Comments on: You Gotta Have Wa

By: Boatzilla

Boatzilla — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:43:38 +0000

Great title, Hank. That was a very pleasurable victory for me.

I wonder if Ichiro is going start coloring his hair blue, or green or fuchsia, like so many oldies do here. I kid you not, we have 80-year old grannies looking like punk rockers.

By: Boatzilla

Boatzilla — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:41:30 +0000

[14] [15] Wait up. Rose had good money on those games. ;>) If he hurt the team he had plenty of reason too. Don’t bust I guy for going with the odds.

By: kenboyer made me cry

kenboyer made me cry — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:39:11 +0000

Without Wa players, the Yankees probably don’t compete in the playoffs. Kuroda is the consummate professional who knows the art of pitching.

Can’t say enough about Ichiro. He swings the bat like he’s playing tennis with it. Maybe he now realizes that the can reach the short fence in right at will, and will go that way more. He’s on to something…

It’s so great having a cartoon superhero on the Yankees roster for us fans.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:32:37 +0000

[15] And don’t get me wrong: Rose was and is a royal jackass and one selfish sumbitch.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:30:07 +0000

[14] There’s a little bit of bullshit in that analysis. Rose was traded in the middle of the 1984 season to the Reds, where he became player manager. He was only player-manager until the middle of 1986. He broke the all-time hits record near the end of 1985. He played pretty well for the Reds in 1984 while playing himself in only 26 games (he was pretty bad for the Expos and Phillies in the previous couple of seasons). He was not terrible in 1985 (99 OPS+) and again played himself in only 119 games. It was really only in 1986, after he had broken the record, that he played himself to the severe detriment his team.

The reality is that once he got close to the record, by say 1983 or 1984, breaking it was inevitable. No manager—Pete Rose or otherwise—was going to *not* play Pete Rose enough to prevent him from the record. His attaining the record was enabled far more by his non-Pete-Rose managers in 1982-1984 than it was by himself writing himself into the lineup.

By: krad

krad — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:13:36 +0000

Pete Rose was also aided in his pursuit of the hits record by a very understanding manager — Pete Rose, the last of the player-managers, who put his record ahead of what was good for the team.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:57:46 +0000

Watching Ichiro take Beckett deep twice last night was super sweet for me. He’s hitting .322 with 3 HRs in 87 ABs with Yanks. Not only is he not overrated, he’s not washed up either.

By: Jon DeRosa

Jon DeRosa — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:03:11 +0000

Exactly.

Using Pete Rose as the example, it’s hard to imagine Jeter putting up a year like Rose did in his 42 year old season, being 266 hits away and signing up to come back.

By: rbj

rbj — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:50:42 +0000

[9] No one is getting to 4100 and hanging them up. Barring catastrophic injury. And I don’t think anyone would gainsay such a person. If you’re 157 hits away from the record, everyone is going to pull for you. Probably some opposing pitchers are even going to serve you some meatballs.

By: krad

krad — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:37:06 +0000

Minor correction: Ryan Lavarnway was catching — Saltalamacchia was the DH — so the wild pitch that scored the second run got by the Yalie.

By: Jon DeRosa

Jon DeRosa — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:31:01 +0000

[8] I agree unless he gets close enough for the enitre baseball world to sniff the record. And to get close enough, he’d have to be pretty productive, so it’s all kind of saying the same thing. But, if I had to guess, he’s not getting to 4100 and hanging them up.

By: rbj

rbj — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:27:53 +0000

[6] I had to drop the game thread last night, as my touchpad decided to become “uncooperative.” If Derek does get to 4000, he goes on to pursue the record, and the Yankees find a spot for him. He’s not going to get the record as a Royal.

Just not sure he will feel the need to go for the record, his legacy is intact, no need to add a tarnished ending to it. Productive Jeter plays, unproductive record chaser Jeter doesn’t play.

By: ms october

ms october — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:00:41 +0000

[4] it is going to be really interesting to see how it plays out.
if arod continues to spend significant time on the dl over the next few years, that should help jeter’s quest as well, since it opens up dh at-bats for him.
just so many different factors.

By: Jon DeRosa

Jon DeRosa — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:58:37 +0000

[4] If Jeter gets to 4000 hits by 42, I think he plows through and takes the record. After you get to certain points in your career, like Ripken and Rose, the pursuit of the record is more important to everybody than being any good.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:31:51 +0000

Hank, you don’t think Kuroda has a fantasy team?

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:27:00 +0000

Oh, and beating a dead horse. Where Jeter will end up on the all time hits list really depends on what he does the next couple of seasons (obviously). Of course the most likely path is steep decline and/or injury. But what if he has more of a Rose or, better, Appling career arc?

Appling had fine seasons from age 39 through 42, averaging about 140 G/season and 160 hits, all while playing SS. If Jeter does the same, he would end his age 42 season at around 3900 or 4000 hits, and then things get really interesting.

The odds are certainly long, but…

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:22:20 +0000

[1] The funny thing is that I agree. I have long felt that Ichiro is vastly overrated, and still do. But that being said, I far prefer his and Jeter’s game aesthetically to the way the game developed in the 90s (though the development traces its roots back, of course, to Babe Ruth).

Offense is down this year. Who knows, maybe the league will cycle back to the 1970s and 1980s, so speed and contact players may be more valuable?

By: ms october

ms october — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:50:29 +0000

watching the two thin, grey haired old dogs last night was very rewarding.
they both seemed to have beckett timed perfectly. when ichiro stepped in the box for his second homer he seemed to be lining it up, and jeter seemed to be able to turn on those two doubles pretty easily.

i admit i as a bit concerned the kuroda might have a tough time adjusting to the al east and yankee stadium given some of his peripherals the last few years, but he has been outstanding and a real treat to watch.

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:26:43 +0000

Go Go Ichiro! Love watching him and Jeter, so much more fun than three-true-outcomes dinosaurs-in-a-tar-pit players like Adam Dunn.