It was great to be back at Yankee Stadium this weekend. One because it seems having only been to two games this year I got to see Roger Clemens announce he was coming back at the first and he pitched well at the second. But more importantly I went to the game with my Dad who hadn't been to the Stadium in years and enjoyed it. My Dad took me to my first Yankee's game when I was seven, and it might be his last time there, so it was good to hang out with him.
The Yankees hit a bit of a skid this week, but recovered nicely against Detroit at home. The upcoming schedule is rough as they head to Anaheim or Los Angeles or California or wherever the Angels are these days and Detroit. They Yankees are 4.5 games behind and we're setting the Rivalry clock down here to 8 days, which is when Boston heads to NY.
Hindsight: August 13th to August 19th
The Orioles have given the Yankees trouble all season and that continued--they are now 4-8 against them this season. Jeff Karstens was rocked on Tuesday to a 12-0 loss where Daniel Cabrera uncharacteristically blanked the Yanks. More problems occured for Mo Rivera the next day. After having been shutout for 17 innings straight, Shelly Duncan was clutch and tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth. But Rivera came in gave up a RBI double and a two run homer to lose it. Verlander then stopped up the Yankees offense the next night, but after that the Yankees took the series against the Tigers handidly with pitching gems by Pettitte, Clemens and Wang. Rivera dominated on Saturday for his 20th save.
Weekly Stats
W-L: 4-3
RS/RA: 35/38
Offensive Nubmers (BA/OBP/SLG): .295/.375/.436
Pitching Line (ERA/Whip/K per 9/BAA/SLG): 4.99/1.40/6.60/.283/.437
Who's Hot: Bobby Abreu hit well this week adding 3 HRs to his total.
Who's Not: Mariano Rivera. It's hard to put his name in there, but he blew the lead twice this week and didn't look good until Saturday.
My Yankee of the Week: Kyle Farnsworth. Yeah, here's why. He came into Saturday's game to boos and I figured the Tigers would just come back to tie it. But he ended up having a one-two-three inning, striking out Magglio Ordonez and Gary Sheffield back to back, leaving to cheers.
Foresight: August 20th to August 26th
The other Yankee's rival since 2002 welcomes them to Cali and then another four game series up in Detroit. Yankees fans got their boos in for Sheffield this past weekend and I'm sure Detroit will hear it from the east coast. There will be a great matchup on Saturday with Wang going against Bonderman. This past week the Yankees offense snoozed a bit, nearly getting shut out two games in a row and Rivera struggled. But this seems like a bump in a road. This next week will show the Yankees why they are at 70-54 as they play two top teams in the AL.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Double Standards
Jason Giambi who clearly admitted he'd been on steroids in the past came away a free man from any form of punishment yesterday by Bud Selig. During the course of this entire saga, I've been a bit confused what the line of thinking has been concerning steroid policy for a player who did not test positive, but openly admitted (in good faith) he had done so in the past.
Giambi may be a special case. In 2004 he opened the season by apologizing to fans and then this year gave an interview admitting his past use in more detail. Immediately following this, the controversy was around whether Giambi should be punished and speak to the Mitchell Investigation, which he did.
The one thing I don't completely understand about all of this is why Giambi would possibly be punished in the first place. On the one hand, he did criticize baseball for the entire Steroid Era, but on the other hand, what's wrong with regretting your past and coming to terms with it? To me, all of this is was just politics to get Giambi to speak with Mitchell since that entire investigation seems to be going nowhere.
But would the same process occur if another player came forward and said they'd taken steroids in the past? What if Gary Sheffield, who's outspoken on everything from contracts to racism to steroids, came out and said, "yeah that clear stuff I took was 'roids"? I don't think he'd go through the same process. I think the process is a case-by-case basis.
In any event though, why aren't the players from the minors up to the majors who have been caught not talking with the Mitchell Investigation? The sport still has players taking enhancements and no one really understands why it happened and continues to. I know baseball's policy is "trying" to catch cheaters and make the sport cleaner, but why is it that someone who is caught doesn't have to be questioned about it?
Giambi may be a special case. In 2004 he opened the season by apologizing to fans and then this year gave an interview admitting his past use in more detail. Immediately following this, the controversy was around whether Giambi should be punished and speak to the Mitchell Investigation, which he did.
The one thing I don't completely understand about all of this is why Giambi would possibly be punished in the first place. On the one hand, he did criticize baseball for the entire Steroid Era, but on the other hand, what's wrong with regretting your past and coming to terms with it? To me, all of this is was just politics to get Giambi to speak with Mitchell since that entire investigation seems to be going nowhere.
But would the same process occur if another player came forward and said they'd taken steroids in the past? What if Gary Sheffield, who's outspoken on everything from contracts to racism to steroids, came out and said, "yeah that clear stuff I took was 'roids"? I don't think he'd go through the same process. I think the process is a case-by-case basis.
In any event though, why aren't the players from the minors up to the majors who have been caught not talking with the Mitchell Investigation? The sport still has players taking enhancements and no one really understands why it happened and continues to. I know baseball's policy is "trying" to catch cheaters and make the sport cleaner, but why is it that someone who is caught doesn't have to be questioned about it?
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Is it in the Cards again?
Having not paid a whole lot of attention to the standings besides the AL East, I took a look today to see that the NL Central is becoming a tight race. We wrote on here way back in May about the Milwaukee Brewers and how exciting it is to see a team who hasn't been good for quite some time seriously rebuild the last few years and put together some top young talent. In my midseason review, I stated that the Brewers would be able to hold their own--which is the equivalent of saying they had the division wrapped up. But now it's starting to look like I could be wrong.
For one, the Cubs have made a decent comeback. But the team that has me wondering is the Cardinals--the defending World Series Champions. A look back to the records of Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Louis on May 31st and how they've done since then will show what I'm talking about:
Milwaukee 30-24, 32-34 since 5/31
Chicago 22-29, 38-30 since 5/31
St. Louis 22-29, 35-31 since 5/31
St. Louis hasn't been as good as the Cubs, but Milwaukee's sub-.500 record currently puts the Cards 3.5 games out of first place. Last year the NL Central followed a similar story where the Cardinals were hot out of the gate and then had a horrendous finish to the season. The caveat to it was the Houston Astros who on this date last year were 57-63 and 6.5 games out, but came within half a game on 9/28/06 of the first place Cardinals.
So my question is, are the Cardinals this years Houston Astros? And could they feasibly make a run at the NL Central title?
For one, the Cubs have made a decent comeback. But the team that has me wondering is the Cardinals--the defending World Series Champions. A look back to the records of Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Louis on May 31st and how they've done since then will show what I'm talking about:
Milwaukee 30-24, 32-34 since 5/31
Chicago 22-29, 38-30 since 5/31
St. Louis 22-29, 35-31 since 5/31
St. Louis hasn't been as good as the Cubs, but Milwaukee's sub-.500 record currently puts the Cards 3.5 games out of first place. Last year the NL Central followed a similar story where the Cardinals were hot out of the gate and then had a horrendous finish to the season. The caveat to it was the Houston Astros who on this date last year were 57-63 and 6.5 games out, but came within half a game on 9/28/06 of the first place Cardinals.
So my question is, are the Cardinals this years Houston Astros? And could they feasibly make a run at the NL Central title?
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Scooter
Today is a sad day in Yankee land as Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto passed away this morning at the age of 89. While the link will provide details about his playing and broadcasting career, I wanted to offer my thoughts about Scooter.
There are three reasons why I became a Yankee fan: 1) I always loved baseball since I was a kid, 2) Don Mattingly, and 3) Phil Rizzuto. Before there was the YES Network Yankees games were featured on WPIX-NY, which was channel 11, and MSG Network, which was channel 10 (at least this was the case in NJ where I grew up). Phil Rizzuto broadcasted for WPIX-NY. I can remember from the time I was about age seven up into high school, I watched the Yankees on these channels and Phil Rizzuto was the first baseball broadcaster who connected with me even as a young fan.
Besides his "Holy Cow" cry anytime there was an exciting play, Phil Rizzuto was always a genuine broadcaster who loved the game and especially Yankees history--which he was a part of. Being so young and watching my firstYankees games, Scooter was always like a grandfather figure as a broadcaster to me, because he always had fun stories to tell about the Yankee greats, past dynasties, and the history of the team. Scooter embedded in me what it means to be a true Yankee fan even when the team at the time hardly resembled the great teams of the past.
Before his passing today, when I caught a Yankees game on the YES Network or even FOX I would sometimes think about Scooter and wish he'd broadcast just one more for us all. There was always something special about his approach in the booth and though I've missed it since he last called a game in 1996, I will miss it even more after today.
There are three reasons why I became a Yankee fan: 1) I always loved baseball since I was a kid, 2) Don Mattingly, and 3) Phil Rizzuto. Before there was the YES Network Yankees games were featured on WPIX-NY, which was channel 11, and MSG Network, which was channel 10 (at least this was the case in NJ where I grew up). Phil Rizzuto broadcasted for WPIX-NY. I can remember from the time I was about age seven up into high school, I watched the Yankees on these channels and Phil Rizzuto was the first baseball broadcaster who connected with me even as a young fan.
Besides his "Holy Cow" cry anytime there was an exciting play, Phil Rizzuto was always a genuine broadcaster who loved the game and especially Yankees history--which he was a part of. Being so young and watching my firstYankees games, Scooter was always like a grandfather figure as a broadcaster to me, because he always had fun stories to tell about the Yankee greats, past dynasties, and the history of the team. Scooter embedded in me what it means to be a true Yankee fan even when the team at the time hardly resembled the great teams of the past.
Before his passing today, when I caught a Yankees game on the YES Network or even FOX I would sometimes think about Scooter and wish he'd broadcast just one more for us all. There was always something special about his approach in the booth and though I've missed it since he last called a game in 1996, I will miss it even more after today.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Hindsight and Foresight: Yankees Review August 6th to August 19th
Free at last! My conference is over and while I haven't been able to catch the Yankees of late, they are still the hottest team in baseball. We are now seeing an exciting AL East race where a little over a month ago no such thing existed. But it ain't over til it's over or at least until the fat lady sings and we still have seven weeks of baseball left. In regards to Doug's comments about Boston writers saying the Yankees were over back in May and June, he doesn't need to look any further than me who had serious doubts about the Yankees this year. But for the record, I never wrote them off saying at the All-Star break:
"Rather than trying to win the AL East this year, the Yankees need to set their sights on climbing up in the Wild Card standings if they want to push for the playoffs"
but also stated
"I'm not downplaying the possibility that the Yankees could come back and make the World Series this year. It's possible, but quite unlikely. I figured a season like this would happen one year or another where the Yankees are a team of superstars, many past their prime or entering the downturn in their careers, and suddenly a lot of them have off years, get injured, etc and it all shows in their record."
I'm definetely not going to take back what I said about my doubts. All that was going wrong can still come back and hurt their chances down the stretch. So while Boston writers and some fans wrote the Yankees off early on, we certainly can't write them into the playoffs just yet, because it's going to be very close and they have some tough teams ahead. That is not doubt talking, that is just reality.
Hindsight: August 6th to August 12th
The last time we saw A-Rod getting into it with someone was back in 2004 with V-Tek. Everyone knew that Toronto was going to bean A-Rod and A-Rod probably knew how he was going to react. Unfortunately the first throw at A-Rod missed him and went behind him, so they drilled him the next day instead. Bean wars are a part of the game, I don't condone them, but it's one of the few choices teams have to retaliate. Of course they cost players and managers games when they go too far, so Clemens will sit for five and Torre sat his one game. But the Yankees rolled through Toronto, though Wang and Co. got shelled on Wednesday and went into Cleveland where the Indians played poorly. Hughes pitched a brilliant game as did Mussina. Cleveland had a rally going late on Sunday, but fell short to Rivera who struggled early coming in but then struck out Cabrera and Sizemore. The nice addition to the Yankes this week was Joba Chamberlain who's really in a groove.
Weekly Stats
W-L: 5-1
RS/RA: 40/27
Offensive Numbers (BA/OBP/SLG): .338/.389/.572
Pitching Line (ERA/Whip/K per 9/BAA/SLG): 3.90/1.30/8.74/.260/.386
Who's Hot: Melky Cabrera, who's got a 17 game hitting streak and hit .440 this week.
Who's Not: Chien Ming Wang pitched his worst outting ever (I believe), just 2 2/3 IP and 8ERs.
My Yankee of the Week: Joba Chamberlain has been lights out. It was only four innings, but he struck out six in those innings with some heat and nice offspeed stuff. Fun stuff to watch!
Foresight: August 13th to August 19th
The Yankees start a homestand with three against the O's and then three against Detroit. Sheff will return to the Bronx on Friday and I'll be at the game Saturday to see how the reaction is to him. The Detroit series will also have the two leading candidates for MVP--A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez--go up against each other. So far this year the Yankees are 23-7 against the AL Central division (KC helped) and Detroit has been around .500 since the All-Star break, so they could make some upward movement in the standings (AL East and Wild Card). Going beyond the 19th though the Yankees face some tough teams through the end of August including the Angels and Red Sox. They should be glad for their hot start because they have the upperhand in the AL right now.
Weekly Stats
W-L: 5-1
RS/RA: 40/27
Offensive Numbers (BA/OBP/SLG): .338/.389/.572
Pitching Line (ERA/Whip/K per 9/BAA/SLG): 3.90/1.30/8.74/.260/.386
Who's Hot: Melky Cabrera, who's got a 17 game hitting streak and hit .440 this week.
Who's Not: Chien Ming Wang pitched his worst outting ever (I believe), just 2 2/3 IP and 8ERs.
My Yankee of the Week: Joba Chamberlain has been lights out. It was only four innings, but he struck out six in those innings with some heat and nice offspeed stuff. Fun stuff to watch!
Foresight: August 13th to August 19th
The Yankees start a homestand with three against the O's and then three against Detroit. Sheff will return to the Bronx on Friday and I'll be at the game Saturday to see how the reaction is to him. The Detroit series will also have the two leading candidates for MVP--A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez--go up against each other. So far this year the Yankees are 23-7 against the AL Central division (KC helped) and Detroit has been around .500 since the All-Star break, so they could make some upward movement in the standings (AL East and Wild Card). Going beyond the 19th though the Yankees face some tough teams through the end of August including the Angels and Red Sox. They should be glad for their hot start because they have the upperhand in the AL right now.
Friday, August 10, 2007
just a quick one
Six games. Six games? SIX GAMES?
Now is the time for all good New England columnists (I'm looking at you, Dan Shaugnessy) to scold everyone who wrote the Yankees off back in May. The fact that these columnists were the same people who were so eager to declare the Yankees D.O.A. a few months ago doesn't matter - what matters is being able to write doom and gloom stories about the Red Sox and the inevitability of another Yankee triumph.
I don't really have any interest in going there - there's still a lot of baseball to be played by both the Red Sox and Yankees before the end of the season. The Sox have the pitching to succeed in the postseason, which the Yankees don't, but the Yankees may very well mash their way into the postseason if they continue to put up Football scores.
So Barry Bonds broke Aaron's record, and everyone is all boo-hoo because Henry Aaron was such a class act, and Bonds is such a jerk, and isn't this the worst thing that has ever happened in the entirety of Western Civilization?
People were upset when Aaron passed Ruth, but that had more to do with racism. Today, people would probably celebrate it due to the fact that Aaron is a great guy, and Ruth was a boozing, womanizing boor.
I get a kick out of the fact that people are already counting down to A-Rod surpassing Bonds, which is acceptable because A-Rod is what the french call un jerk au naturale. Sure, he's been convicted of one cheap play (the Arroyo wrist slap) and indicted for another ("Mine!", "Ha!", whatever) and he's self-important, arrogant, alienates his teammates, and is ridiculously overpaid, BUT no one has ever accused him of juicing.
Now, that's what I call a hero!
It's curious that people care so much about liking the man who holds an important record. I mean, Nolan Ryan would drill his own grandmother in the skull if he thought she was crowding the plate, but no one says boo about his all-time strikeout record.
The guys who are 1-2 on the all-time hit list are a player banned from baseball due to gambling on his own team and a virulent racist who once pistol-whipped a man to death. Where's the outrage there?
A recent SI poll of active players showed that Tigers' first baseman Sean Casey is the nicest/best-liked player in baseball by an overwhelming margin. The solution to the ethical conundrum of who holds important records is simple: invalidate the statistics of every active, former, and future major league player who surpasses Casey in Hits, Runs, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, RBIs, Walks, and Stolen Bases, making "The Mayor" the all-time leader in each category.
No one will have to quibble with someone they personally dislike holding a major record then, right?
Now is the time for all good New England columnists (I'm looking at you, Dan Shaugnessy) to scold everyone who wrote the Yankees off back in May. The fact that these columnists were the same people who were so eager to declare the Yankees D.O.A. a few months ago doesn't matter - what matters is being able to write doom and gloom stories about the Red Sox and the inevitability of another Yankee triumph.
I don't really have any interest in going there - there's still a lot of baseball to be played by both the Red Sox and Yankees before the end of the season. The Sox have the pitching to succeed in the postseason, which the Yankees don't, but the Yankees may very well mash their way into the postseason if they continue to put up Football scores.
So Barry Bonds broke Aaron's record, and everyone is all boo-hoo because Henry Aaron was such a class act, and Bonds is such a jerk, and isn't this the worst thing that has ever happened in the entirety of Western Civilization?
People were upset when Aaron passed Ruth, but that had more to do with racism. Today, people would probably celebrate it due to the fact that Aaron is a great guy, and Ruth was a boozing, womanizing boor.
I get a kick out of the fact that people are already counting down to A-Rod surpassing Bonds, which is acceptable because A-Rod is what the french call un jerk au naturale. Sure, he's been convicted of one cheap play (the Arroyo wrist slap) and indicted for another ("Mine!", "Ha!", whatever) and he's self-important, arrogant, alienates his teammates, and is ridiculously overpaid, BUT no one has ever accused him of juicing.
Now, that's what I call a hero!
It's curious that people care so much about liking the man who holds an important record. I mean, Nolan Ryan would drill his own grandmother in the skull if he thought she was crowding the plate, but no one says boo about his all-time strikeout record.
The guys who are 1-2 on the all-time hit list are a player banned from baseball due to gambling on his own team and a virulent racist who once pistol-whipped a man to death. Where's the outrage there?
A recent SI poll of active players showed that Tigers' first baseman Sean Casey is the nicest/best-liked player in baseball by an overwhelming margin. The solution to the ethical conundrum of who holds important records is simple: invalidate the statistics of every active, former, and future major league player who surpasses Casey in Hits, Runs, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, RBIs, Walks, and Stolen Bases, making "The Mayor" the all-time leader in each category.
No one will have to quibble with someone they personally dislike holding a major record then, right?
Monday, August 6, 2007
Hindsight and Foresight: Yankees Review July 30th to August 16th
19-7. That's the Yankees record since the All-Star break which is best in the majors. The Red Sox lead has shrunk little by little but there are still 50 games or so left in the season. The good news is that with the Tigers and Mariners posting sub-.500 records since the All-Star break and now the Yankees are back in the Wild Card race. A month ago we were looking at a team below .500 that looked lost and ineffective. Now everyone's hitting and the pitching is much better than it was in April and May. Oh, and A-Rod hit his 500th homer so he can sleep a little better these days.
It's funny how baseball teams can suddenly get back into things as the Yankees have. It works the opposite way as well. But when players play up to or beyond their expectations and your schedule is easy, then you have a chance to play catch up--as is the Yankees situation right now.
This is likely my only post this week, maybe Doug will get back on here, but I don't see myself having free time with this conference for work and all. I got home at 10pm tonight which is early considering how some co-workers had all nighters recently.
Hindsight: July 30th to August 5th
Foresight: August 6th to August 12th
Off to Toronto and Cleveland on the road. This will be the Yankees first trip back to Toronto since the "ha" or "mine" or whatever A-Rod yelled incident, so you have to wonder what will happen if anything. It's that time of year where you have to start looking at other teams' schedules especially indivisons where a race is tight or where the Wild Card race is tight. For the Yankees, Detroit, whom they play in a couple weeks at home, has been falling a la their 2006 style, but Seattle has been under .500 since the break as well. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the Yankees second half schedule helps them if they can only beat the teams that they need to win against. Finally they are doing that after the break, but need to keep it up.
It's funny how baseball teams can suddenly get back into things as the Yankees have. It works the opposite way as well. But when players play up to or beyond their expectations and your schedule is easy, then you have a chance to play catch up--as is the Yankees situation right now.
This is likely my only post this week, maybe Doug will get back on here, but I don't see myself having free time with this conference for work and all. I got home at 10pm tonight which is early considering how some co-workers had all nighters recently.
Hindsight: July 30th to August 5th
A nice week for the Yankees offensively and pitching wise. And by week's end they were 10 games over .500, which is their best so far this year. Just about everyone on offense from A-Rod to Jeter to Matsui came through, but the most noteworthy player has been Robinson Cano. This happened last year as well after Cano came back from the DL with a hammy injury and tore it up in August and September--almost winning the batting title. It seems his struggles and Matsui's are behind them. Wang contines to be an undervalued major league pitcher and is now at 13-5. What's most amazing is that he has 13 quality starts this year, he's kept the team in some close ones.
Weekly Stats
W-L: 5-1
RS/RA: 53/32
Offensive Numbers (BA/OBP/SLG): .369/.436/.723
Pitching Line (ERA/Whip/K per 9/BAA/SLG): 4.06/1.37/7.49/.280/.435
Who's Hot: Robinson Cano has pulled out for the second year in a row the "I'll kick your ass in the second half" batting stick. .478/3 HR/9 RBI and a 1.643 OPS to boot. He's raised in BA from .274 to .309 in a matter of a few weeks.
Who's Not: Roger Clemens. Yes the one doing the new cell phone commercial with his wife and has the highest salary in baseball. We haven't talked about Clemens on here in a while, but he was aweful having the shortest outting since the 2000 playoffs. Cano should take some blame as he booted an inning ending double play but it is Roger's job to get us out of the inning.
My Yankee of the Week: Alex Rodriguez. He was trying to hit #500 for so long. Trying to hit homeruns in baseball it never a good thing--look how long it's take Barry Bonds to reach 755 (11 homeruns through May) and now has to hit 756 or how hard Alfonso Soriano tried to hit #40 in 2002 to get into the 40/40 club (Soriano didn't not succeed). Anyway, he's worthy of being the fasest to reach 500 and still worthy of a post on this blog (next week, I swear).
Foresight: August 6th to August 12th
Off to Toronto and Cleveland on the road. This will be the Yankees first trip back to Toronto since the "ha" or "mine" or whatever A-Rod yelled incident, so you have to wonder what will happen if anything. It's that time of year where you have to start looking at other teams' schedules especially indivisons where a race is tight or where the Wild Card race is tight. For the Yankees, Detroit, whom they play in a couple weeks at home, has been falling a la their 2006 style, but Seattle has been under .500 since the break as well. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the Yankees second half schedule helps them if they can only beat the teams that they need to win against. Finally they are doing that after the break, but need to keep it up.
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