Pinstripes and Pessimism

I Quit, Revisited (Objectivity)

2006-08-14T17:24:14Z

I forgot to post this yesterday as part of my "I Quit" post, so here are a few things left to enjoy while we watch the Yankees fold, once again, to the Red Sox.
Robinson Cano: This is the future of the organization. They better keep him around for the long haul, because this kid is going to be something very, very special.

Melky Cabrera: His ceiling isn't has high as Cano's, but I wouldn't mind seeing him in pinstripes for a long time. The kid has a ton of energy and plays the game with a joy that's noticeably absent from guys like A-Rod, Sheffield and Johnson.

Derek Jeter: Enough said.

Johnny Damon: Turns out he wasn't the devil after all.

Alex Rodriguez: Personally, I can't stand the guy. He and the Big Eunuch are my two least favorite Yankees. That said, you have to at least appreciate what a monumental talent A-Rod is. After his career is over, and the booing is well behind him, we'll all look back and tell our kids that we were lucky enough to watch Alex Rodriguez play. Then we might mention that he couldn't hit with men on base and made an error every other day, and didn't really perform when it counted and, possibly, cost the Yankees a couple of championships. But, man, was he a ballplayer.

Jorge, Bernie and Mo: Jorge's probably got one more productive year left, Bernie may come back next year, but his role would be incredibly limited and, at some point, Mo's going to start to slip a bit. It's easy to get caught up in what's going on this year and lose track of the fact that these guys (along with Jeter) were the core of a team that won four World Series in five years. Not exactly an easy thing to do.

Enjoy the rest of the season, everyone. I'm calling to cancel the MLBlogs subscription today, so I don't know how long they'll leave this up.

I Quit

2006-08-14T00:55:12Z

I'm tired of writing it, you're tired of reading it, let's just call it a day, shall we?
If you've watched the last six games and honestly believe this team is going to make the playoffs, I'm sorry, I can't do anything for you.

Enjoy the rest of the season, folks. I'll just get in my "I told you so" now for good measure. They're finished, and so am I.

Thanks for reading.

What A Surprise

2006-08-12T08:26:21Z

The Angels handled the Yankees, the Red Sox woke up and pounded the Orioles. What a surprise. I predicted the Yankees would split with the Angels. They may only win one game. Four days into the 20-day stretch and we're already reading about how tired the poor Yankees are. That doesn't bode well.
Enjoy first place, fellas. You won't have it much longer.

Adam Loewen Strikes Again

2006-08-12T00:18:24Z

The dominant Adam Loewen is done after 2 1/3 in Boston, yielding six runs on six hits. Keep in mind, he one-hit the Yankees.
7-0 Boston in Fenway.
3-0 Anaheim in the Bronx.

So, after tonight, the Yankees are two games up on the "staggering" Red Sox. Keep in mind the Yanks played a late game last night, had a late flight, and have another night game tonight, which means they'll still be exhausted tomorrow. Which means they'll lose again tomorrow, which will see them sitting in first, a ******** one game up on that awful, sinking ship of a ballclub from Boston.

Adam Loewen woke up the Red Sox. Maybe you folks should wake up, too.

Remember Adam Loewen?

2006-08-11T23:40:36Z

Remember Adam Loewen? The young Orioles pitcher one-hit the Yanks about a week ago. Here's his line after one inning in Boston tonight.
1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K

Huh. How 'bout that.

Meanwhile, in the Bronx: one inning down, one man left on base for the Yankees. In other words, same ****, different day.

In other news, some kid with the last name Carter just threw a 79 MPH fastball in the Little League World Series on ESPN. If you can ignore the fact that he's probably actually 24 years old and a heavy HGH user, it was pretty cool.

Update: Wow, you guys were right. Lidle's been solid. Oh wait, that's Saunders. Lidle's given up two home runs and it's only the 3rd inning. But, yeah, they'll be fine. Come on.

A Blind Eye

2006-08-11T07:51:00Z

From Peter Abraham's Yankees blog:
"The Red Sox lost five straight games against the Devil Rays and Royals and the Yankees picked up only two games in the standings. When you have a chance to throw your rivals under the train, you have to do it. The Red Sox are in a free-fall but they're one series away from being back in first."

Huh. How about that. Somebody else out there realizes that missed opportunities come back to haunt a team, whether it's in one game or over the course of a season.

Another A-Rod error cost the Yankees (and Mike Mussina) another run.

Fifteen (!!) men were left on base, nine in scoring position.

But, because Boston hit the skids, everyone's positive this season is going to turn out well. Guess what? Boston's not going to drop eight or nine games in a row, and the Yankees have perennial Yankee-killers the Angels coming to town. Here's the Angels' rotation for the upcoming series: Saunders, Escobar, Weaver, Lackey. That's four very good pitchers, two of whom the Yankees haven't seen before, and we know how that story ends. Here's the Yankees' rotation: Lidle, Wright, Wang, Johnson. That's three big ifs and one solid starter who's last outing wasn't exactly fantastic. Who exactly does that favor? (Hint: not the Yankees.)

When the series at Fenway has come and gone, and the Yankees are back in second place, remember these last three days. You can see this collapse coming a mile away.

Give the Devil His Due

2006-08-10T17:42:57Z

Like him or not (and I do not), Randy Johnson shut the White Sox down for six innings last night, proving a number of his critics wrong, at least for the moment. Johnson's no-hit performance through six was so good that it managed to overshadow his minor meltdown in the seventh (single, walk, double, double, yanked). Maybe a few people saw this outing coming, but I sure didn't. We'll see going forward if this was an anomaly or if Johnson can find some consistencty.
Overuse caught up with Kyle Farnsworth (well, that and a regained infatuation with his slider) and Mo continued to hiccup a bit against the White Sox. I'm not sure whether this is something to be concerned about, as Mo has been markedly less dominant since the all-star break, or if it's just a bump in the road. I recall him enduring a similar "effective, but not dominant" stretch around this time last season. Something to keep an eye on.

The Red Sox are teetering right now, no doubt about that. But, again, if writing the Yankees off in May was a mistake, so is writing the Red Sox off right now. They'll get Wakefield, Nixon and Varitek back soon enough and they'll make a run. It's a matter of how much distance the Yankees can put between themselves and the Red Sox before that happens. The Red Sox were kicking themselves for not being able to shut the door on the Yankees, and the Yankees could very easily find themselves in a similar position come September. Don't print those playoff tickets just yet.

Objectivity

2006-08-09T18:20:54Z

"The Yankee payroll argument ain't flying this year, Boston fans. If your team isn't there in October (and don't worry, they will be), you can look at that three-month stretch where the Red Sox had every opportunity to put the Yankees away and couldn't close the door."
That was posted, by me, August 4, 2006 as part of the entry Cry, Cry, Cry. Seeing as how it whas a whole five days ago, it's understandable that you guys have already forgotten it.

Try actually reading the blog before you decide to tell me what I did and didn't say.

Also, if you'd bothered to read the post entitled Little of This, Little of That, you'd understand that my attitude has nothing to do with living up to the title of the blog and everything to do with the early 90's and 2004. Again, if you're just coming here to insult and argue, more power to you, but you'd be better served to actually read the posts before you argue them. Just a suggestion.

At the end of this 21-game stretch, the Yankees will have squandered their season and you'll be wondering how it happened. All you had to do was pay attention.

And yes, I honestly believe that.

Mark My Words

2006-08-09T17:03:57Z

This stretch of 21 games in 20 days is going to murder the Yankees. They'll go 11-10 at best.
Randy Johnson's line tonight will be: 4 2/3 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 9 H, 3 BB, 1 K. He'll take the loss.

Get ready to hear/read the following statements a few times over the next three weeks:

1) "It was a frustrating loss, but I feel good about this team."
2) "We just need to get back to doing what we do and letting the game come slowly."
3) "We're a tired team right now, but that's no excuse."
4) "Randy's searching. We're all hoping he'll find it."

It's not going to be a pretty three weeks. The Red Sox are certainly struggling right now, but the Yankees' season is about to start spiraling. Wait and see.

Back By Popular Demand

2006-08-08T17:48:04Z

Because these predictions seem to infuriate people, I figure why not keep throwing them out there. The worst-case (or best-case, depending upon your perspective) scenario is I'm wrong, the Yankees play well, and you guys have a little fun at my expense. I can live with that. Here are the next two weeks for the Yanks and Sox, respectively.
Yankees
@CWS: 1-2
vs. LAA: 2-2
vs. BAL: 2-1
@ BOS: 2-3
Overall: 7-8

Red Sox
@ KC: 3-0
vs. BAL: 2-1
vs. DET: 2-1
vs. NYY: 3-2
Overall: 10-4

That's a 3.5 game swing, which leaves Boston up 1.5 games after the Fenway series. The fine folks at ESPN are wetting themselves at that possibility. What a harrowing story of triumph it will be.

Finally, is it just me, or does Boston seem to get a series with the Royals every time they need to get things back on track?

Little of This, Little of That

2006-08-08T17:34:52Z

Before I jump in to another bout of predictions, let's get a few things out of the way. I know it may seem like I don't enjoy the games, or don't actually want the Yankees to win, but that simply isn't the case. I'm not old enough to have seen Mantle, Maris, Berra, Munson, Guidry or Catfish, but I am old enough to have grown up watching Mattingly, Winfield, Randolph and that gang win 90+ games every year and still miss the post-season. I realize that, traditionally, the Yankees are a winning organization, but there are "down" periods, so for me to understand that, at some point, they're going to miss the playoffs isn't really a crime. Some people think being a fan means always believing in the best possible outcome, and that's fine, but that's not me. You're not foolish for having faith in this team, and I'm not foolish - nor am I a Red Sox fan - just because I don't expect them to win this year. Differing opinions are okay. Discussing sports is part of the fun of being a fan.
Everything changed after 2004. That series knocked the wind out of a lot of fans, myself included. Watching the Yankees fold like a cheap card table was both unsettling and unexpected. Watching them follow up that performance by starting the 2005 campaign in such poor fashion only solidified my belief that it's going to be a while before we see a dominant Yankees team. I don't think you can count on guys like Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez, and their respective performances this season haven't done anything to dispel that notion. For all the heart the Yankees have shown this year (plenty), when it comes down to it, guys like Johnson and Rodriguez are going to have to produce on a consistent basis for the next two months, or this team is going to miss the playoffs. As I have seen absolutely nothing yet this season which would lead me to believe either is capable of doing so, I believe the Yankees will miss the playoffs. I think that's a relatively logical conclusion to come to. Is Boston in better shape? Not right now, no. But there are two months left. Remember, the Yankees were 3.5 games back of Boston at this point last year, and they came back. A two-game lead with nearly two months left isn't exactly a stranglehold on the division. It is my belief - and has been since 2004 - that getting my hopes up about this team isn't necessarily a recipe for happiness.

A few other thoughts:

Peter Abraham wrote a great piece on Chien-Ming Wang. You can find it here.

I can not wait to watch Phillip Hughes pitch a major league game. This kid is going to be special.

I think we're all getting ahead of ourselves with the Matsui/Sheffield talk. Remember, they have yet to be cleared for BP. If and when they do come back, there's a distinct possibility that they could hinder the team more than help. It'll take them a while to get their timing back, and in order to do so, they'll be taking at-bats away from guys like Cabrera and Wilson. I'm not sure that helps the team. If you're expecting Matsui and Sheffield to jump right back in to action and be 100% effective, you're in for a massive disappointment.

I'd Bet Anything

2006-08-07T17:58:45Z

Place your bets, folks. Here comes the next prediction.
The Red Sox will be atop the AL East by the time that five-game series in Fenway concludes. And ESPN will have a field day. I'd bet anything on it. So, excluding monetary wagers, if you've got a creative bet to place, respond here and we'll work something out.

Before We Hand Them the Pennant...

2006-08-07T02:01:21Z

Two things to consider regarding the Yankees' future:
1) In his last two starts, Randy Johnson has allowed 13 runs (10 earned) and has not struck out a batter.
2) After his 0-5 performance today, A-Rod finished the Baltimore series 1-13.

Both of these guys are going to have to step up and find some consistency for the Yankees to make any noise come October. It is my belief that they won't. I haven't seen anything in the last four months to convince me otherwise, which is why my prediction hasn't - and won't - change.

Fausto Carmona Strikes Again!

2006-08-06T02:34:19Z

The Indians led the Tigers 3-2 going in to the bottom of the 9th in Detroit. Here's what transpired:

Bottom 9TH B:0 S:0 O:0
Pitcher Change: Fausto Carmona replaces Jason Davis.

Bottom 9TH B:0 S:0 O:0
Brandon Inge singles on a bunt ground ball to first baseman Victor Martinez.

Bottom 9TH B:0 S:3 O:1
Curtis Granderson strikes out on foul tip.

Bottom 9TH B:1 S:0 O:2
Placido Polanco grounds into a force out, shortstop Jhonny Peralta to second baseman Joe Inglett. Brandon Inge out at 2nd. Placido Polanco to 1st.

Bottom 9TH B:0 S:0 O:2
Ivan Rodriguez homers (9) on a fly ball to left field. Placido Polanco scores.

Hey Eric, maybe, just mmmaaaaaayyyybbbeeee the kid isn't ready to close out games. Maybe it's time to give somebody else a shot. That statement, of course, presumes that you care one whit about winning.

One-Hit Wonders

2006-08-05T23:57:35Z

One-hit by the Baltimore Orioles. Another proud notch in the Yankee belt.
By the time I post tomorrow, they'll be back in second place. Hope you all enjoyed another short-lived stay in the AL East penthouse.