Want to watch the Yankees at the White House?
Posted by: Sam Borden - Posted in Misc on Apr 26, 2010 
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Well, you’re in luck.
Through the magic of the interwebs (and our good Gannett brethren) you’ll be able to watch a live stream of the Yankees ceremony with President Obama right here. The ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. and should be pretty interesting.
Chad will be in the house for us and, knowing that he shares my love for all things “West Wing,” I’m sure he’ll be doing exactly what I’d be doing if if I were there: Looking for Josh, Donna and – a personal fave – Ainsley Hayes.
Seriously, pretty cool day for the Yankees (even the jaded guys who have done this before) and I know that many of you will be excited to see the Yankees get one more honor for having been last year’s champions.
probably a good signing for them:
“Red Sox agreed to terms with C Adalberto Ibarra on a five-year, $4.3 million contract with a $1.5 million signing bonus.
Ibarra burst onto the international scouting scene in 2004, when he hit .429/.500/.571 and led Cuba to a gold medal in the World Junior Championships. He defected from Cuba last year and is now 23.”
-rotoworld
Too bad Josh Romanski couldn’t be there! Soon!!!!!
(repost):
When you have a failure as large at the 2004 playoffs there is almost never a single person to “blame.”
The 2004 playoffs were a complete system level failure. Torre, Gordon, bloops off Mo, stolen bases, Kevin Brown hiding an injury,…. the list literally goes on and on.
But when faced with system level failure people often still look to pin the result on a single individual.
For unfortunate reasons, Vazquez is the guy who has come to be improperly singled out as the “cause” of the 2004 playoff loss.
It’s ridiculous – but that’s what a myopic understanding of what happened in 2004 does.
I’d guess if you ask most of the fans who are dismissing Javy as “soft” many of them would actually believe that Vazquez was the one who loaded the bases in game 7 rather than being the guy who was called in to clean up Kevin Brown’s mess.
Many of these perceptions seem to stem from Vazquez being traded. Too many fans have interpreted this as Javy being “vanquished” from the realm for a wrong of near infinite debt rather than one of the last acts of impetuousness in a long line of them from George Steinbrenner.
And once he was gone, it become easier and easier to consolidate the blame for the loss to the Sox to Javy. He was the guy who wasn’t around anymore to defend himself with his performance.
Many yankee fans and members of the media like to see themselves as different. More sophisticated or passionate. Part and parcel of this seems to be the preternatural ability to intuit what lies in the heart and minds of a player.
And thus people can be certain that Vazquez’s problem is that he’s “soft” or has a “loser gene” in him.
In this regard New York is just like Boston and Philadelphia – two other places where a set of exceptional people can have intimate knowledge of another person’s internal being just be cursory external observations.
It’s remarkable how so many people can be so exceptionally different in such a similar fashion.
Too bad I’m at work. I’d love to watch.
CB —-
Great write up on how Vazquez is incorrectly blamed for 2004.
Personally I’ve always blamed Torre for overworking Gordon and Mo in games four and five when he had four chances to win one game. He treated each game as an absolutely must win and left them short for games six and seven.
That and refusing to bunt on Schilling in game six really bothered me.
Is it me or am I the only one who sees all these funky characters where quotes and other punctuation should be?
Will there be a link to watch the replay at a later time??
For us poor souls with really mean employers
CHAD
Will the video of this be archived, so I can DVD it off the website later?
In his 4th at bat today, Mike stanton struck out. That ends a string of 7 straight hits that include a walk, a double and 5 homers. Two homers yesterday and 3 homers today. He may get one more at bat.
Yankee fans are no better than Pirate fans or any other fans no matter what they say. They are sometimes cruel to players and it has absolutely nothing to do with them trying to motivate players (which is sometimes their rationale for booing). CB raised some excellent points and I agree with all of them. Get over 2004 already ? it was 6 years ago.
Very well stated CB!
Fair or not, Vazquez is going to forever be linked with 2004.
Up to him to shed that image… and the booing and bashing in the media is only going to continue to get worse. Until he turns it around, he is going to continue to get hammered.
He has to be tough enough to pitch inspite of that.
Guys: I don’t know for sure, but it looks as though things are available in the “on-demand” tab on the viewer. I’d imagine today’s ceremony will end up in there afterward as well.
meh,
What is it? A handshake… a photograph…a few words.
It’s great if you’re part of it. Watching it? You ladies won’t be missing much.
Look, I agree that Javy shouldn’t be evaluated based on a HORRIBLE managerial decision SIX YEARS AGO. I think that is absurd. All I am saying is that guessing that Javy will perform better (based on the law of averages) is the same as guessing he’ll perform similarly or worse for the rest of the year. Its all a guessing game. The only guarantee is that some of us will be right and others wrong.
My issue with him now (other than him losing games) is he is a major league pitcher in the AL East that doesnt have control of his fastball which also happens to be his most important pitch. The fact that he is apparently 100% healthy and still cannot find command of his fastball is more concerning. That’s the only reason I’ll give any writer in NY a pass (even guys like Sherman who should be considered a fiction writer more than a journalist) for asking “how many more starts does he get?” Because if in a few more starts, the guy still can’t get a handle on his stuff, we are be having a conversation about what to do with him.
CB: The most cogent analysis I’ve ever read on this blog. Well done.
That and refusing to bunt on Schilling in game six really bothered me.
___
100% agree here. Schilling supposedly could barely walk and the team did nothing to take advantage. thats on torre.
Sam Borden April 26th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Guys: I don?t know for sure, but it looks as though things are available in the ?on-demand? tab on the viewer. I?d imagine today?s ceremony will end up in there afterward as well.
*******************
Thanks Sam!
CB April 26th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
(repost):
When you have a failure as large at the 2004 playoffs there is almost never a single person to “blame.”
———————————————————————————————————————-
CB, as correct as you are on all pints, sadly, it will all be dismissed out of hand by the usual clown that continue to perpitrate this milarky, much as they have the continued BS about Rodriguez, Chamberlain and Cano. What a pity that they can’t think intelligently about baseball and enjoy it at the same time.
Bronx Jeers April 26th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
meh,
What is it? A handshake? a photograph?a few words.
It?s great if you?re part of it. Watching it? You ladies won?t be missing much.
************************
I love to watch stuff like that though.
I’ve always blamed the ridiculously low RF wall at Fenway for the Yankees loss in 2004. If Tony Clark’s ball wasn’t a ground rule double, we win that series.
After placing all the blame on an inanimate object, I guess I place some blame on another inanimate object, Joe Torre, for not bunting and running on Schilling as the ketchup dripped from his sock.
The Red Sox of that year would have reveled in using a Yankee injury on the field to their advantage to win the game. When Posada had a sore shoulder, they were always off to the races.
Blaming Vazquez is stupid.
I know he’s going to get booed mercilessly at his next home start. That stinks.
But if he’s the kind of pitcher who can’t handle that and cannot block it out and it’s going to legitimately affect his performance? That’s an issue.
He has to show he’s better than that.
And if he’s hurt, then stop pitching and get healthy.
pints or points…not much difference.
Erica
Dont your employers give you a bit of a break after the 15th… A little less restrictions?
If not…..those mean beeeyastards
most of the really bad stuff is said about javy during the games. it’s fans venting frustration. now the convo is much more civil. while he is imploding, some fans are bound to freak. i still question this one deal that sent melky away, a super pitching prospect, and a power pen lefty, but i would be happy to be proven wrong.
Blank April 26th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Fair or not, Vazquez is going to forever be linked with 2004.
Up to him to shed that image… and the booing and bashing in the media is only going to continue to get worse. Until he turns it around, he is going to continue to get hammered.
He has to be tough enough to pitch inspite of that.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Seems to me that it’s up to the so-called fans to give it a rest, once and for all. Think about Ralph Terry in the 1960 and ’61 series, and try to imagine where they would have been in the 1962 series without him. Same thing exactly.
hopefully javy will have incentive to turn it around in his next start.
1. avoid the booing
2. beat the white sox and ozzie.
“perpitrate this milarky”
Hey Greenstunod, I see why you call people morons all of the time lolololololololololololololololol.
I never claimed to spell perfectly, you jackazs.
I thought 2004 was A-Rods fault? Some Yankee fans make me sick.
i know i want javy to succeed. it’s good for the team and he seems like a good guy and i almost feel bad watching him so dejected because i know he knows what is coming next.
Chad,
Props to the paper for going the extra mile on the stream!
CB,
This is just a general question, but could you address the relationship between mechanics and the mind? Thanks.
As much as I hate discussing ’04 you also have to remember Tony freaking Clark was the 3rd string 1B when he took over for Olerud who got hurt after game 4 I think. For my $ that was the series right there, he was brutal in every single AB except the one where he missed a double by a foot.
Exactly what did Olerud do, except for “that one at bat”? He was 2-12.
funny post by Zell: A-Rod is not chewing!:
http://zellspinstripeblog.com/.....t-chewing/
The appeal of Vasquez was that he was supposed to be better than other team’s #4 starters and would rack up a ton of victories by just eating up innings. Basically, he could go 5.2, 4 runs or 6 IP, 5 runs and still win games because we should kill the other team’s #4 starter.
Blame the offense. They have only showed up in one game that Javy has pitched…
“Fair or not, Vazquez is going to forever be linked with 2004.
Up to him to shed that image… and the booing and bashing in the media is only going to continue to get worse. Until he turns it around, he is going to continue to get hammered.
He has to be tough enough to pitch inspite of that.”
And the 5 seasons of great baseball (including Cy Young consideration) in between 2004 and now didn’t do anything toward that?
I always hate when people try to pretend like they know what’s going on in a player’s mind, but I think I can say with some certainty that Vasquez’s confidence in his own skill as a pitcher is probably influenced more by the first 387 games of his career than the last 4. I doubt that he’s sitting home alone right now, sobbing into his hands and telling himself that he’s not capable of pitching well in NY.
I don’t remember the details only thinking that Clark was an automatic out when it counted. Olerud was a much better player, even at that late stage of his career. Clark was junk.
Melkman,
I’ve been patiently waiting for you to add something to this board for some time.
How much longer man?
tick tock…..
CR9 April 26th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Erica
Dont your employers give you a bit of a break after the 15th? A little less restrictions?
If not?..those mean beeeyastards
*******************
Sadly, it doesn’t quite work that way.
LOL..luckily I have the complete set of West Wing to get me with the winter months. It’s certainly an honor to attend this ceremony. With that said, lets sweep the Orioles in the series ahead as Vasquez continues to tweak his mechanics.
# Mike_Boston April 26th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
I don’t remember the details only thinking that Clark was an automatic out when it counted. Olerud was a much better player, even at that late stage of his career. Clark was junk.
Giambi would have been the best option. Didn’t he have tumors or something like that?
Look, I agree that Javy shouldn’t be evaluated based on a HORRIBLE managerial decision SIX YEARS AGO. I think that is absurd. All I am saying is that guessing that Javy will perform better (based on the law of averages) is the same as guessing he’ll perform similarly or worse for the rest of the year. Its all a guessing game. The only guarantee is that some of us will be right and others wrong.
====
Right, but my response to your post was based on Sherman’s impatience being based on an illusion of failure.
I’m not guaranteeing anything from Javy in terms of results. I hope he will find it.
I just don’t like Javy’s body language. It’s like he has no confidence in himself and has no idea what to do. He looks so sad in his postgame. I want him to be defiant and in control in his postgames, rather than looking like his puppy got ran over.
His ‘unfair’ comments were a bad sign as well – rather than give the answer that guys like Jeter, ARod, Tex give (I stunk today, I would have booed myself too), he showed weakness by responding to them.
He needs to show more outward toughness. He needs to sound angry, not sad. He needs to be confident. He is going to get booed off the field against Chicago (and there might even be a derogatory chant or two) but he must not let that bother him. He must not pitch scared. He needs to be able to laugh at the boos, not let them upset him.
That was my point, the NYY were running out their 3rd best option at 1B, Giambi was hurt before the playoffs started (tumor or wrist injury, I forget), then Olerud was hurt against the sox, so Clark was 3rd in line. Not saying it was all his fault because obviously you don’t expect much there, but either way he was not able to pick up the slack at all.
What happened in 2004? I had October 04 erased from my memory.
Ben,
I’ve noticed you make two VERY big mistakes in your posts. You have the nerve to inject logic AND facts into these debates. How dare you? lol
That’s just not welcome when the blogs resident morons find a whipping boy. In this case, its Vazquez. Especially from those who KNOW he lacks “guts”.
Its one thing to debate his struggles. That’s reasonable.
To call the guy “gutless” and a “loser”? That strikes me as funny because the people calling him that won’t ever approach anything in their lives resembling the success this man has had in his career.
I get “venting”. I don’t get stupidity.
Unfortunately, the powers that be here have allowed a small but persistent band of trolls to clog this place with garbage. Its why the quality of conversations, especially in the game threads, have too often been reduced to garbage.
e needs to show more outward toughness. He needs to sound angry, not sad. He needs to be confident.
====
He’s not playing a boxer in a film, so the character notes aren’t necessary for him to live up to.
He just needs to pitch better.
Javy better find it… we gave up a valuable OFer, a top A-ball polished pitcher, and a lefty reliever who throws 96 MPH.
Last 4 games of the 2004 ALCS:
Gary Sheffield, who came in 2nd in MVP voting that year: 1 for 17
Arod: 1 for 17
Derek Jeter: 4 for 19
Bernie Williams: 5 for 21
In those four losses, Vasquez pitched once, giving up 3 runs in 2 innings in a game that they were already losing 5-0 and that they ended up losing by 7 runs.
Can anyone explain why Vasquez should take ANY of the blame for 2004?
If the fans don’t give it a rest concerning Javy Vazquez, how are they (we) any different from Red Sox fans who were downright cruel to Bill Buckner after his miscue in 1986?
I’d like to think as a fanbase we are better than that. After all, we can afford to be magnanimous, can’t we, since we have more WS titles than any sporting franchise?
“I thought 2004 was A-Rods fault?”
I know! I feel so lied to.
The only Yankee World Series ticket I have ever had in my possession happens to be from game 1 of the 2004 Series’.
It still sits unprinted in my email archives.
Should I blame Javier Vazquez for that?
As a player I always thought that he should bear 4% of the blame. As a part of the entire Yankees organization, it’s much less than that.
He’d better find it? Or what? The media mafia’s going to come after Javy with pitchforks? They’re already doing a hatchet job on him thanks to Sherman’s piece.
You could not pay me to watch that Socialist-In-Chief!!!!
A “valuable OF” hitting under .200, a “polished” A Ball pitcher who is scuffling in the SAL in the early going, and the “96 MPH lefty reliever” who can’t find the plate.
Try again. The Yankees didn’t give up gold for him, despite your pleas to the contrary.
As others have commented the last couple of days, he doesn’t have to do anything body language-wise except pitch better.
Acting like a tough guy isn’t going to give him command of his fastball.
The game threads on here have become impossible. I like to come on here – not to post but read insights from some of the regulars, not the rants. I just do not get denigrating a ball player or anyone for that matter. I don’t get pleasure from seeing someone not do well. It speaks much about your upbringing when all you have to bring to the table is how bad someone is or how they are to blame for your little personal universe coming apart. Baseball is a game, a wonderful game but it gets cheapened by these exploits. I just do not understand what benefit it is to the world or this blog to spout such idiocy. JMO but I want to come on to this blog and greet some friends, make some new ones and get some understanding about the game.
Doreen, Yankee fans are no better than Sox fans that treated Buckner so cruelly or Cub fans that treated Bartman so cruelly. I wonder if Cash considered fan reaction when he made the trade. I’m not saying he should or should not have, but Javy is going to be put under an unbelievable amount of pressure next out. If he doesn’t pitch well, he’ll be booed and then every start at home after that is going to become a mini psycho drama played out on the stage at YS.
That valuable outfielder is currently batting .153 in the NL. Marcus Thames is batting .500 in his limited ABs and Brett Gardner is batting .327 and is a league leader in stolen bases.
I did love Melky, but he was replaceable.
He needs to say this, he needs to be that – ridiculous!
He stood up and answered questions on all occasions. He did not slink away to the back recesses of the clubhouse.
Mike_Boston April 26th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
I don’t remember the details only thinking that Clark was an automatic out when it counted. Olerud was a much better player, even at that late stage of his career. Clark was junk.
———————————————————————————————————————-
It doesn’t matter how much better Olerud was. He had two hits in 12 at bats. He wasn’t getting it done, except for 2 hits. Clarke didn’t get much done, either.
It’s no different than the idiots that complained about 2001 being on Soriano, but, spent years drooling about how great david Justice was as a trade pick-up. They forget that Justice struck out 9 times in 12 at bats in the 2001 Series, or that it was Rivera that tossed the ball into center field on a sure inning ending DP or gave up the clinching homer in 1997 to Alomar. in other words, players…even great players fail at times. Get over the silliness. you’ll live longer.
One of the biggest fallacies in sports is the notion that Yankee fans are “smarter” and “better” than other fans. They aren’t.
They are the same as any other fan base in America.
They have good fans, bad fans, bandwagon fans, and dumb fans. Its the same as Boston, Philadelphia or anywhere else.
This is a fan base that has booed Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. They made booing Arod a national pastime. All of course, at least in their small minds, “with good reason”.
As far as the booing and Vazquez, its never going to stop. He can go undefeated the rest of the year and some idiot will boo him when he gives up a hit in the 4th inning of an August game because of 2004. Its just the way it is.
He just needs to pitch better, help the team win, and cash in when he’s a FA. He owes the fans NOTHING here.
The guy is a good guy and a good teammate and he will continue to work hard to get better.
That’s all he can do.
I just hope anyone willing to bash Javy are willing to credit him if he turns this around…
I’ll never try and tell anyone he’s going to become the “ace” of this staff. But I do believe at some point he returns to quality form.
Mike_Boston April 26th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
As much as I hate discussing ‘04 you also have to remember Tony freaking Clark was the 3rd string 1B when he took over for Olerud who got hurt after game 4 I think. For my $ that was the series right there, he was brutal in every single AB except the one where he missed a double by a foot.
====
Well, it didn’t help that Clark hit a pair of homers in a late-season road game at Toronto and his bat never saw the light of day after that.
Torre did nothing to keep his bat fresh. By the time he was called upon, he’d had a lengthy string of time not having faced a pitcher in a live game. Just another one of many mistakes by the skipper.
I could say that Rivera’s personal tragedy – his wife’s relatives being electrocuted cleaning his pool – and the travel he incurred as a result – impacted that series.
Even moreso, it’s interesting how MANY themes one can come up with that cost us that series. By their sheer number, it should tell us that we were lucky to be up 3-0.
We had no lefty pitcher for the series to deal with their LHB, Giambi deprived us of a strict lefty power bat, etc. It was unpleasant, but it was the Law of Averages at work. We lost – big deal. It’s over and so long ago. It no longer troubles me and hasn’t for some time.
All Javy has to do is pitch. He doesn’t have to swagger off the mound. And from what Joe has said, it is a matter of mechanics, not attitude. I am sure Dave will fix him up right.
Moreover, even if Melky weren’t struggling in the NL, he still wouldn’t be a “valuable” OF to the Yankees. Even assuming that Melky were to match his best season numbers ever, he’d be putting up BA .274, 13 HR, 10SB, OPS .752.
Does anyone think that whatever combo of Gardner/Thames we end up with won’t blow those numbers out of the water?
Even if we hadn’t traded Melky, he wouldn’t be playing.
“And speaking of Thames, both Girardi and Vazquez indicated that the ball to left field — the Brandon Wood two-run double — was harder to catch than it might have seemed. It had some top spin on it, which made it drop quickly. Frankly, if he’s going to keep hitting .500, it’s probably worth the occasional defensive downgrade”
——————————————————————————————
Thames accounted for 1 run in yesterday’s game. Yet, the ball he didn’t catch accounted for 2 runs.
Please explain how Thames playing LF is a good thing. Not to mention the fact, Gardner continues to prove people wrong.
Betsy -
Since they can’t play the game in Siberia, I hope it at least is a drizzly miserable day/night and only a handful of people show up. Then I hope Javy has a good game.
I guess Melky was just an ” AL player”…
To be honest I find most Yankee fans dumber than other fans because they think they’re entitled to All-Stars batting .300+ at every position and all 5 starts with at least 15 wins and sub 4 eras. And a bullpen with 0 blown saves and sub 2 era.
Having players like Posada, Andy, A Rod, Rivera, Jeter, CC and the like is a huge huge luxury. Teams would kill to have just A Rod, CC and Rivera on their team let alone the rest of the massive talent they have.
You could not pay me to watch that Socialist-In-Chief!!!!
__
Please tell me you are joking…. Hard to tell sometimes.
Betsy, you are right about Sherman, he has no clue. CB also makes the correct points about the 2004 collapse and I honestly place most of the blame on Torre. Never in the history of playoffs has a manager pushed back his ace starter when he was on his normal rest in the playoffs. I remember being very upset when they moved Mussina back to start El Duke, not because I didn’t trust or like El Duke, but my thought was what happens if the series goes 7 then Mussina can’t start? People laughed at me and said this isn’t going 7 and my answer was you are probably right, but what if it does? Well Torre took his foot off the throat of Boston because he thought the series was over as well. maybe it wouldn;t have mattered at all, but I believe the entire team took the queue form their coach that they had it in the bag and Boston was just as good as the Yanks that year and the Yanks should have known better, specifically Torre. usually you start your best guys and less rest not more in the playoffs
You could not pay me to watch that Socialist-In-Chief!!!!
__
Please tell me you are joking…. Hard to tell sometimes.
———————————————————
Does it really matter? It’s his own political opinion.
“The only Yankee World Series ticket I have ever had in my possession happens to be from game 1 of the 2004 Series’.”
————–
I “only” have hard copy tickets issued from MLB in NY to Games 5 and 6 of the 2009 WS
I don’t blame Javy for the Yanks winning the World Series.
And as far as I’m concerned, the only World Series that matters right now is the one the Yankees just won.
Because until November and maybe beyond, the NY Yankees are the reigning Champions.
Keeping it that way is the only thing that matters right now.
OK, Thames knocked in one run and allowed 2 runs. who would you like to blame for the three run deficit/ There are 7 hitters who didn’t hit and two pitchers who didn’t pitch. Take your pick. Don’t forget about the manager who admitted his mistake.
SJ44 April 26th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
A “valuable OF” hitting under .200, a “polished” A Ball pitcher who is scuffling in the SAL in the early going, and the “96 MPH lefty reliever” who can’t find the plate.
====
Hitting .200 for the month of April. Well, clearly, he’s doomed to stay there for the next five months.
By your logic, Javy and his 9.00 ERA are static and eternal.
The kid scuffling throws 96 mph and has a plus-plus CB. His Sally statistics are as pointless as Javy’s current ERA. It’s his potential that the Braves paid for. Dunn’s control problems are definitely something he needs to correct, or his oomph and great slider will be rendered irrelevant.
But you are as guilty here of what you accuse others of in judging Vazquez prematurely. Selection and amplification is easy to call out.
Some of us, like me, like Javy and think he’ll be fine. It doesn’t mean the trade was necessary. There were ways of bringing in a No. 4, if they can’t handle developing Joba, that didn’t require giving up one of the best arms in the Yankee system.
“”"Acting like a tough guy isn’t going to give him command of his fastball.”"”"
Having some confidence is a first good step wouldn’t you agree tough guy? His body language during games, and tone of voice during interviews, provides ample evidence of what’s going on inside. Why do you have to castrate anybody that makes an observation based on the available evidence? Why shouldn’t he be the whipping boy? What has he done for the NYY since October of 2004 that justifies him being free of that honor?
Guru Man April 26th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Betsy, you are right about Sherman, he has no clue. CB also makes the correct points about the 2004 collapse and I honestly place most of the blame on Torre.
***Never in the history of playoffs has a manager pushed back his ace starter when he was on his normal rest in the playoffs.***
I remember being very upset when they moved Mussina back to start El Duke, not because I didn’t trust or like El Duke, but my thought was what happens if the series goes 7 then Mussina can’t start? People laughed at me and said this isn’t going 7 and my answer was you are probably right, but what if it does? Well Torre took his foot off the throat of Boston because he thought the series was over as well. maybe it wouldn;t have mattered at all, but I believe the entire team took the queue form their coach that they had it in the bag and Boston was just as good as the Yanks that year and the Yanks should have known better, specifically Torre. usually you start your best guys and less rest not more in the playoffs
———————————————————————————————————————-
You’d better think back to the 1960 World Series, then.
“# Yanksfan24 April 26th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
You could not pay me to watch that Socialist-In-Chief!!!!
”
lol Jeter’s tax rate is going up …that’s why he’s building a monstrosity in tax friendly Florida
Why would you make anyone the whipping boy? Sadist tendencies?
Judge Smails April 26th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
To be honest I find most Yankee fans dumber than other fans because they think they’re entitled to All-Stars batting .300+ at every position and all 5 starts with at least 15 wins and sub 4 eras. And a bullpen with 0 blown saves and sub 2 era.
Having players like Posada, Andy, A Rod, Rivera, Jeter, CC and the like is a huge huge luxury. Teams would kill to have just A Rod, CC and Rivera on their team let alone the rest of the massive talent they have.
====
I think that’s because of the sheer numbers. Sorry, but for every good poster on here, there are probably four who leap to erroneous conclusions and then found imaginary kingdoms on them.
The Posada stuff drove me from this site. I got tired of arguing for a guy that needs no defense.
2004 was not torre’s finest hour coaching in that alcs.
“Please explain how Thames playing LF is a good thing. Not to mention the fact, Gardner continues to prove people wrong.”
I love Gardner and absolutely believe that he will end up as a full time outfielder, but Thames mashes off lefties to a degree that outweighs his below average defense.
Wasn’t born before 1960 so it didn’t happen
You aren’t smart enough to judget body language or whether or not he has confidence.
When you can post something that makes sense one time, aside from your usual gibberish, perhaps I will consider your opinion more interesting.
As it is now, its very low on the troll scale and not very creative.
bodi,
My point is, nobody in this trade to date has performed so well as to make it a trade the Yankees should not have made.
Mike is calling Tex Nick lol
Perhaps we should come up with an approved post-game interview comments script and mail it to the Yankees.
These people are human beings. They have emotions.
So, you’ve never come home from a particularly hard day at work and been any number of things: grouchy, despondent, touchy, depressed, confused, just feeling awful? But no one demands you critique your own poor performance just minutes after, do they? Likely, your significant other gives you some space to get back to your center. Maybe you grab a beer and put things in perspective and the next day, you’re ready to go back to work.
These guys don’t have that. And I know it’s part and parcel of the whole MLB job. But as fellow human beings, how can we be so unfairly demanding of these guys?
I love baseball and I love the Yankees; I have my favorite players and players I don’t particularly care for; I love when they win and hate when they lose. But they in no way affect my life or livelihood. Life goes on. They win? Yay – next. They lose? Too bad – next.
Players only disappoint me when they are nasty or clearly don’t give effort on a consistent basis (everyone has a bad day).
People still complaining about Jeter’s building project?
He’s got the money. Tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing. Have you gone to complain about the “monstrosities in Palm Beach, or the Edison and Ford mansions in Ft. Myers, lately?
Holy cow, we are not seriously getting back to the “all the fans that boo any Yankee player are ignorant and don’t understand baseball” trope…
Yankee fans aren’t smarter, but they are certainly exposed to a lot more opinions via newspapers, sports talk radio, and the internet (there are way more blogs about the Yankees than the Dodgers, Cubs, ChiSox, etc). More opinions out on the airwaves and news wires create more opinions in the stands.
Gardner will eventually be the all the time starter. no doubt about that. but thames has been hitting. It’s april and we are 12-6. Sure beats the 13-15 the team started at last year when they won the world series. And this wasnt against scrubs like baltimore and kc. If NJ, Tex and Javy get it going, this team would be near unbeatable….
Guru Man April 26th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Wasn’t born before 1960 so it didn’t happen
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Perhaps researching the facts of “forever” before tossing the word around would help.
Regarding Thames, we know he is not a good OF’r and defense does make a big difference. you try and hope it won’t matter that often, maybe once every 6 games or so, well yesterday it hurt us. Somewhat interesting was a running catch that Gardner made later in the game. Gardner made it look easy, but i don’t think Thames would have been able to make that play.
i am fine with Thames against lefties, you take your chance, but I think they should rest Granderson just as often as Gardner against lefties as I will stick to my guns that Granderson will not all of a sudden become a good hitter against lefties. His .606 OPS is about what one could expect and it is not good. Of course Gardner’s at .600 is no better.
Thames is important to have off the bench in late innings when a lefty specialist comes in and also as a starter against lefties, but we should know we are rolling the dice with him in the field.
“# GreenBeret7 April 26th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
People still complaining about Jeter’s building project?
He’s got the money. Tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing. Have you gone to complain about the “monstrosities in Palm Beach, or the Edison and Ford mansions in Ft. Myers, lately?
”
I didn’t mean it in a negative way, I’m all for making big money and spending big money…I was referring to how much money he’s saving by building it in tax friendly Florida versus New York or California
This totally made my afternoon
http://twitpic.com/1ionyi
“More opinions out on the airwaves and news wires create more opinions in the stands”
Unfortunately, more doesn’t mean smarter.
I held out hope with Bruney right through till the end. Supporting Javy through his struggles will be my pleasure.
Spencer, have you ever read a Chicago paper or listened to talk sports shows in Chicago. They’re as much a pack of wolves and piranhas as there is in NY.
GB7, wow 40 years ago someone did it? You may want to understand the meaning of “concept” I am sure there have been other times as well at some point, but it doesn’t change the conceopt that it was a dumb move. So are you arguing it was not the wrong move or are you just trying to be a donkey?
Javier vazquez had solid years in Chicago and a great season in Atlanta last year after leaving NY. Was Cashman supposed to let a half a season 6 years ago (when he was hurt) and a theoretical “loser gene” stop him from making a move?
Its easy to critize moves in hindsight but really all you have to go on is past performance and Javy’s resume is that of a very fine pitcher for your #4, yet the mud is already flying after 4 starts.
SJ, ho hum you bore me.
Getting tax breaks probably never occurred to anyone else. That’s why people move to Florida and Texas in the first place. it’s not all weather related. Hell, if i had been able to pull it off, I would have a HOR based in Florida, texas or Michigan, too before going into the military.
Right on Doreen!
ryan howard just signed a 5/125 extension according to mlbtraderumors.
wonder what pujols gets?
I try not to jump all over Thames. I understand why he’s in the lineup.
But, he has cost us runs. And more than once. I think it’s harder to make up a run that was given up than it is to save a run that isn’t scored. Does that make sense? Doesn’t really, does it? lol. Just trying to say that defensive liabilities are defensive liabilities, and you can only get away with it so much.
Lol, I didnt say they weren’t sharks, I just said we have more of them.
today, he is canobama
Since there was nothing in your remark that was a “concept” and just a false statement, perhaps you were just blowing it out of your can.
Ledger_Yankees Tweet from the White House? Yeah, that just happened. #NYY
GB
Please tell me that HOR isn’t a spelling error.
tex’s friend April 26th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
today, he is canobama
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Love it.
I had to turn off Francesca. I was in the car eating my lunch when I turned it on and he started ranting about how Javy looks like he doesn’t want to compete. Some caller said that Javy looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than on the Yankees. For pete’s sake, he was upset because he pitched badly. He doesn’t want to complete? Ugh.
I think it’s harder to make up a run that was given up than it is to save a run that your team may or may not make up.
fixed.
erin, Great pic of Cano! LOL!
trust me, Chicago media is just as vicious and probably more crude than anything NY media has dug out of the trash since the days of Dick Young, Henry Hecht and Oscar Fraley.
Press might be having more fun than the players at the WH
Ledger_Yankees That just happened. http://tweetphoto.com/20036537 #NYY
pat April 26th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
GB
Please tell me that HOR isn’t a spelling error.
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Sorry, pat. I slipped back into my past.
HOME OF RECORD.
NYYROC April 26th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
erin, Great pic of Cano! LOL!
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Isn’t it awesome? That will be my new desktop background as soon as I get home! LOL
BryanHoch Piano player is playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame inside entrance.
BryanHoch Piano player is playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame inside entrance.
BryanHoch Just walked into White House. Mark Teixeira says hello.
Betsy
Why read Sherman if it ticks you off. I stopped reading Lupica because he always took shots at the Yankees.
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Javy will be okay. But don’t expect him to put up numbers like he did in the NL.
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Enough with the politics. This is a baseball blog.
“ryan howard just signed a 5/125 extension according to mlbtraderumors.”
If true ? Wow…just unreal. The $ 25 mil mark.
Do you guys think he’s as good as A-Rod? Not me.
Erin great Cano pic
They should have brought Carly Simon in to sing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”
GB
Phewww!
GB…
I wanted to catch up on the blog before I sent you this note. Randy, CB, a couple of others and I had a fabulous conversation about Mickey Mantle the other night. Randy wanted to know where you were when we needed your knowledge.
I am going to assume, due to the hour, that you were asleep, but it was a terrific conversation.
“”"Getting tax breaks probably never occurred to anyone else. That’s why people move to Florida and Texas in the first place. it’s not all weather related. Hell, if i had been able to pull it off, I would have a HOR based in Florida, texas or Michigan, too before going into the military.”"”
The trend has already begun with people moving to tax havens outside of the US. Why stay here with all of the “progressive” taxation taking place? Moving out of the tri-state area is a must.
jonmorosi #Phillies announce $125 million deal with Ryan Howard over five years. Could reach $138 million for six. #MLB
tampayank April 26th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Erin great Cano pic
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it is quite awesome, isn’t it?
LoHudYankees Do White House reporters ask to have their picture taken when they cover an event at Yankee Stadium?
If there’s one thing I’m pretty sure of, after following the comments on LoHud for a few years, the negative comments about Javy will vanish after he pitches a good game or two, which he will.
Vazquez just needs to get the speed back on his fastball – and after reviewing his average fastball speeds game by game through his career posted over on RLYB you have to think he will – and he’ll be OK. He’s had a few short periods in his career where his average fastball dropped below 90 MPH, as is the case now, but the average fastball speed always recovered. I don’t see why the same thing won’t happen this time too, just a little patience.
# Bronx Jeers April 26th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
“ryan howard just signed a 5/125 extension according to mlbtraderumors.”
If true ? Wow…just unreal. The $ 25 mil mark.
Do you guys think he’s as good as A-Rod? Not me.
A-Rod is making 32 million this year
BryanHoch Almost made it into the East Room. They’re clearing the area, but we’ll be heading back in shortly.
ha Cano is on my list on Yanks I would like to have a few beers w/ …along with Swisher and oddly AROD…have a feeling he’s a cool dude despite the bad rap
“I got tired of arguing for a guy that needs no defense.”
Lack of defense is something the haters cite.
m April 26th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
It is easy to say a fielder cost the team some runs, but it is harder to express a hitters weakness when he doesn’t play. In other words if Gardner was playing LF would his weak hitting against LHP cost the team more. Obviously, Joe G thinks it would or Thames would not be playing. It isn’t like Joe G is sitting Mickey Mantle for Thames!
The other thing that gets me is when a weak fielder makes an error it is magnified. When a strong fielder makes an error it is dismissed. But everyone is going to make an error sometime. How many times over the years have the Yankees had a defensive replacement trying to hit in a key moment late in the game for a good to great hitter they’ve replaced. It has made me cringe!
SAS April 26th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
GB…
I wanted to catch up on the blog before I sent you this note. Randy, CB, a couple of others and I had a fabulous conversation about Mickey Mantle the other night. Randy wanted to know where you were when we needed your knowledge.
I am going to assume, due to the hour, that you were asleep, but it was a terrific conversation.
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SAS, I’m sorry I missed that one. I was lucky to see a lot of his games on TV over the years, but, also in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. I had a granfather who loved baseball, so, he;d take me as long as I didn’t tell my grandmother that he drank a beer or my mom that I ate 4 ice creams, 5 hotdogs, 3 bags of popcorn and drank 5 cokes (large). Somehow, she always figured it out, though. Got to see two bombs out of Tiger Stadium including one that went past the transformer that Jackson hit in the all Star game and a roof clearing shot in Chicago. Great times.
That’s crazy money for Howard. That almost feels like a Giambi team killer kind of contract.
He’s 30 now. The 5 year extension doesn’t start till his age 32 season. He’s going to be making 25 million at age 37?
Usually, we’re the only team willing to take that risk on a veteran player. In a sense, it’s good to see another organization doing it.
Still, you have to hope to the high heavens that Howard ages well through his 30 or this deal is a major albatross.
After him getting this kind of financial commitment to his age 37 season, the Cardinals better back up the brinks truck and give Pujols Arod money.
It appears they have no choice.
YankeesPR Yankees players and staff continue their tour through the White House in the Green Room http://twitpic.com/1ioss4
m-
Regarding your question on the relationship between mechanics and states of mind – I don’t have the expertise or experience to answer that question in any specific way. It’s just such a general question. I’d have to think it would vary between one individual and another. Also, these athletes have trained to perform at such a high level if they weren’t able to construct their mechanics through enormous degrees of learned muscle memory it doesn’t seem likely that they would be successful at all.
Finally, I don’t think as external observers we can infer what that relationship is for any particular individual.
Unless you run the polymerase chain reaction to sequence the “loser gene”… because well, then you can just speculate in any fashion you want.
BryanHoch waiting outside white house
http://twitpic.com/1iou1n
I am guessing Johnny Damon didn’t get to ditch Detroit to go to the White House
pat April 26th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
YankeesPR Yankees players and staff continue their tour through the White House in the Green Room http://twitpic.com/1ioss4
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That’s awesome! Poor Jorgie has his eyes closed. LOL
pat April 26th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
GB
Phewww!
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I like scaring people. Unfortunately, I just typed it without thinking. Just be happy that this one contained no typos.
GreenBeret7 April 26th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
SAS, I?m sorry I missed that one. I was lucky to see a lot of his games on TV over the years, but, also in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. I had a granfather who loved baseball, so, he;d take me as long as I didn?t tell my grandmother that he drank a beer or my mom that I ate 4 ice creams, 5 hotdogs, 3 bags of popcorn and drank 5 cokes (large). Somehow, she always figured it out, though
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Did she figure it out when young GB7 threw up all over her??? Yipes….
Personally, I would have given that money to Werth and let Howard walk.
BryanHoch Such an honor to be where President Kevin Kline & First Lady Sigourney Weaver found true love.
bodi,
My point is, nobody in this trade to date has performed so well as to make it a trade the Yankees should not have made.
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On Vizcaino, you won’t have an answer of what the Yankees gave up for several years.
Melky’s never hit to a sub-200, or even sub-.260 BA. Even with his miserable start, his career average came down to .266 right now. I like Melky a lot, and think the Yanks will miss him, but the potential jewel that was surrendered isn’t Cabrera.
The “early going” for Vizcaino is what, 3 starts?? Give him some time. He did alright in 42 starts in this league last year.
Actually, the small sample size, if they’re putting any stock in it at all, is probably encouraging to the Braves, at least against RHB, and against LHB, there’s probably a qualifier for those bloated numbers.
The numbers vs. lefties tell me he’s probably working on his change, (an ERA of 13.50 vs LHB, 1.38 vs. righties, who have 2ER off him, if you really want to peer into his “early struggles.”).
Erin April 26th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
BryanHoch Such an honor to be where President Kevin Kline & First Lady Sigourney Weaver found true love.
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I found “The American President” with Michael Douglas and Annette Benning to be a better presidential chick flick
The Vazquez psycho-analysis/over-analysis of his every move, thought, action is not going away any time soon. The pundits and fans alike have taken to it like flies to dung. For evidence look to how many columns/blog posts were written about him so far since he’s been traded back, and how many comments have been made on this board and others like it about him as well.
Also there will never be a point during the regular season when he has overcome all the questioning and skepticism by media/fans. Even if he gets really hot and strings together a winning streak, you will still have people dedicating airtime/column space to talking about how his performance is nice but can he do it in October/when it really matters?
So the bottom line is no matter how much logic is inserted into this debate, there will always be people ready to question Vazquez. There is also no quantified point when he will have officially answered all the bogus doubts about his mind, since all the calls right now are for abstract things like him “showing toughness”. It is a no-win scenario, and all rational fans can do is work hard to ignore the idiot sects looking for every chance to jump on the guy and hope his performance catches up to its averages and the team wins it all so the harping can die down once and for all.
New thread
Standing at Waiting at the White House!!!!
Erica – always OPPC – Sesame Street Mafia and GTLU supporter April 26th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I found ?The American President? with Michael Douglas and Annette Benning to be a better presidential chick flick
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totally agree. I love that movie!
SAS, i was a growing boy. I never gave my mom enough credit for connecting an upset stomach and trips to the ballpark with grandpa. She was a pretty smart cookie after all.
Omg hes still calling him Nick lmao
Wave Your Hat April 26th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Good point Wave! Good to see you here again! Javy has dropped his arm angle & that affects his speed. When you go thru anything in life doing something wrong, the correction takes time and is not automatic. It resembles the first time you ride a bike. You think about everything because it isn’t routine. It looks awkward and mechanical.
Pitchers get into this kind of trap often. Usually it happens over an extended off time (Winter) or after an injury. Sometimes bad habits start because of an injury as well.
Javy is a competitor and will do fine barring injury.
“That’s crazy money for Howard. That almost feels like a Giambi team killer kind of contract. ”
I don’t know when Utley’s contract is up for free agency, but if this contract in any way impedes their ability to resign Utley is will have been a catastrophic mistake.
Howard isn’t that good and there is a real risk he’s going to age badly.
Utley is bar none the best player on that team and easily one of the top 10 in baseball – arguably top 5.
They better be ready to give Utley a $180M type deal if they went this far with Howard.
I don’t like this move for the phils at all.
And the Cards must be crying in their beer right now. 8 years and $250 is more than reasonable market rate for Pujols. If I were pujols agent I would open negotiations at 10 yrs / 300M.
Can’t wait for the next round of complaints about the Yankees and payroll to start.
I had to turn off Francesca. I was in the car eating my lunch when I turned it on and he started ranting about how Javy looks like he doesn’t want to compete.
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That’s my reaction usually. I turn him on for a second, to see if he has an interesting guest. Realizing he doesn’t, and he’s filling the air-time with hot-air, I zap him.
He has nothing to say at all. In fact, when I have tuned in, I notice he’s starting to try to sprinkle in the occasional statistic. I have no doubt that someone is feeding him these numbers and even providing him with their appropriate context.
We can get mad at his comments, and even laugh at him, but the unhappy fact is, he’s not very bright, and for a guy who harps on work ethic, he really doesn’t do much homework at all.
Thanks for the thoughts on defense guys. I still think this lineup can carry a theoretical “weak” bat in the name of defense.
I can see the value of Thames’ bat, but the less we see of him in the OF the better. DH him if you want to get his bat in the lineup.
CB,
LOL. I’m a little disappointed. I was expecting a dissertation.
I wasn’t specifically keying in on Javy. What I was thinking was that the muscle memory thing is something that these guys spend years developing. Why, would your mechanics abandon you in pressure situations?
Why would someone be doing something in their bullpens, only to have their mechanics abandon them when them as soon as men get on base or other similar situations.
Just trying to see if there’s a connection between the two when it’s very possible that one doesn’t exist.
Thanks for video.
I’d be looking for Toby, now that he’s been pardoned. He was the Yankee fan. Remember when he switched the Oriole hats the twins has for Yankee ones? He told them, “You’ll be happier. Trust me.” One of my all time favorite West Wing moments. Josh would be sulking in the corner because it wasn’t his Mets.
GB7 you should try and focus on analyis of the game and predictions rather than grammar and correcting others. I also see you didn’t comment on whether you thought the move made sense; I guess you really were just being useless, but thanks for playing
Looking for Ainsley Hayes? I hear she works at the Miami CSI Crime Lab these days.