through some box scores and I can distinctly recall a 7-0 loss against Tampa Bay. The ‘98 Yankee team was arguably the greatest team in baseball history, and even they lost some games to some crap teams. Winning 2 out of 3 against any team is NEVER bad.
m: if there is confusion (as we discussed yesterday), it emenates from comments you make where you conflate a variety of views (”no one is saying…”). But there really wasn’t confusion about that, it was just an inaccurate comment.
And there have been comments on here that called for Posada to be replaced, sat down, turned into a DH only, etc. I do not hold you responsible for someone else’s fringe comments. But you shouldn’t deny the existance of something you apparently haven’t read.
New thread.
There isn’t anything that ticks off a catcher, manager and pitching coach more than a guy who won’t throw strikes.
Its major league baseball. Its not little league. You are SUPPOSED to get in guys grills when they won’t throw strikes. That’s the catchers job.
His job is not to hug Jose Veras.
Here is what I think of AJ Burnett. I think he has the talent to be a great pitcher. If I was the GM, I too would have signed him in the off-season.
That said, comparing his resume to Jorge Posada’s, AJ’s is a little light (sarcasm). Meaning, shut up and pitch.
You have a beef with Jorge, take it up with Girardi. Don’t pull that passive aggressive crap in a story with Kepner. This isn’t Toronto.
AJ, not Jorge, is the guy who has trouble holding leads and throwing strikes. Been that way his entire career.
One guy is a borderline Hall of Fame player. The other to date, has been a career underachiever, given his immense talent.
When sizing up both sides, I’ll take the guy with the track record of success over the guy with the track record of inconsistency every time.
If AJ wants to change that rap, talk less, pitch better, and don’t comment on the catchers.
m,
“And I don’t think that anyone is calling for Posada to be replaced as the starting catcher. No a single person.”
I agree with that totally. It’s just the uber-pro Posada crew continue to play semantics and get things all riled up.
It doesn’t matter. Girardi had the opp to put out his strongest line-up on Sunday with Jorge and he opted to go with the weaker one (I don’t buy that give Jorge 2 days rest crap when Girardi himself said that AJ/Cervelli were paired on purpose but if folks choose to be blind, let them be blind). That says more then anything anyone can say here.
It’s up to Joe G now, we’ll know what he thinks when AJ next start arrives.
Yeah, I don’t get the pitch calling tiff that has been going on here. Posada, as both Nick and Patrick have said, is the best catcher the Yankees have. If A.J. Burnett wants to blame Jorge’s game calling, so be it.
One of the best parts of this “debate” on Posada is how little impact the catcher has on AJ Burnett’s game.
It’s been remarkable to watch Burnett pitch this year because he misses his spot with such consistency.
Over and over again Burnett does not hit his target – whether that’s with his fastball or curve.
Few pitchers could miss their spots as often because AJ has such good stuff he can get away missing his spot more often than most.
But he just doesn’t hit the spot where the catcher’s mitt is set up consistently.
And he only throws two pitches. What is the game calling involved with that? The catcher generally puts a one or a two down and that’s it.
Joba similarly hasn’t been hitting his spots consistently (though not as bad as burnett).
Even if Posada were to have some influence over this, it would make no difference because where Posada is setting up isn’t where AJ and Joba are throwing the ball consistently.
I would like to add to what SJ said, a little bit.
The fact that other media outlets are “running with” the story doesn’t speak to the truth or falsity of the matter. It simply speaks to the fact that it’s something people are talking about.
SJ44
AJ throws 2 pitches. Do you think coming up with a 3rd pitch will help him?
I thought he was a good signing but I only saw the shutdown games he pitched against the Yankees.
I’d like to think that pitchers who throw a pitch with conviction will throw it more accurately.
Posada is just the flavor of the month. Most Pitchers have egos the size of Roger Clemens. Well, almost! LOL! Most are far better at appearances bt in the heat of the moment Pitchers more than most players seek a reason for their failures. It could be that they put their left sock on first instead of their right sock. A catchers job is to bring them back to earth when they are not performing well. Also, a catcher/manager needs to be fair, but that does not me equal to all the pitchers. Some need kicks, some need massaging their egos, some need consoling and some need to be left alone. LOL! (AKA Bob Gibson!)
Posada is firey. He is part of the backbone to this team. Note, I don’t remember anyone in Boston ever hitting Posada with a pitch and certainly no certain catcher would try to get in his way like he did someone else.
All this being said, there appears to be an edge or attitude between Posada and Girardi. Cervelli kind of reminds me of Joe G only Joe G was better at this stage anyway. So there could be some kind of passive aggressive issues at play as well because that is the main tool used by control freaks which Joe G appears to be. So some of these reports could be coming indirectly from … well who knows.
Ray VT,
This has nothing to do with Girardi.
If anything, Girardi might hold back making any kind of defensive substitutions more often or playing the back ups more often because of their history a long time ago, when it was Posada who replaced Girardi.
*Disclaimer: This post is independently owned by mel, and is shared by no one else on this board.
Scorpio makes a good point. If AJ does indeed get Cervelli as his personal catcher, then I expect him to pitch like an ace.
I expect him to throw 7+ innings, 3 or less runs, 2 BB or less, in his starts.
If its Jorge’s “fault”, and they give him Cervelli, then I expect him to pitch to his paycheck. Which is that of an ace.
If he doesn’t, or continues to pitch like he has his entire career, whose fault will it be then?
Mel
I like your style! I disagree sometimes, but you are a good read!
“Scorpio makes a good point. If AJ does indeed get Cervelli as his personal catcher, then I expect him to pitch like an ace.”
This is very true. Just think. After all of these years in the majors, all of those catchers he’s thrown to, all of the pitching coaches and managers, all AJ needed was Cervelli to bring out his potential.
RayVT,
Thanks.
so sad what they are doing to Manny Acta, why doesn’t he just resign and head over to the Mets? He actually was good last year with them, but not sure what happened this year
The yankees should make sure they trade Veras to an NL team – doesn’t matter what they get back.
They should not let him sign with the Angels or another AL team. Trade him and make sure you determine which team he winds up with.
I hate to say this, but I actually hope tonite is a close game so we can bring Bruney out and see how he pitches, even if it is against the lowly Nats…good way to get back in to game situations
Peter Gammons on Sportscenter makes me nauseated! He is pissed about Sosa!
Mauer is the best catcher followed by Tek, maybe Posada. Tek has no bat anymore but he sures gets the best from his pitchers. And they d shake him off.
For fun – count how many times the pitchers shake off their catchers.
Found the Joe Buck/Artie Lang video. Funny Artie Lang talking about fat people. LOL
And what a train wreck
SJ44
Joba has been shaking off catchers, often to his own detriment, since he’s been a starter. He hurt the team and himself last year when he over did it and at times has done the same thing this year.
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Can you be specific and name these games that you so casually mention? How did he hurt the team and himself specifically.