"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

C’mon Back, Boys

Sometimes you have to blink and look two, three times upon seeing a Yankee lineup this season, huh?

It’s Phelps. And the hope these 4F lineup can score some runski’s.

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jayson Nix SS
Chris Nelson 3B
David Phelps P
Austin Romine C

Never mind the view:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images]

Categories:  1: Featured  Game Thread  Yankees

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63 comments

1 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 6:41 pm

Austin Romine, cool. (Though C-Stew has been very tolerable.)

2 Alex Belth   ~  May 8, 2013 6:46 pm

Yeah, I"m psyched for Romine tonight.

3 Alex Belth   ~  May 8, 2013 6:47 pm

Anyone just see that bomb Gomes hit for the Sox? Yow.

4 Sliced Bread   ~  May 8, 2013 6:49 pm

dude that is a 4F'd up lineup

5 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 7:04 pm

Oh! the irony of this lineup from the greatest payroll in MLB.

6 Alex Belth   ~  May 8, 2013 7:09 pm

5) I like the Irony of the Angels and Jays and Dodgers--pre-season darlings--being horseshit so far.

7 Alex Belth   ~  May 8, 2013 7:13 pm

Jesus, 11-5 Twins in the top of the 2nd. Think the two teams will score more than 30 before it's all said and done tonight?

8 Alex Belth   ~  May 8, 2013 7:16 pm

Oh, and if I had to put money on it, I'd say the Sox win this one.

9 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 7:39 pm

Yeah I've been watching the Sox too. Gleefully in the top of the first, then I just rolled my eyes at Gomes' salami. But then the 'phenom' (they really are calling him that here) got smacked, and hard, in the second inning. Dang, that's gotta be in his head, four in the first and seven in the second.

10 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 7:43 pm

Both starters out after two innings, man.

[8] And I'll take some of that action! I don't care how it feels: a 5 run lead gives the leading team big odds. I say the Sox are 10:1 against now.

11 rbj   ~  May 8, 2013 7:48 pm

Any year now, 44.

12 monkeypants   ~  May 8, 2013 7:52 pm

Nothing says "I have confidence in you kid" like batting after the pitcher. Chessmaster™ !

13 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 7:53 pm

Bam!
Hey, Vern!

14 rbj   ~  May 8, 2013 7:53 pm

A Wells struck ball.

15 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 7:55 pm

[6] Especially the Angels, "the greatest batting order of all time".

VW drives one!

16 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 7:56 pm

[12] I don't do psychology, but tactically it's probably the right move.

17 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  May 8, 2013 7:59 pm

Sterling's call for that Vernon tater?

18 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:01 pm

[17] Heard him a couple weeks ago (Vernon has more than a couple!). "Wells Bells! The Bronx is Vernon!"

19 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:02 pm

That was a great play by Overbay!

20 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:03 pm

That was also a great play by Overbay.

21 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:06 pm

[19] Lyle has taken over the game. (3 Unassisted; 3-1; 3-1)

22 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  May 8, 2013 8:08 pm

[18] Fantastic. Sterling is mid-70s now? Still at the top of his game.

23 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:11 pm

[22] Maybe, if the game is Show Tune Trivia?

24 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:13 pm

Meanwhile, back in Fenway...

With a six run lead, Ryan Pressly, he of the 2.13 ERA, walks the first two Red Sox in the fourth inning. Grounder almost gets him out of trouble, but the Twinks can't turn the DP, one down with runners in the corners.

Little Pony taps a grounder to first, the runner can't score, two away, but two in scoring position for Papi (who is batting .400 with a SLG of about seventy trillion)...
Presly hangs a curve, Ortiz gets out ahead of it and grounds out to first.

I can't think of a good "Presly" joke. Kenboyer, little help?

25 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:14 pm

It's "Pressly", sorry.

26 rbj   ~  May 8, 2013 8:16 pm

Helton will do that.

27 Ara Just Fair   ~  May 8, 2013 8:18 pm

When the pitcher misses his spot by a foot the ball will go a long way. Shit location.

28 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:18 pm

[24] Some rejoinder with Elvis, but nothing is coming fast.

Damn, why pitch to Helton there?

29 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:20 pm

[28] That (Elvis) will be good when the Twins play the Rangers.

30 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:28 pm

Brett is a good lead-off man now.

31 monkeypants   ~  May 8, 2013 8:31 pm

[16] He could have started Hafner at P and batted him first (or better, third), then pulled him after the first inning for Phelps. Then Phelps would probably only bat one time before himself getting pulled. Of course, that burns the best bench bat in the first inning.

I think Billy Martin or Earl Weaver tried some scheme like this with the DH, which forced a rule change. Or maybe I misremember.

32 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:32 pm

[30] I agree, but he is still a little timid on the bases and his apprehension can mess with Cano's at bats.

33 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  May 8, 2013 8:33 pm

Balk! I throw out this challenge to you all: Explain the balk rule in haiku form.

34 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  May 8, 2013 8:36 pm

"With runners on base,
Twirler can't stop his motion
to plate, or free base."

35 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:37 pm

[31] No, that sounds familiar. I wanna say Weaver. Can't quite remember.

36 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:40 pm

[32] You think Cano gets distracted?

I read somewhere (Mathletics, or else The Book, I think) that there is a distraction factor for both the pitcher and the batter when there's an attention-getting runner on first. But for experienced players the distraction factor goes away.

37 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:42 pm

[31] Anyway, you know LaRussa often batted his pitcher 8th, right? And Hardball Times concluded that he was probably right. (The statistical analysis appears to change from era to era, and is also apparently sensitive to quite specific features of the line-up, so it's hard to say anything definite about the strategy in general.)

38 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:45 pm

[33] The pitcher twitches,
Gentle runners may be fooled;
Move up ninety feet.

39 Alex Belth   ~  May 8, 2013 8:47 pm

Pretty views from this park, huh?

40 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:48 pm

[36] Sometimes it seems like Cano is taking pitches waiting for Gardner to go.

41 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 8:53 pm

[39] If you are ever in Denver when there is a show at Red Rocks, go! There is nothing like it.

42 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 8:55 pm

Supposed to snow there next week, though.
Maybe not Denver, maybe a little higher up?

43 monkeypants   ~  May 8, 2013 8:58 pm

[37] I thought it was a tossup or slightly better for the pitcher to bat 8th only over the long haul and especially because LaRussa was trying to get McGwire more ABs with RISP (i.e. it depends on who is at the top of the lineup whether batting the pitcher 8th improves the lineup).

really it comes down to how to get the pitcher the least number of ABs on average. In the old days, when the pitchers went longer, batting them 9th probably made more sense. Now that the pitcher is only going to bat twice in most cases, there is more flexibility where to put him. I actually quite like my idea of batting him in the top three as a PH for a nominal starter, especially if you are certain your starter is not going deep into the game.

44 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 9:01 pm

My apologies to baseball only fans. Switching between the Yankees and the Rangers/Caps game, the hockey game is incredibly non-stop exciting with 6 minutes to go Rangers up 4-3.

45 Alex Belth   ~  May 8, 2013 9:03 pm

41) Cool. Beautiful-looking there tonight but dag, it looks cold, too.

44) I'm on the other side...going back-and-forth to the NBA playoffs. LOL.

46 rbj   ~  May 8, 2013 9:04 pm

[44] I've had to switch between the game and Mythbusters.

47 Boatzilla   ~  May 8, 2013 9:13 pm

Another slugfest at Coors Field.[Yawn]

48 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 9:14 pm

[46] They're still making new Mythbusters? I thought the guy with the mustache would have found a way for the funny guy to disappear by now.

49 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 9:17 pm

[43] well yes, but as you noted that idea is illegal!

True, it matters how good the top of the lineup is. And nowadays the total run difference between batting the P 8th and 9th is probably minuscule .

50 monkeypants   ~  May 8, 2013 9:19 pm

[49] I thought it was only illegal when the DH is being used, but still technically legal in the NL. I'll have to check.

51 monkeypants   ~  May 8, 2013 9:31 pm

[49][50] Nope, I was wrong. The starting pitcher has to pitch to at least one batter:

3.05 (a) The pitcher named in the batting order handed the umpire-in-chief, as provided in Rules 4.01 (a) and 4.01 (b), shall pitch to the first batter or any substitute batter until such batter is put out or reaches first base, unless the pitcher sustains injury or illness which, in the judgment of the umpire-in-chief, incapacitates him from pitching.

52 RIYank   ~  May 8, 2013 9:35 pm

[47] You want scoring? Two touchdowns to one in Fenway.

53 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 9:41 pm

Fowler having a nightmare game in CF. Now we're depending on Ben Francisco to give Phelps a chance for a win.

54 Mattpat11   ~  May 8, 2013 10:06 pm

Someone needs to tell Young that the job of a basestealer is to stand on first base until the inning ends.

55 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 10:15 pm

THIS is getting exciting...

56 Ara Just Fair   ~  May 8, 2013 10:22 pm

[55] I was rereading the thread and saw [44]. Been watching network tv. with the wife with hockey playoffs on the computer. It is hard to beat playoff hockey. This time of year for sports is great. Have only been checking in with this game here and there. Seeing the bases juiced now. : )

57 Ara Just Fair   ~  May 8, 2013 10:26 pm

Well I'm no luck. Shit.

58 Mattpat11   ~  May 8, 2013 10:26 pm

Did that play make more sense on TV than it did on radio?

59 Ara Just Fair   ~  May 8, 2013 10:27 pm

[57] I take that back. I screwed up looking at gameday.

60 Ara Just Fair   ~  May 8, 2013 10:31 pm

Vernon! 5-3!

61 Ara Just Fair   ~  May 8, 2013 10:35 pm

Gutty says the booth. All Rise.

62 Mattpat11   ~  May 8, 2013 10:36 pm

That'll work. Okay, now do it again tomorrow, just not nearly as close.

63 kenboyer made me cry   ~  May 8, 2013 10:42 pm

Vernon Wells with a 1.000 fielding percentage at 3rd base. After he made the play the entire infield was smiling, except for him. Prolly a little brown stain in his uni.

Fun, exciting, scratchy win. And the Rox fans get to see Mo, could be the last time.

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"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver