Topic: Yankees Baseball

We should get into the Freddy Garcia sweepstakes and secure his services for a year, the least we can accomplish is that we’ll drive his price up to make it more painful for the sux to acquire him.

The sux move fast and furious.

First it was their outrageous bid for Matzsuzaka whose sole intent was to keep him away from the Yankees for one more year then they back pedaled (after rumors about them acting in bad faith swept the Nation) and went ahead and offered Matsuzaka a serious contract which was agreed upon at the very last minute but not before the sux tried to extort some money from Matsuzaka’s former team.

Then the honorable leaker gave the sux the AL championship by ratting on Cleveland, then they focused on the Yankees’ users ONLY and now that Hank is fed up with the sux a hatchet man comes out of nowhere and wants the Yankees investigated for something that a Padres GM said (BTW this GM is a close buddy of Theo and Lucchino). The messenger: William Rhoden (what no “III” in there?) tries a link to Hank saying that Hank has stated that steroids use was rampant in MLB and he wants to know how much the Yankees knew about it.

But what this yo-yo overlooks is the fact that Hank was merely following up on what Mitchell had stated in his report: “steroids used was not limited to a couple of clubs and the use of PED’s was generalized and rampant and the number of players using the stuff was much larger.”  He also said that he thought nobody should be penalized but who are we to second guess the man who brought peace and prosperity to Northern Ireland? What are you going to do? Impeach Mitchell? Careful if I were you. Congress is shiit scared of Mitchell.

This guy quotes Canseco as saying that W Bush and another owner of the Texas Rangers knew what was happening and didn’t say a word but he conveniently side steps the fact that Bush was the first person to call on players to come clean (in front of Congress in full session) long before anybody ever did and that Canseco signed a sworn affidavit stating Clemens was not at his now famous party and he also said that he didn’t believe Clemens was doing PED’s and NOT ONE I repeat NOT ONE journalist believed him.

One last thing smart guy: Sellig was a baseball owner too. What are you going to do about it?

BTW next time warn the readership about the financial connection between the sux and the NYTimes as a serious journalist would so no hot headed fans and readers would think ill of your ponderous points and cry Malice.  A rush job if you ask me.

The Moose got lit with a homer! Does that mean he’s as good as Santana or this is just Spring training I’ll go for door number two thank you. Better now than later.

Since Moose is not going anywhere we might as well get accustomed to the idea that he’ll be there trying to win more games than he did last year and in order to do that (according to most tabloid writers he’s probably done with the Yankees) he needs to reinvent himself and turn into a more intelligent pitcher sort of like Maddux and for that to happen we will need to see him try some new stuff at different speeds and locate better and that will take an entire ST not just one game. The good thing about that game against the Astros is that, although is only St the rest of the pitchers and the hitters did their part and picked him up and won the game as a team. It may not count for anything but that’s the point here Mussina’s outing was just a tune-up for whatever flavor we’ll get this season.

Now is the time to tweak that knuckle curve, gyropitch or a new antigravity pitch, whatever makes him more effective. If I’m not mistaken latest Hank position on the team is he’s willing to wait at least one year to see this bunch of pitchers get it right some of the front runners may not share that view but since they are not going to occupy any seats any time soon they might as well be rooting for another team or for VAIOS, HP, DELL or whomever they bought that PC from for all we care. If you’re going to start chirping show me some love first. Mutts don’t count they spend their guilt at that playground in Queens.

Most tabloid writers worry too much (yeah right THEY worry) about the Yankees current lineup they think that having the same lineup as last year is inherently wrong. Are we talking about the same lineup that recorded a hell of a second half last year and one of the greatest comebacks in modern baseball history? After been given up for dead and buried in May? People conveniently want to forget that amazing feat that took place over the entire season and want to focus instead on the short trip to the post season. But you know what?  We keep getting to the post season and sooner than later (most probably this post season) we’ll get it right (the law of averages is now in our favor) and take that AL championship once and for all and once there we like our chances. Heck of a lineup and a better manager. What’s not to like?

We don’t have Santana is that it?

There is a nice piece on the Daily News by Bob Raissman that is worth commenting on.

It relates to how Hank’s continued sound bites may have an adverse effect on the team (I’m sure Hank wouldn’t want to have anything to do with that). First of all he seems to be trying to remind everybody he’s the new Boss nobody is disputing that and second he goes to some extent to explain how in the decision process with the Yankees the bucks always stops with him. Everybody got that clear? Yet he still comes across as being too impulsive and whenever he utters some candid comments he happens to be within hearing distance of a mike (sort of on the record type of thing). As the article says there will be times when that would put his players in an unenviable position trying to prove their new Boss right and playing against what would normally be their standard strategy thereby putting his team (and ours) in a bind and if that turns an almost sure win into a loss because the other team was angry and were trying to prove Hank wrong then that would t.o. the fans supremely because a WIN should be A WIN and we need every one of those wins (remember the Mets last year? One more tiny stupid win and they would have been in).

There is a point I beg to differ with Raissman when he says: “John Kruk stopped short of granting Steinbrenner official windbag status, but called his comments utter nonsense.”

"If I was a player on the Yankees I would cringe every time a microphone was put in front of this man (Hankenstein) because who knows what he's going to say to upset other teams or other players," Kruk said. "He's going to alienate a lot of other players who are going to say, 'I'm not going to ever go anywhere close to that team to want to play for them."

Says Raissman:”Kruk conveniently forgot to mention The Boss and how players came to the Yankees, despite his maniacal ravings, in search of the monster paychecks he was signing.”

That is not totally accurate. As I recalled the Boss always wanted the pitchers Tommy John, Alexander, Morris and Randy Johnson and although Tommy John, Alexander and RJ played for the Yankees they did so after their prime when no other team would give them the kind of love they were looking for and Morris who was coveted by the Boss immensely never came to the Bronx (he’s now in the HOF limbo and probably will be there for some time).

Based on my repeated comments on shaft during his 2004 and 2005 stay with the Yankees a lot of fans would have thought I have always hated Sheffield with a passion but that was not the case.

I thought Sheffield did a great job in 2004 (an MVP type of season where he even played injured (and he made sure we knew that every second of that season but overall he did very well) he even, together with ALEX and the rest of the team, played great up until the end of the third game of that ALCS with Foston when Foston was so demoralized they were almost calling it quits as evidenced by Damon, Varitek, Millard and other key players’ declarations after that third game and then Magic happened (in reverse) Sheffield decided to drive the point home that those Yankees and those sux were not even in the same Universe and that’s all Francona needed to hear and used it as the battle cry to rally his troops into such a great comeback.

Sort of like when Lasorda used some commentary by Don Costas in 1988 where he said the Dodgers shouldn't even be in the same field with the Oakland A’s on that WS and next thing you know at the sound of KILL COSTAS one of the greatest performances in modern baseball History occurred helped by that unforgettable HR by Gibson. And that’s why I still hate Sheffield and ALEX should too.

Up to that point ALEX numbers were out of this Galaxy and then came game fourth and you know the rest of the story and now it makes me wonder how much ALEX would be worth (not according to Boras but his real worth) if we had won that World Series? Alex would have had his first WS ring on his first Yankee try (one of too many maybe?) and David would have had his Dynasty intact and probably still going.

Perfect game in March? We’ll take it (with a grain of salt but we’ll take it). It’s true that Igawa had a good record in Japan specially throwing strikes, I think that most of this problems are he’s afraid of been hit around and that’s exactly what’s happening to him. Hopefully Joe will instill some confidence in Igawa and he’ll start painting those corners and fooling those hitters often enough, that’s not far-fetched.

Nice to see Hughes take another positive step in the right direction and most people don’t talk about the X factor but Girardi will definitively play a big role in the team’s performance. Being able to go with your gut feeling as he does means he has a genuine feel for the game and that will mean a few more games will be won than if the Yankees were playing sans Joe.

Guide them well Joe , , ,  guide them well.

First let’s give thanks for Bobby Murcer.

Now back to ST.

I see a trend here with Joba and Kennedy. Their outings were not that pretty (that’s what Girardi said and I agree) and yes I know, we’re still in ST.

What feeds my curiosity is the fact that they seem to be very cool about giving homeruns: Kennedy trying to challenge a good friend of his Young (then expecting to get a Thank you note from him) and Joba by failing to finish his throw and feeding his growing ego by inflicting pain on the next batter (he’s probably been studying tapes of Gibson and Drysdale). The question is this is Kennedy going to focus even harder or is he going to act just like a veteran successful pitcher which he’s not (1 Win with the Yankees, nowhere near) and is Joba going to learn how to finish up those throws NOW or is he just going to TALK the TALK which he does PLENTY. Convenient quotes are great but when are you going to focus on baseball with far more intensity and concentrate less on the booze (and burn those fun nights tapes starring Billy and the Mick). We want a WS title (at the team’s earliest convenience of course) no more idle talk, please. Otherwise I wouldn’t be surprised if those JOBA RULES T-shirts are replaced in a hurry by the brand new MELANCON RULES ones.

And while we are on the subject: Is Girardi working on a plan that would increase the number of day games WINS and reverse the lack-of-syndrome which seems to affect our young players (English for hangovers). First the WS banners then the booze in that order please.

I hate to bother ALEX but now is good time to work on those 3-0 counts.

Others might still be tickled to death with those 156 RBI’s but I know you can do better almost without even trying (harder that is). There will be times when getting on base on a walk might not be good enough (sort of like during the playoffs) and it seems that when you play more aggressively on such a count your results are better (it all depends on how that guy covering your back on the lineup is doing that particular day of the week but in general your numbers are better when you don’t take that next pitch).

Wang got hit yesterday and Kyle did better than in his last outing; it’s all in a ST day’s work.

The difference between Wang and other young studs (like Kennedy and Joba) is that Wang without much fanfare and without the support an ACE should get from his frigging GM is a known quantity, truly nothing to worry about, a professional major leaguer. When a young pitcher has a horrible start as Wang did last year and finish the season with a respectable (very respectable) 19 in the W column that speaks volumes for him. The sinker will sink; he’ll give us the innings we’re supposed to get from him. That’s what I’m talking about.

I have always been a fan of Kyle. It’s hard to believe than Girardi and Cox could be wrong about Farnsworth. Me? I understand people saying what the hell does he know? But one thing is true I’ve probably attended more baseball college and softball college games than most people writing for any of the local tabloids. They beat me easily on Yankees games with a caveat: I had to pay for my frigging tickets, that goes to my advantage and still I have attended a lot of games at Yankee stadium. So when I say I’m impressed with Farnsworth’s arsenal and his lack of spin when he gets hit I’m really impressed and I’m not easily impressed as Joba can tell.

So Farnsy (last time I call you that) feel free to roam, take your time. TRUST your stuff and allow yourself to be lights out as you should. And I still think Kyle was right about his comments on Clemens last year (about not being a team thing working on his own family schedule, which probably made the Rocket change his mind about it).

As for Torre that was the worst kept secret in baseball:

Yes George W. F.ing King the f.ing III (you friggin washwoman). I would like to hear what Torre has to say about Kyle I have a few salvos waiting for Torre’s reply. You were all GUILTY of covering up for Torre he thought he was a Manager for life (and so did you, a fan of Chavez no doubt).

Not a surprise coming from the jerk who picked the Yankees not to make it this season and gave the Yankees up for dead last May. We know you'll jump on the bandwagon in the end. You always do.