There is an air of playful desperation about Nick Swisher’s campaign to be an All-Star. I don’t know that he deserves it over Paul Konerko or Kevin Youkilis but if Swisher doesn’t get in it sure won’t be for a lack of trying. And if he does make it, man, I assumed he’ll be teased by his fellow All-Stars (not to mention his teammates) to no end. Swisher comes across like a goofball without guile, at least I think his Polly Positive schtick is not an act. Which is probably why he can pull it off. My wife loves him for it; me, I’m not so sure. I’m not as hard on him as I was last year, but I’m still cautious. But so long as he keeps playing like he’s done for the first half of the season, you won’t hear me bitchin’.
Swisher had three hits last night, including a home run and double, Mark Teixeira also homered and AJ Burnett pitched well for his third straight game as the Yanks completed a nifty, three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s.
Final Score: Yanks 6, A’s 2.
Man, you don’t see that often. The Yanks sweeping on the West Coast. They head off to Seattle in what’ll be their last west coast stop of the year. Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez wait but the Yanks are playing well. Here’s hoping they end the first half with no less than a series split.
I like Swisher. He can be a little annoying at times but that's all right. I can't believe anyone would think he was putting on an act, anyway.
Yeah, you are right. He is himself, like it or not.
[1] Yeah, I agree with that assessment. Like Alex, I was more annoyed with Swish last year, but then he started to grow on me. He does a lot of cool things off the field and he doesn't do it for PR.
Everyone talks about homegrown players and how great it is to have players like that, but one homegrown player that I've developed pure disdain for is for our very own Joba Chamberlain. I would love for the Yanks to just give up on him, I don't see him being an ace anywhere else, maybe a really valuable reliever, but I find his act tiring already.
3) D, agreed on Joba. He's not appealing on any level.
[4] Did Lebron sign with the Knicks yet? Holy shiznit, are you as into this as me?
[1] I concur. The thing I like about Swish is that he wears his heart on his sleeve, so he's pretty easy to read and empathize with. I remember watching a game where he hit a ball that almost went out, but the RF made a great catch and the look on Swish's face made me want to reach through the tube and give the guy a hug; he was totally crestfallen. He's almost like an O'Neill-positive in that way...
[4] Seems like Joba gets no coverage unless he does something wrong now. In a way the Yanks are banking on Phil Hughes to come through this season and next as well as they expect him to in order to justify what they did with Joba; in that way they can say that it wasn't the system that ruined him, it was all on him. I don't know if I agree with that logic, but it's plausible.
Personally, I think the Yanks screwed him from the moment he arrived to the bigs, and we're just seeing the consequences of their treatment of him now. You can almost make a similar case with Wang and I'm more afraid now for Mo and how they treat his issues than ever before, and not just because he's 40... on the other hand, you can't thank Eiland enough for working whatever whispering or magic he has on AJ...
[5] Unfortunately, yes. I will thoroughly scourge and wash myself when this is over. And I don't believe he's coming, Dim. I think it's Carmelo or bust next year, or if Stern somehow manages to get the Knicks the ol' Ewing Lottery Bounce whenever they're back in the first round... or James Dolan completely divests himself of the Knicks and takes D'Antoni with him to Shamballa...
[6] Chyll usually I agree with you, but I don't get how the Yanks ruined Joba. Are you referring to the Joba rules? Innings limit?
I thought the Yanks were really cautious with his workload, but I can understand why they were like that. I feel that Joba shined for a bit and now he wants to live off that memory.
I'm also really tired of Joba. Last year it looked like maybe he was the second coming of AJ Burnett (great arm, shite head), now it's looking like he might be the second coming of Kyle Farnsworth (same thing, but reliever version, and also not terribly good).
I think he might be most valuable as a trade asset. Joba and Montero and someone for Hanley? Yes please.
[9] I should mention I didn't come up with the Joba - Farns comparison. I think I saw it from Raging Tartabull? From one of the regular commenters, at least
[6] i've made no secret that i don't buy the "Yankees ruined Joba" story line. He clearly has his own issues that he's always had. I think folks look to when he had that great start to his career and of course it was easy to enjoy his fire then. But he's never seemed to handle adversity well.
Has he stopped chewing yet? Disgusting.
With Joba - speaking of him as a reliever - he just doesn't seem to consistently have the stuff he did when he first came up. I think his battleship was sunk by everything mentioned - the Yanks' handling of him, his own cabeza - and injury.
[11] I don't know about that, Joba has had quite an interesting life up to the point he was drafted.
[14] I see what you are saying, his life had enough drama that he did in fact overcome adversity. Make sense. But I do agree with seamus [11], he was handed a lot of things and he just became exposed. Maybe the right answer is, he's just not that good.
So it isn't adversity with regard to his personal life, he's done well there and overcome a very challenging upbringing. Joba gets credit for that, maybe he'll get a lifetime movie.
But as far as his pitching is concerned, I find that he hasn't overcome adversity at all.
[3] I find myself feeling the same way. I don't like "prancing around the mound" from anybody.
But if he was pitching well, I'd be psyched to have him on the team. And with only letting up 1 homer this year and having strong K/BB numbers, he might be not too far away from pitching well again.
[14] i think you misunderstand me. I'm not talking about adversity in life. I'm talking about adversity in the game. Totally different scenarios.
[15] What exactly has he been handed?
[17] I would think if you're able to handle one, then you can handle the other. At any rate, it seems that his peripherals are better than the results indicate, so he may not be that far off.
What do you guys think of Swisher's campaign commercial? I thought it to be pretty humorous, hope he does get the final spot on the roster.
andy needs to be a golden god tonight. vargas is good, but king felix and clifton the next two nights, will be rough. we should snag tonight and sunday. perhaps steal a game in the middle...
wade davis goes for the rays tonight. would be very very nice to stretch the lead to 3 games tonight, with 3 to go...
SEND SWISH!!! i've always liked the guy, and my personality is almost the opposite of his. but i liked him in oakland, i liked him with long hair, i felt bad for him in chicago and have been glad from the moment he's on the jankees. i'm a fan, though i'm more of a fan of boBBy.
i don't mean that as far as wanting him as my right fielder right now. there are just certain players i'm a big fan of and follow, regardless of yankee connections. i'm a big power-speed guy. i'm hoping hard boBBy reaches 300 homers and joins the 300-300 club! : )
Hate to say this but as Swishalicious as our Nick is, if the AL was down by a run in the last inning with the bases loaded and two outs, who would you really rather have at bat - Swisher or Youkilis?
[21] swisher. I hate ugly. i do like that i have a reason to pull for the AL besides silly homerism.
Swish is definitely an acquired taste. Over the past 1.5 seasons, I've come to really appreciate his zeal and enthusiasm (enthusiams, quipped mr capone) for the game. He's more dork than Top Gun hot-shot (how I tended to regard him with Oakland, for no good reason, really), but he's our dork, as much of a mascot as anything. Given that the final spot is purely a popularity contest, and swish is a populist at heart (does he not make you think that you could play pro ball, even a little?), he is the perfect choice.Unless the german octopus says otherwise....strange days, indeed....