Topic: Yankees Baseball

Mussina was given up for dead at the beginning of the season specially after being manhandled in Boston early in the season I was one of his biggest detractors after that game but the thing I had going for me is that I placed most of the blame on Girardi and I still do.

My beef with the Moose then was of a different sort: I thought he had always undersold his efforts on the field mostly due to his distaste (or so it seems ) for the type of calls he used to get from the plate umpires; I always thought “once Moose accepts these guys for what they are and works within the strike zone du jour he’ll surely be okay” and fortunately after we all went hard on him I thought he saw the point and made adjustments and became the pitcher we thought he could be based on his work ethic and talent and knowledge of the game and you can’t say that about many talented pitchers and Moose is not just a talented pitcher; he’s a lot more special and he has proven that beyond every fan expectations but I don’t think he surprised himself my take is he always knew he was capable of pitching better, much better, of locating better and becoming a more prolific winning pitcher and the proof is he doesn’t even feel exhausted or with pain after all those starts, as he went on this year trying to be the stabilizer of the team from the starters viewpoint.

Whether he returns next year or not or whether he returns to pitching for one or several years is not the topic of this post.

The team overall performance has been surprisingly pleasant for us fans (true fans. Is there any other kind?) Especially lately when most teams start making plans for golf tournaments or long awaited vacations. Our Yankees are still in business, in the business of winning season games.

So what’s the point? The point is that the team needs to play on all cylinders against the Sux behind the Moose today if only to prove themselves they did their best which will serve to highlight the fact that if a couple of games would have gone our way we might be getting ready for the upcoming playoffs.

So it wasn’t mean to be and we’ll live with that content in the knowledge that the basis for a great team are there how that will pan out it’s hard to say: this is MLB not professional wrestling.

So it’s with full confidence that I call on A-rod to be 120 % focused at the plate and show us why he deserves to make $28 mil. a year when the country’s economy is in shambles and give us a refund (sort of) in the form of 4 or 5 good at bats concentrating on the pitcher at hand (Matzusaka this time) knowing beforehand Matzusaka will hit you at least once and making that work in our favor knowing you’ll have at least one chance thanks to Matzusaka’s generosity to steal second and position yourself ready to score on a single and the whole team, knowing that Matzusaka is a pitcher you need to attack early because the gets better as the innings progress, will follow suit.

This is the game where Cano needs to concentrate on both defense and at the plate from the get go.

Mussina has his work cut out for him and there is no doubt in my mind that he’ll play to the best of his abilities and intelligence concentrating on each offering one at a time and knowing his teammates will cover his back. We are hoping for a beautifully played game and a gallant team effort.

MOOSE      . . . . .     you’re going for another win and it’s not going to be easy but none of those wins have been easy this season and yet you have been able to come out on top 19 times so far and that was a not a fluke.  Go Cardinal    . . . . . .     No extra pressure other than knowing that once this result is achieved you and all our true Yankee fans will feel a lot better for you as well as will support you from afar while in progress and will be united with you in one virtual embrace from the first pitch on to your last out.

Go for it Moose one pitch at a time   . . . . . . .    you won’t be alone, you know that.

We know you can do it and we’ll love you just the same and we thank you apriori for such a valiant, intelligent and professional effort.

MVP in our hearts and you’d better believe that matters   . . . . . .    A lot.

And the record shows:

Mike Mussina      RHP 20-9           ERA  3.37

That should take care of those who claimed the Moose didn’t belong in the HOF because of what used to be an alleged glitch on his resume.

Johnny Damon said it well: “Pitching in the toughest division in baseball”   . . . . . .   Two more wins than Jim Palmer, Moose has won more than 100 games more than he lost.

I know Bobby Murcer is smiling now.

Thank you Moose   . . . . . .   Our MVP. Take a look back and enjoy, I know we will.  Oh and   . . . . . . . .    leave Karma to Karma.

According to Cashman he took the extension to finish things in the Bronx and he wants his fair share for all the things that went right with the franchise.

What is this? According to Ken Davidoff Felix Lopez a former landscaper now wields some power as to what the Yankees should look like? What are this guy’s credentials? Is he a native New Yorker? Did he play professional baseball or what?  Heaven help us!

Just because we have some $78 million coming off the books it doesn’t mean we need to spend those 78 million (stupid tabloids)   . . . . .    then we’ll be back to square one.

Whatever happened to those two big money pitchers?

“This is where I need to be, this is the situation I want to be in and I needed to come out and pitch a good game tonight,” said SABATHIA, who has lost his last three playoff starts. “And I didn’t do that, so you can blame this loss squarely on me.”

How much do you want to bet Cashman that all of a sudden Sabathia might be interested in putting the Yankees at the top of his preferred list?

Yeah local tabloids we need a MONEY pitcher for the rotation, particularly during the postseason, particularly one who might need a few MRI’s when the day’s done. Poor Sabathia  . . . . . .   besides that pile of money he wants to hit too. Ain’t that a beatch?

The Cubs have lost all five of Zambrano’s postseason starts, dating back to 2003.

I’ve never liked that punk Zambrano, especially after he punched his catcher, similarly to what that other fat toad Prince did to that pitcher when they were losing a particular game this season and where is Clutch Prince now when the team needs him? Just to think that a local tabloid sportswriter said a few days ago that Prince might be the bat the Yankees need. First he needs to get off that Michael Phelps’ diet then he needs to undergo a serious Psychiatric evaluation.

Does this sound like Manny being Manny?

"We're going to L.A., we need one more game and we have to keep playing hard," Ramirez said. "They're the best team in the National league and anything can happen. We're not there yet."

Hardly.

L.A.Confidential 2.

I bet Mattingly is tweaking Manny’s mechanics or so he’ll say on his next book    . . . . . . . .    guaranteed.