Postgame notes: “I think we all needed a day like this”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes, Podcast on May 08, 2011 
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Walking into the Yankees clubhouse after this game, Kevin Long’s words were stuck in my head. Just a few days ago, before a game in Detroit, the Yankees hitting coach seemed to suggest something like this was coming.
“(Derek Jeter)’s not hot, he’s not cold,” Long said. “He just hasn’t went through a streak yet. He’s going to get hot and go through a hot streak.”
Jeter had a hit in every game this road trip. He raised his batting average from .242 to .276, and in the past two games he more than doubled his extra-base hits for the season. Last night he drove a ball off the wall in left field, and tonight he went deep to right-center in back-to-back at-bats, once to pull the Yankees within a run, then to put them in front.
“I think we all needed a day like this,” Long said tonight. “It feels good to have Jeet come out and swing the bat the way he did. The other day in Detroit he hit those three balls good. He’s had a couple of games since then that have been really good, and then today was the icing on the cake. We’ll take it from here.”
When Jeter’s first home run got just over the wall in the fifth inning, Joe Girardi turned to Long on the Yankees bench and said, “We’re going to have to talk about him again.” Last week, Jeter grew so tired of discussing his swing and his numbers that he began refusing to discuss those things before games. He would talk at length postgame, but not pregame. He’d already dismissed some of the mechanical changes he’d worked on this spring, and he was trying to get himself comfortable. He decided that discussing it pregame was contrary to that goal.
“When you come here, you’re going to try to not think about things and try to stay positive,” Jeter said. “It’s not the first time we’ve scuffled a little bit, but you still have to have confidence… Sometimes the results can be frustrating, but going in there every day you have to have confidence that you’re going to be able to produce. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s starting to.”
A seven-game hitting streak doesn’t mean Jeter’s out of the woods, and a two homer game doesn’t mean that he’s finishing hitting the ball on the ground, but Jeter’s finally gone through a little bit of a hot streak, and it’s surely taken some of the pressure and — maybe — a little bit of the attention off the Yankees captain.
“You want everything to happen in one day, but it doesn’t always happen in one day,” he said. “It takes a little while. I’m well aware that you have to have patience.”
Here’s Jeter’s postgame interview.
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• The Yankees kind of owed CC Sabathia this win. He’d missed out on so many wins earlier this season, he deserved to sneak a win this afternoon. Sabathia said his fastball command was actually better than last time, but walks and errors put the Yankees in an early 4-0 hole. “Just try to leave it right there, make it so that’s all they get,” Sabathia said. “These guys are going to battle, put together good at-bats. They did, and we ended up coming back.”
• More proof the Yankees offense is making up for those blown win opportunities earlier this season: The Yankees have scored 12 runs in a game three times, and Sabathia’s gotten the win each time.
• Both Sabathia and Francisco Cervelli said his changeup command was a significant problem early. “Just calm down because it was real tough the first inning,” Cervelli said. “And then the wind was too crazy. Changeup crazy. But he made adjustments. Everybody knows who CC is already.”
• Curtis Granderson hit his 11th home run of the season, most in the American League. He didn’t hit his 11th homer last year until August 14, in his 91st game of the season. Tonight’s was his fifth home run against a left-handed pitcher, which matches a career-high for home runs off lefties in a season.
• Jeter facts: His first home run ended a streak of 259 at-bats without a home run. It was the second longest homer-less streak of his career. He went 311 at-bats without one in 1997… This was the second longest he’d ever gone before hitting his first home run in a season. He went 119 at-bats without one this year and 128 without on in 2008… He got his first steal tonight in his 30th game. That’s his second longest wait before stealing a bag. His longest was 38 games, also in 2008… This was his second four-hit game of the season. He had only one four-hit game last year.
• Cervelli hit the first grand slam of his career and the first he could remember since High-A in 2007. “I’m close to Alex now,” he said. “Lou Gehrig and Manny. I’m going there now.”
• How crazy is it that Cervelli, of all people, can rattle off the all time grand slam leaders? You think he’s been eyeing that record and keeping track?
• Girardi said he addressed today’s defensive mistakes with the team. The Yankees played an ugly game early. “I told our club, ‘We have to stop making it so hard on ourselves,’” Girardi said. “We’re a good team, but we’re making it harder on ourselves. We’re capable of playing better.”
• Sabathia had two of the Yankees season-high four errors. On the first one, it seemed like the grass might have played a part in Sabathia being forced to make a tougher than expected play. Not the case. “I was just rushing,” he said. “I had way more time than I thought, I just didn’t pick the ball up.”
• The other two errors belonged to Brett Gardner, who failed to scoop the ball while fielding a single, and Alex Rodriguez, who made a nice play at third and then made a bad throw to first. “That play has to be made 10 out of 10 times,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just kind of an unusual play. I was almost getting ready to throw the ball to a kid in the stands.”
• Rodriguez and Long have been working on his leg kick, which has gotten too high. Both were encouraged by his at-bats today. “I was happy with all my swings today,” Rodriguez said. “I wish I’d get three or four hits, but the bottom line is we won a game. Overall, my balance was good, my strike zone control was good, and if I do that, there’s going to be a lot of damage.”
• Long, Girardi and Jeter all scoffed at the idea that the Yankees are too reliant on home runs. “Come on, this needs to stop,” Long said. ” You score runs however you’re going to score runs. We have guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark, and because we’re strong and they hit a ball good, we talk about that’s the only way we can score runs. We need to do a better job, yes, with a man on third, less than two outs, of getting the guy in. I don’t care how we score runs. I don’t think anybody in this room cares how we score runs. We need to stay consistent.”
Associated Press photos
Quite the game today!! I was able to see the last few innings. Cervelli’s grand slam=
(great day for PFOFs)
Joba, on your day off tomorrow— get a haircut!!!!!
Trying to catch up on twitter, so if any of these have been posted, forgive me
teixeiramark25 The homer using a pink bat was for my mom today. She beat cancer 16 years ago and watches me play every game. Happy Mother’s Day!
BryanHoch Francisco Cervelli didn’t realize he hit a grand slam until he got to the dugout. “I’m so happy today. That’s for my mom,” he said. (so cute
)
PhilHughes65 Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! Wishing I was home with mine.
russellmartin55 Great way to celebrate mothers day, with a victory!
Erin, You ‘re beginning to get bossy. Sounds like Miss Piggy ordering Kermit around….do it, or else.
GreenBeret7 May 8th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Erin, You ‘re beginning to get bossy. Sounds like Miss Piggy ordering Kermit around….do it, or else.
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LMAO I’ve been telling to get a haircut since spring training. He just won’t listen to me!! That’s a good idea-I should send Miss Piggy after him!
I remember the game against the Dodgers I think when they kept bunting on Pettitte and he couldn’t handle them and kept throwing the ball away. It was the game that we came back and scored all those runs and Cano hit the go ahead 2 run home run. Makes me miss Andy.
Erin, you’d be a mean mom. I’d run away from home…until it got dark outside or was time for supper.
That was a strange thing about Pettitte, great control, his pick-offs never missed the target and a great fielder. Just had trouble making throws to first base, although, it came in streaks.
GB-
Have a good night everyone. I hope all the mom’s had a good Mother’s Day
I don’t know what happened to Cervelli’s defense. He was always a good defensive catcher until last year. Suddenly, he gets jumpy, rushes plays. The throw today was like a shot put to Teixeira. That’s not being hyper, that’s just rushing things or being over anxious. Whatever it is, he’s got to calm down and just play. Jeter went through the same thing, as did Rodriguez. They got over it, and Cervelli needs to. Hate to see him become a Steve Sax or Chuck Knoblauch. At least, he’s not Macky Sasser or Dale Murphy and forget how to throw the ball back to the pitcher.
GB,
Cervelli’s game has moved more to power hitting now so he can get away with those defensive miscues
LGY,
If you’re still.around ….did you ever get your phone back to mobile mode om this site? Mine is doing it now.
Jerkface May 8th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Blake had the right approach, that Jeter didn’t look comfortable earlier in the season because he had too many things on his mind (which is what I think as well) and now that he went back to what was known and comfortable he’s more relaxed and able to react to the pitch without thinking about 10 different things up there.
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But how does that explain last year?
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I’m not interested in explaining last year just as I’m not interested in explaining his early season slump in 2004 where he was below the Mendoza line well into May.
If it’s important to you that’s fine, I just don’t care because it’s probably just a matter of him getting into a slump and not getting out of it for a long time. Blake has as good an answer for it as any. Today proved he can still drive the ball, now it’s just a matter of him doing it consistently (or at least as consistently as he’s done in the past).
randy
I do think there is an objective Jeter swing. I also don’t think it really comes and goes. Sure, every player gets into funks and gets out of whack mechanically. But, the issue is not Jeter getting out of whack last year and then just getting back to what makes him successful.
He has made the same unorthodox swing work his entire career. The problem last year IMO is that he lost bat speed and his “Jeterian swing” + style of hitting does not work with reduced bat speed, because of the unorthodox nature of the whole thing.
You say Jeter is not trying to fix last year, but he is. He and Long attempted to change him mechanically in order to fix what plagued him last season.
Jetes has never been a tinkerer or a hitting guru type of guy like A-Rod for example. He has always been the same guy using the same swing just seeing the ball and hitting the ball.
He tinkered with Long and after a few weeks he abandoned it because it wasn’t and it wasn’t comfortable for him. So the question is now, whether Derek has really just completely reverted to his old way that resulted in the 2010 season.
Personally, I think he needs to completely overhaul his swing and change his hitting style to be successful against RHP again. I don’t think he has the bat speed to handle most RHP with his old approach.
You seem to be asserting that Jeter has always made changes and adapted and evolved and he will continue to do so as he ages. I don’t view Jeter’s career that way at all. He has always been that same guy with the Jeterian swing.
blake,
Yeah I just deleted cookies and it worked.
Shortstops the size of Ripken, Jeter and Rodriguez is still something new to baseball. People still don’t know what the limit of their staying power at short is….whether its 14, 15 or 16 years…there’s just no book on it. I don’t know how many guys are coming along that’s that big and still playing shortstop, but, it won’t be many. Ripken was finished as a shortstop at age 35. Regardless of his range, Jeter is still the most sure handed shortstop along with throwing accuracy anywhere.
Add Tulowitzki to that list. Ramirez will never stay at shortstop.
blake, how do you get the phone back to mobile mode for this site?
blake, how do you get the phone back to mobile mode for this site?
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Find your mobile settings and clear the cache. I got the same issue and I couldnt figure it out.
LGY,
thanks. Success.
Here is the thing though…even if Jeter has lost or is losing bat speed I don’t think anyone can know if he’ll adjust to it or not. He keeps the bat in the zone for a long time with his unique swing….which is why he’s hit for such higher averages in his career.
As I said in the previous thread, Jeter slumped last year for the same reasons that he’s always slumped in his career…..just in 2010 the slump lasted much much longer than it ever had. Jeter’s slumps have always been more or less timing issues where he jumps out in front and gets away from his strength (which was letting the ball travel deep)….now whether that was because he was cheating because his bat was slower or just because it was a really long funk is up for debate. Either way, he started looking more like himself at the end of last year and then changed things over the winter…changes that he clearly wasn’t comfortable with.
Losing bat speed doesn’t mean you’re done as a hitter in all cases….it just means you may have to adapt and hit differently…..with a different approach. It’s still TBD with Derek but as I’ve said before…..I wouldn’t bet against him figuring out a way to be productive.
“You seem to be asserting that Jeter has always made changes and adapted and evolved and he will continue to do so as he ages.”
lgy-
yes that’s exactly what i’m saying.
jeter has never just hit one way. he’s has gone through periods where he just hammered the ball to left and then time wheres he went to right almost exclusively.
just because a hitter doesn’t talk about what he’s doing doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of thought going into it. i think jeter knows his swing pretty well and does tweak it constantly.
i think for one thing in his career he’s had to with all the hand injuries that he’s played through.that alone necessitated changes and adjustments to be made.
i will also say jeter could come up with several slightly different ways to hit. there’s no one jeter way. he just needs one way that works though at any one point in time and it will likely change as time goes on.
yup….I just did what Jerkface and LGY are saying (clear the cache and cookies) and it went back to mobile.
Is David Adams dead?
I remember him playing one game this season but I don’t think he has been heard from since.
I can’t believe the Lakers got swept. End of an era.
“Losing bat speed doesn’t mean you’re done as a hitter in all cases….it just means you may have to adapt and hit differently…..with a different approach. It’s still TBD with Derek but as I’ve said before…..I wouldn’t bet against him figuring out a way to be productive.”
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Oh yeah. I do think Jeter could adapt and hit differently and have success.
I am just skeptical that he can adapt within his current framework if you get what I’m saying?
LGY
David Adams is currently on the Tampa Yankees DL. I think he has been at the games but has been on the DL for a while. When I go tomorrow Ill try to see what is up with him.
“I am just skeptical that he can adapt within his current framework if you get what I’m saying?”
I’m not sure anyone has ever hit the way Jeter hits before….at least not with his kind of success, so I’m just not sure. I do think he looks a lot better just hitting than trying to worry about not striding…..for whatever reason he just couldn’t use his lower half hitting like that.
thanks.
blake, I can’t believe how the Lakers went out.
blake…….Laker fans are much like Yankee fans, they expect to win every season and when they don’t, well you know the drill……They’ll make a big push for Dwight Howard and move Gasol and who ever they need to……That’s if there is an NBA off season or a season for that matter……
Pat M,
well yea…if they get Howard then that’ll certainly help. I just meant that it looks like Phil is going to retire and Kobe is pushing past his prime now….so it’s an end to that era perhaps.
tyanks
Thanks.
It sucks he hasn’t been on the field for so long. He was raking last year before his ankle injury.
LGY
just went and checked my stat packs. David Adams was put on the Tampa roster on April 21. He played in 2 games and was put on the Tampa DL on the 23rd. He is still on the TY roster though at least as of yesterday.
# Pat M. May 8th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
blake…….Laker fans are much like Yankee fans, they expect to win every season and when they don’t, well you know the drill……They’ll make a big push for Dwight Howard and move Gasol and who ever they need to……That’s if there is an NBA off season or a season for that matter……
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yep trade for Howard, fix the bench, and upgrade at pg then boom the Lakers are right back.
It would really suck if the Lakers are able to trade for Howard. Hopefully the Magic don’t like Bynum. They are going to have to retool completely through trades and the draft because they are nowhere close to being under the cap.
Kobe is only 32 but he’s got a lot of NBA miles on those legs. He’s already played more games than Jordan did.
I tell you one thing I noticed unequivocally about Jeter. In fact I made a mental note of it today, so vivid was the impression. He is NOT lunging over the plate. That he used to do it all the time was the most obvious thing about Jeter (to me anyway). I thought that it accounted for his getting hit so many times. Today I noticed that he is staying back.
Does that have anything to do with his hitting? Don’t have a clue. What I do know is that he is staying back.
blake May 8th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
“I am just skeptical that he can adapt within his current framework if you get what I’m saying?”
I’m not sure anyone has ever hit the way Jeter hits before….at least not with his kind of success, so I’m just not sure. I do think he looks a lot better just hitting than trying to worry about not striding…..for whatever reason he just couldn’t use his lower half hitting like that.
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Carew, but not with Jeter’s power. Possibly Tony Oliva and Clemrnte. They hit to the opposite field a lot, unless you screwed up and threw one too much on the inner half and they could pull it out of any park.
Jeter stopped crowding the plate years ago. He brings it up whenever he is HBP and makes note to mention that he no longer hangs over the plate.
Wasn’t here earlier so I wanted to check out the game thread and boy the things that were said when the game started. Don’t get me wrong it was an ugly start but I’m surprised how much heat the team was catching.
Jeter absoluteLY DID NOT stop crowding the plate years ago. I beg to differ. He was crowding the plate as recently as last year.
# LGY May 8th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
It would really suck if the Lakers are able to trade for Howard. Hopefully the Magic don’t like Bynum. They are going to have to retool completely through trades and the draft because they are nowhere close to being under the cap.
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Lakers are like the Yankees the fan base will bail if they go through with a youth movement.
GB,
I didn’t see those guys live but I just meant more mechanically with the uniqueness of how he swings.
Chad
Thanks for your earlier comments. This blog had a 180 degree turn around today.
I for my part will try to behave.
The biggest mistake that Long has made since coming to NY was tell the media and Cano that he could hit 40 homers a year. He’s been getting worse every week since that came out. Swisher looks like he did in Chicago in 2008. Swisher is the one people need to be complaining about trying to jerk every pitch out of the park.
My boy Hinske.
blake May 8th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
GB,
I didn’t see those guys live but I just meant more mechanically with the uniqueness of how he swings.
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Of that group, Oliva would pull the ball more. Clemente was a Jeter sort of hitter except that he had no strike zone. He didn’t walk…much like Cano, but, Clemente was more of a right/right center (opposite field) hitter.
Blake, perhaps Tony Gwynn from the left side? He’d just flip the ball anywhere. Make a mistake and he’d hammer it in the seats.
Gb,
Gwynn had such a great swing…he probably could have hit for more power if he had Wanted but he was content hitting line drives all over the yard.
Go braves!
Just read through the early game comments. Hilarious is all I have to say. You would think that baseball was only 3 innings long the way people were reacting. Also really awesome that Chad stepped in and said something. Calling people names is totally unacceptable.
The pink was a good thing for both the Yankees and the Tampa Yankees who wore pink jersey tops last night and snapped their 9 game losing streak.
I said Friday night I saw something different in Jeter’s game that we had not seen yet this season. He just looked more into it on both sides of the ball. Not sure what woke him up, but Friday night there was a different Derek Jeter on the field and at the plate that we really hadn’t witnessed for quite some time.
I hope he can keep this up and contribute because the fact of the matter is the team needs him to.
Great game today by the offense and Jeter.
And Curtis Granderson is on the kind of roll I hope never ends. He looks like the best CF in baseball since opening day.
blake May 8th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Gb,
Gwynn had such a great swing…he probably could have hit for more power if he had Wanted but he was content hitting line drives all over the yard.
Go braves!
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That park killed some of his best shots. I’m just looking at where these guys hit the ball more than style or technique. All had different styles, same results. Same with Boggs, I’d guess.
Gwynn started hitting for more power as he got older (I guess it helped that he also put on some pounds as well). He was a special hitter that seemed to have the ability to hit the ball anywhere he wanted too, especially betweem 3B and SS.
Gwynn started looking like Smokey Burgess after a while….or a short Babe Ruth. Guy could still run, though.
I his younger days Gwynn could steal. In ’87 dude hit .370 and stole 56 bags.
What’s with the Braves scoring so many runs on homers? Who do they think they are? The Yankees?
GB
I get so crazy over the Yankees score too many runs via the home run. I cant watch the games but does it look like they are trying or is it just happening? Like are they all swinging for the fences everytime up or are they trying to have productive at-bats which sometimes results in a home run or are they trying too hard to only hit home runs? I dont think i a being clear in what I am trying to say so hopefully you can decipher it.
GB
that should say ” I get so crazy over the Yankees score too many runs via the home run *crowd. Obviously I like that they score runs at all regardless of how they score them.
I loved Cervelli’s grand slam. I’m so happy for him.
Question for the NBA fans does this game fall on Kobe’s shoulders?
Not at all. Team failure. Team defense couldn’t stop Mavs, from the little I saw.
# AldotheApache May 8th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Not at all. Team failure. Team defense couldn’t stop Mavs, from the little I saw.
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You should talk to my friend he’s putting a lot of it on his shoulders saying that he should have shot more and he wasn’t a leader and Jordan wouldn’t have let that happen.
If you don’t defend the 3 point shot like Jackson told them to and the other team makes 20 plus, more often than not you are toast.
Kobe can’t defend everyone. Gasol, Bynum and Odom were below par. I’d be surprised if that team stays together next year.
Kobe’s not Jordan. Nobody is.
Dallas has a bunch of veterans. They figured out how to beat the Lakers. And the Lakers’ players couldn’t stop them.
Whose fault is it the Lakers got swept? Ummm, the Mavs, actually!
I’d be surprised if that team stays together next year.
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Yea I expect moves to be made Laker fans want the entire bench on a silver platter lol
TY, right now, they only ones that appear to be trying to hit homers are Cano and Swisher. The others are just trying to do what they always do…hit the ball hard and the Yanks have a lot of homer hitters. Cano’s and Swisher’s swings are just pull the ball out of the park. Rodriguez is just a half an inch or so off and under it, but, he’s on time. Teixeira’s left handed swing has a big upper cut that wasn’t there earlier this year. They’ll get it straightened out, but, they’ll always hit a lot of homers.
GB,
Continue to tell the young’uns on here what they need to know. Before they know, they will be our age. It happens fast as you know
GB
Thanks. The way the reporters make it out its like they are all trying to hit home runs and do nothing else. I think we all like to see a hit parade but ill take runs however they can get them.
Against All Odds May 8th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
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Apparently Dr. Jerry Buss was quite unhappy with his teams play. Artest suspended for 1 game, Bynum saying the players don’t trust each other. Bynum and Odom will most likely get heavy fines for their antics today along with game suspensions for next year.
Cano is pulling more balls than hitting the other way, but it’s not extreme.
Cano’s biggest problem is an increase in swings at pitches outside the strike zone, and he’s just swinging at more pitches in general, being less patient to wait for his pitch.
Here’s the thing about “relying on HRs”. Outside of a few specific at bats, I really don’t think guys are trying to hit homeruns. These guys swing hard and if good contact is made, well, it’s going to go out of the park. Some swings have more of a natural uppercut to them (Tex in particular) but I really don’t buy into this idea that guys are going up to the plate trying to hit HRs all the time.
As Torre told Boone, just try to hit it up the middle. Doesn’t mean you won’t hit a HR.
Swisher needs to stay within himself and have a plate approach of just making good contact. The home runs will come by themselves. He’s lost some of his patience that helped the rest of his hitting.
good morning!
Hopefully everyone is happy today!
morning morning people! good win yesterday, maybe we could take a day off from the full body scan analysis of the capn after a good weekend, after all he has one of the best ba’s on the team.
much needed day off for the boys, it would have been hell had they lost yesterday.
I imagine it must have been a fun flight back, w/ lots of teasing going in Cisco’s direction.
Congrats to Ys guy, who has one of 2 undefeated teams in our fantasy league!
Good morning.
Roller coaster game yesterday. Lots of pretty and lots of ugly all rolled into 9 innings.
Great day for Derek and fun day for Cisco.
“Roller coaster game yesterday. Lots of pretty and lots of ugly all rolled into 9 innings”
Good to see the bats get fat for a day. Sabathia did a good job settling in after some early struggles. Only real downside to the day was the defense, which has had a tough week.
kate you took me deep into the espn game to squeek past your team! i went to sleep not knowing the outcome but lucked out in the end! good match!
Ys
that wasn’t me, it was the other Kate!
sorry about that it was Yanks Spank actually, i need more coffee.
That first inning looked like the Bad News Bears all grown up. The rest of the game was pretty cool, though.
Nothing is more important than getting Jeter going, so that’s clearly the best thing about the game. CC labored, but that strike zone was ridiculous with nothing at the knees getting a strike call. C’est la vie’.
Lakers looked awful in all four games. No one on that team matches up well with Nowitzki who is the least appreciated great player in the game. Kobe wasn’t real good either, but when an NBA teams shooted 20-32 from beyond the arc it is going to win, period.
I actually think Kobe is quite similar to Jordan. When the supporting cast performs well, he wins championships. When it doesn’t, he doesn’t. At this stage they have played about the same number of games (Kobe 1,103, Jordan 1,072) and Jordan has one more NBA Title (6 to 5). Jordan was better, no argument there, but not overwhelmingly so.
Kobe 25.3/5.3
M.J. 30.1/6.2
# Vineyard Yankee May 9th, 2011 at 12:28 am
Against All Odds May 8th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
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Apparently Dr. Jerry Buss was quite unhappy with his teams play. Artest suspended for 1 game, Bynum saying the players don’t trust each other. Bynum and Odom will most likely get heavy fines for their antics today along with game suspensions for next year.
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If Dr. Buss was unhappy than that’s good because changes will be made. Odom and Bynum should get fined and suspended. When you’re losing just take your loss like a man.
Kobe never has shot 50% from the floor. Jordan’s career average was over 50% when he retired from the Bulls.
Kobe is about 90% of MJ though which might be as close as anyone ever gets.
Against All Odds May 9th, 2011 at 8:35 am
The two acted like punks and should pay the price. Hopefully Stern will lower the boom on them. Perhaps they have too much of Artest rubbing off on them ?
I for one am tired of ‘The Show’ and are glad they lost, a bit of new blood should create more interest.
blake May 9th, 2011 at 8:43 am
I also think MJ was in a class by himself. Kobe is good but not that good.
The defensive issues are strange for this team….that was one of their greatest strengths last year. I think they’ll come out of that and play better there.
Great to see Derek get it going a bit….if you’ve been watching his ABs and not just the results then it was clear that he’s been getting closer for a couple weeks now. He was due a big game….hopefully it spring boards him to.a good season.
I also think Jordan was a lot stronger physically than Kobe is and that helped him a lot as he aged…..that and the grizzly bear paws he had for hands.
# Vineyard Yankee May 9th, 2011 at 8:44 am
Against All Odds May 9th, 2011 at 8:35 am
The two acted like punks and should pay the price. Hopefully Stern will lower the boom on them. Perhaps they have too much of Artest rubbing off on them ?
I for one am tired of ‘The Show’ and are glad they lost, a bit of new blood should create more interest.
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Stern will come down on them because he’s a no non sense guy.
New Blood isn’t bad but the Lakers will be back in a couple of yrs. They’re like the Yankees when it comes to never being completely out of it.
“Nothing is more important than getting Jeter going, so that’s clearly the best thing about the game.”
For my sanity so people will stop writing columns and talking about him struggling, yes.
For the success of the team, not sure getting Jeter going makes the top 5 of most important things.
# blake May 9th, 2011 at 8:43 am
Kobe never has shot 50% from the floor. Jordan’s career average was over 50% when he retired from the Bulls.
Kobe is about 90% of MJ though which might be as close as anyone ever gets.
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Yea that’s not a bad thing when looking at the history of the game.
agreed Pat
New Post
‘The road goes on forever’ ?
Yeah… Jordan is a little better at everything, but that doesn’t mean Kobe isn’t a great player. I think he’s in the all-time top 10-15…. Jordan is in the all-time top one
Against All Odds May 9th, 2011 at 8:48 am
That very well may be. For me though being a NorCal guy I can’t stand any of the sports teams in L.A., especially The Dodgers and The Lakers. Very easy for me to root against, just like The Sux.
86w183 May 9th, 2011 at 8:59 am
‘that doesn’t mean Kobe isn’t a great player’.
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No one said Kobe wasn’t a great player. Any team would love to have him for his all round play, leadership and intensity.
“Players/hitters like Carew, Aaron, Ted Williams and Musial were quite productive into their 40s because they were smart enough to adapt and change things like cheating on a pitch, rather than just reacting. Other than not being a home run hitter, Jeter’s like that.”
GB7 – If you read this today: Like you (I think?), I’ve been a baseball fan and a Yankee fan since about 1952 and saw all of these guys play on TV and in person (less of Stan “the Man,” once the Dodgers and Giants moved out of town – loved seeing him destroy the Bums at Ebbets but was never happy to see him play the Giants – my “2nd team.”) From a quick look at their stats, the problem with your analogy with Jeter is that none of those players had the kind of off year that Derek had last year at age 36/37.
At 36/37 Williams hit .356/.345, Aaron hit .298/.327, Carew hit .319/.339 and Musial hit .351/.337. And, in any case, all but Williams basically trended downward after that. Williams had a “last hurrah” in his final year after hitting .254 in his next to last season.
In my two weeks every year back in the States, I’ve seen Jeter play every year since he first came up. And a concern that I have with Jeter is that he reminds me more of a free swinging Yogi Berra (without Yogi’s power of course) than he does any of the players you mentioned. In my mind, at least, all but perhaps Aaron were far more of what one might probably term scientific hitters who made constant adjustments. I never had that impression of Derek during ,admittedly, small sample sizes. Again, in any event, even if Jeter followed those guy’s career histories, we’d still be seeing a downward trend. Whether or not he can minimize that trend is now the $64,000 question since, as we all know, he’s going to be around, barring a devastating injury or decision to retire, for at least another 2 1/2 years.
Also, in fairness to JF and LGY, (and Rich in NJ), they are obviously as big a Yankee fan as you or I, or as any of us other old-timers, and obviously want Jeter to succeed just as much as us. I know that you vehemently disagree but, as for myself, I very much appreciate the fresh look they bring to the game with their analysis of the stats – right or wrong as they may eventually prove to be, they certainly add a new dimension to my (distant) view of the game.
I’m pretty sure Cisco was joking when he said “I’m close to Alex now.”