Comments on: Mostly Dead

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:43:18 +0000

[18] Not sure I agree. Watching Ali or Holyfield’s last fight was not watching a great athelete “compete”. The tank was empty and the results were horrifying. Now, boxing is a special case but even in baseball, I think you are being a bit unkind to most fans. And there’s a difference between hanging on a bit too long and repeatedly coming back after retiring, a la Rocket Roger.
As to the money, well, if they need it that bad then go for it.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 23:56:56 +0000

[17] I guess I would challenge the notion that the dream is elusive. What if the dream is simply to play MLB (or in whatever league is the top of a given sport)? Simply to compete, at the highest level? Simply to play with the best for as long as physically possible. How is that “elusive” when in fact aging athletes do it all the time.

It seems to me that fans are the ones who are bothered. So often I hear or read how “sad” it is to see an aging star hanging on past his prime, a shell of his former self (like, say, Ichiro this season). But in reality it seems only sad for the fan, because s/he wants a certain story line: the hero going out at the top of his game, a la DiMaggio, not hanging on “too long” like Jerry Rice or, some might say, Posada. I on the other hand don’t see these cases as sad at all.

A pro player wants to hang on as long as he can convince a team to pay him…more power too him. I’m not sad one bit.

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:45:25 +0000

[16] You see it that way? I see it as someone clinging to some elusive dream, long past the point where it’s possible. It has zero to do with wanting a “narrative”.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:53:48 +0000

[15] Is it sad? Would you be willing to walk away from you love doing simply because others think that you should? I’ve never really understood why fans feel that athletes should arrange their careers according to the fans’ desire for a given narrative.

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:27:26 +0000

[12] To be honest, I think it’s a question of.. outside interests, shall we say? Look at the difference between Mike Mussina and Clemens, a man who had 7 televisions in his house and not one bookcase..

Also, most who come back endlessly don’t need the money (Clemens, Jordan, Holyfield) and surely they know they won’t succeed. They just seem to lack anything else in their lives. It’s kind of sad.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 11:36:07 +0000

[13] Merely from observation over the last few seasons, it appears that the Yankees assume (hope for?) the best case scenario when it comes to injuries, which leads them to try to finesse their roster, and it sure *seems* like they get burnt.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:33:35 +0000

[11] Yeah, but you also predicted that Phil Hughes would not be a starter (traded or pen, you predicted) and that Ichiro would be playing RF.
So to me that sort of sounds like a guess.

Put it this way: do you believe that the team doctors predicted that Teixeira would take at least two weeks to be ready to return?
If so, then why do you think Cashman didn’t believe them?
If not, then why do you think you are better at these things than the Yankees’ team doctors?

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:19:52 +0000

[10] Because they love what they do and get paid oodles to do it, and have tens of thousands of people cheering for them. I’ve always thought the real question is why do fans find it so hard to understand why athletes try to hang on as long as possible.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:18:31 +0000

[7] Exactly, he came back too soon. In other words, he should have sat out for two weeks or more, which means he should have been DLed in the first place…just as I admonished two weeks ago. Instead, the Yankees played cutesy with their roster, and then tried to rush him back (with the player’s consent, no doubt), and they got burned. Again, just like it played out with Sheffield a few years ago.

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:57:14 +0000

[9] Oh no! Why is it SO hard for atheletes to retire? Are they really so lacking in imagination they can’t find something to do? Teach baseball to the Chilean miners/do a workshop in Australia/learn tai-chi/go on the Price is Right..just do SOMEthing.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:07:24 +0000

A reiteration of "all it takes is one dumb owner" (although in Texas, that means you're looking for straw in a haystack)...

By: RIYank

RIYank — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:10:11 +0000

(In [7], let Friday=Saturday.)

By: RIYank

RIYank — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:09:35 +0000

[5] ???

If the Friday injury shows anything, it shows that he came back too soon, not that he should have played through it!

By: RIYank

RIYank — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:08:16 +0000

[4] Hm, that’s not really what ‘predictable’ means. That’s like arguing that it’s desirable that the Yankees acquire three more lefties for the bullpen on the grounds that Joe Girardi desires it.

By: Bruce Markusen

Bruce Markusen — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:05:51 +0000

I’m sure I’ll be branded as old school–since when has that stopped me?–but I believe this is an injury that a player would have played through 30 or 40 years ago. But today, there is an obsession with “being 100 per cent,” which is a very hard standard to achieve toward the end of a long season.

If the Yankees wait for Teixeira to be “100 per cent,” he won’t return at all this season, not even for the playoffs.

Finally, Teixeira said he was ready to play Friday, but Girardi insisted that he be given an extra day. So when he plays his first game, he aggravates the injury. Perhaps Teixeira needed to be more honest with the Yankees to begin with.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:10 +0000

[3] Well it certainly was predictable, as I in fact predicted it.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:55:16 +0000

Well, no, it wasn’t predictable.
But, I know, it’s more fun to say it was!

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:21:19 +0000

So to review, the Yankees refrained from putting Teix on the DL (and played short for about four games) despite knowing that he would likely miss around 10 games *minimum*, in order to “save” a few games at the end. Then there were reports that his injury was not progressing as quickly as expected, but nevertheless they started him, wherein he injured himself again and now is out for another two weeks.

It’s like Gary Sheffield’s wrist writ small.

I know, I know. The apologists will argue that the Yankees could not have foreseen this. But really, it was so predictable, wasn’t it?

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:39:13 +0000

Well boys, looks like there’s a new Melky in town…