The Red Sox give up Manny Ramirez (OF) and cash to the Dodgers, get Jason Bay (OF), the Pirates get a refugee raft of prospects.
Beyond X, Marte, and Pudge, the good news of the July trade deadline was Manny Ramirez heading off to Joe Torre's Dodgers, and out of the Yankee's lives barring an extremely unlikely World Series confrontation. The Sox had a million reasons to make this trade: Ramirez had gone into a modified version of Derek Bell's Operation Shutdown, his demands were completely unreasonable, Bay's younger, a better defender, and under contract for next year at a bargain price. The trade made sense for them. But.
Bay, for all his good qualities, is closer to the JD Drew/Mike Lowell level of player than the David Ortiz/Manny Ramirez level. The former are really good players, who can hurt you in a tight spot. The latter were forces of nature who who filled Yankee fans with terror when the game went into the late innings. So I'm glad to see Manny being Manny in Chavez Ravine, rather than in the AL East, if only for the remainder of this season.
Showing posts with label Opposing Teams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opposing Teams. Show all posts
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
42 Games Left: Sweep Aversion
After rampaging through the Astros and Padres, it looked like a shot of interleague play was just what the doctor ordered for the Yanks. But the Cincinatti Reds, dead last in the NL Central, provided a roadblock, with potential All-Star Edinson Volquez breaking up the team's seven-game winning streak on Friday night--allowing only two runs in seven innings of work wasting a pretty decent Mike Mussina outing. Then Darryl Thompson did Volquez one better, leading a five-pitcher shutout of the Bombers on Saturday. Again, the Yankee offense--this time joined by a porous bullpen--helped waste Dan Giese's fine effort in his first start in Pinstripes.
So coming to the ballpark yesterday, the Yanks were in a tight spot, a fun romp through a weak NL schedule suddenly turning into a must-win situation to stop a three-game losing streak at home. Sunday's starter, Johnny Cueto, is someone I think will be better than Thompson or Volquez in the long term. Physically, he reminds me a little of a young Tom Gordon--short but long-armed--just with a better assortment of pitches.
True to that promise, Cueto was a surgeon against the Pinstripers for four innings yesterday, allowing just a couple of Bobby Abreu singles, and a hit by pitch against six strikeouts. He was hitting spots with a 95 MPH fastball and his breaking stuff was darting in and out of the strike zone. Fortunately, Andy Pettitte was just as fine for the Yanks, working his way out of a bases-loaded one-out jam in the fourth. It was a gutty performance, with the veteran lefty having a classic eight-pitch confrontation with one of the top rookies in the NL, BP's #1 prospect, Jay Bruce, to close out the inning.
The forecast had said thunderstorms, which kept some of the, shall we say, less intrepid elements from coming to the Stadium. My brother T, who signed on as my wingman on the late side, got to the ballpark extremely late--he missed Pettitte's fourth-inning drama, if I recall correctly. He also brought a dark and foreboding cloud to the ballpark with him: up until that point it had been pretty nice weather. Still, his timing was perfect. He arrived, the Yanks rallied to score a run off Cueto on a Jason Giambi single, a Hip-Hip-Jorge! double and a Robinson Cano sac fly. Pettitte worked a clean top of the sixth, interrupted a couple of times by huge dust clouds kicked up by the incoming high winds. Then the skies opened up in the most discrete and tidy rain delay I've ever experienced: maybe 20 minutes of hard rain and thunder--just enough time for a bathroom break and a short search for snacks among the Stadium's concession stands--then a short period of light rain, and about 20 minutes of cleanup. The crowd was oddly complacent, during the delay--someone asked me if the game was official, as if asking for permission to go home, and it did seem that the crowd was thinner after the tarp was removed from the field than it had been when it was put on.
When the game resumed, it was no longer fireballing Johnny Cueto on the mound for the Reds, but Gary Majewski, the centerpiece of the Austin Kearns trade a few years back, who almost immediately came up lame after joining the Cincy ballclub. The Yanks staged a second rally against Majewski and former Rockies reliever Jeremy Affeldt, capped by an opposite field double by Jason Giambi, and an RBI single for Posada that ran the score to 4-0.
At that time, I abandoned my perch in the left field Main boxes, to meet up with Jay Jaffe by his seats in the upper deck. Jay'd run into Rob Neyer and some friends during the rain delay, so he invited me to visit, now that the crowd had thinned out and his section had a fair number of empty seats in. It's from there that I watched the game to its conclusion, made a little bit too exciting by a couple of singles off of Mariano Rivera in the ninth. Good win for the Yanks to take on the road to Pittsburgh, en route to a rematch with the Willie Randolph-less Mets.
Even though both of these teams have struggled, to some extent, the Yankees would be well advised not to take either of them for granted--after all, they just lost 2 of 3 to the Reds.
***
NOTES
Two issues came up in discussion after I joined Jay's party in the upper deck, and I fear both made me look like a New York fanboy rube. First, talked about the "Tell Big Papi Where to Hit a Homer" at the Home Run Derby promotion. There's next to no chance that this promotion will come off, thanks to David Ortiz's wrist injury, but now that my credential application for the ASG has been rejected, can I just say that this was one of the dumbest ideas, ever? Maybe I'm mis-remembering (as Roger Clemens would put it) but I don't think that Major League Baseball built too many promotions around Yankees ballplayers the last time the All Star Game was at Fenway. No, as I remember it, that game was all about Red Sox history, Ted Williams coming out in his motorized scooter, that sort of stuff. Featuring a Red Sox player in the last All Star Game at Yankee Stadium is a bit like inviting your fiancee's ex-boyfriend to your wedding, then letting him have the first dance with the bride. I know MLB promotes the living daylights out of "the Rivalry" but seriously--is this where attention should be at this event? Does that make sense?
Regardless of my feelings about the promotion, I'm pretty sure that if I'm in attendance at David Ortiz's last game--or even just his last game at Yankee Stadium--I will cheer for him. The same goes Manny Ramirez, or Curt Schilling: regardless of their status as "enemies" who've killed the Pinstripers repeatedly over the years, at some point you've got to get beyond that and just be a baseball fan. And as a baseball fan, it'd be pretty damn small of one not to acknowledge the accomplishments that any those guys have had, the mark they've left on baseball history.
Just the same, the cheers caught in my throat when it was time to recognize Ken Griffey on what is likely to be his last game at Yankee Stadium. Junior likely ended his Stadium career yesterday with a homer, the six hundred and first of his career, and it came in a perfect spot (from a Yankees perspective): a solo shot in the late innings of a game in which the Yanks were comfortably ahead. But I just couldn't bring myself to cheer a guy who's spent so much of his career venting vitriol at the Yankees franchise and fans. I don't mind an opposing player beating the Yanks on the field--after all, that's their job--and Griffey certainly put the knife in the Yanks a few times, most notably in the 1995 ALDS. But for his entire career he's carried a chip on his shoulder against the franchise, apparently because Billy Martin yelled at him when he was a kid. Griffey may not have noticed, but Billy died quite a while ago--the same year that Junior made his major league debut, in fact. You'd think that the adult thing to do would be to let go of the insult at some point, but in interviews this weekend, Griffey was surprisingly graceless. Rather than fondly recall any of the 18 homers he'd hit in the Cathedral, his response to a question about his time spent at Yankee Stadium was "My favorite Yankee Stadium memory? It's leaving Yankee Stadium...For us [the Reds], it's a trip we have to make, not something to look forward to."
For most of his career, I found myself wishing that I liked Ken Griffey Jr. more--the same way some people wish they enjoyed classical music. After all, he was one of the most important players of the 90s. It looks like I'll have to go on wishing. I only managed a half-hearted golf clap for Griffey's homer, and if that makes me a bad fan, then so be it.
So coming to the ballpark yesterday, the Yanks were in a tight spot, a fun romp through a weak NL schedule suddenly turning into a must-win situation to stop a three-game losing streak at home. Sunday's starter, Johnny Cueto, is someone I think will be better than Thompson or Volquez in the long term. Physically, he reminds me a little of a young Tom Gordon--short but long-armed--just with a better assortment of pitches.
True to that promise, Cueto was a surgeon against the Pinstripers for four innings yesterday, allowing just a couple of Bobby Abreu singles, and a hit by pitch against six strikeouts. He was hitting spots with a 95 MPH fastball and his breaking stuff was darting in and out of the strike zone. Fortunately, Andy Pettitte was just as fine for the Yanks, working his way out of a bases-loaded one-out jam in the fourth. It was a gutty performance, with the veteran lefty having a classic eight-pitch confrontation with one of the top rookies in the NL, BP's #1 prospect, Jay Bruce, to close out the inning.
The forecast had said thunderstorms, which kept some of the, shall we say, less intrepid elements from coming to the Stadium. My brother T, who signed on as my wingman on the late side, got to the ballpark extremely late--he missed Pettitte's fourth-inning drama, if I recall correctly. He also brought a dark and foreboding cloud to the ballpark with him: up until that point it had been pretty nice weather. Still, his timing was perfect. He arrived, the Yanks rallied to score a run off Cueto on a Jason Giambi single, a Hip-Hip-Jorge! double and a Robinson Cano sac fly. Pettitte worked a clean top of the sixth, interrupted a couple of times by huge dust clouds kicked up by the incoming high winds. Then the skies opened up in the most discrete and tidy rain delay I've ever experienced: maybe 20 minutes of hard rain and thunder--just enough time for a bathroom break and a short search for snacks among the Stadium's concession stands--then a short period of light rain, and about 20 minutes of cleanup. The crowd was oddly complacent, during the delay--someone asked me if the game was official, as if asking for permission to go home, and it did seem that the crowd was thinner after the tarp was removed from the field than it had been when it was put on.
When the game resumed, it was no longer fireballing Johnny Cueto on the mound for the Reds, but Gary Majewski, the centerpiece of the Austin Kearns trade a few years back, who almost immediately came up lame after joining the Cincy ballclub. The Yanks staged a second rally against Majewski and former Rockies reliever Jeremy Affeldt, capped by an opposite field double by Jason Giambi, and an RBI single for Posada that ran the score to 4-0.
At that time, I abandoned my perch in the left field Main boxes, to meet up with Jay Jaffe by his seats in the upper deck. Jay'd run into Rob Neyer and some friends during the rain delay, so he invited me to visit, now that the crowd had thinned out and his section had a fair number of empty seats in. It's from there that I watched the game to its conclusion, made a little bit too exciting by a couple of singles off of Mariano Rivera in the ninth. Good win for the Yanks to take on the road to Pittsburgh, en route to a rematch with the Willie Randolph-less Mets.
Even though both of these teams have struggled, to some extent, the Yankees would be well advised not to take either of them for granted--after all, they just lost 2 of 3 to the Reds.
***
NOTES
Two issues came up in discussion after I joined Jay's party in the upper deck, and I fear both made me look like a New York fanboy rube. First, talked about the "Tell Big Papi Where to Hit a Homer" at the Home Run Derby promotion. There's next to no chance that this promotion will come off, thanks to David Ortiz's wrist injury, but now that my credential application for the ASG has been rejected, can I just say that this was one of the dumbest ideas, ever? Maybe I'm mis-remembering (as Roger Clemens would put it) but I don't think that Major League Baseball built too many promotions around Yankees ballplayers the last time the All Star Game was at Fenway. No, as I remember it, that game was all about Red Sox history, Ted Williams coming out in his motorized scooter, that sort of stuff. Featuring a Red Sox player in the last All Star Game at Yankee Stadium is a bit like inviting your fiancee's ex-boyfriend to your wedding, then letting him have the first dance with the bride. I know MLB promotes the living daylights out of "the Rivalry" but seriously--is this where attention should be at this event? Does that make sense?
Regardless of my feelings about the promotion, I'm pretty sure that if I'm in attendance at David Ortiz's last game--or even just his last game at Yankee Stadium--I will cheer for him. The same goes Manny Ramirez, or Curt Schilling: regardless of their status as "enemies" who've killed the Pinstripers repeatedly over the years, at some point you've got to get beyond that and just be a baseball fan. And as a baseball fan, it'd be pretty damn small of one not to acknowledge the accomplishments that any those guys have had, the mark they've left on baseball history.
Just the same, the cheers caught in my throat when it was time to recognize Ken Griffey on what is likely to be his last game at Yankee Stadium. Junior likely ended his Stadium career yesterday with a homer, the six hundred and first of his career, and it came in a perfect spot (from a Yankees perspective): a solo shot in the late innings of a game in which the Yanks were comfortably ahead. But I just couldn't bring myself to cheer a guy who's spent so much of his career venting vitriol at the Yankees franchise and fans. I don't mind an opposing player beating the Yanks on the field--after all, that's their job--and Griffey certainly put the knife in the Yanks a few times, most notably in the 1995 ALDS. But for his entire career he's carried a chip on his shoulder against the franchise, apparently because Billy Martin yelled at him when he was a kid. Griffey may not have noticed, but Billy died quite a while ago--the same year that Junior made his major league debut, in fact. You'd think that the adult thing to do would be to let go of the insult at some point, but in interviews this weekend, Griffey was surprisingly graceless. Rather than fondly recall any of the 18 homers he'd hit in the Cathedral, his response to a question about his time spent at Yankee Stadium was "My favorite Yankee Stadium memory? It's leaving Yankee Stadium...For us [the Reds], it's a trip we have to make, not something to look forward to."
For most of his career, I found myself wishing that I liked Ken Griffey Jr. more--the same way some people wish they enjoyed classical music. After all, he was one of the most important players of the 90s. It looks like I'll have to go on wishing. I only managed a half-hearted golf clap for Griffey's homer, and if that makes me a bad fan, then so be it.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Abastonado!
Well, I've certainly had better times at the Stadium. For three innings, it was a brilliant game. The Yanks were getting on base against Oliver Perez, working the count, driving the Little Unit (as Perez was once known) into high pitch counts and what should have been an early shower. The Yanks hadn't been able to capitalize on the baserunners, but it felt like they were on the verge of breaking through. Chien Ming Wang, Sunday night's starter, looked sharp, retiring the first nine in order, delivering first pitch strikes, and generally being as efficient as Oliver was wasteful. I know it was too damn early to start thinking this way, but I started to imagine the emails I'd send to the various people who stood me up for this game (citing the late start, rainy forecast, and other exigents as excuses not to come to the old ballpark) if Something Special happened.
Then it all fell apart so suddenly, it was like a slap to the face. Wang lost the strike zone, falling behind hitters early. Jose Reyes responded with the game's first hit, a double, but was erased on some poor baserunning and a heads-up play by Wang on a comebacker fielder's choice. But just when it looked like things were getting back to normal, the Yankee defense deserted Wang. Alberto Gonzalez, who'd already muffed a pop-up for an error, allowed a ball to go under his glove for a single. After a walk, Jason Giambi made a nice stop at first, but instead of making sure to get an out, he threw poorly to Jeter at second, drawing the Captain off the bag. Everybody safe. Then another single by Moises Alou, and the score was 3-0.
The Yanks caught a break when the umps reversed a really bad home run call (from my seats in Section 342, one thing you do get a pretty good view of is the left field foul pole--no way that was a homer), but the beating just continued, until the Mets had batted around and the Yanks were lucky it was only 4-0. Hideki Matsui cut that lead in half with a 2-run jack in the bottom half of the inning, and when the Yankees had a man on third and one out in the fifth, it looked like the game was still manageable. That runner--Jose Molina, who'd reached on a double--was stranded, and the Yankees wouldn't have another hit all night. The gap started growing again on a Ryan Church homer, and got completely out of hand with the Mets' 6-run eighth inning. Those of us who stayed past the eighth got treated to Mets fans acting like they owned our house, having fairly uncontested chants of "Lets Go Mets" all the way to the subways, and generally acting as if their team hadn't come into the Stadium with their manager on the verge of getting fired, or, for that matter, as if their team hadn't choked their way out of the playoffs last September despite a huge lead.
In the end, the Yanks were playing so lifelessly that there wasn't much to do other than grin and take it. It was a little bit easier to grin since the more obnoxious Mets fans are like the cast of misfits out of a Mad Max movie, and not terribly good at rubbing it in. Near my section, we had a tubby guy with a cowbell and a bunch of (poorly) handmade signs. His devastating witticisms included chanting "1986" (not a lot of bragging to remind us that the last time your team won a championship was over 21 years ago, and against our hated rivals), leading a chant for Endy Chavez, and then, chanting--for himself--"Cowbell Guy! Cowbell Guy!" Even a Mets fan seated behind me was disgusted: "This guy's a fake. I'm a season ticket holder at Shea, and I've never seen him before."
There was some entertainment value to be drawn from heckling their amateur hour attempts to make us feel bad. Another member of the Mets' freak show--an older lady who looked like a run-down, foul-mouthed Doris Kearns Goodwin--installed herself in our section late in the game, the better to talk smack. A quick reminder of the Mets' follies last September led her into a foaming-at-the-mouth rant against the Phillies: "The Phillies suck. Ryan Howard is a piece of s***, and Jimmy Rollins is a piece of s***."
"Well, that s*** beat you, didn't it?"
She moved away after that, to sit closer to Tubby Cowbell Guy. But despite the amusement that the Mets fans provided, this was a dispiriting loss. This Yankee team isn't right, not by a long stretch. They're completely hapless against lefties (4-9, .637 OPS against southpaws), and it didn't help that the Yanks started five lefties against Perez, who had a .459 OPS allowed to lefties this season. It didn't help that Shelly Duncan and Morgan Ensberg sat this game out, which begs the question: if they're not going to play against Oliver Perez, why are they on the team? It doesn't help that the Attorney General hasn't shown any of the glove magic that's supposed to make up for his weak bat. It doesn't help that after impressing with five homers in April, Melky Cabrera's come back with a .190/.230/.293 May. Mike Mussina is now the guy charged with ending the Yankee losing streak on Tuesday.
NOTES
Then it all fell apart so suddenly, it was like a slap to the face. Wang lost the strike zone, falling behind hitters early. Jose Reyes responded with the game's first hit, a double, but was erased on some poor baserunning and a heads-up play by Wang on a comebacker fielder's choice. But just when it looked like things were getting back to normal, the Yankee defense deserted Wang. Alberto Gonzalez, who'd already muffed a pop-up for an error, allowed a ball to go under his glove for a single. After a walk, Jason Giambi made a nice stop at first, but instead of making sure to get an out, he threw poorly to Jeter at second, drawing the Captain off the bag. Everybody safe. Then another single by Moises Alou, and the score was 3-0.
The Yanks caught a break when the umps reversed a really bad home run call (from my seats in Section 342, one thing you do get a pretty good view of is the left field foul pole--no way that was a homer), but the beating just continued, until the Mets had batted around and the Yanks were lucky it was only 4-0. Hideki Matsui cut that lead in half with a 2-run jack in the bottom half of the inning, and when the Yankees had a man on third and one out in the fifth, it looked like the game was still manageable. That runner--Jose Molina, who'd reached on a double--was stranded, and the Yankees wouldn't have another hit all night. The gap started growing again on a Ryan Church homer, and got completely out of hand with the Mets' 6-run eighth inning. Those of us who stayed past the eighth got treated to Mets fans acting like they owned our house, having fairly uncontested chants of "Lets Go Mets" all the way to the subways, and generally acting as if their team hadn't come into the Stadium with their manager on the verge of getting fired, or, for that matter, as if their team hadn't choked their way out of the playoffs last September despite a huge lead.
In the end, the Yanks were playing so lifelessly that there wasn't much to do other than grin and take it. It was a little bit easier to grin since the more obnoxious Mets fans are like the cast of misfits out of a Mad Max movie, and not terribly good at rubbing it in. Near my section, we had a tubby guy with a cowbell and a bunch of (poorly) handmade signs. His devastating witticisms included chanting "1986" (not a lot of bragging to remind us that the last time your team won a championship was over 21 years ago, and against our hated rivals), leading a chant for Endy Chavez, and then, chanting--for himself--"Cowbell Guy! Cowbell Guy!" Even a Mets fan seated behind me was disgusted: "This guy's a fake. I'm a season ticket holder at Shea, and I've never seen him before."
There was some entertainment value to be drawn from heckling their amateur hour attempts to make us feel bad. Another member of the Mets' freak show--an older lady who looked like a run-down, foul-mouthed Doris Kearns Goodwin--installed herself in our section late in the game, the better to talk smack. A quick reminder of the Mets' follies last September led her into a foaming-at-the-mouth rant against the Phillies: "The Phillies suck. Ryan Howard is a piece of s***, and Jimmy Rollins is a piece of s***."
"Well, that s*** beat you, didn't it?"
She moved away after that, to sit closer to Tubby Cowbell Guy. But despite the amusement that the Mets fans provided, this was a dispiriting loss. This Yankee team isn't right, not by a long stretch. They're completely hapless against lefties (4-9, .637 OPS against southpaws), and it didn't help that the Yanks started five lefties against Perez, who had a .459 OPS allowed to lefties this season. It didn't help that Shelly Duncan and Morgan Ensberg sat this game out, which begs the question: if they're not going to play against Oliver Perez, why are they on the team? It doesn't help that the Attorney General hasn't shown any of the glove magic that's supposed to make up for his weak bat. It doesn't help that after impressing with five homers in April, Melky Cabrera's come back with a .190/.230/.293 May. Mike Mussina is now the guy charged with ending the Yankee losing streak on Tuesday.
NOTES
- Ryan Church's 9 homers would lead the Yankees.
- The Yanks' latest "get fired up" montage is from the movie 300. The whole concept behind these montages is kinda cheesy--they should have stopped after the montage from Rocky II. Do these people know that the Greeks all die in that movie?
- Maybe I just didn't catch it from my vantage point in left field main, but it didn't look like Joe Girardi came out to argue the fourth inning home run call. I understand that he's emulating Joe Torre, but it's strange that there's a call that could crack the game wide open, and he's letting his players argue with the umps, without his support.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Rock Bottom
So, the idea is that we could have a new Yankee manager by tomorrow, so let's look at the world that Joe Torre's successor will inherit.
The Boston Red Sox are the World Champions, for the second time since 1918. For the second time in the last four years, they've cut through the National League's representative like a bad Taco Bell burrito. The question about the Red Sox isn't whether they've got a great team or whether they deserve those championships, it's what the heck happened in 2005 and 2006? Seriously, what happened those two years? How on Earth did this freakish monster of a team fail to reach the World Series both years, much less fail to make the playoffs, last year?
Josh Beckett turning into scrub last year was the cruelest form of false hope for Yankee fans. Think about it: if a new, young Yankees acquisition had the 2006 that Beckett had (5.01 ERA, big drop in strikeout rate in his shift to the harder league), what would happen to him? It's not a rhetorical question. It's almost exactly what happened to the Yanks with Javy Vazquez in 2004 (14-10, 4.91 ERA, K/9 dropped into the sixes). You turn up that kind of turkey of a season in pinstripes, they ship you off in disgrace, to a losing team, eat almost all the salary they spent giving you a huge contract extension when you were acquired, and get someone even more hyped and dump another salary extension on him. One crap season here means you're garbage, never to be trusted to win again. Don't like Vazquez? Look at Jose Contreras, or Jeff Weaver--same story.
You could argue that none of those guys was as good as Beckett, and you might be right. But then again, all of them--Contreras, Vazquez, even Weaver--have gotten rings over the last four years.
Well, Beckett had his one crap year in Fenway, and they didn't send him to the glue factory, didn't ship him off to Atlanta for John Smoltz, or somesuch. He stuck around, and this year, Beckett was everything that Boston was promised last year and then some. Effectively, he was the reason that the Red Sox season wasn't over when they were down 3-1 in the ALCS. Now he gets his second ring of the 21st Century.
But wait, it gets worse. The Red Sox are loaded with prospects; Beckett isn't going anywhere, and neither is David Ortiz. (Ortiz, by the way, doesn't turn 32 until next month. He's younger than both Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. I shouldn't be surprised, but doesn't it feel like he's been plaguing us forever?) With Pedroia, Ellsbury, Youkilis, you have a relatively young, home-grown core to back Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. It's a damned nightmare.
The other challenge that the next Yankee manager faces going into next year, is that they have to face the Red Sox juggernaut without the presumptive AL MVP. Showing his usual impeccable timing, Scott Boras announced mid-game during Game 4 of the World Series that Alex Rodriguez has elected to opt out of his contract with the Yankees. Here's how Boras explained the decision:
I hope they hold to their word. I'm sure that if the Yanks opened the vaults (say with 10 years and $300 million), Alex would return. Heck, it might even make sense, locking him up for the bonanza that'll come as he pursues Bonds's home run record, keeping him out of the hands of a league competitor like the Angels or the Red Sox, who could ride A-Rod to a period of dominance. I don't begrudge the man his money, or the fact that he's chosen to exercise a contractual right at a time when his leverage couldn't be any greater. I don't think it's greedy to demand to be paid what you're worth, or to have that determined by the market.
Nonetheless, if Alex Rodriguez is in the Yankee lineup come opening day, I will be there booing as hard as I can. Not really booing Alex--I've never been a big fan of that--but booing the Yankees organization. Because for all I accept Rodriguez's contractual rights, this announcement--opting out without so much as meeting with management, hearing an extension offer, or even allowing the Yankees to announce their new manager, first--was a giant wad of spit in the Yankee organization's face. If they come crawling back to sign Alex now, it would be just as humiliating as it would have been for Joe Torre if he had accepted the one-year contract the brain trust offered him.
It's demeaning. And if anyone in the Yankee organization, from the elder Steinbrenner on down, has any self-respect, it's a game they won't play. So screw you, Alex. I absolutely loved having you on this team, and I really wanted you to win a ring in pinstripes. I don't blame you for the fact that it didn't happen. But now you've opted out, so there's the door. Don't let it hit you on the way out.
The new Yankee manager will just have to do without you. I wish the new manager--be he Mattingly or Joe Girardi, as Sunday's rumors held--a lot of luck. He'll need it. I'd love to wish Alex good luck, too--but there's just too much..."uncertainty" about his status for me to do that.
The Boston Red Sox are the World Champions, for the second time since 1918. For the second time in the last four years, they've cut through the National League's representative like a bad Taco Bell burrito. The question about the Red Sox isn't whether they've got a great team or whether they deserve those championships, it's what the heck happened in 2005 and 2006? Seriously, what happened those two years? How on Earth did this freakish monster of a team fail to reach the World Series both years, much less fail to make the playoffs, last year?
Josh Beckett turning into scrub last year was the cruelest form of false hope for Yankee fans. Think about it: if a new, young Yankees acquisition had the 2006 that Beckett had (5.01 ERA, big drop in strikeout rate in his shift to the harder league), what would happen to him? It's not a rhetorical question. It's almost exactly what happened to the Yanks with Javy Vazquez in 2004 (14-10, 4.91 ERA, K/9 dropped into the sixes). You turn up that kind of turkey of a season in pinstripes, they ship you off in disgrace, to a losing team, eat almost all the salary they spent giving you a huge contract extension when you were acquired, and get someone even more hyped and dump another salary extension on him. One crap season here means you're garbage, never to be trusted to win again. Don't like Vazquez? Look at Jose Contreras, or Jeff Weaver--same story.
You could argue that none of those guys was as good as Beckett, and you might be right. But then again, all of them--Contreras, Vazquez, even Weaver--have gotten rings over the last four years.
Well, Beckett had his one crap year in Fenway, and they didn't send him to the glue factory, didn't ship him off to Atlanta for John Smoltz, or somesuch. He stuck around, and this year, Beckett was everything that Boston was promised last year and then some. Effectively, he was the reason that the Red Sox season wasn't over when they were down 3-1 in the ALCS. Now he gets his second ring of the 21st Century.
But wait, it gets worse. The Red Sox are loaded with prospects; Beckett isn't going anywhere, and neither is David Ortiz. (Ortiz, by the way, doesn't turn 32 until next month. He's younger than both Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. I shouldn't be surprised, but doesn't it feel like he's been plaguing us forever?) With Pedroia, Ellsbury, Youkilis, you have a relatively young, home-grown core to back Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. It's a damned nightmare.
The other challenge that the next Yankee manager faces going into next year, is that they have to face the Red Sox juggernaut without the presumptive AL MVP. Showing his usual impeccable timing, Scott Boras announced mid-game during Game 4 of the World Series that Alex Rodriguez has elected to opt out of his contract with the Yankees. Here's how Boras explained the decision:
"Alex's decision was one based on not knowing what his closer, his catcher and one of his statured pitchers was going to do," Boras said. "He really didn't want to make any decisions until he knew what they were doing."Well, I wouldn't call Mariano Rivera "his" closer, or Jorge Posada "his" catcher. The possessives imply some sort of leadership on Alex's part that was never in evidence during his Yankee tenure. I'm not even sure what the hell a "statured pitcher" is, other than faint praise for Andy Pettitte. But it sure sounds like Alex made a decision, here, doesn't it? And that decision means, that if the Yankees hold to their word, A-Rod's career in pinstripes is over. Rodriguez has thrown out the Yanks' exclusive negotiating window (which could have stretched as far as ten days after the end of the World Series), and tossed away the millions the Rangers were going to pay the Yanks on his existing contract. Brian Cashman has said for months that if A-Rod opts out, they won't bid on him.
I hope they hold to their word. I'm sure that if the Yanks opened the vaults (say with 10 years and $300 million), Alex would return. Heck, it might even make sense, locking him up for the bonanza that'll come as he pursues Bonds's home run record, keeping him out of the hands of a league competitor like the Angels or the Red Sox, who could ride A-Rod to a period of dominance. I don't begrudge the man his money, or the fact that he's chosen to exercise a contractual right at a time when his leverage couldn't be any greater. I don't think it's greedy to demand to be paid what you're worth, or to have that determined by the market.
Nonetheless, if Alex Rodriguez is in the Yankee lineup come opening day, I will be there booing as hard as I can. Not really booing Alex--I've never been a big fan of that--but booing the Yankees organization. Because for all I accept Rodriguez's contractual rights, this announcement--opting out without so much as meeting with management, hearing an extension offer, or even allowing the Yankees to announce their new manager, first--was a giant wad of spit in the Yankee organization's face. If they come crawling back to sign Alex now, it would be just as humiliating as it would have been for Joe Torre if he had accepted the one-year contract the brain trust offered him.
It's demeaning. And if anyone in the Yankee organization, from the elder Steinbrenner on down, has any self-respect, it's a game they won't play. So screw you, Alex. I absolutely loved having you on this team, and I really wanted you to win a ring in pinstripes. I don't blame you for the fact that it didn't happen. But now you've opted out, so there's the door. Don't let it hit you on the way out.
The new Yankee manager will just have to do without you. I wish the new manager--be he Mattingly or Joe Girardi, as Sunday's rumors held--a lot of luck. He'll need it. I'd love to wish Alex good luck, too--but there's just too much..."uncertainty" about his status for me to do that.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Random Saturday Thoughts
So, now that the Red Sox have a commanding 2-0 lead in the World Series, and only the Rockies' Josh Fogg--Mr. Never-had-an-above-average ERA+ Josh Fogg--standing between them and a "mortal lock" 3-0 lead, I've found myself trying to adjust my mind to the fact that the Red Sox will now be two-time World Champions in the 21st Century.
Yeah, trust me, that's no fun.
I mean, part of me wants the Rockies to go down 3-0, then stage a miraculous comeback to sweep the last four games. Not only would that maximize my baseball-watching pleasure before the long, long winter...it would restore the universe's karmic balance. But you have to be realistic. I want the Rockies to be as good as they looked against the Padres, the Phillies and the D'backs this month (or, for that matter, as good as they were against the Yankees back in June), but those two games at Fenway gave the definite feeling that the Rockies spent October knocking around AAA teams, and now they're swooning at the prospect of facing down real competition.
This Red Sox lineup, with J.D. Drew finally hitting like someone who should be getting paid $14 million a year and with the addition of Jacoby Ellsbury as a latter-day Brett Butler, is simply murder--there's only one spot in the lineup where the team lets up, at all (that's when Julio Lugo has the bat in his hands). In contrast, the Rockies' best player, Matt Holliday, may have had his moment in this series when he was picked off first base in Game 2 (by the way, how disconcerting was it to see Holliday dive back into first with the same "drive my chin into the ground" dive he knocked himself out with at the end of the one-game playoff with San Diego?). Holliday's back-up guys in the lineup, Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe, have been picked apart by the Red Sox pitchers, much like Travis Hafner was in the ALCS. Maybe they just need a taste of home cookin' to get back on track, but then again, I kept expecting Hafner to break out against the Sox, and it never happened.
So there. I've just declared the Rockies dead again. Things worked out well enough the last time I did that.
World Series notes:
* Has there ever been a lamer World Series subplot than the Red Sox's "pirate ship" bullpen? Trust the Beantowners to turn their "we're so quirky" moment into a corporate tie-in for Disney. It's like they missed the FOX Network memo that they're pushing the Transformers this postseason, not the Pirates of the Caribbean Box Set.
* Free Taco Bell tacos for America...is that a promise, or a threat?
* Win or lose, we may well remember this as the season that the Red Sox Nation saw (and embraced) the Yankees lifestyle. Earlier in the season, Bill Simmons got to marvel at the phenomenon of Red Sox fans taking over the Devil Rays' stadium; this postseason even normally dry and acerbic sources such as Soxaholics reporting a "cool certitude" while watching the playoffs. Welcome to our world--the taking over other people's houses thing is fun up until the point (like the Angels in 2002) when the team beats you behind a crew of newly-minted bandwagon fans. As for the certitude? Back when we had that Red Sox fans (among many, many others) dismissed it as "arrogance" and a sense of entitlement.
This is kind of like having a vegan ecologist acquaintance who dogs you about your SUV for a decade, talking about how you're killing the Earth and mocking you as a spendthrift. Then one day, out of the blue, they come home from a car dealership and they've traded in their Prius for an Escalade or the really big Hummer. "I kind of like the feeling of being up above the traffic," they say, by way of explanation, "and you have no idea how comfortable these leather-upholstered seats are!"
We know they're comfy, pal. Trust us, we know. Enjoy it while it lasts.
* Bud Selig willing, it looks like the Yankees will make Don Mattingly the manager on Monday. The Selig-willing part is assuming that the Rockies don't get swept...otherwise Monday won't be anything on the baseball schedule, and the Yanks will be free to announce away.
* Personally, I would have loved to see Tony Peña get the job. I know it was never in the cards, but I think that his positivity would've been a benefit following one of the most respected managers, ever. And I kind of prefer having someone who's not as associated with the Yankees, like Mattingly and Joe Girardi are. I love Don Mattingly, he's my idol from childhood, but as Torre's story shows us, managerial relationships never end well. I guess some part of me doesn't want to see Mattingly diminished in the management role. What if he sucks at the job? What if the Yankees start the season poorly? Sounds like a repeat of Yogi Berra in the making.
Yeah, trust me, that's no fun.
I mean, part of me wants the Rockies to go down 3-0, then stage a miraculous comeback to sweep the last four games. Not only would that maximize my baseball-watching pleasure before the long, long winter...it would restore the universe's karmic balance. But you have to be realistic. I want the Rockies to be as good as they looked against the Padres, the Phillies and the D'backs this month (or, for that matter, as good as they were against the Yankees back in June), but those two games at Fenway gave the definite feeling that the Rockies spent October knocking around AAA teams, and now they're swooning at the prospect of facing down real competition.
This Red Sox lineup, with J.D. Drew finally hitting like someone who should be getting paid $14 million a year and with the addition of Jacoby Ellsbury as a latter-day Brett Butler, is simply murder--there's only one spot in the lineup where the team lets up, at all (that's when Julio Lugo has the bat in his hands). In contrast, the Rockies' best player, Matt Holliday, may have had his moment in this series when he was picked off first base in Game 2 (by the way, how disconcerting was it to see Holliday dive back into first with the same "drive my chin into the ground" dive he knocked himself out with at the end of the one-game playoff with San Diego?). Holliday's back-up guys in the lineup, Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe, have been picked apart by the Red Sox pitchers, much like Travis Hafner was in the ALCS. Maybe they just need a taste of home cookin' to get back on track, but then again, I kept expecting Hafner to break out against the Sox, and it never happened.
So there. I've just declared the Rockies dead again. Things worked out well enough the last time I did that.
World Series notes:
* Has there ever been a lamer World Series subplot than the Red Sox's "pirate ship" bullpen? Trust the Beantowners to turn their "we're so quirky" moment into a corporate tie-in for Disney. It's like they missed the FOX Network memo that they're pushing the Transformers this postseason, not the Pirates of the Caribbean Box Set.
* Free Taco Bell tacos for America...is that a promise, or a threat?
* Win or lose, we may well remember this as the season that the Red Sox Nation saw (and embraced) the Yankees lifestyle. Earlier in the season, Bill Simmons got to marvel at the phenomenon of Red Sox fans taking over the Devil Rays' stadium; this postseason even normally dry and acerbic sources such as Soxaholics reporting a "cool certitude" while watching the playoffs. Welcome to our world--the taking over other people's houses thing is fun up until the point (like the Angels in 2002) when the team beats you behind a crew of newly-minted bandwagon fans. As for the certitude? Back when we had that Red Sox fans (among many, many others) dismissed it as "arrogance" and a sense of entitlement.
This is kind of like having a vegan ecologist acquaintance who dogs you about your SUV for a decade, talking about how you're killing the Earth and mocking you as a spendthrift. Then one day, out of the blue, they come home from a car dealership and they've traded in their Prius for an Escalade or the really big Hummer. "I kind of like the feeling of being up above the traffic," they say, by way of explanation, "and you have no idea how comfortable these leather-upholstered seats are!"
We know they're comfy, pal. Trust us, we know. Enjoy it while it lasts.
* Bud Selig willing, it looks like the Yankees will make Don Mattingly the manager on Monday. The Selig-willing part is assuming that the Rockies don't get swept...otherwise Monday won't be anything on the baseball schedule, and the Yanks will be free to announce away.
* Personally, I would have loved to see Tony Peña get the job. I know it was never in the cards, but I think that his positivity would've been a benefit following one of the most respected managers, ever. And I kind of prefer having someone who's not as associated with the Yankees, like Mattingly and Joe Girardi are. I love Don Mattingly, he's my idol from childhood, but as Torre's story shows us, managerial relationships never end well. I guess some part of me doesn't want to see Mattingly diminished in the management role. What if he sucks at the job? What if the Yankees start the season poorly? Sounds like a repeat of Yogi Berra in the making.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Hold Those Tigers?
The Yanks got out of rat-infested Los Angeles of Anaheim having lost only one net game on the Mariners and Red Sox, which is as good as fiascoes like that series get. I hate the Angels. It's like the whole team is designed specifically for the purpose of giving the Bombers fits (which it may well be). That said, the Yanks were in Monday's game and won Wednesday's game, only really getting outclassed in Tuesday's 18-9 pelting. A few random notes:
- On Monday, we saw the first casualty of the Joba Chamberlain rules, since Joba's nine pitches on Sunday disqualified him from entering the game at any of the big points where a win could have been salvaged. Publicly announcing that there are special rules on how you're going to use Joba (or Jon Papelbon, or Mariano Rivera) are fine bits of public candor, with the side benefit of shielding management's backside when things don't work out, the old "We couldn't use him in that spot. My hands were tied by the rules." But you have to wonder the strategic cost of telling the other team which pitchers aren't available ahead of time in any game. Wouldn't you rather keep them guessing?
- At some point the need to protect a young bullpen arm from Torre (and Joba needs the protection--just ask Scott Proctor, Paul Quantrill or Ron Villone what happens when you become Joe Torre's favorite toy) will have to be balanced against the fact that this team does have a shot to win this year, and that flags fly forever. When will that happen? Last week of the season? In the playoffs, when one ace reliever can really make a difference?
- OK, I know I'm starting to sound like Michael Kay, who seems to bring up the Joba Rules thing each game, asking the exact same questions, as if Al Leiter and John Flaherty are suddenly going to change their answers. I have to say, I'm impressed by the way Kay sounds freshly flabbergasted about this issue each and every time he raises it.
- BTW, the Joba Rules means that the Yanks carry three relievers with special care tags on their usage--Chamberlain, Rivera, and Farnsworth--which, added to the fact that two of those pitchers are their best relievers, is a managerial straightjacket.
- Tuesday's matchup of Mike Mussina's slow fastball against Garrett Anderson's slow bat was just a perfect nightmare. Mussina's still a good enough pitcher to get you through the regular season, but as things stand right now, would anyone be comfortable with him making a start should the Yankees make the playoffs?
- Has anyone considered that maybe the crap that Orlando Cabrera has on his batting helmet might be contributing to Angels Stadium's rodent problems? I guess to some people, the giant craplike smear of pine tar says "valued member of the 2004 World Champions." To me it just says "slob, and a possible Health Code violation."
- One more Joba point. He needs a nickname. Given the fact that he's a big guy, this "Joba the Hutt" thing is just waiting to blow up in our faces the day he shows up to Spring Training 20 pounds overweight. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, like naming your girl-child "Britney" or "Paris" these days. We've got a lot of creative energy amongst the Yankees Faithful--someone needs to find a better name.
- I wrote a small bit on the (for the moment) demise of the Puerto Rico Winter League on BP's Unfiltered blog. Take a moment to check it out.
- Despite a horrible series against the Angels, the Yankees are still in a spot where, with a little help from the Tigers and White Sox, next week's series against Boston could be very interesting. More on this (I hope) over the weekend.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Rock Slide
Heartened by a discussion of how much of the material out in the blogosphere is disjointed thoughts, not "publishable" in any traditional sense, here are some choppy ruminations of my own:
How exactly does this work again? The Yanks went from red-hot, tearing through three teams in their last five series that are well over .500 (and one that was pretty close when we got to them), and now they manage two measly runs over their first two games against the Rockies. Now, these are not the same Rockies the Yanks faced last time they went to Coors Field--the humidor and better pitching means you're less likely to see a football score these days. But it's not like we're looking at the '66 Dodgers, either. The team's eighth in the league in RA+--strictly middle of the road.
Two friggin' runs! Total!
The thing with the Yanks' early futility this season is that it leaves very little margin for error. Two losses in a row, to a team that's over .500, shouldn't be the end of the world. But one more loss puts this team back to .500, which would mean they've frittered away 8% of the schedule they had left the last time they hit .500. So there's really no relaxing if you're a Yankee fan in 2007, I guess. Tomorrow, Roger Clemens tries to avert the sweep against the Rockies' best pitcher this season, Rodrigo Lopez. No pressure, huh?
***
Here's a question: things were going pretty well, and then they cast off Josh Phelps for Andy Phillips? The team had one useful bat on the bench, heading off to face the NL...and we just tossed it away. Why?
It's judgment day for Jason Giambi under Bud Selig's "talk to the Mitchell Commission or face the consequences" ultimatum. I have some thoughts on the ultimatum, and Giambi's choice, over on Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered.
Sometimes if you're a baseball fan, even when you win, you lose. For example, Jeff Weaver shut out the Pirates last night, after being one of the very worst pitchers in baseball this season. Now, your pitcher throwing a four-hit shutout when he's been going through hard times is a good thing, specially when your team's only 4 1/2 games out of the AL Wild Card lead.
So, I guess it's possible Jeff Weaver has turned things around, just as the team was about to send his backside to the glue factory. On the other hand, after the cheering dies down, it's likely that the sound you hear is a disembodied voice telling Ms fans, "I hereby condemn you to ten more starts of Jeff Weaver."
May heaven have mercy on their souls...
How exactly does this work again? The Yanks went from red-hot, tearing through three teams in their last five series that are well over .500 (and one that was pretty close when we got to them), and now they manage two measly runs over their first two games against the Rockies. Now, these are not the same Rockies the Yanks faced last time they went to Coors Field--the humidor and better pitching means you're less likely to see a football score these days. But it's not like we're looking at the '66 Dodgers, either. The team's eighth in the league in RA+--strictly middle of the road.
Two friggin' runs! Total!
The thing with the Yanks' early futility this season is that it leaves very little margin for error. Two losses in a row, to a team that's over .500, shouldn't be the end of the world. But one more loss puts this team back to .500, which would mean they've frittered away 8% of the schedule they had left the last time they hit .500. So there's really no relaxing if you're a Yankee fan in 2007, I guess. Tomorrow, Roger Clemens tries to avert the sweep against the Rockies' best pitcher this season, Rodrigo Lopez. No pressure, huh?
***
Here's a question: things were going pretty well, and then they cast off Josh Phelps for Andy Phillips? The team had one useful bat on the bench, heading off to face the NL...and we just tossed it away. Why?
It's judgment day for Jason Giambi under Bud Selig's "talk to the Mitchell Commission or face the consequences" ultimatum. I have some thoughts on the ultimatum, and Giambi's choice, over on Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered.
Sometimes if you're a baseball fan, even when you win, you lose. For example, Jeff Weaver shut out the Pirates last night, after being one of the very worst pitchers in baseball this season. Now, your pitcher throwing a four-hit shutout when he's been going through hard times is a good thing, specially when your team's only 4 1/2 games out of the AL Wild Card lead.
So, I guess it's possible Jeff Weaver has turned things around, just as the team was about to send his backside to the glue factory. On the other hand, after the cheering dies down, it's likely that the sound you hear is a disembodied voice telling Ms fans, "I hereby condemn you to ten more starts of Jeff Weaver."
May heaven have mercy on their souls...
Monday, June 04, 2007
Week in Review: It Only Hurts When We Laugh
Week 9: May 28-June 3, 2007
Record for the Week: 3-3, 35 RS, 36 RA
Overall: 24-30, 8th place in Wild Card standings, 7.5 games behind Detroit
The Breakdown:
05/28 -- Yankees 2, Toronto 7
Now known as DeSalvo's last stand. The game actually got out of hand on Ron Villone's watch, when he showed the stuff that made him so popular with hitters in the second half of last season--the hanging sliders, the bad control, it was all on display. And Dustin MacGowan made the lineup his girlfriend. Lesson learned: Never match wits with a Sicilian, when death is on the line?
[UPDATE: DeSalvo's back to start tonight's game against the White Sox, in Roger Clemens's stead.]
05/29 -- Yankees 2, Toronto 3
How many wins have Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez cost Andy Pettitte? Last year, there was that weird thing where Rodriguez would make errors in Mike Mussina's starts, this year, the defense breaks down when Pettitte's pitching--never so cleanly as in this game. The Jays took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a throwing error by Jeter. In the seventh inning with the score 1-1, Rodriguez's throwing error set up Aaron Hill's steal of home. After the Yanks tied it again in the eighth, the Yanks surrendered the lead for good in the top of the inning. Lesson learned: Brian Butterfield, who was the Yanks' first base coach Pettitte's rookie year, supposedly clued Hill in that Pettitte was vulnerable to a steal of home. Isn't that Yankee treason of some sort?
05/30 -- Yankees 10, Toronto 5
The Yanks break the five-game losing streak, as Tyler Clippard and Jorge Posada experience some tension, Johnny Damon got a couple of hits, including a homer, and Robbie Cano went 4-4. But the signature moment came when A-Rod used a little gamesmanship in the ninth to get the Yanks a whole bunch of insurance runs. Lesson learned: HA!
06/01 -- Yankees 9, Boston 5
The Yanks tag up Tim Wakefield for eight runs, and cruise behind Chien Ming Wang. Lesson learned: Some days you control the knuckler, some days (6 BB, 2 passed balls, 1 wild pitch) the knuckler controls you.
06/02 -- Yankees 6, Boston 11
Mike Mussina looked old, and was put out there one inning too many, but the Yanks were OK until suffering an ugly meltdown in the seventh. Lesson learned: When we say Bobby Abreu sometimes looks lost in the outfield, we only mean that he occasionally looks like he's never played the game before in his life.
06/03 -- Yankees 6, Red Sox 5
Andy Pettitte gets derailed in the fifth, apparently hurting himself as he tried to put a little something extra on a fastball to Julio Lugo with the bases loaded and no outs. After the game, Pettitte says he tweaked his back a little, no problem--at the time, it looked like he was shaking out his pitching elbow. Whatever it was, Andy stayed in the game, but didn't get another out. For several seconds during that inning, I think my heart had actually stopped. I'm convinced this team is trying to kill me. All's well that ends well, I guess, with A-Rod taking Papelbon out of the yard in the ninth. Lesson learned: Red Sox fans intermittently serenaded the Yankees with chants of "Where is Roger?" once again showing their inability to keep their attention on the task at hand.
Player of the Week: Melky Cabrera had the right attitude about his new starting centerfield job, batting .471/.550/.765 on the week. Runner-up Robbie Cano is continuing his bounceback from his personal low against the Mets a couple of weeks ago, showed the pop in his bat with a homer, a triple and three doubles. Bobby Abreu's bat has come alive, even if his ball-tracking in the outfield hasn't, he hit .350/.435/.500 for the week. Mariano Rivera contributed three scoreless innings, and much maligned Luis Vizcaino did a tolerably good job this week (4 innings, 1 run allowed).
Dregs of the Week: Mike Mussina had a brutal start against the Red Sox (5 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings) to grab the "honors." Johnny Damon is struggling at .100/.280/.250, and Doug Mientkiewicz wasn't playing too hot prior to getting brained by Mike Lowell's hip (.182/.182/.182).
Link(s) of the Week: There were a lot of great takes on the A-Rod non-story this week. The best serious one was Tim Marchman taking Bill Madden to the woodshed on the simple point that you can't decry the gossip column culture while simultaneously wallowing in it. Even better, however, was Jim Baker's take on this at Baseball Prospectus. Yes, it's a pay article. It's also, in my humble opinion, worth the price of a subscription all on its lonesome.
Story of the Week: It's been another week, and another wave of injuries for the Bronx Bombers. Jason Giambi's plantar fascia has torn, which could mean he's gone a month, could mean he's gone the season. It's an injury that's big with the PED set, the same injury that killed the end of Mark McGwire's career. We'd learned the day before that the already-injured Phil Hughes has the worst type of ankle sprain known to man, which places him two months, maybe more out of the action. Then on Saturday Doug Mientkiewicz's head collided with the baserunner as he tried to fish out Derek Jeter's errant throw. That's one mild concussion, cervical sprain, and broken wrist added to the tally. Then came the news of Roger Clemens's "fatigued groin" on which he needs an MRI. Rocket's saying his launch is only delayed to Saturday, against the Pirates--but really, how does anybody know when the guy will be starting if they haven't seen the MRIs yet.
The Mientkiewicz/Giambi injuries--and we really have to treat them as one cluster, even though there couldn't be two more different guys--raise some interesting questions about the path this ballclub will take going forward. The Yanks are now genuinely thin at 1B/DH. For the moment, the DH slot is the refuge of Johnny Damon's sore calves; Damon could also see some time at first base. But that still leaves Josh Phelps as the starting 1B with no real backup. The starting rotation remains unstable. What do you do?
I mean, my BP colleague Steve Goldman wrote a piece in the New York Sun last week entitled "It's Not Like [the Red] Sox Haven't Had Problems of Their Own." It's a very valid point, but if you're comparing the Sox problems to the Yanks, you really have to stop at the starting rotation. The Red Sox have used seven starting pitchers, giving all but two starts to their intended starting five. The Yankees have used 11 starters, and their intended starting five have only made 35 of 54 starts. That's a huge difference.
So what's clear after last week is that a move has to be made, either building up or tearing down. And I wouldn't bet on the latter happening, barring (yet another) catastrophe. But anything's possible, since there's apparently a new sheriff in town.
Record for the Week: 3-3, 35 RS, 36 RA
Overall: 24-30, 8th place in Wild Card standings, 7.5 games behind Detroit
The Breakdown:
05/28 -- Yankees 2, Toronto 7
Now known as DeSalvo's last stand. The game actually got out of hand on Ron Villone's watch, when he showed the stuff that made him so popular with hitters in the second half of last season--the hanging sliders, the bad control, it was all on display. And Dustin MacGowan made the lineup his girlfriend. Lesson learned: Never match wits with a Sicilian, when death is on the line?
[UPDATE: DeSalvo's back to start tonight's game against the White Sox, in Roger Clemens's stead.]
05/29 -- Yankees 2, Toronto 3
How many wins have Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez cost Andy Pettitte? Last year, there was that weird thing where Rodriguez would make errors in Mike Mussina's starts, this year, the defense breaks down when Pettitte's pitching--never so cleanly as in this game. The Jays took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a throwing error by Jeter. In the seventh inning with the score 1-1, Rodriguez's throwing error set up Aaron Hill's steal of home. After the Yanks tied it again in the eighth, the Yanks surrendered the lead for good in the top of the inning. Lesson learned: Brian Butterfield, who was the Yanks' first base coach Pettitte's rookie year, supposedly clued Hill in that Pettitte was vulnerable to a steal of home. Isn't that Yankee treason of some sort?
05/30 -- Yankees 10, Toronto 5
The Yanks break the five-game losing streak, as Tyler Clippard and Jorge Posada experience some tension, Johnny Damon got a couple of hits, including a homer, and Robbie Cano went 4-4. But the signature moment came when A-Rod used a little gamesmanship in the ninth to get the Yanks a whole bunch of insurance runs. Lesson learned: HA!
06/01 -- Yankees 9, Boston 5
The Yanks tag up Tim Wakefield for eight runs, and cruise behind Chien Ming Wang. Lesson learned: Some days you control the knuckler, some days (6 BB, 2 passed balls, 1 wild pitch) the knuckler controls you.
06/02 -- Yankees 6, Boston 11
Mike Mussina looked old, and was put out there one inning too many, but the Yanks were OK until suffering an ugly meltdown in the seventh. Lesson learned: When we say Bobby Abreu sometimes looks lost in the outfield, we only mean that he occasionally looks like he's never played the game before in his life.
06/03 -- Yankees 6, Red Sox 5
Andy Pettitte gets derailed in the fifth, apparently hurting himself as he tried to put a little something extra on a fastball to Julio Lugo with the bases loaded and no outs. After the game, Pettitte says he tweaked his back a little, no problem--at the time, it looked like he was shaking out his pitching elbow. Whatever it was, Andy stayed in the game, but didn't get another out. For several seconds during that inning, I think my heart had actually stopped. I'm convinced this team is trying to kill me. All's well that ends well, I guess, with A-Rod taking Papelbon out of the yard in the ninth. Lesson learned: Red Sox fans intermittently serenaded the Yankees with chants of "Where is Roger?" once again showing their inability to keep their attention on the task at hand.
Player of the Week: Melky Cabrera had the right attitude about his new starting centerfield job, batting .471/.550/.765 on the week. Runner-up Robbie Cano is continuing his bounceback from his personal low against the Mets a couple of weeks ago, showed the pop in his bat with a homer, a triple and three doubles. Bobby Abreu's bat has come alive, even if his ball-tracking in the outfield hasn't, he hit .350/.435/.500 for the week. Mariano Rivera contributed three scoreless innings, and much maligned Luis Vizcaino did a tolerably good job this week (4 innings, 1 run allowed).
Dregs of the Week: Mike Mussina had a brutal start against the Red Sox (5 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings) to grab the "honors." Johnny Damon is struggling at .100/.280/.250, and Doug Mientkiewicz wasn't playing too hot prior to getting brained by Mike Lowell's hip (.182/.182/.182).
Link(s) of the Week: There were a lot of great takes on the A-Rod non-story this week. The best serious one was Tim Marchman taking Bill Madden to the woodshed on the simple point that you can't decry the gossip column culture while simultaneously wallowing in it. Even better, however, was Jim Baker's take on this at Baseball Prospectus. Yes, it's a pay article. It's also, in my humble opinion, worth the price of a subscription all on its lonesome.
Story of the Week: It's been another week, and another wave of injuries for the Bronx Bombers. Jason Giambi's plantar fascia has torn, which could mean he's gone a month, could mean he's gone the season. It's an injury that's big with the PED set, the same injury that killed the end of Mark McGwire's career. We'd learned the day before that the already-injured Phil Hughes has the worst type of ankle sprain known to man, which places him two months, maybe more out of the action. Then on Saturday Doug Mientkiewicz's head collided with the baserunner as he tried to fish out Derek Jeter's errant throw. That's one mild concussion, cervical sprain, and broken wrist added to the tally. Then came the news of Roger Clemens's "fatigued groin" on which he needs an MRI. Rocket's saying his launch is only delayed to Saturday, against the Pirates--but really, how does anybody know when the guy will be starting if they haven't seen the MRIs yet.
The Mientkiewicz/Giambi injuries--and we really have to treat them as one cluster, even though there couldn't be two more different guys--raise some interesting questions about the path this ballclub will take going forward. The Yanks are now genuinely thin at 1B/DH. For the moment, the DH slot is the refuge of Johnny Damon's sore calves; Damon could also see some time at first base. But that still leaves Josh Phelps as the starting 1B with no real backup. The starting rotation remains unstable. What do you do?
I mean, my BP colleague Steve Goldman wrote a piece in the New York Sun last week entitled "It's Not Like [the Red] Sox Haven't Had Problems of Their Own." It's a very valid point, but if you're comparing the Sox problems to the Yanks, you really have to stop at the starting rotation. The Red Sox have used seven starting pitchers, giving all but two starts to their intended starting five. The Yankees have used 11 starters, and their intended starting five have only made 35 of 54 starts. That's a huge difference.
So what's clear after last week is that a move has to be made, either building up or tearing down. And I wouldn't bet on the latter happening, barring (yet another) catastrophe. But anything's possible, since there's apparently a new sheriff in town.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Opposition Roundtable: Devil Rays
As we lead off the new season, we're going to try out a few new features here at the WTDB. To lead things off, I've convened a panel of a few of the best and brightest minds covering the Yanks' opponents in their first series, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Our panelists are:
Kevin Gengler, of the Rays Talk Blog
R.J. Anderson, of the DRays Bay Blog
Manny Stiles, of the newly-created Devil Rays Universe Blog
Tell us about yourself as a baseball fan. How long have you been following the Devil Rays? Were you a fan of baseball before the Rays came around, and if so, of what team?
KEVIN: I was a Braves fan until the late 90's, but since I was never really attached to them as a hometown team or anything, I had no problem switching allegiances to Tampa Bay, although I didn't follow baseball really closely until Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli were emerging.
RJ: I’ve been a fan of the Rays since their inception in 1998, before that I wasn’t really into baseball and I was somewhat young.
MANNY: I have been a baseball fan essentially since birth. I only became a fan of the Devil Rays this month after putting my fanship and writing skills up for charity to the highest bidder on ebay. Matt Silverman, the President of the Devil Rays won and now I am of course, a Devil Rays fan. Before that, I just pretty much liked whatever team was beating the Yankees.
What do you think of your team? What place will they take in the AL East, at the end of the year? Do you think they'll make the playoffs, and if so, how far will they get?
KEVIN: I think they have more talent than ever, but we'll see how that translates to the win column. The important thing this year, in my opinion, is to get the youngsters as many at-bats as possible. Hopefully we minimize the at-bats guys like Greg Norton get and maximize the at-bats for guys like B.J. Upton and Elijah Dukes, who need to experience but don't really have a regular spot.
RJ: Best case scenario? 3rd place in the AL East, realistically? 4th. Playoffs? Nope, but watch out next year.
MANNY: 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONS!
Who's the one player on the Devil Rays that every Yankee fan shouldn't take his eyes off of when he's in the game? What's so great/interesting about him?
KEVIN: The obvious answer has to be Delmon Young. He's got it all: He can make the diving catch, nail the runner at third, and then knock one out of the yard. Also, Carl Crawford obviousy has the athleticism to make anything happen. And B.J. Upton, because he can make the impossible look routine and the routine look impossible.
RJ: The obvious answer here would be Carl Crawford, but since I want to go a different way I’m going to say Delmon Young, he’s just got that aura that screams superstar.
MANNY: I would say Carl Crawford, but you already knew that. Most exciting player in baseball. So watch out for Delmon Young instead!
Is there any player on your team who you wish would be traded elsewhere? Why?
KEVIN: I wouldn't "like" to see anyone go, really. But it's pretty obvious that someone has to get moved. Assuming we move one outfielder (to make room for Dukes) and one infielder (to make room for Upton), my two guys would have to be Baldelli and Cantu. I'd hate to lose Baldelli, but like I said, one of our outfielders will probably have to go. And Cantu is the IF choice because Upton seems to have taken to 2B the best, and has much better tools than Cantu. The return on Cantu would likely be minimal, but that's how it goes.
RJ: Indeed there is, Josh Paul, he’s really not all that useful to be honest.
MANNY: I would never WANT to trade any of my players away.
Are there any moves your team made this off-season that particularly excited you? Why?
KEVIN: Yup, that Scott Dohmann signing. Seriously, we didn't do much this offseason, and I don't really view the Iwamura signing as something that got me excited. Unless he absolutely rakes, he's essentially just keeping the seat warm for Evan Longoria, who'll be up for Opening Day 2008 if everything goes according to plan.
RJ: Signing Al Reyes to a minor league deal. Well, re-signing, but nonetheless I’d say he’s going to be a hot commodity in the league and in fantasy leagues if/when he gets his chance to close.
MANNY: I am most excited to see a full season of Delmon Young in the bigs.
What is the one player move you think your team should make?
KEVIN: This is a really tough call. Logic says deal a strength (outfield) for a weakness (pitching), but honestly, we're so stocked with pitching prospects that I don't know about that. Unless you can deal Baldelli or Crawford for a bona-fide #2/borderline #1 pitcher, I think the right deal would be to deal an OF for a top-of-the-line relief pitcher and an A-/B+ prospect. To throw one out there, how about Rocco Baldelli to Atlanta for one of their relief guys (*ahem* Mike Gonzalez) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
RJ: Trade Jorge Cantu for a reliever, and move B.J. Upton to second.
MANNY: DON'T trade anyone
What do you think of this year's Yankee team?
KEVIN: Scary-as-hell lineup, serviceable pitching. Concerned about the bullpen, since Torre seems to ride 1-2 guys too hard during the year. My money says they win another division crown, but fall short in the playoffs again. And I have to say, I'm really excited for the Phil Hughes era.
RJ: They’re very talented, I think Brian Cashman and the front office has begun to learn that money doesn’t always buy wins or titles. I think the prospects they got in the Sheffield deal may be slightly overrated, but then again when you’re getting an animate object for a near-40 year-old who's had some injury issues, I’d say you came out on top of that deal.
MANNY: They suck.
Which Yankee player (if any) do you dislike the most? Why?
KEVIN: Just one? Okay, let's go with... Actually, the Yankees don't really have that one standout guy that just grates on you (Curt Schilling, I'm looking your way). Let's go with Robinson Cano, since I don't believe he's nearly as good as the stats say.
RJ: I don’t really ‘hate’ any Yankee to be frank. I respect what Jeter and Mariano have done, but if I have to go with my least favorite it’s gotta be Giambi.
MANNY: All/Any of the Yankees. I am particularly fond of disliking Derek Jeter a.k.a. "Plays like #2"
Which Yankee player do you like the most (or, if you must, which player do you dislike the least)? Why?
KEVIN: Does Phil Hughes count? If not him, then possibly Bobby Abreu. No real reason
RJ: Same feel as the last question, I don’t particularly like any of them, Derek Jeter has earned my respect from the money he (along with Tino Martinez) have poured into the University of South Florida baseball program.
MANNY: I think A-Rod is FAR better than Jeter and anyone who doesn't see it needs sterilized for the good of society.
Have you ever been to Yankee Stadium, and if so, what did you think of the experience?
KEVIN: I've been there once, and didn't really have as good a time as when I went to Citizen's Bank Park. Of course, the following factors were in play: I was watching the Rays in Philly, I think it was Yanks-Mariners at the Stadium, and I was with my friends at CBP compared to my parents at YS. I'm really interested to see how they go about things with the new park, and I'll probably try to get out to Yankee Stadium at least once more before it's gone.
RJ: Nope, never been to New York at all.
MANNY: Been to the neighborhood but never to a game there, which saddens me a bit.
How do you like the Devil Rays' ballpark? Any features fans shouldn't miss when they visit (special food, seats with a special view, nearby bars or restaurants)?
KEVIN: N/A, never been to the Trop since I live in New Jersey.
RJ: It’s better than advertised. The ‘must sees’? Eh depends, if you have a child the rays touch tank may interest you, or the numerous museums/games may be your thing
MANNY: I haven't been there (YET). Bu I am going next month (I live in Arizona) and am planning on doing a LIVE running blog from the stadium on the Monday night ESPN game (April 23) vs. the Yankees. I'll get details to you as they emerge, because I'd like Yankees fans and ALL onlookers to enjoy the unique perspective.
What's your favorite pro-Devil Rays chant? What's your favorite anti-Yankees chant? Favorite thing you've ever heard a heckler say about the Yankees or a Yankees player?
KEVIN: I dunno, if the "Ee-Wah-Mur-Ah" thing catches on here like it did in Japan, that'd be pretty cool. Are there even anti-Yankee chants? I'll just play it safe and go with "Yankees suck," though that's not really a chant. Nothing in particular comes to mind in the way of heckling, but anything The Heckler says is my favorite.
RJ: To be frank we really don’t have a ‘chant.’ My favorite anti-Yankee chant? Ditto, but maybe I can start the ‘2000’ chant?
MANNY: Don't know any Devil Rays chants... "Year 2000 clap, clap, clap clap clap" is always fun, or my personal favorite --
"Any Yankees fan born after 1920 is a bandwagon jumper" - Manny Stiles
The Yankees and Devil Rays are going to play 18 times this season. Off the top of your head, predict how the season series is going to wind up.
KEVIN: Yankees 10, Devil Rays 8
RJ: I’d love to say the Rays win the series, but I’ll go 8-10 Yankees.
MANNY: 18 wins for the Devil Rays, ZERO for the Yankees.
Well, thanks for the insights, guys! A few comments:
1) It looks like the Devil Rays need some lessons in chanting and heckling. Please, feel free to use the comments to share some pro-Rays chanting options, or perhaps share some of your favorite heckling concepts, for the education of our brothers in baseball down in Tampa.
2) Ask for Cantu to be driven out of the lineup, and Upton to replace him, and ta-da! the Devil Rays front office sends Cantu down to the minors. Very accommodating, those folks.
3) If gambling were legal, there'd be a pretty decent living to be made off of Manny Stiles...
Kevin Gengler, of the Rays Talk Blog
R.J. Anderson, of the DRays Bay Blog
Manny Stiles, of the newly-created Devil Rays Universe Blog
Tell us about yourself as a baseball fan. How long have you been following the Devil Rays? Were you a fan of baseball before the Rays came around, and if so, of what team?
KEVIN: I was a Braves fan until the late 90's, but since I was never really attached to them as a hometown team or anything, I had no problem switching allegiances to Tampa Bay, although I didn't follow baseball really closely until Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli were emerging.
RJ: I’ve been a fan of the Rays since their inception in 1998, before that I wasn’t really into baseball and I was somewhat young.
MANNY: I have been a baseball fan essentially since birth. I only became a fan of the Devil Rays this month after putting my fanship and writing skills up for charity to the highest bidder on ebay. Matt Silverman, the President of the Devil Rays won and now I am of course, a Devil Rays fan. Before that, I just pretty much liked whatever team was beating the Yankees.
What do you think of your team? What place will they take in the AL East, at the end of the year? Do you think they'll make the playoffs, and if so, how far will they get?
KEVIN: I think they have more talent than ever, but we'll see how that translates to the win column. The important thing this year, in my opinion, is to get the youngsters as many at-bats as possible. Hopefully we minimize the at-bats guys like Greg Norton get and maximize the at-bats for guys like B.J. Upton and Elijah Dukes, who need to experience but don't really have a regular spot.
RJ: Best case scenario? 3rd place in the AL East, realistically? 4th. Playoffs? Nope, but watch out next year.
MANNY: 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONS!
Who's the one player on the Devil Rays that every Yankee fan shouldn't take his eyes off of when he's in the game? What's so great/interesting about him?
KEVIN: The obvious answer has to be Delmon Young. He's got it all: He can make the diving catch, nail the runner at third, and then knock one out of the yard. Also, Carl Crawford obviousy has the athleticism to make anything happen. And B.J. Upton, because he can make the impossible look routine and the routine look impossible.
RJ: The obvious answer here would be Carl Crawford, but since I want to go a different way I’m going to say Delmon Young, he’s just got that aura that screams superstar.
MANNY: I would say Carl Crawford, but you already knew that. Most exciting player in baseball. So watch out for Delmon Young instead!
Is there any player on your team who you wish would be traded elsewhere? Why?
KEVIN: I wouldn't "like" to see anyone go, really. But it's pretty obvious that someone has to get moved. Assuming we move one outfielder (to make room for Dukes) and one infielder (to make room for Upton), my two guys would have to be Baldelli and Cantu. I'd hate to lose Baldelli, but like I said, one of our outfielders will probably have to go. And Cantu is the IF choice because Upton seems to have taken to 2B the best, and has much better tools than Cantu. The return on Cantu would likely be minimal, but that's how it goes.
RJ: Indeed there is, Josh Paul, he’s really not all that useful to be honest.
MANNY: I would never WANT to trade any of my players away.
Are there any moves your team made this off-season that particularly excited you? Why?
KEVIN: Yup, that Scott Dohmann signing. Seriously, we didn't do much this offseason, and I don't really view the Iwamura signing as something that got me excited. Unless he absolutely rakes, he's essentially just keeping the seat warm for Evan Longoria, who'll be up for Opening Day 2008 if everything goes according to plan.
RJ: Signing Al Reyes to a minor league deal. Well, re-signing, but nonetheless I’d say he’s going to be a hot commodity in the league and in fantasy leagues if/when he gets his chance to close.
MANNY: I am most excited to see a full season of Delmon Young in the bigs.
What is the one player move you think your team should make?
KEVIN: This is a really tough call. Logic says deal a strength (outfield) for a weakness (pitching), but honestly, we're so stocked with pitching prospects that I don't know about that. Unless you can deal Baldelli or Crawford for a bona-fide #2/borderline #1 pitcher, I think the right deal would be to deal an OF for a top-of-the-line relief pitcher and an A-/B+ prospect. To throw one out there, how about Rocco Baldelli to Atlanta for one of their relief guys (*ahem* Mike Gonzalez) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
RJ: Trade Jorge Cantu for a reliever, and move B.J. Upton to second.
MANNY: DON'T trade anyone
What do you think of this year's Yankee team?
KEVIN: Scary-as-hell lineup, serviceable pitching. Concerned about the bullpen, since Torre seems to ride 1-2 guys too hard during the year. My money says they win another division crown, but fall short in the playoffs again. And I have to say, I'm really excited for the Phil Hughes era.
RJ: They’re very talented, I think Brian Cashman and the front office has begun to learn that money doesn’t always buy wins or titles. I think the prospects they got in the Sheffield deal may be slightly overrated, but then again when you’re getting an animate object for a near-40 year-old who's had some injury issues, I’d say you came out on top of that deal.
MANNY: They suck.
Which Yankee player (if any) do you dislike the most? Why?
KEVIN: Just one? Okay, let's go with... Actually, the Yankees don't really have that one standout guy that just grates on you (Curt Schilling, I'm looking your way). Let's go with Robinson Cano, since I don't believe he's nearly as good as the stats say.
RJ: I don’t really ‘hate’ any Yankee to be frank. I respect what Jeter and Mariano have done, but if I have to go with my least favorite it’s gotta be Giambi.
MANNY: All/Any of the Yankees. I am particularly fond of disliking Derek Jeter a.k.a. "Plays like #2"
Which Yankee player do you like the most (or, if you must, which player do you dislike the least)? Why?
KEVIN: Does Phil Hughes count? If not him, then possibly Bobby Abreu. No real reason
RJ: Same feel as the last question, I don’t particularly like any of them, Derek Jeter has earned my respect from the money he (along with Tino Martinez) have poured into the University of South Florida baseball program.
MANNY: I think A-Rod is FAR better than Jeter and anyone who doesn't see it needs sterilized for the good of society.
Have you ever been to Yankee Stadium, and if so, what did you think of the experience?
KEVIN: I've been there once, and didn't really have as good a time as when I went to Citizen's Bank Park. Of course, the following factors were in play: I was watching the Rays in Philly, I think it was Yanks-Mariners at the Stadium, and I was with my friends at CBP compared to my parents at YS. I'm really interested to see how they go about things with the new park, and I'll probably try to get out to Yankee Stadium at least once more before it's gone.
RJ: Nope, never been to New York at all.
MANNY: Been to the neighborhood but never to a game there, which saddens me a bit.
How do you like the Devil Rays' ballpark? Any features fans shouldn't miss when they visit (special food, seats with a special view, nearby bars or restaurants)?
KEVIN: N/A, never been to the Trop since I live in New Jersey.
RJ: It’s better than advertised. The ‘must sees’? Eh depends, if you have a child the rays touch tank may interest you, or the numerous museums/games may be your thing
MANNY: I haven't been there (YET). Bu I am going next month (I live in Arizona) and am planning on doing a LIVE running blog from the stadium on the Monday night ESPN game (April 23) vs. the Yankees. I'll get details to you as they emerge, because I'd like Yankees fans and ALL onlookers to enjoy the unique perspective.
What's your favorite pro-Devil Rays chant? What's your favorite anti-Yankees chant? Favorite thing you've ever heard a heckler say about the Yankees or a Yankees player?
KEVIN: I dunno, if the "Ee-Wah-Mur-Ah" thing catches on here like it did in Japan, that'd be pretty cool. Are there even anti-Yankee chants? I'll just play it safe and go with "Yankees suck," though that's not really a chant. Nothing in particular comes to mind in the way of heckling, but anything The Heckler says is my favorite.
RJ: To be frank we really don’t have a ‘chant.’ My favorite anti-Yankee chant? Ditto, but maybe I can start the ‘2000’ chant?
MANNY: Don't know any Devil Rays chants... "Year 2000 clap, clap, clap clap clap" is always fun, or my personal favorite --
"Any Yankees fan born after 1920 is a bandwagon jumper" - Manny Stiles
The Yankees and Devil Rays are going to play 18 times this season. Off the top of your head, predict how the season series is going to wind up.
KEVIN: Yankees 10, Devil Rays 8
RJ: I’d love to say the Rays win the series, but I’ll go 8-10 Yankees.
MANNY: 18 wins for the Devil Rays, ZERO for the Yankees.
Well, thanks for the insights, guys! A few comments:
1) It looks like the Devil Rays need some lessons in chanting and heckling. Please, feel free to use the comments to share some pro-Rays chanting options, or perhaps share some of your favorite heckling concepts, for the education of our brothers in baseball down in Tampa.
2) Ask for Cantu to be driven out of the lineup, and Upton to replace him, and ta-da! the Devil Rays front office sends Cantu down to the minors. Very accommodating, those folks.
3) If gambling were legal, there'd be a pretty decent living to be made off of Manny Stiles...
Thursday, March 22, 2007
At BP: Hope & Faith, The Tampa Bay Devil Rays
New article up at Baseball Prospectus, for the Hope & Faith series. Hope & Faith is BP's season preview series, that has run every publishing day at BP for the last month or so. The point of each article is to make an argument how each of the 30 major league teams could win the World Series this year--in Bud Selig lingo, why fans of each team should have "hope and faith" that their team can win. The series has featured guest writers like Rich Lederer, Tracy Ringolsby, and BP founder Gary Huckabay.
I drew the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as my Hope & Faith assignment. I started out by working on humorous ways the Devil Rays could win (the Yanks and Red Sox get thrown into quarantine after it's revealed--during a bench-clearing brawl--that Carl Pavano is infected with a flesh-eating bacteria, which he was hiding from the Yankees brass; Toronto forfeits half its schedule when the U.S. declares war on Canada, and the Blue Jays are sent to Guantanamo as enemy combatants; Billy Beane's [expletive deleted] doesn't work in the playoffs, that kind of thing), but in the end I decided to play things straight and look at ways that the Devil Rays could emulate recent world champions. Here's the obligatory taste:
Hope to see all you locals at the Columbia University event tonight at six.
I drew the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as my Hope & Faith assignment. I started out by working on humorous ways the Devil Rays could win (the Yanks and Red Sox get thrown into quarantine after it's revealed--during a bench-clearing brawl--that Carl Pavano is infected with a flesh-eating bacteria, which he was hiding from the Yankees brass; Toronto forfeits half its schedule when the U.S. declares war on Canada, and the Blue Jays are sent to Guantanamo as enemy combatants; Billy Beane's [expletive deleted] doesn't work in the playoffs, that kind of thing), but in the end I decided to play things straight and look at ways that the Devil Rays could emulate recent world champions. Here's the obligatory taste:
It's a pay article, but there's also an interview with me and BP Radio's Brad Wochomurka, which is available for free--either by using the radio interface on BP's new-look front page, or by clicking this link here. Monday's BP Radio spot with Brad on the Mariners is available here. Of course, if you use iTunes you should already be subscribed to BP Radio's podcast (c'mon...it's free!).That’s a lot of ifs, mights, coulds and maybes up there. To some, this entire exercise may seem ridiculous. The Devil Rays have never come within ten games of a winning record, in their entire history. They’re in a tough division, with two of the best-heeled gatekeepers in the game’s history. Nothing in this team’s track record indicates that they have what it takes to contend.
That’s why we leave you with a lesson from the 1997 World Champions. History doesn’t matter in baseball. Every Opening Day, you start with a clean slate, no matter how bad or good your team was the year before. The Florida Marlins won the World Series in the first winning season of their franchise’s history. So did the New York Mets. It would take hard work, good timing, and an almost ridiculous amount of luck, but for the moment we can still wonder: why not the Devil Rays?
Hope to see all you locals at the Columbia University event tonight at six.
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