Topic: Yankees Baseball

Ever since Bud decided to turn the All Stars game from an exhibition game into a meaningful one there are reasons to try to win this game at all costs.

So give Francona some breathing room he knows what’s at stake and he’ll do the right thing when the time comes after all Foston is an interested party this year after the type of first half they had (sans Ortiz and almost sans Manny) I don’t blame him for not wanting to commit himself beforehand.

He’s a smart manager and a very capable one let’s give him some room.

And to all those wonderful athletes who are visiting us this week:

Hey guys   . . . . . .     Micasa es su casa.

The twelfth win by the Moose came and went. Nice performance of a well prepared pitcher with a clear purpose, determination and discipline.

Moose: stay the course.   Three more towards 15.  You’ll get there in no time  . . . . . . . .   One game at a time of course.

The offense should get better in the second half to give a helping hand.

The offense found a way to deliver some timely hitting starting with the great at bat by Sexon whose tall frame and glove will save a few E’s for the infielders. Sexon was once an imposing player and effective hitter as well and there is no reason why playing for a team that doesn’t live and die on his at bats (just like when Abreu came from Philadelphia) may help him get on a nice hitting stride.

Welcome Richie    . . . . .   no worries just give us a good effort; everything else will fall into place. This is a team sport and we expect team results; cover your teammates on the field and they will have your back. Don’t try to do too much at the plate  . . . . . .   The hits will fall abd they will occasionally go out of the park  . . . . .   BTW we have a nice short porch on right field  . . . . . .  You know what I mean.

Great and valiant effort by our resident warrior Pettitte.

When the team needed a push and a break along comes this wonderful Texan and just like that he gives us 8 tough innings to save his pen and doing his best to alleviate the pain of his teammates on the field. His game face on as well as his brave heart. More than kudos to you Andy.

Andy’s right. This is no ordinary overrated expensive bunch of whiners: these are the FRIGGING NY YANKEES  GD (whether Cash has forgotten that or not don’t matter) and as such they should perform on the field out of Pride and out of knowing what’s in their DNA (Cashman’s words).

Back at the ranch we noticed something: 12 Wins and 11 more let’s not say one more word just stay consistently on course  . . . . . .  Pretty please.

That dinger by Giambi was right on target and we need more of that   . . . . .  more often.

Time to stop coming up with excuses for losing and time to concentrate on our record and our record only.

Time to explain to Gardner again and again why he needs to do better at the plate since without getting on base he’s less than ordinary because his main weapon is his speed he doesn’t get on base he’s worthless to us and since we don’t have a hitting coach it’s a double losing proposition.

You think this is tough? Wait till you go back to the minors SYSTEM. The time to impress us is now since very soon we’ll be a lot lighter and nimble (financially speaking) and when that happens we are not going to go looking for bargains and players like you won’t matter to us that much anymore. Again: you’re running out of time and so will be a few more people  . . . . .  they know who they are.

I was relieved a couple of years ago when I saw Cashman starting to undo the damage done by the Boss (and Cash) dispensing away cash like if it was funny money but I’m beginning to worry that he actually wants to bring the Yankees budget to pre-Steinbrenner level which is why Damon is so anxious to come back to the active roster after banging his back side against the fences (something he promised he’ll do on a daily basis when he came from Foston on second thought maybe that wouldn’t have been bad after all) before he’s traded away for a cheapo one arm bandit.

The tabloids keep bugging Joba because his record doesn’t show all those Wins that the front runners would like him to have to justify being removed from the bullpen but EVERYBODY has conveniently forgotten that it was just THIS season he was doing fine in the pen when Hank forced Cash (“I had told Hank all along that was my original plan” my butt) to move Joba to the rotation (gradually of course) where he’s training "on the job" (at ML level that is).

If I’m not mistaken he’s right on track lasting the required number of innings with more success than failure (a lot better that Santana, Beckett and other studs at the same level during their rookie years) so it’s nobody’s business other than Hank. Hal and Cash why he’s going at the pace he’s going which to us fans is perfectly copacetic and we have absolutely no worries in that regard so if you want to bug somebody try Waggs next door or Oliver they can hack it and they been doing their job for some time now.

Meantime Joba   . . . . .   just screw them because when you be the starting stud that we know you’re going to be they will be after you telling you how they knew all along how great you were going to be.  Meantime my man stay the course you’re looking just fine.

The box of chocolates parallel won’t do anymore we need consistency we want consistency; we know it’s hot and humid out there but we also know it’s a privilege to wear that sweaty uniform and just as Georgy said “show me the money” we now said “you got your money show us the heart” “show us the mettle”.

We owe Girardi nothing, he hasn’t shown much other than trying to be politically correct but the honeymoon should be over by now and I for one I’m not that impressed other than hearing about the cup being half-full but that’s my job not the manager’s. This is the second half; this is the time to see what Girardi is really made of. We want to see a consistent effort, a consistent winning attitude, less spin more TIMELY hitting (one of the things we are missing badly) RELENTLESSLY. The sux have hit some tough spots so it’s time for us to start winning more often and close that gap soonest.

The tabloids keep saying that tough times lay ahead since the teams we’ll be playing are teams over .500 to that I say: the sooner the better since it seems we do better against good to great teams than against weaker ones (you may call it the Oliver Perez syndrome) so let’s get that part of the business out of the way.

So play safe, play consistently better and drink tons of liquids out there.

If the Yankees are serious (actually half way serious) about making a run for the roses this year there are a few items they have to take care of.

One is they need to win a lot of games at home which means we’ll need a new Center fielder with power who can bat right handed and who could be a clutch hitter to compensate for the material fool and others. The other reason is that when playing at home Melky is a party animal who doesn’t get enough sleep and that we can do without. Ship him away so Cano can dedicate 100 % to the team.

We need to take care of Georgy’s arm/shoulder and mouth which he flaps To Whom It May Concern non-stop. We don’t need this crap he got his money get an operation and shut up we already have found out we can play without him behind the plate.

Are we serious enough to get a real starting pitcher to compliment what we have?  Which isn't much but it's not bad either.

Can we get the lefty we need in the bullpen and if we are half way serious here Cash needs to go out and get that arm ASAP. Stop worrying about Giambi and others who will be leaving the ship next season concentrate on what we need to do to overcome the problems facing us NOW (if we are half way serious about it).

And finally we’ll need to win 7 out of every ten future games and although not an impossible task it’s not going to be an easy one either, which will mean playing err less defense, playing with discipline at the plate (even if we have to get a new hitting coach, this one SUC/KS big time), playing with focus and intensity, leaving the clowning at the barrio and playing to win every game.

If we can answer yes to the above then we may make a serious run at the playoffs, needless to say Giambino and the material fool will need to hit in the clutch not when they feel like massaging their stats; meaning bringing their A swing to the plate (where did I hear that?) in every at bat not their AA or triple A swing as it’s now the case.

And let’s stop paying attention to the tabloids about Molina not batting close to .300 I’d rather have Molina behind the plate than anybody else and that’s a fact not a slight to any barbeque freak or any other catcher in the league.

That’s a good start!

I we can play like this day in and day out it matters not who’s on the mound because THE TEAM WILL HAVE HIS BACK   . . . .  PERIOD.   If we keep it up we know we can play with anybody out there during the rest of the season and BEYOND.

BUT    . . . .  since things are not always the way we want them to be   . . . . . .  That’s where Cashman comes in and gets the necessary pieces to make this team whole.  Time is beginning to run out for Cashman so stop penny pinching and show us what you have learned from your better colleagues from around the league.

Finally Jorge has decided to put the team ahead of himself; the arm wasn’t there anymore and it’s better to skip this year and come back stronger and more fit next year than to take the team on an unrecoverable crash dive with him.

Whatever happened to your arm is one of those unforeseeable things but what matters is that you chose not to hurt the team and to me that wipes the slate clean.  You got paid for what you did last year and there is nothing wrong with that but it was not to be the same this year hopefully you’ll be okay again next season and you and the team will be one again.

Meantime take care of that shoulder and REST; you have earned it. We’ll see you next year and I hope you’re right about this team being special because I have felt all along this is feast or famine but you may be right (I want to believe you are right).  Sorry about the snide remarks  . . . . .  in my defense I can only say that I bleed Yankee blue first and foremost.

Someone realized that the right porch is kind of short and that’s welcome news    . . . . . .  Keep it up.

It was also nice to see Molina going 3 for 4. I know that’s not going to happen every game he’s in but I’m glad to see that like I have said before I’m perfectly content with whatever Molina brings to the team and I won’t stop needling Cash:  Aren’t you glad you re-signed Molina?

What a steal!!

Talking about Molina.

You need to take care of those tendons and hamstrings and knees Jose.

So warm up properly and go easy on them and better to walk to home plate than to let Bobby Meacham send you from second to home and risk injury   . . . .  unless of course we’re on the seventh game of the World Series ninth inning at home with two outs on a tied game and a runner on third base and you’re racing to first on a groundball bobbled by an opposing infielder then by all means blow that G damn hamstring and cover yourself in glory   . . . . . .   needless to say I will name my next born Jose.

The relievers did their job; all of them: David Robertson, Jose Veras, Kyle Farnsworth, and Dan Giese.

I don’t see nor hear many boo birds now as it should be and it’s about time we give credit to Dave Eiland the pitching coach  . . . . .  excellent job at this time (a thing of beauty  really)  . . . . . .  if he could only work with Hughes that would help a lot because Phil still is a fugazzy no more no less.

A lot of credit goes to Mariano too for helping the young pitchers specially Ramirez whom I was beginning to wish he erased himself from the Yankee Universe.

What about Gardner (who was going to terrorize the opposing pitchers he’s amusing them instead to say the least) someone else would have listened and I don’t mean to Damon or Giambi.

Let me get this straight Gardner doesn’t want to be disciplined at the plate and how else is he going to get on base? He reminds me of Kennedy he thinks he has arrived just like Ian “I don’t see why I should go back to triple A to do what? Kennedy. He’s beginning to look like a truly pathetic figure the sort of we saw last time when Christian pitch ran for Giambi and his rear wheels dug deep in the sand.

Someone surely forgot to check the pressure on those tires.

Following the advanced reports I was expecting to see a pair of Doberman Pinchers or even Mini Pinchers but what we got is a couple of harmless Chihuahuas just a little bark with not even a bite    . . . .   Under the amusement section they should be filed   . . . . .  they are no Gomez & Co., nor Ellsbury or Jose Reyes  . . . . .   really.

Unless someone set them straight they will continue to look pathetic and harmless.

They might have been awesome in triple A but that was then THIS is now.