Hey... anyone wanna guess what crappy Yankee player currently has a wOBA of .415? (SSS... I know... but it's still fun to type it!)

Yeah, Javy hasn't been so good so far. But how about a little toooptimism?

[1] one who is grabbing some bench today.
i could really do without tims in lf.

wOBA? toooptimism? tims? What language is this?

Javy got his fastball going in the middle innings against the A's, but then fatigue took it back. If he can get it working from the start today we should have a good game. If not, the offense will have to jump all over Kazmir to keep the series-win streak alive.

[4] Toooptimism!
But, monkeypants, I believe toooptimism is by definition overlyoptimistic. It's something you confess to or accuse others of, not something you encourage. (Although perhaps it's so far indeterminate and your usage will catch on.)

I really think "toooptimism" should be modified to "tooptimism".

[5] i think what you outlined is the primary way toooptimistic is used. however, if someone is not being optimistic enough or worse yet toopessimistic, i think toooptimistism can be encouraged.

[6] Agreed.

[6] i endorse this. now if i could only find some new drum endorsements...

i'm not too toopt'd about much of anything these days. but...

GO JAVY!!! GO YANKS!!!

[5] Oh yes, in the strictest sense of the word you are correct. But I see this as one of those compound words whose affix loses its original meaning. A good parallel is "over-analyze." It is not uncommon to hear speakers---especially sports commentators discussing the mental side of the game---to say something "You can't over-analyze too much, you just have to swing the bat." Well, to over-analyze IS to analyze too much, but through repeated usage the word has lost its force: the prefix "over" is reduced to an intensifier (i.e., "over-analyze" = "analyze a lot").

That's what we have with toooptimistic (alt. sp. tooptimistic).

[9] i’m not too toopt’d .

Awesome.

[10] :)

Really, if anyone should be able to define toooptimism, its me.

[13] It's already out there, Mattpat. Ball's out of your court. You should have monitored the situation more vigilantly from the get-go.

A-jax hit his first major league homer. a rickey henderson special (lead off the game with it...)

damn oreo's. they're really useless...

hey kids.

been living in a yankee radio world having worked nights all week (and I'm about to leave for work soon, again). Then I come home and watch the recaps on ESPN and YES. I know what's gonna happen, but seeing it for the first time makes it seem weird. Surreal, I guess. Like deva vu.

It's toooptimistic. You don't fuck with an original.

[19] but that's exactly what the history of written records does.

[18] deja vu all over again. i know what you mean about knowing, then seeing later. i don't get to see many yankee games live, so i see the espn highlights after i already know what happened a lot...

[19] the shortened version is better. much better.

orioles really suck. fuck them.

[19] I'm with that, the word is only special if it has three "o"s in a row.

fuck I thought he was gonna beat that out.

are we officially into the "joe girardi and the case of the 2-hole" part of the season?

...everyone please turn your programs to page 3.

Well done, Teixas.

[25] I don't remember that from last year. Sure, Johnson isn't getting hits, but he's still getting on base. What's the problem? Is his back worse than they're saying (likely)?

Good eye, Tex. STAY THERE, KAZ

I feel ARod will make a boom boom this game.

[19] [23] Well then, I suppose it's pistols at dawn.

[30] hey hey now. Not that it's relevant to your point, but they both do a lot of animal-based charity work.

(was that better, RIYank?)

[15] He's looking good in general. I hope he does well but not well enough to make me regret the move.

All right, Dave Winfield, pitch well.

Sometimes it looks like Vasquez "aims" his pitches. Maybe that's just the way it looks though.

Abreu couldn't wait to get to the park today. Oy.

Well turned, boys.

sweet! Nice turn.

Don't be stupid, Robbie. Just take the base.

So what was that about?

why the fuck did Napoli follow them?

OH, HELL YESSS!!!

That's f ucking beautiful. Suck on that Kazmir. You too, Scioscia.

Ha ha! Thanks for that extra run, Kazmir.

I didn't think that would carry out.
Wow.

Oh that's just fuckin AWESOME! Thank you for showing Kazmir what happens when you F A STRANGER IN THE ASS.

Posada makes a boom boom!

Wow, that carried too!
That was not a good swing.

Sounds like a lot of Yankee fans in the stadium today.

Damn it.
Nice bunt, Curtis.

Wtf??

Oh, I see, it caromed right back at him.

Thames is excited to be on the field. He's going to make the most of it. lol.

Wow... that WP came back faster then it went past! It hit a pinball bumper?

[53] hehe

Jete with the beat!

A jeterian hustle.

Damn.
It's really carrying today.

I'll take a 3 run delivery from the score truck.

fuck. I gotta spilt for work. catch you on the flip flop, banterers.

[59] Later on!

Javy can't even get strikes when he throws 'em. He does not inspire confidence.

Oh, for the love of Christ.
Just give it right back, why don't you.

What's with Cervelli catching two days in a row?

strikes dude. throw 'em.

[64] joe wanted a righty heavy lineup and this gives jorgie 3 days off behind the plate. el nino is the emergency catcher.

ugh. 65 is for 63. obvious (that i'm a dumbass...)

Howdy folks ... I took an afternoon nap ... rested now

Hello Diane.

Good recovery, Javy.

[67] I'm just about to head to couch for 1/2 hour.

Javy is definitely fielding his position today.

Velocity clearly seems to be the issue with him so far. Hopefully, he will regain it. At 91-92, you can see how he would be dominant with his change of speeds. At 86-87, however, the difference the effect is not so great. Javy is very much like Moose.

Now how come that one didn't carry?

[71]

Rally Monkeys blew it back in ...

[72] Bastards.

sigh

Kimmy on location.

She's like the smart, goofy girl from High School.

[76]

the anti-Erin Andrews

[67] i thoroughly enjoyed your haiku recap!

[75] wish she was at my location...

[77] Lol, yeah...Erin Andrews would not be mother approved.

[78]

thanks ... I wanted to try something a bit different, put my "stamp" on the recap ...
the writing chops are pretty serious amongst the columnists here, I had to bring my A game

(too cliche-ridden?) :-)

[76]

so, tell us a little about you .... where you from? lifelong Yankee fan? favorite player?

Oh for fuck's sake. finish him. Or Bobby's goint to make it 3-2.

at last.

oof

And there it is.

JOME RUN JAVY

Somehow the O's tied it. 4-4 going to the 10th in Fenway

Trivia: Name 5 Yankee Captains since 1976.

Bobby Wilson isn't mad at Teix ...

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=5134867

[82] good call. kinda. i still love my boBBy. hopefully that's the only run they get today. i really hope boBBy makes it to 300-300. he should. speaking of which, i hope A-rod hurries up and gets his 2 stolen bases to join the club...

[88] Munson, Mattingly, Randolph, Jeter, Nettles?

[88] thurman. guidry. willie. donnie. jeter.

(or was it nettles that shared it w/ guidry, not willie? i'm going with my above 5)

I don't get having Cervelli catch this game. I mean in a sense I'm all for it cause I'm a fan, but why use him with Vasquez, probably the easiest guy to catch on the club, instead of Hughes or Burnett? (Burnett for obvious reasons that maybe they're perversely avoiding, and Hughes because I got the impression Jorge was doing his best last time round to derail the no-no.)

Actually, there were 6. Munson, Mattingly, Randolph, Jeter, Nettles and LL Guidry/

[93]

The Yanks version of "run-prevention" perhaps?

[94] yeah, that sounds right

Ichiro won MVP, ROY and Gold Glove in same year ... last guy to do that .... Fred Lynn (1975)

Geez, Javy. If you're going to plunk someone at least make it count.

[97] and lynn has the only all-star game granny and ichiro has the only all-star game inside-the-parker.

I still don't understand why fans would rather see someone hit a ball over a fence and jog around the bases than see someone hit a ball 450 feet and bust ass around the bases while two other guys bust ass chasing down the ball and then throw it back as hard as they can and try to make a play somewhere.

I mean, if the idea of the juiced ball and smaller parks and the DH and the lowered mound and steroids was that people like homeruns, I have to ask, who actually finds an over the fence homerun more exciting than the inside the park job?

I still don't quite get the home run fetish.

[99]

ASG granny .... off of .... Atlee Hammaker?

[101] that's the one! i remember it vividly. lynn was an angel, atlee a giant. 1984. i was watching on the tv in the kitchen on long island. i was 10.

dammit javy. i was really excited to have him back, but he's been kinda stinky. feh.

JV is an uninteresting junk-baller. I may have to watch some of his games from last year to figure out what crazy voodoo he was working on the NL.

Papelbon-less bullpen gives up at least 3 in 10th, now 7-4 O's

The struggling Mr. Wood is going to mash one hard.

Mother of God.

Lynn was just sick in '75. Posted a line of .331 .401 .566 .967, leading the league in Runs, Doubles, Slugging and OPS. In '79, his line was .333 .423 .637 1.059, which lead the league in all 3 categories. His average over those 5 years was .308 .381 .523 .904. Guy also had a fine glove. Those are pretty heady pre-steroids era numbers.

And not having Gardy in LF costs us BIG time.

If Vazquez is going to pitch like this all season, the Yankees will be in trouble every 5th day. He is afraid to throw his fastball. You simply can not keep throwing breaking balls.

As for Thames, I have no idea what Girardi is waiting for before realizes that he should never play LF again. He has had at least one misplay in every game he has played.

3 Runs so far.

Over/under on release of Thames?

Atta boy, Javy. Way to offspeed away the 3-0 lead. Fucking Bollocks.

What are we going to do with this guy?

Jermaine Dye is still unsigned .... if he can still play the field ...

Ok I think I've waited long enough. But now is the time. Vasquez stinks. I'll be happy to have him work himself out of that designation, but I swear I feel like I'm watching Joba at his worst out there.

[111] He could be useful as a right handed DH. Winn was supposed to be the 4th outfielder.

to say i'm disappointed in javy would be an understatement. he needs to right the ship.

Papsmear! The only reliever he thinks is better then Mo.

Bad play by tims but that ball was hit hard. I would've chalked that up to luck for Vasquez had it been caught (and not just because of who was in LF).

[114] Same player...can hit lefties, but can't field.

Nicely done, Derek.

[81] I grew up on LI and a Yankee fan from birth. Had to endure the leanest Yankee years (not so fond memories of Horace Clark and Jake Gibbs) from childhood to about 20. And Ken Boyer really did make my cry during the '64 World Series (I was seven). I've lived most of my adult years in LA or SF, but moved back to the NY area in 2001. See about 10 games a year at the Stadium (was at the Aaron Boone game). Love the Yanks first, but also have a soft spot for the SF Giants.

And...I know this is a cliche, but I reallly thought as a young child that the monuments in CF at the old stadium were grave markers, older brothers perpetuated that myth, and in those days when you left the stadium from field level seats, you walked on the edge of the field to the outfield gate to get to the street. I stayed far away from those grave stones.

oh my fucking god. now i'm pissed. oreo's better hold on.

this is total bollocks.

I guess the Yankees will simply never have a good #5 starter. If Vazquez can't throw a fastball by May, the Yankees might be better off switching him with Aceves.

Nice catch, old man!

Assuming the Yanks lose today (a big assumption perhaps), Vasquez will be responsible for half the team's losses.

hmmm ... would I be pissed in a neutral contex?

sure.

would i be pissed in *this* contexs??

no.

Javy? If you didn't want to be yanked from the game ... try *NOT* sucking so hard.

just sayin' ...

Jeez, I shoulda stayed asleep.

[122]

nice story .... thanks!

Honestly if this continues with Vasquez I wholeheartedly endorse bringing Joba in as the #5. Solve that riddle once and for all and at worst you will maintain these wonderful < 5 inning performances.

Time to wake the **** up Teixeira.

Now would be a good time to hit, Teix.

Jeez, I turn my head for five minutes (watching the Sox) and Javy barfs up four.

of course, the shit sox are threatening in the 10th, already with a run in. fuck!

By the way, I'm strongly committed to the three-o version of "toooptimistic".

[132] I know this must come as a shock to you.

[133] I know, and they've already cleared Big Popup, so we have nothing to look forward to.

[132] i will join you in blaming the shit sox, if you'd like. i can definitely see this being their fault.

what's for dinner?

JV has not been good, but I put this on the D.

Damn it.

Ok, Alex. Please. Pick this team the fuck up on your centaur haunches.

Beltre singles, 1st and 3rd, 1 out, down 7-5.

Well-struck, there. can't fault Tex there (I only want to call him Tex when I'm pleased with his performance)

[119] Even if Thames catches that ball, a run still scores

Aggggghh.

Teix is *just* about to get LOCKED in...

I'm fucking pissed now.
I do *not* want to lose this game.
We already blew Friday's game.

Remind me again why this guy doesn't suck?

I'm pissed at myself for allowing other people to convince me that this guy wasn't exactly who I thought he was.

Yeah, this is a good idea. Things are great in Yankee-land, so let's bring back a guy who reeks with memories of the damn near worst thing ever in our history.

HATE Javy Vasquez.

Ugh.

Otherwise, how you all doing?

Missed the BBB crowd - law school is harsh.

Great start to the season, so far, excepting the Vasquez starts.

Catching a low sinking liner. Interesting. Did ya' see that, Marcus?

[134] i'll go as far as "tooopt'd", but thazzit. i'm not really getting how this "banterism" has had as much staying power as it already has. it grew a lot of legs quickly. "score truck" still wins...

btw, nice anagrams on braden from the other day...

[129] Joba doesn't merit the rotation either. If Javy doesn't get it together, Aceves should be next in line.

This edition of Vazquez reminds me an awful lot of Ian Kennedy.

Does anyone know how to block only a specific "retweeter" of someone you follow?

Sox coming back. 7-6, bases loaded, 1 out.
Fucking O's.

[146] Grrr, is all I can say.

yeah, I'd rather see the Meat-Tray ...

[138] Besides Thames, were there other misplays? The problem with Javy isn't the results, but the inability to throw 90 or come close to commanding his fastball.

Hall singles, 7-6, still one out ....Cla Meredith now in ...

Through the power of gameday I can see Jim Johnson of the O's throw 10th inning bp. Yeesh.

[157]

to be fair, this IS his second inning of work

[152] I guess that's how you get to be 2-16.

Opps. 1st and 2nd. Now 2 out.

2 out now, up to Scutaro.

all too predictable in beantown. god, i HATE that stadium. always have. don't understand all the love for it. fucking oreo's.

Yanks seem to know how to get Matsui out, naturally.

3-16.

Cla Merideth saves the day. What did his mother have against y's anyway?

[164]

Must seem like 3:16 to Sox ...

[165]

Maybe he was supposed to be Clam Erideth ??? :-)

whew. boston lost! that is always nice...

O's hold on to win...

[166] i'm not religious in the slightest, so i have no idea what 3:16 is (nor do i want to know!), but my grandpa died on 3/16, so i really hate having to see those #'s together in so many places, all year round. my grandpa is always in my thoughts, but seeing the death date always saddens me... : (

Aight ... Da Vulture!!!

[169] amazing. wonderful. surprising.

Yay, O's. They finally do something right.

Hilarious how much O's fans hate the Yankees.

Yes, because it's the Yankees that make your team suck, not having Daniel Snyder as your owner. Oh, I mean the labor-friendly version of Daniel Snyder.

Living in the vicinity of that franchise has meant access to a hilarity I had not heretofore properly appreciated.

[170]

sorry bubbi ... :-(

[168][169] This just in: man makes $25,400 in winnings on a $10 sportsbet that the Baltimore Orioles win today's game at Fenway.

[174] thanking you!

[165] : )

That game in Fenway might be a Francona Loss. The Sox brought the infield in with the bases loaded and nobody out in the tenth. Hard grounder through the first base hole -- I'm not saying Youk would have had it in regular position, but maybe. One run scores, they keep the infield in, and a grounder gets through again, and this one really did look like it would have been handled.
So they played to prevent any runs from scoring, and they let in three, and then scored two in the bottom.

[175] fuck! i'm in the wrong business...

[149] He may not merit it, but I'd like it to be written in stone, but I don't think there is 100% consensus on that. I'd like to see the whole thing but to rest and maybe that's the way to do it. Or he could surprise me and do a halfway decent job.

I'd rather go that route then Aceves who is a known quantity and actually does his current job well. He's pretty valuable as is.

What do you say to your 3-16 team if you're the manager?

Fabulous, Robbie.
Fabulous.

Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Awesome sound.

Your turn, Jorgie.

Cano can-do!

DA RIPPER!!!!!!!

[181] When's that prospect Nicodemus coming up to help the big club? : )

[181] No, please, don't cheer for the boring, fun-killing play. Scold him for not hitting a double and running quickly and beautifully.

[187] "Fun-killing." ahhah hehh hehhhehh.

[187] Lead off homers are rally killers.

pinch hit w/ gritner?

Gardner appears.

[179] it was satire. But still, I bet the odds on Baltimore winning the world series would be pretty handsome, albeit a HORRIBLE bet.

that was robbie's 3rd homer off Kaz this season!

[192] ah, i barely have any work this coming week and it looks like 2 weeks between gigs. that's like an eternity... : /

Good cut there, Brett.

How come we were hitting the ball harder earlier?

Robinson looks bigger, is intimidating at the plate, and just isn't a kid anymore...he's been truly a surprise this year. How great is that...and no steriods (which is what we would have been thinking a few years ago).

Well done, Ace.
Well done.

[197] Let's give it some time. He needs to stay consistent before I'll believe he's stepped it up. He looks good, to be sure, but he's looked this good in the past. I don't want to get suckered in again only to watch him go 3-for-June.

Damn, Jepsen...he has looked tough against the Yankees.

Great idea by Brains.