The context of the sac fly was the bit about Derek having very little success getting hits in the air, having all or nearly all of his hits come on grounders, so I was imagining some kind of ninth inning, down by a run, runner on third kind of thing with a hard throwing closer.

Anyway, you couldn’t have known what was in my head, of course. I’ll try to be more forthcoming in future.

I wrote: “Also, I hate to bring this up, but at what point in the season/career is it ok to pinch it for Derek?”

I said “I hate to bring this up” because it’s painful for me to pose the question because I love Derek as much as anyone and it’s sad to me that we’ve reached (or are soon to) this (inevitable) question.

I realize my question seemed petulant, a response to a night where Beckett was simply dominant and it might have looked like I was picking on Jeter but really I was thinking about Chavez and what he might bring to the team.

By “cooperating” with me, I mean trying to understand the essence of the question I was posing rather than seizing on what was probably just a clumsy attempt to offer a concrete example (“needing a sacrifice fly”) of a scenario in which, if things remain as they are now (IF–IF!!!), I would be frustrated if Girardi stuck with Jeter the way Torre stuck with his guys. (E.g., insisting on using Justice in 2002 over Shane Spencer in the PS.)

And in general, I find it uncooperative to dismiss someone’s thought or question as “silly” without making any effort to reformulate in a productive way. It’s condescending. You might have said, “While calling on a pinch hitter to hit a sacrifice fly might be a little unrealistic, it’s certainly true that there are times in which it makes sense to pinch hit one batter for another, as to that, in the case of Jeter, my opinion is…”

Or whatever.

Maybe just please try not to be so dismissive when I’m trying to strike up a serious discussion.

But whatever, I’m tired and want to go to sleep. I, too am sorry for the misunderstandings. I’ll try to be clearer both in tone and in framing my hypothetical questions in future, seriously.

Goodnight, mp.

of course, there’ll be at least 2 dvd’s of this tour. i believe they’re playing in cleveland next week and are recording that for release…

hope you had a *fantastic* time, diane!!!

Is that it in a nutshell?

As for cooperating with you, I’m not sure what mean. You posed a question and I answered it (albeit misunderstanding your intent). I responded to subsequent “clarifications” that seemed only to further cloud the issue (e.g., invoking Jeter’s pride)–again, obviously I misunderstood what you were getting at.

I’m joking around! A little levity after watching The Grinch Whole Stole My Happiness (tonight).

Why couldn’t you either try to cooperate with *me* or keep your peace?

“Look, if we want to talk about PH for Jeter, then let’s have a real discussion about it. You PH for bad offensive players with better offensive players…not with the player noted for his ability to deliver the decisive sac fly.”

I do want to have a “real discussion” about it.

Do you have anything of substance to offer to such a discussion?

When would YOU pinch hit for Jeter?

How can I frame the question to get something productive out of you? Tell me how and I’ll do it.

In a month or two if Jeter looks like Jeter 2010, I still probably don’t PH for him. If he looks worse, then yeah, I’d pull him in tactical situations.

Whatever, I’m done.

But forget it, I don’t need this stress on top of the loss, I’m happy to shelve the discussion for another day.

You guys just tell me when it’s ok to talk about without being silly.

Who the hell plans tactics, personnel moves, etc. around “really needing a sac fly”, or wondering how many games will be lost because a sac fly by a specific play in a specific situation will make the difference? It’s silly.

Look, if we want to talk about PH for Jeter, then let’s have a real discussion about it. You PH for bad offensive players with better offensive players…not with the player noted for his ability to deliver the decisive sac fly.

I’m tired of petulant quibbles.

Goodnight.

If it wasn’t in the middle of the game and you said in some mid-day, mid-week thread, “Hey I wonder …” it probably wouldn’t have set off the same alarms, (so to speak).