No comment on A.J.’s black eye
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 17, 2010 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
It was hard to miss A.J. Burnett’s black eye tonight.
“I’m not going to comment, but I understand you have to ask,” Burnett said. “I think there’s more important things going on right now than my eye.”
Joe Girardi also refused to comment.
Burnett said he has nothing else physically wrong, and he did not need any sort of medical treatment. There was “no doubt” he was going to make tonight’s start.
I don’t care how he got it – it’s none of my business.
Berkman is hitting .433 with a 1.028 OPS in September.
I asked this earlier but have the Yankees played a game this season where Arod, Berkman, Gardner, Swisher, and Posada all started?
Need someone to get to the bottom of this – Sherman, Olney, Verdopey, Heyman, Starks, Rosenthal, Davidoff, Madden, Lupica, … someone get to the bottom of this by tomorrow please.
And if AJ can pitch like he did tonite with one black eye then I say someone should blacken his other eye before his next start, and just keep doing it until the PS is over.
Forget the pies blacken the eyes. That’s my new motto.
Blake, I don’t think so……………..
I’m very happy for Berk – he was lambasted here and in the media when he got off to a slow start (lol – slow, after a mere 22 at bats).
AJ pitched better. The Os couldn’t lay off his hook.
More importantly he gave them length today.
Its not a brand new shiner, looks a few days old. FWIW, my lovely wife suggested that AJ hit himself. Be funny if all the other players put some dark stuff under the right eye so they all matched.
AJ should have worn eye-black under both eyes to make it less obvious.
Also, another nice outing by Lackey tonight – 4.1 IP, 7 runs. Don’t hear a word about that signing, however.
Rifle scope may have got him on the recoil……doesn’t AJ live in Maryland, maybe he was shooting cans or something on the off day.
And before I hit the sack tonite I offer the following photo tribute to A-Rod for his great game.
http://picasaweb.google.com/cy.....awuun66AE#
Enjoy. And thanks A-rod. You saved everyone’s bacon tonite.
Had to be from a left hook. I’d say look at all the lefties on the Yankees and see if there are any swollen knuckles on their left hands. lol.
murphydog – my ne’er do well brother once did that exact thing. He had a hard time ‘fessing up after the fact. FWIW.
Blake-
I think he was out fishing with Cliff Lee and he was trying to reel in a big one. When the line snapped suddenly the rod wacked him in the eye.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
MTU – I am impressed. Great pix. Almost makes me want to live out west. Almost
Can’t be his wife. She doesn’t travel.
jacksquat September 17th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Am I remembering wrong, or didn’t AJ have some discoloration on his ear in his last start?
—
Ok, I”m pretty sure I saw discoloration on someone’s ear recently, I’m pretty sure it was AJ in his last start.
Can someone with the mlb package review the archive footage of AJ’s last start and have a look at his ear, right ear I think it was?
MTU,
Could be…nice pics.
Night everyone. Good and exciting win tonight. CC going for 20 tomorrow.
If Teixeira’s toe is bothering him, which it very well could be, why the heck is Lance Berkman not playing 1b?
That just makes no sense. Tex himself has said that the toe is primarily bothering defensively more than when he’s at the plate.
If it’s his toe they should be playing Berkman at 1b and DH’ing Tex. There is no way Tex should be playing if his toe is what’s driving how he’s hitting.
If it’s the toe then playing in the field is only going to make that toe worse and hamper his hitting even more.
Berkman should be at 1b if that’s the case. Against a RH pitcher in particular there’s no reason for Tex to be playing defensively while Berkman DH’s.
Haven’t we all gotten punched in the eye at least once in our lives?
MTU,
Awesome pics. Some of them look other-worldly.
Oh boy, another question that begs answering from Joe…………
My bet would be posada. Guy does not appear to take crap from anyone.
Ah, no
Lately the talking heads have been going on about how good the Twinkies are.
While I agree they are playing really well, is it really a fair evaluation of a team that plays in a weak division? The Central has been one of the worst divisions in baseball, playing division heavy schedules should have them way up in the wins column.
There really should be a balanced schedule, especially if you are going to get HFA for the record you post up. That at least gives a better idea of which team truly deserves to have HFA.
“Can’t be his wife. She doesn’t travel.
”
AJ and his wife live just outside Baltimore (she lives there during the school year with the kids)….
hmm…
I think we have our first clue
That was for ET
Tex made several very good plays in the field tonight. He needs to play. Pain from a broken toe is manageable.
RAB reporting that AJ said it was not baseball related.
That rules out baseball players and team staff. Angry fan?
CB, seeing the difference between what Tex does in defense at first compared to Berkman, I think it makes sense for Tex to play first.
Teixeira said it was lateral moves that bother him. I would think swinging the bat, which will put twisting motion on your feet, would cause sharper pain.
I haven’t seen any decrease in Tex’s defense. Playing him as DH when he isn’t hitting as well seems like you are harming the team more. Berkman wouldn’t be able to make the plays that Tex does.
“Berkman should be at 1b if that’s the case.”
Did you see the play Tex made in the 7th inning? Fat Elvis doesn’t make that play. We need Tex’s defense.
I know they use Cervelli with AJ to give Posada a day off which I understand to a point. This upcoming series with Tampa has Nova and Burnett pitching. I really would rather have Posada catch AJ against Tampa because I know Tampa steals and I just think Posada is better throwing runners out.
Too fresh to a Baltimore belt.
Berkman has looked dreadful the few times he has played the field as a Yankee.
He should not be near the field. Tex has looked fine in the field. It’s not like he is hobbling around like Swisher.
Joe/Blake/SAS-
You’re most welcome, and so is A-Rod.
Playing Berkman at 1st is like playing Thames in the OF.
“seeing the difference between what Tex does in defense at first compared to Berkman, I think it makes sense for Tex to play first.”
Not if it’s going to be the driving reason for him to have stopped hitting, which is what was being discussed last thread.
If it’s the toe that reason why he’s hitting .210 in september with a .246 slugging % then the difference between Berkman and Tex defensively isn’t even close to worth him playing in the field.
So either his toe isn’t having a major impact on his hitting or he shouldn’t be playing the field at minimum.
# m September 17th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
RAB reporting that AJ said it was not baseball related.
That rules out baseball players and team staff. Angry fan?
————–
Not necessarily. That could be cover. It wasn’t a baseball, or actions during practice, that gave it to him.
Swish should sit until at least the Tampa series. He’s still hobbling out there.
Thought I’d mention this again:
Manny Banuelos is going to the AFL and Betances is going to the instructional league to work on his fielding.
lol
CB, if Tex isn’t hitting well because of the toe, then what kind of reason could you possibly give for having him DH? He is still defending really well, making his usual unbelievable plays defensively. Yet you think he should DH where the Yanks lose his defense for a weaker defender and keep him in the lineup where his problem is his bat?
Honestly, I can’t for the life of me figure out where there is any benefit in that. You keep his weak ABs and give up his stellar defense.
His broken toe is only going to be able to heal with weeks of rest. The Yanks don’t have that time.
aj probably got the black eye banging with a couple of o’s fans last night while bar hopping with a drunk joba
Betances’ fielding on the grounders isn’t terrible, but, it’s much like with Pettitte, it’s his throwing the ball to first that causes problems including pick-off plays.
AJ = Good
Team Offense/RISP = Poor
A-Rod = Outstanding
Good win, with both the Rays and Sux losing. Hope CC gets 20 tomorrow, and this is just the beginning of a much needed win streak.
or maybe it was yankees fans who took exception to aj’s crappy pitching this year
King Felix throwing a no hitter against Texas through 5.
GB-
Trenton lost.
I just walked the dogs outside. Backstory: I have some baseball bases around my outside area. Well, both dogs decided to drop some Orioles on the bases.
So, essentially, my puppies littered the bases with Orioles.
Pettitte has problems throwing the ball to 1st base. You can count on one hand any poor throws by Pettitte to first. Andy has a great move to first, and fields his position well. Andy has 32 errors in 16 years playing MLB. I for one will take that.
“King Felix throwing a no hitter against Texas through 5.”
Don Wakamatsu should have pitched him on short rest against the Sox. Would have given him an extra game at the end of the yr to try and get a win (and helped us).
“Honestly, I can’t for the life of me figure out where there is any benefit in that. You keep his weak ABs and give up his stellar defense. ”
To clarify, given the way he’s moving defensively and his own statements I don’t know how much impact his toe is having on his hitting. I’m sure it’s bothering him but even defensively – as we saw tonight – he doesn’t look hampered in his movements.
So I don’t know if that’s the main reason for his bat going cold.
But if it was the reason, the vast majority of pressure on the toe is from playing defensively. That’s when he’s standing on it for the longest and doing quick movements.
They could take pressure off of his foot by DH’ing him. He could hit and then go to the club house and get the toe iced or get treatment in the clubhouse until his next at bat. That would have to be less stressful than playing in the field.
That the yankees aren’t doing that when they have a veteran 1b on the roster makes me think that the toe is an issue but not a huge problem.
Nite All.
I hope CC gets numero 20 tomorrow.
If he does I have grand tribute planned for him.
It will be as spectacular as his 20th win. I promise.
MTU September 17th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
GB-
Trenton lost.
———————————————————————————————————————-
yeah, Warren came a little unglued after the 4th inning. He had a lot of strikeouts (8) and just 1 walk and 4 hits. The solo homer came in the 2nd inning. It all started with 2 outs in the 5th with 2 outs, a walk, Romine’s passed ball and a couple of hits and a hit batter. The first hit was an infield 2nd base that was set up by the passed ball.
Just seeing Jack Roush of Roush Fenway Racing on NESN. The first time Ive ever seen the guy. What a DIRTPILE! Wow.
Perhaps I should rephrase my previous statement: My puppies littered the bases with Roushes!
GB-
They aren’t eliminated yet are they ?
When something is essentially broken, it’s a very real distraction even if it doesn’t really interfere with your play. It’s painful and in the back of your mind.
As for his hitting, sometimes Tex just doesn’t see the ball well. And he can’t lay off the breaking pitches to save his life during these phases.
Anyway, good to have one of the OF back. Gardner didn’t do much, but he drew a walk and saw a lot of pitches.
CB, right now it appears that Teixeira’s having the same problem at bat as he did earlier this year. His back leg/knee is collapsing a bit and he’s swinging under everything. You don’t see many groundouts…just strikeouts and pop flies. Is that what you and Pat M. are seeing?
jacksquat September 17th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
jacksquat September 17th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Am I remembering wrong, or didn’t AJ have some discoloration on his ear in his last start?
—
Ok, I”m pretty sure I saw discoloration on someone’s ear recently, I’m pretty sure it was AJ in his last start.
Can someone with the mlb package review the archive footage of AJ’s last start and have a look at his ear, right ear I think it was?
—
AHA! I found it!
http://i53.tinypic.com/2exa5nc.jpg
The plot thickens!
I didn’t think anyone could defend that lame statement about Andy Pettitte’s fielding and ability to throw the ball to first.
MTU September 17th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
GB-
They aren’t eliminated yet are they ?
———————————————————————————————————————-
No, but, they need to win the next two games or it’s over.
AJ might be abusing himself.
Has someone been abusing poor AJ?
Gb-
Thanks and have a good night.
No, Carl. It was Red Sox fans. A source who wishes to remain anonymous has told me that Red Sox fans pummeled him to make it look like Yankees fans did it. They wore Yankees hats at the time of the crime
Good night MTU. That sounds like a good idea here as well – Good night.
Sleep well Al.
GB70-
To me the primary thing is that it looks like his timing is off again. As you said he really collapsing his back leg and getting under everything. He has such an extreme swing plane, especially lefty, that his bat just doesn’t stay in the hitting zone very long.
If he’s a bit too early he winds up swinging over the ball (which he’s done during several strike outs, including tonight). If he’s a little late he hits under the ball while the bat is still traveling along that upper cut swing plane and he pops the ball up.
He looks like he’s back in the same kind of funk he gets into when he gets cold, though the toe is also likely a factor.
Hopefully he gets hot again as they move to the post season. They really need him.
Is pine tar black? Whatever Cliff Lee uses on his hat is probably what AJ had all over his fingers. And then he grabs his ear and it gets inside his ear. I seriously doubt that’s a contusion in his ear. I don’t think there’s enough blood vessels in that area.
lmao….did AJ’s wife punch him in the face for sucking
Prince Fe-licks – the guy who won’t be pitching versus the Rays!
Ubaldo jiminez has come crashing back closer to Earth. 4 earned runs in 5 innings against the Dodgers. His ERA is now pushing 2.90.
m September 17th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Is pine tar black? Whatever Cliff Lee uses on his hat is probably what AJ had all over his fingers. And then he grabs his ear and it gets inside his ear. I seriously doubt that’s a contusion in his ear. I don’t think there’s enough blood vessels in that area.
—
Notice that his hat is still pristine white. You think he gunk on his hands, grabbed the top of his ear, without touching the hat at all?
Can’t know for sure either way, but I do know you can bruise your ear.
Sox lose!!!
From the Star Ledger:
“It’s the second straight start that Burnett appeared on the mound with bruises. He had a bruised right ear in his rain-shortened start at Texas last week, attributing that injury to an accident in his home workshop.”
CB, it may be the toe. I believe that it was his front foot (right side) that was hit when he was batting left handed. Maybe as his weight shifts forward?
I guess that’s one of the dangers of making judgements too early; Jimenez got off to an unbelievable start and was basically given the Cy Young. Now? He won’t win it. Still, I think he’s just 26………….darn good year.
pat September 17th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
From the Star Ledger:
“It’s the second straight start that Burnett appeared on the mound with bruises. He had a bruised right ear in his rain-shortened start at Texas last week, attributing that injury to an accident in his home workshop.”
———————————————————————————————————————-
It’s time to hire a carpenter to do the work.
GB7-
Jimenez hasn’t been as sharp as he was to start the season. But his ERA this season is misleading because for whatever reason, Coors Field has seen an explosion of runs being scored there for reasons that appear to be related to playing environment itself.
Jimenez has been much better than his ERA suggests. His peripherals are great. Less than 7h/9, 8.5k/9 and he’s giving up very few home runs. His walks are higher than you’d like but still not too bad.
I just saw Kevin Millar on MLBNet. What an unprofessional. His motions and antics.
Then, his words, he says that Fe-licks should win over CC. Yeah, right Millar. If Buchholz had CC’s resume, Millar would be touting Buccholz. Get over yourself, you steroid enhanced freak Millar.
Well, it appears to be a bruise. Strangeness.
Boy, Alex took his sweet time going around the bases………….it seems like deliberately took smaller strides as he jogged around. Well, he earned that right – hell of a shot
Josh Hamilton received two cortizone shots in the rib cage area.
http://sports.espn.go.com/dall.....id=5585465
pat September 17th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
From the Star Ledger:
“It’s the second straight start that Burnett appeared on the mound with bruises. He had a bruised right ear in his rain-shortened start at Texas last week, attributing that injury to an accident in his home workshop.”
—
And the second start he has a black eye, and this time it’s “no comment”? Weird to say the least…
Jimenez absolutely should still be in strong consideration for the NL Cy young award.
Maybe AJ started a Fight Club in his “home workshop”.
I don’t get why peripherals mean so much when the idea is to prevent runs from scoring. If a pitcher has “eh” stats, but doesn’t give up runs, it seems to me that instead of chalking it all up to luck, we should give the guy credit. On the other hand, some guy with nice peripherals but a relatively high ERA shouldn’t get a pass because he’s “unlucky”. It probably means he’s making bad pitches at the wrong time.
Jiminez has been better than the peripherals suggest
This idiot Millar keeps calling Nelson Cruz “Nelly Cruz” Nelly Cruz Nelly Cruz. Wow! On that note, time to head out and enjoy a Friday night Yankees victory! Ciao…for now!!!!!!!! ALEX!!! ALEX!!! ALEX!!!
CR9, Felix Hernandez has a lot going for him for the Cy Young. Just blew his no-no though.
Nelson Cruz. That guy is a killer.
Its probably going to be a tough vote. CC with wins will get votes. Price has a strong bid. Felix has the ERA and SO lead. So much depends on who is voting.
Nelson Cruz poops on somebody else’s parade for a change. Led off the 8th with a solo shot.
MLB network is making the same mistake that ESPeeN does. They are presenting things in an unprofessional manner.
I don’t have a problem with some banter, but they go overboard with it.
Another night of futility at the plate , 1-9 with RISP , 11 LOB.
Yankees are sporting a 268 average so far as oppose 283 in 2009. This dip in average could loom large in the playoff when you face lee, liriano and pavano. One would have to assume you have to hit your way on. In combination with 260 average (14th) with RISP . It’s a rather large concern for me as playoff is looming.
CB September 17th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
GB7-
Jimenez hasn’t been as sharp as he was to start the season. But his ERA this season is misleading because for whatever reason, Coors Field has seen an explosion of runs being scored there for reasons that appear to be related to playing environment itself.
Jimenez has been much better than his ERA suggests. His peripherals are great. Less than 7h/9, 8.5k/9 and he’s giving up very few home runs. His walks are higher than you’d like but still not too bad.
———————————————————————————————————————-
I know the guy is a very good pitcher, but, even his road numbers are rising. since the ASB, in almost half as many innings, he’s allowed the same amount of runs and 2/3rd the hits, but, he’s also walking more over his strikeouts. He’s still odds on favorite to with the NL Cy Young. I guess if I were forced to accept him as a Yankee, I could suffer with those numbers.
“On the other hand, some guy with nice peripherals but a relatively high ERA shouldn’t get a pass because he’s “unlucky”. It probably means he’s making bad pitches at the wrong time.”
What?
Do you seriously think that a pitcher who pitches in a smaller ball park isn’t systematically more likely to give up more runs than a pitcher who pitches in a cavern?
Also, do you seriously think that a pitcher who pitches in a better division isn’t going to tend to give up more runs just because of who he pitches against.
It has very little to do with luck.
A great example of that this year is Trevor Cahill. He’s been good but he hasn’t been nearly as good as he ERA suggest because he pitches in one of the largest ball parks in the AL, a ball park where it’s much easier to get outs (e.g. the foul territory is so huge) and where it’s very difficult to give up home runs.
On top of that Cahill pitches in an awful division. He gets to pitch against the mariners in an unbalanced schedule.
The defense a pitcher plays in front of can make a huge impact on how many runs he gives up. Should Cahill get credit for playing in front of a no hit team that plays defense well? Should Felix? Is that the pitchers own skill?
Earned runs are also very problematic. If a pitcher gives up a triple and a fielder makes an error on a throw that lets the run score is that truly “unearned” such that the pitcher had no responsibility for that run?
ERA also doesn’t tell you or take into account how many innings and how much length a pitcher provides. That’s an enormous part of his value. I think when CC won the Cy Young he threw around 45 more innings than Beckett did. That’s almost 7 extra starts. That adds massive value to what CC did compared to what Beckett did for their respective teams.
Peripherals are important because they give you insight into how a pitcher pitches and how good they’ve been.
CC Sabathia has a higher ERA than Cahill. So I guess we should just conclude that Cahill is a better pitcher than CC because he’s given up fewer raw runs?
You are completely misunderstanding “luck” and peripherals. You’ve posted often about how you “hate” BABIP and it seems like you’re just painting with a broad brush and throwing everything into the garbage except ERA without fully thinking through the difficult issues at hand in interpretation.
“Jiminez has been better than the peripherals suggest”
Agreed. Coors Field has been really wacky this season. Maybe it’s been the temperature? Who knows.
He hasn’t been able to maintain that ridiculous start where he was off to one of the great starts in history. But that’s only to be expected.
On the flip side it’s hard to interpret how good Carlos Gonzalez has been offensively for the opposite reasons. His home road splits are unbelievable.
Gonzalez used to have a lot of trouble hitting breaking pitches. Air density has a major impact on how much break a pitch can have. I wonder if Gonzalez is benefiting from that Coors phenomenon. Who knows. But the offensive explosion in Coors has been huge this season.
Sorry, you lost me, CB – where did I say small/large parks don’t make a difference?
Hey, I asked an honest question and you snapped at me. I’ll go ask the question elsewhere then.
I really would prefer to be civil about this, but don’t you imply that I said Cahill is better than CC……….I don’t even know where you got that from.
MTU nice pics. I live in Utah so its nice to see some great pics from Arches, I haven’t been there in a while. Go Yanks!
Also, sorry – you’ll forgive me if I think that certain stats like strikeouts are overrated. Who cares if pitcher A has 100 Ks and pitcher B has 60 (in approximately same amount of innings) if pitcher B has a lower ERA.
Just because YOU are sabermetric freak doesn’t mean everyone else has to.
I think the idea here is to just not ask a question because you might get your head bitten off.
“I don’t even know where you got that from.”
Because this is what you wrote:
“I don’t get why peripherals mean so much when the idea is to prevent runs from scoring. If a pitcher has “eh” stats, but doesn’t give up runs, it seems to me that instead of chalking it all up to luck, we should give the guy credit.”
Where is the “honest question” in this? It’s a pretty flippant, dismissive statement. And as I brought up the issue of peripherals with regards to Jimenez it seems clear that you were responding to that point.
Who said anything about giving a pitcher who has “eh”stats credit? I didn’t. Where did I ever make the point you were claiming in response? Where did I ever say it’s all “luck.”
You were reducing all peripherals to “luck.” That’s not accurate. I was using Cahill as an example to illustrate that. That’s all.
And peripherals cover a wide variety of statistics – a number of which speak to how large the ball park the pitcher throws in and how tough it is to score runs there is. That’s why the point is important to the issues you brought up.
That’s the fundamental issue with Jimenez which is why I tried to illustrate the point with an example. I picked Cahill because he’s thrown against the yankees several times and figured people would be familiar with him and because he pitches in one of the two most pitcher friendly parks in the AL.
CB, if the Os offer you Jones for Gardner and Nova. Would you pull the trigger on it.
It was reported that AJ flew ahead of the team to Baltimore….maybe a night out at the local pub w/o his teammates being there for back-up?
I liked Rebecca’s guess the best:
Maybe A.J. tried to say hello to Joe Buck.