It’s another gorgeous day in New York. It’s a balmy 70 degrees and, though it’s hazier than the last two days, that haze might actually benefit the Yankees and Indians as they have a late afternoon start time as FOX’s game of the week.
With each team having taken one game thus far in this four-game set, today’s third game offers a compelling pitching matchup as both teams send their struggling sinkerballer to the mound in the hope of witnessing a breakthrough.
Fausto Carmona enters today’s game with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP after having lost his first two starts, both of which also came on the road. Carmona got 20 fly balls to just 14 grounders in those two games and has walked six against just five strikeouts, but at least he lasted five innings in both starts. Chien-Ming Wang enters today’s game with a whopping 28.93 ERA and 4.50 WHIP after throwing just 4 2/3 innings in his first two starts combined. Wang has a better groundball rate than Carmona thus far, though it’s still tilted the other way with 14 flies to 11 grounders, but he’s also walked six in less than half as many innings and struck out just one batter. In 2007, both of these pitchers won 19 games. Last year, both won just eight due to injury and poor performance.
So who’s going to turn it around today? Wang, who pitching coach Dave Eiland said has looked good in his side sessions but has thus far been unable to bring his good stuff to the game mound, has the advantage of pitching at home for the first time this season and is the first pitcher to make a second start at Yankee Stadium having started against the Cubs in the exhibition game on April 3. Of course, he didn’t pitch particularly well in that game either. Carmona faced the Yankees just once last year, surviving five walks in five innings by inducing 16 ground balls. The Indians won that game in the eighth on a three-run David Dellucci home run off Joba Chamberlain.
Johnny Damon gets a half-day off at DH today as Nick Swisher returns to right field and Melky Cabrera slides over to left. Slick-fielding Ramiro Peña gets the start at third base behind the groundballing Wang. Hideki Matsui, who has fluid in his knees, isn’t starting for the second day in a row.
Meanwhile, Juan Miranda, who was called up before yesterday’s game, has been optioned out for Anthony Claggett, the righty reliever acquired in the Sheffield trade who spent 2008 in Double-A and was dominant in spring training. I’m not sure why the Yankees didn’t just keep David Robertson after his two strong innings on Thursday (he was optioned down for Miranda and thus can’t return for ten days unless the Yankees suffer a pitching injury), but I am glad to see the relief reinforcements Triple-A getting some early cups of coffee. Robertson and Claggett could prove to be important pieces as the season advances.
Since Cliff put up the new thread, I'll bring this over:
monkeypants, you've got a fair question about Miranda (why bring him up?). I would have said so Matsui didn’t have to pinch hit, but of course he did, and Miranda did nothing.
Perhaps it had something to do with Dunder-Mifflin? Maybe the FO didn’t want to leave them two relievers short (could Robertson get back quickly enough? Are they on the road?)? I’m speculating now, because I’d like to believe there was a good reason behind it.
Cliff, all Claggett needs is 2.1 IP and he’ll have pitched more for the Yanks than any other piece of the Sheff trade. Not what I expected when that trade went down.
speaking of comments from the last thread, Austin Kearns hit a grand slam today...
A lot of movement on that first pitch there from Chien-MIng.
It's so nice to see an actual game! I've never been so grateful for Fox in all my life. Usually I'm mad when it's on Fox and not YES, but seeing as how I don't have YES these days, I'm thrilled.
Lots of baseball today; I coached my kid in his first game today and we won! The kid led off and went 3-3 with 2R!
Yay baseball!
Damn, I forgot about the Saturday blackout rules. I'm just listening to the mlb audio feed.
Does Wang look good? He sure sounds good!
I'll take a K.
[3] Curses, not on Fox here.
Did your kid hit any homers? You have to teach him to hit homers. That's *real* baseball.
[4] That 3-1 was dangerously up.
[6] ha ha hah ah ah ah ah ah !!!!
[3] i'm sure your boy is all smiles today - congrats (to both of you)!
shit, did i miss Swish reading the Yankees lineup? it's supposedly hysterical (according to LoHud). hopefully, it's at the bottom of this inning...
Good, I'm glad you got that joke!
My son played soccer today. Goalie. Good game -- he got the shutout, mainly due to his defense.
Looks to me like the ball's staying up. First pitch of the game was down, with good movement, but it was nearly in the dirt.
Since then, it seems like everything's up.
[10] Oooooh, goalie! That's hard core! Bravo to him!
[9] Cheers! Yes, he's been looking forward to playing for like two years now. And he's sitting next to me calling the game: "Staying alive."
:)
Ball's staying up.
He better figure something out or it's going to be a long day.
Pop up out, fly ball out. Not good, but Wang did put them down 1 2 3, so that's a better start than last game.
Now mlb has cut off my audio. I'll have to fiddle with the radio and make do with John and Suzyn. This stinks.
Gameday is showing good downward break in the f/X, but the pitches are indeed high in the zone.
That's the Fausto we know and love. (Insert Satanic bargain joke here.)
John and Suzyn.
Better you than me.
Oh YES!!!!!
Yeaaaaahhhhhhh!!!
I could get used to this.
Oh, good. Tex is going to be a playuh for us after all.
very nice start! i saw swish do the lineup...
[17] I know, it's depressing. And, frankly, now that I'm used to watching every game on mlb.tv, the radio seems like a very poor substitute no matter who's broadcasting. I might abandon the Banter and drive over to a sports bar.
worms ate that one up before "el nino" could get to it. at least it was a dribbler...
Can we now officially pronounce that New Yankee Stadium is a bandbox, at least to RF. And despite the claim that the dimensions are the same in this stadium, RF is considerable shorter in the power alley because the wall between 314 and 385 is straighter in NYS (in the old stadium the wall angled outward then back to 385)--it's probably 10' shorter in much of RF.
[1] Regarding Miranda and Matsui: I too would like to believe that there is some rhyme or reason behind the moves. One thing has driven me nuts over the last couple years, and that is the Yankees' unwillingness to put hurt players on the DL and instead play these shell games with 13th relievers and bench players and third catchers. if Matsui can't play--if his knee has swollen again--stick his ass on the DL and make a move to fill out a real roster.
Oh, I have the Cleveland radio feed now. I watch basketball and listen to Yankees.
[22] I love listening to games on the radio. But listening to Captain Blowhard and Sister Screech talk about anything except what's going on on the field? Not so much.
i'm not digging back-to-back hits. DP, please!!!
RIYank, you aren't getting it on FOX in RI? That's funny; the Boston FOX affiliate has the game. (I'm recording it, but haven't watched it yet.)
weeping, congrats to you and your son! I know the feeling. I coached my first t-ball practice for my daughter's "team" today (she's 3). They don't keep score and we only did fielding practice today, but the kids all were sad when it was time to be done. I was too. I just hope they let me take some cuts off the tee when we start hitting. ;)
oh. fuck this shit. wang appears to be cooked. : /
Uh oh. That wasn't good. Glad I couldn't see it.
Crap
Hmmm...Bad Wang continues. so, can we be concerned yet?
How the hell did that thing get out?
I swear I thought that was a pop up.
This is a band box.
Like Robby's the other day.
Just a long fly ball that kept going.
28.59 = ERA
christ.
wait, it's down to 27, even!
[28] Cheers, Shaun, and congrats to you too!
3 years old! Wow, that's so dear! Good for you guys.
jesus. this sucks...
I think I'm going to sit outside and listen to the Mudhens for a while.
[30] It really wasn't hit so well. He had to go down to get it. Not quite a golf shot, but close. The pitch was over the dish, but not a terrible pitch.
There's some kind of wind machine or something working from the rafters.
Now the idiots on FOX are invoking class reasons for why the Stadium seems quiet (Armani suits = quiet). I would think that it is rather the fact that Wang is getting lit up and the decks are farther from the field.Oh yeah, and the fact that there are about 10,000 fewer fans at the park than were showing at the old stadium last year.
The Cleveland broadcasters are unbearable when nothing is happening on the field. They aren't bad at the actual play-by-play.
This is a fucking disgrace.
Pitch wasn't terrible, again, but wasn't good either. About knee-high.
Call up Phil Hughes!!!
[43] Seriously.
Hmmm...the BOOOOING sounds pretty loud.
Call up Phil Hughes!!!
Hah ahaha!!!
EVen my kid is sitting next to me going, "Switch pitcher, switch pitcher!"
God, this is ugly.
Am I on the same page with most everyone here having FOX on mute?
Just checking...
This is a BULLSHIT stadium.
Another ball that ridiculously hit the right field wall.
He had to lean out and poke his bat at the ball, kind of lunging, and the fucking thing hit the wall.
Bull fucking shit.
That was sweet: Another long fly off Wang + ball really carries to RF in the new stadium + awful defense by Swisher = Key Stone Cops Yankees.
Goddam.
Those pitches to DeRosa looked like they had pretty good location and break -- I'm just looking at the Pitch f/X.
[47] Not yet for me. But I gotta a lotta work to do this afternoon. If this crap keeps up I'm going to really mute the game...with the off button.
I guess Clagett gets some work today.
[48] You can blame the stadium, but Wang is getting rocked right now.
Ugh. I see we got Bad Wang again today.
[52] An the genius of calling up Claggett and demoting Miranda after one day becomes apparent.
The good news is that even though the boys are down by five, with that deep, deep bench (heck, we have MATSUI coming off the bench), no lead is safe.
Nice clip of all the empty seats as Wang departs. I make my first trip to the new stadium in June...I'm trying to keep open minded about it.
I looked over the Pitch f/X data, and I just can't see what the problem is for Wang. The break isn't huge, but it's averaging about 12 inches. The speed is fine. Some of the pitches were up in the zone, but most of the hits came off reasonably low pitches.
[53] No doubt about it. Both things are true.
Do-do-dodo-dodo-do-do-dodo-dodo...
[That's my version of the circus organ music.]
Clagett may not be the answer.
[58] Yes, that's pretty much true, as I recall. The low pitches were low-ish, and had a lot of plate. Also, the fucking ball carries in a grotesque, fun-house manner.
I like this Clagett kid. He's got moxy and grit.
[58] By my eye he was getting ALOT of plate, and the pitches were up for him.
Oh, it's Claggett. I wasn't giving him enough "g"s.
Good Lord, there's still just one out????
Fuck.
Well, I'm looking over this inning.
Haffner: pitch was belt high.
Peralta: at the knees.
Choo: at the knees.
I dunno. I don't feel like looking at all the hits again. Yeesh.
[65] Actually, I have no idea how to spell his name. I suspect that after today it will not matter much.
[60] Oh! I thought that was your impression of what Wang was "do"ing in his pants (or the bed) today!
Time to put put Wang a rehab assignment because I'm skeptical that it will get better in NY.
Melky should probably be the CFer.
Why they hell would they throw Clagget into this shit; why not wait for some middle innings without men on base...
They're going to have to find some reason to DL Wang. I think he'll get straight, but he might need to "reboot", and re-do spring training almost. He just isn't himself, and the team can't keep doing this jeckle and hyde shit. Just some damn consistent quality starts would be nice!
Cleveland announcers are laughing: how long does normal batting practice last, about forty minutes? Ha ha ha.
[67] I guess what I meant is that they were up for Wang...i.e., the pitchers were not diving out of the zone. It just seems like he has to get opposing batters to chase down, down, down. If not, he gets hammered. It wasn't just the hits, or that the ball carried on him. Almost everything was hit in the air, including the one pop-out he got. One ground ball was an unlucky grounder to third, the other was an absolute smash that almost cut Wang off at the shins.
OMG, i took a shower at 3-2 and now this? christ almighty. i take loooong showers and it's the SAME half-inning!!!
FUCK!!!
at least it's not 22-0...
of course. as i write that...grand slam. fuckin' hell...
Jeebus, now it's 9 - 2? Yuck yuck yuck.
Gulp.
There really isn't much to say at this point.
Is there a mercy rule? I think we may see Swisher throw more than one inning today.
And with that I turn the game off. Nice stadium, Lonn.
I'm sorry.
Selig needs to intervene.
This is just ridiculous.
What the fuck is going on here?
Is this really fun, watching bp like this?
ass dribble. what a horrible name...
Oh frak!.
But if the Yankees ever get to the bottom of the second, they might be able to get some of those runs back.
I'm going outside. Screw this.
mother of fucking god.
They outsmarted themselves by sending Robertson down, who may be their 3rd best reliever.
welcome to the Bigs, kid...
Well...um...yeah....how those park factors doing?
Wang can be fixed. Just think about how bad Mussina looked before last year's 20 wins.
I don't like RF in the NYS. It's a disgrace. Somehow it needs to be fixed.
I think the fans should protest. Just not show up at the park until the fences are pushed back, the mound is raised, whatever.
Ok, Seizmore's at least was a legitimate homerun.
Now THAT was a real HR...
OK, that's it. Move back into the old stadium.
This is getting embarrassing...
Why is the ball carrying so well? Is it the new stadium? Or is it real windy in the Bronx or something?
What a surprise when the guy who managed the development of the stadium got all his experience building his house.
Boy, does this suck. Horrible.
awesome. i'm beginning to think I could hit a homer in this park. this Stadium is taboo...
only 14 runs, could've been worse.
Does the scoreboard register triple digits?
Good point tommyl -- for whatever reason, the Park Factor for YS2 is going to look like a typo.
[88] You can't raise the mound, weeping! There's a rule about that.
Travashamockery at it's finest... "trying" or not, "early" or not!
"First 14-run inning by an opponent" at The New Yankee Stadium!
Woohoo! Now there's a "first" to be proud of...
[88] Actually, fans are already not showing up, from what I can see. Actually, if they moved the fences back, they would have to remove a whole bunch of seats, which would then drive up demand and allow the Yankees to further raise prices. Diabolical!
The ball didn't carry so well for Robbie there.
A three foot out? Seriously?
this blows. going thru some of the comments i missed...
yes on:
Phil Hughes
FOX on mute
Stadium (and empty seats) sucks
shoulda kept robertson up. no need for claggett...
Looks like the Stadium is not the whole story.
[102] Pronk's went about 9 feet and started that insane rally...
[92] I think the answer to your question is Phil Hughes.
I sure miss the "old days" when they used to just have a bad April!
If only Joba was in the pen, this wouldn't have happened.
/insanity
34.50 ERA for CMW.
it's so bad, the ESPN Gamecast has the score at 15-2. it's "only" 14, right?! at least for now...
[109] The fix is in.
[109] It's within the 7% margin of error, though, so okay.
[98] Desperate times...
My only hope right now is that the Yankees tattoo Pavano tomorrow.
[113] Ooohhh...this park is simply built for a pitcher like Pavano.
[111] Ha hah ah ah ah ha hah ah ah ah h !
[113] The way their season has begun so far, they'd screw up applying a rub-on tattoo on Pavano!
So, can Claggett go four innings?
yup, it was foreshadowing...
[109] See, Gamecast was right.
[109] Gamecast is psychic.
Ah, Swisher. I love him as a pitcher. As an outfielder, not so much.
Gamecast to Banter: just be patient, you'll see.
Hey, we held them to one run this inning! That's good, right?
[123] Only if they are "trying"...
[109] they should just up it to 22 right now...
manny has 2 solo homers today...
fish came back in extras. they have 1 loss; nats have 1 win...
Wow... I'm was almost afraid to check this site out.
Just ugly... almost funny (Sorry Jorge).
What is wong with Wang (sorry).
Can't wait to see what ARod does with RF.
How do you fix it? A giant fan (the type that blows air) in the stands, blowing in? YS II is now Coors Lite.
OK.... time for some gratuitous stat padding (by the Yankees, I mean).
[122] hilarious! it still hasn't gotten out of the top half of the inning yet...
Weeping and Shaun...
I'd like to see some baseball. Can I buy tickets to your kids' next games? Or are they already sold out?
So.... which LHP SP can we trade Wang and Phil for?
goddamn, the Captain looks slow getting down the line...
[130] not. trading. Phil.
There ought to be a good Viagra joke to make here. I'll work on it.
[131] Yes... his speed decline is actually visible.
The Nats can't even spell their own name.
Good basketball game, by the way. I guess it's a good afternoon for Cleveland sports fans.
wow, do i HATE pavano. i missed quite a few comments here the last few days, due to work - was he blasted for that shitty remark about his good Yankee Stadium memory from '03?! what an assfuk!!!
Err Cliff....has the question 'Whose Sinker Will Rise' been answered?
[135] He's a new guy. Hasn't earned his 'O' yet.
[135] that is egregiously brutal!!! man, that bothers the hell outta me. how did someone NOT catch that?! inexcusable...
jeter done for the afternoon. the kid to SS, ransom to 3rd...
[135] There must be a shortage of O's because the Yankees are using them all for the auxillary scoreboards... and of course, all the Obama tchotchkes flying off the shelves...
;)
So, is it possible just to send Wang to SWB? Does he have to consent? I imagine he would consent.
[143] Interesting question. Does he still have "options" remaining? Probably not, I imagine. Naw, they will probably have to come up with a blister or dead arm to DL him.
[144] But can't the designate him for assignment?
(the = they)
[145] That means exposing him to wavers, I believe.
Here's Ramirez!
You know he sympathizes with Dunn. The Yankees keep leaving the "D" off his uniform.
[140] I don't understand it, either. I'd have thought with that part of the jersey being the same for everyone, it woudln't be possible to screw up it up.
Other baseball strangeness: had no idea you could have four outs in one inning.
[147] Right.
You think someone would claim him??
[145] DFAing him means going through waivers. Though I'm not sure anyone would want him at the moment.
[145] From our friends at Wikipedia:
"A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the 40-man roster. This gives the team time to decide what to do with the player while freeing up a roster spot for another transaction, if needed. Once a player is designated for assignment, the team has ten days to do one of the following things: the player can be traded, the player can be released, or the player can be put on waivers and, provided he clears, outrighted to the minors. A player who is outrighted to the minors is removed from the 40-man roster but is still paid according to the terms of his guaranteed contract. A player can only be outrighted once in his career without his consent."
[143] Send Wang to the undefeated SWB Yankees (10-0!)? Lord no!
He "purchased" his ticket to Tampa today...
perfect - another rally! tribe will easily put up a 20-spot today. our RS/RA is taking a massive beating today...
[150] I assume that you are being sarcastic, but OF COURSE some team would claim him.
[154] I know. Our chances of making the Pythagorean post-season are dwindling.
We might be able to send Wang down. ESPN lists his service time as four years. I think you need five before you're allowed to refuse a minor league assignment.
I think he has options. Once he was called up, he stayed up, didn't he? Except for rehab assignments, which don't count.
[155] I'm serious -- I think he would not be claimed.
He's not cheap, he's not all that young, and at the moment, he sucks.
[157] That's right, he probably does have options. I was assuming he didn't.
[158] He makes 5 million dollars. For a starter that's pretty cheap.
i'm guessing grand slam here...
Wang should have options left, so the Yankees need to seriously consider sending him down to work things out. We need to remember that Wang is coming off of a very significant injury for a pitcher. His mechanics are off, and even more worrisome, his velocity is way down. This isn't a mini-slump.
In the meantime, the Yankees have a very capable replacement in Hughes. If Wang starts pitching better, you can easily switch the two back. The Yankees should not be afraid to make a move just because Wang won 19 games back to back.
I thought it was 10/5 for a MLB veteran to refuse such a demotion, like a trade...
This is Wang's fifth season.
[158] I mean, really, he is 29, he is on a one-year contract for only 5 million, and he has won 19 games twice. Most would not write him off entirely after only three starts, He would be claimed in a second as a very low risk option.
[160] Wang would definitely be claimed. He is coming off an injury, so several teams would take a chance.
[163] I bet he wouldn't refuse it, though.
William, I don't think his velocity is way down. It's slightly down. He's throwing about 90 mph.
maybe he'll walk in a run, then there'll be a grand slam...
[162] I agree with you. If he has options, he should be shipped down to work things out. Or just put him on the damn DL.
[164] agreed.
As for the band box issue, I heard most of today's HRs on the radio, but I was at all 4 games up to this point and most of the round trippers were bombs. They would have also easily gone out of the old Stadium. Unless a jet stream is really catapulting the ball, I don't think the hight total of homers is the result of the new stadium. Rather, I think it is the result of some pretty crappy pitching.
Perhaps time to get Jorge some rest?
Maybe you're right.
I'm going to leave now. Go play something instead of watching something.
Hey, it's just one game. Somebody will fix our Wang, and we'll be all set. But for sure now he does need fixing.
Ciao.
[166] Wang would regularly throw 93-95 in the past. 90-91 is way down for him, especially for a sinker. When Kevin Brown's sinker slowed to that point is when he started getting rocked as well.
[166] I don't think he can refuse it, because he doesn't have 10/5 yet. I could be wrong about that though...
I still say they'll send him to Tampa.
They will undoubtedly call up Hughes, which is a significant upgrade at the moment.
[170] Some wall scrapers this afternoon, but it's hard to judge from one day alone. The RF wall is a good shorter in the power alleys, though.
[163] Don't they count the number of days on the roster, or something? Rather than number of calendar years.
Even if Wang has enough seniority to refuse a minor league assignment, he might agree. I doubt he likes being lit up like a Christmas tree.
[175] The RF wall looks a little closer and the height of the wall probably adds an equivalent of a few feet as well. I just don't think the dimensions are as much an issues as a lot of bad right handed pitching.
[170] "Rather, I think it is the result of some pretty crappy pitching."
Precisely! This type of "pitching" would make the cavernous original 1923 version of YS a "bandbox"...
[171] not just yet!
I don't know, a bunch of those homers today (maybe all but Sizemore's?) looked like fly balls that miraculously kept going.
To my eyes, anyway.
[176] I believe "calendar days" are used to determine a players salary (and meal money) in terms of promotion to the majors. The 10/5 rule means 10 full years on major league rosters, and 5 full years with the same club. IIRC
Tex's, too, was, as Carver pointed out, off the end of the bat. With him I chalked it up to strength, as I did the other day when Cano hit what looked like a lazy fly ball to left-center that ended up going out.
Carver?
Wtf is Carver/??
ha ha hah ah aha h !!
*Mc*Carver, that is!
[181] CORRECTION
The 10/5 rule only applies to trades, and not the "Veterans' Consent Rule." That requires five years of service time in the majors, which Wang does not have yet.
So he can be send down, whether he "consents" or not.
[182] Cano's ball hit off the second deck though. That would have been out of any ballpark by a lot.
oh dear. bollocks.
i told you it would reach 20...
mercy rule, please. let's forfeit now...
i hope we can treat Carol P. like this tomorrow...
And it is only the 5th inning.
So who's up for 30 runs?
[189] only if it means we lose 20-10...
Man... we are really pounding the baseball!
Why does it seem like it's always Cleveland that does this to us.
[185] Fair enough, but I think the question is whether the wind (or some other atmospheric???) is aiding the ball in its flight. Balls that seem to carry farther than expected off the bat.
I know it sounds crazy (why would the wind change so radically across the street?--I'm no engineer, so I can't even say whether it's plausible), but there it is.
Either way, the bottom line is the team needs to win baseball games and not lose them.
okay, that's it - it's GOTTA be the stadium if Melky is hittin' 'em out! ; )
Two home runs in two days for Melky. It's gotta be park factors.
yay, rally time.
umm..just up here..14 runs in the 2nd?????
going back to bed..mlb.com will not be turned on today.. :(
well, in all seriousness, if leche can keep this up, it'll help soften the depth blow if X-Man is out for the year...
[198] only if the "leche" doesn't curdle like last year when the calendar turns to May ...
sure glad i made it back from the beach for *this* game ... yeesh.
lincecum correcting himself today, with 8 shutout innings and 13 K's...
I'm still in shock..is it really all over for Wang? Havn't gone back through the ealrier bits of this thread so am sure it's been discussed..is Hughes on the way? Can they put Wang on the DL with "lame-arm-anxiety-disorder"? Championship teams just do not give up double-digit runs with this frequency!
I don't think it's over for Wang, but the Yankees have to be thinking about either sending him down to Scranton for awhile or putting him on the DL.
We determined that he has options left and could not refuse a minor league assignment.
[202] He obviously can't make another start for awhile..damn, what a depressing way to start the day..
At least the Celtics lost :)
The whole pen;'s gotta be burnt out at this rate. Well maybe not Mo.
Great 3TDs to 2 safeties.
I gotta admit, that was a pretty slick play by Kobayashi.
[206] Is that like Kobayashi Maru?
I couldn't bring myself to comment on this game earlier, but reading this was hilarious. Some great gallows humor.
Re: Wang, I'm a fan but no-one could argue against him getting shipped somewhere to get this fixed. I'd hate to think he's done, but this is just ridiculous - there's something seriously awry here. Bring up Hughes, it can't be any worse. Well yes it can but hopefully it won't be.
[207] Dammit, Jim!
There's some joy in Mudville, Big Papi just struck out looking against Adam Eaton..
ok, coffee time then out for a sad day. How to explain a 22-4 loss to my non-fan lady? "I though you said the average score in baseball was 5 runs or so..if they allowed 22 doesn't that make them a terrible team?" Grrrrrrr...grumble grumble....
9 run inning two days ago, 14 run inning today, yes, their pitching staff is terrible at the moment.
*sigh*...
I tuned out at 6-2. Had no intention of looking back as "LOTR - Two Towers" was on and my uncle and I were looking for something to keep us preoccupied. But when I went to check my email, the score jumped out and said BOO!
I want to say there's a certain amount of hubris involved in all of this, but that won't be known until the end of the season. I'm just wondering if Girardi's in for the Yogi treatment soon. I do have a feeling Eiland and Co. are working on their resumes as we speak. Not fair, but that's what I've come to expect, even in a post-George era.
This is bad mayo, folks. Why are our top pitchers laboring so much? Is it the park? Is it the expectations? Is it the fact we're missing a big piece of the lineup? Is it just that time of the year? Or is it time??
Soon enough I'm just gonna lose interest in all this, and this is especially not the time for the Yanks to not be interesting. I'm just glad I had something else to watch. But you can't ignore all the major blowouts, even this early in the season.
While this game monumentally sucked, it's still just one loss. A bit early to be checking out, don't you think?
It's too early to panic, and the Yankees are at 6-6.
My concerns are:
Wang, who apparently can't get send down, as per Peter:
"It’s reason to consider a demotion. That, though, is not possible according to Girardi. A team cannot send a player to the minors unless they have options or the player agrees and has at least five years of service. Wang has no options and hasn’t been in the majors long enough."
The bullpen, outside of Mo & Bruney.
Joba's learning, as a young #5 starter should be.
CC, AJ, & Andy will be fine.
Matsui is a problem as his knee still doesn't seem to be right.
Not sure Yankees can afford to wait for A-Rod at third, but it would be overpaying for just a few weeks.
[214] Matsui must DLed, plain and simple. especially if they decide to carry 13 pitchers for the foreseeable future. As for Wang, surely they can conjure up an injury for him as well.
In other news, todays attendance was 45,167.
So, what did I miss?
25 homers in 43 innings at the New Launching Pad.
My Mom said you could notice empty seats in the lower bowl of the stadium on TV. As Steve Martin once said, the secret of life is ti-MING. As much as people used to joke about rooting for the Yankees being like rooting for US Steel, at least US Steel made stuff. Rooting for these Yankees in this ballpark is like rooting for AIG.
[214] Wow RBJ, no options, really? I sure don't remember Wang bouncing up and down from the minors such that he's out of options...
Damn!
I'd DL him with a "tired arm" (see Matsuzaka), send him to Tampa, and have him start all over as though he just reported to ST, and bring up Hughes...
He certainly couldn't do any worse!
[216] [219] At this pernt MP and Joe³, attendance will be under 40K regularly before we can say, "WTF!"
Well no, I'm neither panicking nor checking out early, but I am a lot more concerned than I've ever been. I've been sort of out of the loop since the season began, but from what I gather there's something amiss like I've not seen in a while, and I hope it's just that they're still disoriented with the new digs.
I dunno, maybe after such a hardcore exhibition like that, you just wanna talk? >;D
[221] It's so weird to get used to seeing. When I first started to attend games, in the lean years, a normal person could still afford to sit in any seat in the house. So, even when only 15,000 people showed up to a night game, they tended to fill the areas behind home and between the dugouts. Rarely were the LF bleachers opened. As attendance grew steadily, the stadium regularly filled from behind home out to the wings, so that each visit saw smaller and smaller empty sections in the wings of the upper deck, and empty seats in the LF bleachers. The last few years every section was basically filled every game.
Now, attendance seems to be a bit lower, but, unlike in the old days, the cheap seats are ALL filled, with big empty gaps behind home and between the dugouts.
I remember going as a poor college student, driving down and buy tix the day of the game, and sitting behind home on the main level. I suspect that I will never sit in such seats again.
[222] What's missing is the starting 3B, RF, DH, #2 starter, and the starting 1B from the RH side of the plate.
I find it instructive to note that fully 38 out of the 80 runs scored by the Tribe this season have come in the last 3 games against the Yankees. It's really jacked their Pythagorean. If we get out of this series 2-2 it will be all anti-climatic, but its been a hell of a run for Chief Wahoo and his buddies.
And those empty seats are a disgrace. I was at the Stadium on Thursday and we were in section 430. The had someone check our tickets each time we went up from the concourse. That has to stop. Unless the Yankees want terrible optics, they need to open up those good seats to fans after, say, the 5th.
Hey... This game was MUCH closer then the score would indicate.
I'd like to meet the guy who came up with the pricing policy. The economy was already in the toilet when these prices were announced. To lower the prices now will really leave egg on the FO's face.
I'm just a country boy, but was it ever feasible for cirporation to spend 1/2 a million dollars on 4 season tickets?
[226] It could only be closer!
[223] Yes, they will be hard-pressed to achieve four million again this year, if their play and ticket prices do not change for the better in the near future. They have priced themselves right out of the majority of fans’ budgets and their attendance to date reflects that by virtue of the sections that have been full... and those, which are sadly empty. I fear that like our economy, it will get worse before it gets better. I can only hope and pray it doesn't.
I have religiously followed the Yankees all of my life as far back as I can remember, and my wife has been a fan since just before the Bronx Zoo days. I'm a third generation fan, blessed with a now beat up team-signed ball from their Golden Age, left to me by my grandfather after he died in 1988. It's a Spaulding National League Ball, with black and red stitches, and names including Ruth, Gehrig, Combs, Pipgrass, McCarthy, Dickey, Hoag, Brown, Hoyte, and the rest are mostly illegible. Since we have lived all of our lives in TN, KY, GA, and FL, we had only been privileged to attend one real regular season game at The Stadium, and that was in '06, after they broke ground and announced the new stadium would be ready for this year. This meant we "officially" had a finite amount of games before it would be too late to ever get to attend one there. Consequently, we planned and saved for the trip in earnest as soon as we got that news. Undoubtedly you remember and know the game all too well, I'm afraid!
The Orioles were in town. It was Rasner versus Cabrera, who proceeded to hurl a no hitter (!) until Robbie Cano broke it up in the ninth (!³). Such is our "luck" when seeing our Yanks play live mostly, as we had seen them play in Miami in the Inaugural Interleague Series against the Marlins and have been to Fort Lauderdale and Tampa/St. Pete for several ST’s. We had got the tickets from one of my wife's co-workers at the National Headquarters of WebMD in Elmwood Park, NJ, who had an 81 game plan in the mezzanine down the firstbase line. The first place we went to was the Yankees Store, where we saw and met Skippy, and made fun of him as he was hitting on a very young and attractive cashier as we checked out with her! “Look at Skippy tryin’ to get some “play,” I said, as the four of us burst into laughter together. He was flushed with embarrassment! I could tell! Anyone could! We hadn’t even been there for fifteen minutes and I already knew this day would be most unforgettable! We then went to the "Upgrade Window," and got “two together/best available” in 120A in the last row on the aisle, right behind home plate for $120 total. We had got there in plenty of time to "take a lap" during that most beautiful autumn day, and visited Monument Park and actually spent enough time there to see and read everything. The majesty of it all truly took our breath away. In person, it was larger than life, vivid in scope and color, such that it will never leave my memory, very much like Augusta National Golf Club during Masters Week. You could literally sense the electricity in the air, that this was a very special place, where greatness happened regularly on the field and off. One merely had to close their eyes for just a moment, to take in the breeze and feel the history and the legends from the past, who had called The Stadium home for generations. I can still feel and see in my mind's eye, that most treasured moment, as I became a child again, giddy, excited, and absolutely thrilled to be where my heroes won and lost, but mostly won.
As you said, those days are gone, and it will take a while before we can afford a similar trip to go to the new Yankee Stadium as those same seats in 120A go for $400 each on the day of the game. How lucky you all are to be able to enjoy there on a regular basis, even if only from the bleachers in the new place!
Now you know why I get so emotional when they play like this! Take it easy on this old retired golf pro! The Yankees represent the foundation of my relationships with my late grandfather, and father, and from them I learned the value of their inherent greatness and what made them all so. Things change, as life changes, and I am much older, slower, and hopefully wiser now, but I still know better than to leave that palpable and treasured history, and that single moment, which permanently lies deep inside my mind's eye, as well as always remaining entrenched within my soul, in the corrupt hands of today's corporate sector...
Corporate America will never take away the meaning of my favorite quote from my second favorite Yankee (Gehrig is my first.), whether I live to see the new stadium in person or not, whether they lose every single game for the rest of my life or not:
"I want to thank the Good Lord, for making me a Yankee." - Joe DiMaggio
In the memory of my late grandfather, every day, I thank Him for making me a Yankees fan...
;)
Oh I almost forgot! We took the subway back to our hotel, and we sat with and talked to Freddy, until he got off the train...
So in terms of a Yankee win, or at least a partial representation of them, we weren't so lucky, as usual. But for the memories made and people met during our first and last visit to The Stadium, we couldn't have done better had we been going there for years...
PJ, don't forget to breathe! G'nite, all... lick'em tomorow.