Greetings from Gate A-6
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 26, 2009 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Good morning from the Mookie Blaylock International Airport in Atlanta. Here waiting for an early flight back to New York and the second round of the Subway Series.
The airport televisions all have CNN on and there is nothing but Michael Jackson coverage. Carlos Diaz, who apparently is an entertainment reporter, just told Larry King that, “the world is waking up to the enormity of this tragedy. None of us will ever be the same again.”
OK, Carlos, calm down. This is not Sept. 11. Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly died and we managed to figure it out. These things happen. The KIng of Pop is probably fortunate he wasn’t starring in the Cellblock B spring production of Annie given some of the things he was accused of.
That said, iTunes is going to make a fortune today. A fortune.
Meanwhile, you probably heard that Braves pitcher Jeff Bennett broke a bone in his left (non-pitching) hand when he punched a door on Wednesday night after giving up A-Rod’s two-run single in the sixth inning. But what you might not have heard is that Bennett pushed the broken bone back into place and pitched the seventh inning. That had to hurt. Bennett went on the DL yesterday and needs surgery.
As for the Yankees, it appears they’re over their offensive woes. But Mike Pelfrey has a 4.74 ERA for the Mets and is no pushover. The Yankees should punish Tim Redding and Livan Hernandez later in the series.
Anyway, they’re calling the flight. Catch you later on.
I can’t believe that guy said “None of us will ever be the same again.” Such overreaction. He died at 50, and for me, also 50, that’s yet another wake-up call. But frankly, I’m more saddened by the death of one of my daughter’s teammate’s father, from a sudden heart attack.
And it is nostalgic to think back to my JR high days when the Jackson Five and Osmond Brothers were all the rage.
But, you know, the music will always be there, and will always be celebrated. The man himself stopped being celebrated for his music quite a while ago, with his “idiosyncracies” leading to more notoriety than celebration. I have felt for a long time that this was one troubled human being, and at this point in time, I just think he must finally be at peace.
—-
Very discouraging news about Nady. I can’t imagine the Yankees will do nothing at all if he’s definitely lost for the season.
Derosa please
Peter, you must be tough to write a comment after 2AM and be at airport and a new post at 6AM.
“OK, Carlos, calm down. This is not Sept. 11. Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly died and we managed to figure it out.”
Thank you!
What a way to get ready for work today – read a terrific post from Pete!
Anyone’s premature death is tragic, but I agree with Pete.
Nady can’t find any luck. Repeat TJ surgery is supposed to be very unusual, and he gets to have it. They can get by with what they have now in the OF, if the pitching holds up, I think. But, a guy like DeRosa might be helpful if the price is right.
And Pete – how much sleep do you get? I would be exhausted with the hours you keep (but you’re a lot younger than I am!). Safe traveling.
Have a good day all. Back tonight.
Pete – I agrer totally with your post about mj, and always believed the only reason he got off was becasue of who he is. The guy “allegedly” did a lot of things and I like to think he finally got what he deserved. Alot of your posters in the arod thread last night were click to hit on you sayingg the timing was bad and some even went as far to say you shouldn’t have done it out of ‘respect’. I felt the timing was perfect and the clown doesn’t deserve any. However, if it was Aretha who died, RESPECT would be a given!
Keep up the great blog, it’s always entertaining.
Par for the course for CNN. Fox News is definitely the worst in terms of damage it’s done to the country, but CNN is just every stereotype of the mainstream media come true. I mean when a 24 hour news station is asking you to send messages to them via Twitter so they can show them on TV, it’s time to pack it up. Just total and utter incompetence.
Nick
Fox is the worst compared to MSNBC?
Hilarious.
The big three cable networks are all basically the same thing. People just tend to judge one much more harshly than another based simply on their political ideology.
One network leans heavily left. Another leans heavily right. The other tries to accommodate both as much as possible and mixes in some TMZ content as well.
But let’s not turn this into a thread about politics. That’s the last thing we need on a Yankees blog.
Guess Jeff Bennett’s baseball idol must have been Kevin Brown
Safe travels Pete.
Happy Birthday, Derek Jeter…my all-time favorite.
Enjoy your day, everybody!
can they inject nady’s arm with saito’s platelets? or maybe we should just trade nady to the redsox so the platelets will then work and he can go on a second half tear with 25 hrs and 80 rbi’s….
calling mark derosa, mark derosa please come to the front of the line…
Poor Nady – I really feel for him as this is his career at stake. For the Yankees, the beat goes on as far as bad luck. Saito has the experimental procedure and he’s just fine and dandy. Nady has it and it’s a failure.
Michael Jackson was a great talent for his first 35 years and a strange, strange human being for the last 15.
Rhapsodyinblue — MSNBC IS FOX…. just do a 180 and there it is. The absurd celebrity culture we live in has somehow made the death of someone who has basically had no career for more than a decade the lead story.
Nady’s loss will probably spur the Yanks to go ahead and get a bench bat to replace one of the utility infielders. DeRosa is ideal, but what’s the price tag?
McAllister and Robertson is way too high a price…. obviously Tomko and Igawa is too little so maybe something in between.
Why even go there? Buddy Holly died WAY TOO young and his true potential was never realized. Elvis had become a parody and brought death upon himself. And this is something else. John Lennon was more talented than all 3 of them, why not throw him in there. Oh, and 9/11 also.
What?
it’s not just arod who was having a bad june.
in june ,pedroia and youkillis hitting respectively .207 and .211.
of course , there’s nothing respectable about that
the league may finally have caught on that he can’t do much with low pitches with that across the shoulders swing.
the yankees have a lot of problems, but the red sox are not exactly a powerhouse. this year will likely be decided by who is the least bad.
Very sorry about Nady, looked forward to seeing him back and thought if he came back in good form we could just about make it on the OF we have.
Now I think its time for Cashman to gracefully give up the line that we have everyone we need and go get an OFer who can pull it all together in our outfield the way MT has in the infield.
Please no responses about prospects who are full of potential. Girardi’s job can’t wait that long.
‘just told Larry King that, “the world is waking up to the enormity of this tragedy. None of us will ever be the same again.”’
Unfortunately, neither will any of the kids who spent any time around him at all.
“Fox News is definitely the worst in terms of damage it’s done to the country.”
Damage to the country?? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Post of the year right there… If you don’t like don’t watch it
Interesting admission from Cashaman on MLB.com. What really did happen to Joba in Texas? This has to be more than just tendinitis:
“Cashman has wondered aloud if the same pitcher even exists anymore. Chamberlain left an Aug. 4 game with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff and has since lacked explosiveness, in the first inning especially. That led the Yankees to experiment this year with having Chamberlain throw “fake” first innings before his starts.
“He has not shown the power from the first pitch since the situation in Texas last year,” Cashman said.”
remember when a 4.74 ERA was bad?
(also, fox news is garbage, and so are a lot of the people that watch it.)
I’m really bummed about Nady. I can’t stand seeing Swisher out there in RF on a daily basis. I dont care how cool his haircut is or how funny he is, I am tired of him playing everyday.
I was impressed with Nady too while in Syracuse. He sat there and signed for the fans for a good 10 minutes. You have to give him props as many of the minor league guys didnt take the time do go out and sign for the kids.
Anyhow, hopefully this injury isn’t season ending, but I am starting to wonder if he’s going to be able to come back this year without needing surgery. You would assume the team would have to make an acquisition if that is the case (him needing surgery), right?
Cashman says that every year. He’s not going to telegraph any moves.
When was the last time the Yanks didn’t make a move before the deadline?
It’s been a long time.
And Girardi isn’t going anywhere. He was Cashman’s hand picked guy to manage this team and he’s not going to fire him, especially in the middle of the season.
Girardi has at least the full season to do whatever this team is going to do – sink or swim.
They should make the playoffs. They will turn things around regardless if DeRosa becomes a Yankee or not. And I suspect he’s not coming to NY.
Carlos Diaz, who apparently is an entertainment reporter, just told Larry King that, “the world is waking up to the enormity of this tragedy. None of us will ever be the same again.”
********
haha really. Not to be crass or anything. But his death hasn’t effected me one bit.
I agree Pete Sept 11 changed the way Americans lived, and changed my life forever. The death of some pop star isn’t going to change me one bit.
Don’t turn this thread into a debate on politics. We don’t need that nonsense.
Taking some shots at a musical icon that died young is kind of strange coming from a grown man that goes to Bruce Springsteen concerts like he’s still 18 years old.
Sure, Jackson was a strange person, who probably lived a torture life, but his musical contributions shouldn’t be minimized by you just because he didn’t fit a profile similar to Elvis, Holly or even your guy Springsteen.
Sorry Giuseppe I am done
But when someone says a TV channel has done damage to the country I had to laugh
Anyways if the Yankees don’t sweep this depleted Mets team and no Santana I will be highly ticked off
“(also, fox news is garbage, and so are a lot of the people that watch it.)”
Apparently you missed Pete’s recent post on Commenting Guidelines (no personal insults?)
does Cashman change his mind about not needing to go get a bat if Nady is done for the year? I’m hoping it sounds more serious than it is, but nothing in Cashman’s comments seem to support that.
Oh man -
A “TV” channel is part of what we call the “media,” which is a “tool” by which the “elite” control what the “population” see and hear about the world.
The same 3-4 people own all of the television and most newspaper media in this country (and radio).
But they can’t do damage. Nope.
PS: It’s awful what’s happening to Nady, but we need to soldier on. I don’t think Matsui in left is that big of a deal. If we can find a good trade where we give up Swish + some mid level prospects for a more solid RF, I’m up for it. But they’ve got to be significantly better.
“in june ,pedroia and youkillis hitting respectively .207 and .211.
”
Yet they’ve somehow managed to play .714 (15-6) baseball in June.
already with the sweep talks…this will be the 3rd or 4th series in a row at least one person has demanded a sweep or else…personally I’ll be content with winning the series and hopefully picking up another game on the Sox in the process. But a sweep would be a nice bonus.
yeah, the Yankees have been extremely misfortunate in that the whole team went on a slump instead of just 1-2 players which is typically the case. If 2 guys are slumping and the rest of the team continues to hit for average, a team like the Yankees should be fine. But in this most recent slump, virtually no one was hitting at all
Ugh – at the risk of sounding like randy l (
), I’m going to say this: did they do enough after Joba’s August 4th injury to rule everything out? Or were they satisfied with the most rosy prognosis?
Or, is Joba somehow subconsciously “afraid” of “airing it out” because he doesn’t want to re-injure himself?
And, back to my inner randy l., if Cashman has noticed this, why not send Joba for some kind of examination?
(Aren’t ya proud of me, Randy l.?)
Pete, your dedication to this blog and it’s readers NEVER fails to impress me, posts at ALL hours of the morning!! Thank you!!
Great observation about iTunes….. HAHAHA!!!
Could it be time for Austin Jackson or… Shelley Duncan? Both have their pluses and minuses.
A huge plus is they cost nothing.
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde....._call.html
Hughes tat.
“A huge plus is they cost nothing.”
Which is a fair price for Duncan.
Sure enough – iTunes store has Michael Jackson at the top.
I find it hard to feel sad about MJ’s passing. He was a supremely talented artist and performer but he was not a good person. He created the best pop album of all time but he had massive massive problems that hurt other people. I don’t care about his appearance or whatever drugs he took but I can’t look past the damage he did to other people.
RIP I guess, I’ll always remember you for Thriller.
Does it matter if Joba throws 98 or 92 if he gets outs? He was also 95, 96, 97 on the gun the other night in the 7th. What more do some of you want from him?
charlestonchew,
Matsui playing the field is a big deal. The trainers don’t think his knees can handle it. Somehow, I think they know more about Matsui’s health and current abilities than you do.
The only way Swish gets traded is if management calls up A Jax early (which would probably be another panic move) or trades for another OF (or if they try some other AAA guy).
I feel bad for Nady, but good teams need to work around this kind of injury somehow. Also, remember during ST when everyone was complaining about Nady starting over Swisher? Goes to show what long baseball seasons do to peoples’ perceptions of players.
jennifer -
Did you see the article on Cervelli by Marc Carig in the Star Ledger?
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....franc.html
Hokie:
You’d probably be surprised at how level the numbers in June are for the Yankees and Boston:
Avg: Boston .260 Yankees .251
OBP: Boston .350 Yankees .349
SLG: Boston .440 Yankees .425
Runs: Boston 118 Yankees 114
ERA: Boston 3.56 Yankees 3.84
WHIP Boston 1.27 Yankees 1.28
K/BB: Boston 170/61 Yankees 181/74
Must be some sort of timing issues, because these stats don’t suggest a 5 game difference for the month.
Coach6423 -
In the grand scheme of things, if Joba is an effective pitcher (as I think he mostly is now), a good #2 or #3 guy, it probably doesn’t make much difference. As long as there is no underlying injury problem. That’s my only concern.
Doreen- Gonna check it out now.
“I find it hard to feel sad about MJ’s passing. He was a supremely talented artist and performer but he was not a good person.”
Patrick:
Sort of agree except for the “not a good person” thing. I think he was more a tortured soul than a bad one. Basically had his childhood stolen from him by an abusive father and instant stardom. Seems to me he never really grew up at all and was unable to deal with adult life. Doesn’t excuse the lunacy and highly questionable actions, but to a large degree I think his life as a child, which he had zero control of, laid the foundation for it.
“Doreen
June 26th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Ugh – at the risk of sounding like randy l ( ), I’m going to say this: did they do enough after Joba’s August 4th injury to rule everything out? Or were they satisfied with the most rosy prognosis?
Or, is Joba somehow subconsciously “afraid” of “airing it out” because he doesn’t want to re-injure himself?
And, back to my inner randy l., if Cashman has noticed this, why not send Joba for some kind of examination?
(Aren’t ya proud of me, Randy l.?)”
That’s good, Doreen
Thank you!
Steve B,
I can feel sorry for the circumstances he was under but the bottom line is he very likely did some pretty despicable things.
I’ll always praise Jackson for his skills as an artist but he’s just a person like anyone else. If he wasn’t the king of pop would anyone but his family feel sorry that he died?
I’ll remember Thriller, it was pretty awesome. The rest, I’d rather forget.
Punching a concrete wall is about the dumbest thing a pitcher, or anyone can do. I know there are competitive fires, but why jeopardize your career in that way…unless you’re Kevin Brown and it doesn’t really matter anymore.
“Bennett pushed the broken bone back into place and pitched the seventh inning.”
Why couldn’t Kevin Brown do that also?
Brown and the American Idle will always go down in my mind as the worst Yankees of the 2000’s.
Nice tattoo Hughes got himself.
He’s almost as scary as De Niro in Cape Fear.
“Could it be time for Austin Jackson or… Shelley Duncan? Both have their pluses and minuses.
A huge plus is they cost nothing.”
Jackson needs to develop more. He really needs to cut down on his K’s and see if he develops more power.
Also I think if you’re talking worst Yankees of the 2000s, it has to be the quartet. Vasquez, Contreras, Brown, Pavano. Most of these guys we battled over with the Red Sox with and “won.” They completely sh*t the bed in the Bronx, while Boston swoops in and grabs Schilling out from under us. Just imagine if it were the other way around.
Although with the way the Yankees actually performed, in this alternate reality I imagine we’d have been murdered by all of them and they’d form a Braves-esque Four Aces death squad.
“at the risk of sounding like randy l”
“And, back to my inner randy l., if Cashman has noticed this, why not send Joba for some kind of examination?”
doreen-
i’m convinced that cashman simply doesn’t have enough good people around him because he’s afraid of talent around him that would be a threat to his power. i perceive him to be the lone ranger much of the time who simply has too much on his plate and doesn’t get to things that need to be done.
the yankees thus become like the poorly run business down the street that everyone wonders why they don’t do the obvious to get better.
as far as channeling your inner randy, it’s a good thing you’re doing your kettle bells and kick boxing because you may find that people may want to smack you from time to time
“Yet they’ve somehow managed to play .714 (15-6) baseball in June.”
steve b.
how did they do that? bullpen ?
“how did they do that? bullpen ?”
3.83 June ERA from the starters, 3.00 from the relievers.
MSNBC is like Fox (each with a slant), except it’s political bias is on steroids, it’s so juiced up.
Forrest Griffin once had his left forearm broken in an arm bar. He refused to tap out.
He later won the fight by knockout (and it was one hell of a knockout):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNWDHQM7aQs
Pitching an inning after pushing a bone back in your hand ranks up there…
Thank you Peter!!!! I can’t tell if anything is happening in Iran, because Michael Jackson died. Seriously, I wish the media could/would put this in perspective.