Comments on: Yankee Panky: Catch-34

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:28:52 +0000

close this fucking window…
close this fucking window…
close this fucking window…

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:27:57 +0000

“Between playing Friday and Saturday nights against Chicago, Cabrera’s face took the brunt of something.

“I have had a conversation with Miguel,” Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski wrote in an e-mail. “It is a personal situation and I am not at liberty to discuss it further.”

Tigers manager Jim Leyland didn’t want to talk about it and refused to acknowledge the situation was unfortunate.”
———————————————-
Did the old lady try to scratch his eyes out?
He’s missing, literally, the most important game of the year???

Meanwhile, Detroit rallying in the 8th.
KC scores only 1. Now 7-1 Minn.

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:17:48 +0000

And I’m in the wrong fuckin thread….!

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:17:14 +0000

Meanwhile….
The Twinkies lead KC 7-0 after 3.
The Sox scored 3 but still trail Detroit 5-3 after their 8th.

And JD warming up!

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:12:33 +0000

Po makes $13m and AJ $16m. Don’t these guys both want to win? I mean, they can’t work out their differences for the sake of the team? How about a meeting(s) where Girardi lays doen the law… and if that doesn’t work, you have The Boss sit in?

Do we really have to compromise our offensive lineup because $29m worth of employees can’t get on the same page for the sake of the TEAM???

If I were Girardi, I would rip them both a new asshole and make sure they would rather blow each, rather than not get along as a productive battery.

By: Rich

Rich — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:39:20 +0000

[12] I hear you, but shouldn’t a pitcher have the self-confidence to assert their will with him? Assuming, however, that your point is correct, shouldn’t Torre, a catcher himself, have set Posada straight (or to put in more mild terms, coached him up) so that he could adopt an attitude that is more conducive to making more pitchers feel comfortable? I think that is even more true now when the only reason that Posada can continue to catch is because he can hit well.

I don’t think Molina is good enough defensively to start a playoff game. It’s not like he’s not Pudge in his prime.

btw, There was a time when Leyritz was Pettitte’s personal catcher.

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:54:34 +0000

[1] Rich, one would think that, but it’s a misconception. What certain pitchers don’t like about Posada is that he doesn’t like to be second-guessed on the pitches he calls in a certain situation, under any circumstance. If you remember the home run Burnett gave up to Youkilis in the second inning, the replay showed him saying, “Why would you throw that?” as he watched the ball clear the Green Monster. Burnett clearly wanted to throw fastball, Posada called slider and Burnett went with him and failed to execute. He didn’t commit to the pitch, and it cost him. … The reason guys like Pettitte and Clemens loved throwing to Posada was because they didn’t want to think while on the mound. They just wanted Posada to put a number down and then they throw it. A guy like Mussina or Randy Johnson, different story. They’re more attuned to the hitter and have a better feel for their own ability and just wanted the catcher to be a receiver.

[8] I don’t think Burnett is a diva at all. And as far as Molina blocking pitches, his footwork has been poor lately. A lot of balls that he backhanded and let get past him that he should have blocked. Having Posada DH for one game isn’t the worst thing in the world, considering Matsui’s strong lefty bat off the bench.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:58:36 +0000

[8] I’m not sure that risk is enough to worry about or construct your line-up around. Molina would bat ninth. The worst case scenario would be an injury in the first inning–that means that the pitcher’s spot (that is, the replacement for Molina) would only bat three, maybe four times. Burnett will only go seven innings, so he’s likely to bat a couple of times. Otherwise, you can PH Hinske and Matsui when that spot comes up, then swap in a new reliever. Plus, there is a good chance the Yankees are winning, so who bats in the pitcher’s spot may not matter much at all. And all of this is based on the assumption that Molina has to leave the game early, the likelihood of which is already slim.

In other words, it is (I think) an overreaction not to include Posada in the lineup for fear of losing the DH. If he is the better option, then put him in at DH. If Matsui is the better option, then bat Matsui. But the overriding consideration should be who makes the lineup better.

As an addendum, Posada should start at C and AJ should simply cope.

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:46:23 +0000

I didn’t know Joba was in the bullpen today. Why in the hell did they not do this two weeks ago? There was enough evidence that he couldn’t start effectively, and they could have had a much bigger sample size to judge how he’ll work in relief. Ah well, at least they’re giving it a (half-assed) shot at all.

By: Sliced Bread

Sliced Bread — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:18:31 +0000

[6] Has a manager-for-a day ever been ejected? Wouldn’t be shocked or disappointed to see Jorge become the first (as long as nobody gets hurt!)

By: rbj

rbj — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:37:17 +0000

The problem with having Posada DH, is what happens in case Molina gets injured. Jorge goes behind the plate and the Yankees lose the DH. Sure you can PH for the pitcher, but most likely that’ll entail a double switch somewhere. It’s a needless headache.

AJ isn’t good enough to be such a diva.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:36:50 +0000

[5] That makes no sense to me.
If he’s better pitching to Molina, then Molina should catch him. If not, then forget it. Whether he’s a great pitcher or just a very good one is completely irrelevant.

By: ms october

ms october — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:23:19 +0000

[4] sounds like it is okay – he caught two games in a row and i haven’t seen any of the beat writers say it bothered him
he’s not catching burnett today – and will probably manage so hopefully he doesn’t get in a fight with anyone in the dugout :}

By: vockins

vockins — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:22:34 +0000

If Burnett had Zach Greinke’s year, or even CC’s year, then he could pitch to a bucket on top of a folding chair for all I care. He didn’t. If he wants special treatment, he should be special.

By: Sliced Bread

Sliced Bread — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:17:06 +0000

Been outta the loop a few days – is Posada’s neck injury still a concern?

[1] Molina’s a very solid defensive catcher. Cervelli has more upside especially as a hitter, but I’d be more comfortable with Molina at this point.

By: ms october

ms october — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:13:28 +0000

[1] oh and my speculation as to why some pitchers don’t care to throw to po is twofold – 1) he doesn’t give a good target and doesn’t block balls well and 2) he doesn’t coddle and play psychiatrist to the pitchers during the game

my theory is it is the guys with control problems who struggle the most with him – they get frustrated because his target is often non-existent and he doesn’t block their wild pitches ,then these guys with control problems also have other control problems with their emotions (rj and burnett are good examples of this) and because po doesn’t “settle them down” the situation gets worse

By: ms october

ms october — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:07:14 +0000

i have been pretty vocal about thinking the “po is to blame” is over-blown and these sissy pitchers should man up and pitch to him.
however, with that said if burnett really needs or think he needs to pitch to molina in order to have a good game, the difference between po’s bat and molina’s automatic out probably doesn’t overcome a disastrous burnett start versus a quality one.
probably need to create some ranges of wRC for po and molina and then predict aj’s era or fip with each catcher for several ranges like 25-100% with intervals of 25.

[1] i remeber burnett saying how much he liked to pitch to frankie c after one of his starts – but it ain’t happening this year

i wish we could stream coney’s analysis during the post season

By: Rich

Rich — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:22:05 +0000

Pitchers have the final say about the pitch they will throw to any given batter. With that in mind, what is it about Posada, specifically, that some pitchers don’t like?

Personally, if Posada isn’t going to catch, I would start Cervelli. I don’t even think Molina should be on the team.