Topic: Yankees Baseball

So for a team who justly or unjustly had been accused of choking the last couple of years to the point that one well known writer questioned the players manhood (Wallace Matthews of all people came to the team’s defense questioning the writer’s own manhood in kind that was Wallace day in the sun but the muts soon forgot) and since then every time the team is about to start a season they are reminded of those seasons when they choke at the end. I think time has passed for that kind of crap to be written BUT now you have in your roster the last player you want to have if you’re trying hard to clean your image and not be called chokers anymore.

On a different note for those interested in attending a jewel of a game between two Northeast powerhouses which usually give a good account of themselves come the NCAA Division I Softball tournament (that’s fast pitch softball for the uninitiated) do yourselves a favor and go to the Long Island University Softball field located in the Long Island University Campus in downtown Brooklyn tomorrow Tuesday April 28 at 6: PM and you’ll get to see two wonderful representatives of the NY area collegiate Softball going at each other in a intra conference game and leaving it all on the field (that’s the way these two teams play day in and day out, year after year).

Fast softball at its best. These two teams are perennial participants in the annual NCAA tournament something that some regional and even national powerhouses across the nation with the exception of some of the PAC 10 and SEC teams can’t claim. These two teams are at par with UMASS and Boston College who happen to be (sometimes) better known in collegiate circles although both LIU and Hofstra coaches might disagree with that.

The LIU Blackbirds (Black and off white uniform) are currently 17-1 in their conference and Hofstra Pride (gold white and royal blue uniform) is 14-3 in their own conference which are important stats since they will play in their own conferences tournaments to determine the champion who will automatically participate in the coming NCAA softball tournament in May.

You’ve seen the finals on TV (ESPN) taking place in Oklahoma City!

The tournament is called Women’s College World Series and that’s where you had the chance to watch the great ones like Cat Osterman, Monica Abbot, Jessica Mendoza, Caitlin Lowe, Alicia Hollowell  and other players and pitchers who are far better players that the prima-donnas we see in MLB.

Contrary to the new Yankee stadium superb clean lines the softball field is not ostentatious but you get to see scholar athletes (some of the best 40 in the country coming to study and play at Hofstra and LIU from faraway places like California, Arizona, Florida, Oregon, State of Washington and sometimes Canada in order to compete with the best come NCAA tournament time.

Some quasi-psychologists in the media have already started their yearly pilgrimage to Bellevue predicting what the Yanks will and won’t do based on the mental pressure they are under. Spare us the flimsy details. I know more about parallel universes than you do about Psychology which in both cases is next to nothing.

Nobody is urging Aroids to hurry up and play well for a few weeks and then shorten his career. He knows well he has to really pay attention to those aspects of his recovery; he clearly said to Girardi and the media he’s taking one day at a time and that’s English for “He’s not going to rush and then suffer REGARDLESS” which is the wise thing to do in this case.

The Yankee organization has made a huge investment in the recent stars we signed and that’s not a short term investment although everybody keeps saying “the Yankees have to win now”  Yeah if Aroids, Nady and Wang were one hundred thousand percent healthy that would be expected of the team BUT that’s not the case and all the media is doing by putting pressure on Girardi and Cashman is to burn some young arms in the bullpen and ruin some careers and we may never know if they could have helped the sport as a whole or the Yankees in particular if we were somewhat more patient with them.  Why do the sux seem to have better results with their young arms? Because they don’t give two shiits about the media and that’s a fact neither does Varitek that’s why he’s a valuable member of the Sox.

Many NY writers kept saying during the offseason that the Sux would be better off without Varitek I thought at that time that was an idiotic thing to say. Do you still think the Sux would be better off without Varitek?  LMAO.

Verlander  had a plan as every pitcher should and he executed to perfection he knew the Yankees are trying to be disciplined at the plate and he shamelessly took advantage of it just like he did a couple of years ago when the Tigers faced and eliminated the Yankees in the ALDS Leyland heard about the Yankees discipline at the plate and he ordered every pitcher even those who bathe in Pine Tar (a registered trade mark of Kenny Rogers) to throw strikes starting with the first pitch and Torre and Mattingly could never react in time to avert the elimination.

Cano is a different story he is screwing his teammates because all his teammates are being disciplined at the plate and the opposing pitchers are handcuffing the Yankees with first pitch strikes except Cano who is taking advantage of this fact to improve his stats. Any batter could do that but he’s the only player selfish enough to screw the team’s strategy and that’s is beginning to affect Swisher a well know disciplined batter and the rest of the team.

Most writers think Cano is in a breakaway year I think he’s an idiot. Either approach has to be a collective effort and one based on a set strategy and not because one idiot has decided to break ranks with the team to improve his stats at the teams expense.

When Cano came to the plate in Foston with the bases juiced and he swung at the first pitch he ran into a classic double play when the game was on the line he failed and that was no coincidence the Foston pitchers were allowing Cano to do his act as long as they had the rest of the team under control and they did but Long couldn’t help his players because he was enjoying the game as a mere spectator. Teixeira could have done the same but he’s got brains and understands the game well that’s why he’s an Iconic player and the other one never will be.

First game in Detroit went to the Tigers and but I’m sure for every game that Sabathia loses in the early part of the season he will win two during the rest of the season I truly believe that and if Girardi and Sabathia say he threw better last night I believe that too. That game belonged to Verlander who won it in good fashion.

Plenty of time to recuperate the games lost and to get close to the League leaders     . . . . . . . .  slowly but surely, one game at a time.

We’re hoping that Hughes this time around knows what he can do and focuses at game time having learned how to trust his stuff. So many scouts were bedazzled by Hughes some time ago. They couldn’t all be wrong.

Hopefully if Posada is the one who catches him will not panic if men get on base, go easy on the guy stop that non-sense with the crazy nervous signals the most important part of a battery is trusting each other and that includes COMMUNICATIONS and in this case clearly well defined signals.  It’s not rocket science it’s just baseball and the key is execution. Hughes has been for a few years a top Yankee prospect, let’s give him a hand now catching him well and scoring runs for him. That’s not too much to ask and the results could be very rewarding.

The Tigers hurler was awesome and our team responded by acting in a very disciplined way at the plate with the exception of Cano who’s interested in his stats only.  It that works    . . . . . .    more power to him.

Hughes didn’t look like a pitcher that had finally made that leap to the mayors  . . .  no  . . . . .  no  . . .   he acted like a seasoned premier major league pitcher PERIOD.  He stood toe to toe with Jackson the fine Detroit starter and never panicked he kept his composure and went to work with a calm demeanor a seasoned Stud. I think the team is almost whole now and the “almost’ part doesn’t apply to Hughes this stud belongs in here make no mistake about it. It took more than four years for Santana to be “discovered” by his own team    . . . .   Don’t forget that.

These are the same experts who put pressure on the Yankees even before the season started who wanted the Yanks to trade Swisher after Girardi declared that Nady was his starting right fielder where would we be if Cashman would have followed the tabloids pearls of wisdom?

In deeper shiit that’s for sure.

This game felt good. Let’s take it for what it was a win vintage Hughes together with a professional team performance on the offensive side.

Why do I get the feeling this win will turn things around for all the right reasons?