Monthly Archives: September 2015

Dellin Betances doesn’t have the fine control he had last year. He’s still tough though. Dude came in the game in the 7th inning with nobody on and two out and walked the bases loaded. Gasp. Then, he struck James Loney out on 3 perfect pitches–breaking ball, fastball (pea at the knees, inside corner), breaking ball in the dirt (swinging). Tuesday’s hero, Nick Franklin couldn’t get a bunt down against Betances with a man on and nobody out in the 8th. He popped the pitch up–it was caught and the runner nailed off first. And that was the last moment of tension for the visitors. Greg Bird hit a moon shot in the 9th to push the Yankees’ lead to 3-1 and Andrew Miller struck out the side to end the game.

Yanks have the day off and then visit Citifield this weekend, followed by 3 in Toronto.

Onward. 

[Photo Credit: Daniel Shea via MPD]

Chris Archer pitches well against the Yanks. Last time, they got the better of him, late in the game. I’m sure he’ll be on point tonight. Let’s hope Luis Severino matches him.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Dustin Ackley 2B

Never mind the dome:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Diebs. 

I know you got soul. 

I waited on Rosie once. She had a little dog with her. Nice, good tip. It was worth it just to hear her voice.

Nothing is a lock. The Yanks making the playoffs is not a lock. They keep losing games like last night–not enough hitting, not enough pitching–and they can easily find themselves missing the wildcard altogether.

They’ve got to deal with Chris Archer tonight–good luck–and then the Mets and Blue Jays. Yup, it’s not hard to imagine the Yanks missing the playoffs if they don’t get their shit together.

Picture via This Isn’t Happiness

Yeah, the Rays can’t hit but they’ve got a pair of tough pitchers the next couple of nights.

Adam Warren goes for the Yanks.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Never mind the nonsense:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Picture via the Always Awesome This Isn’t Happiness]

The Yankees didn’t get their first hit until the top of the 8th inning last night so you can imagine how we felt round these parts. In the words of Bob Gibson, “shitfuckpiss” about summed up the mood. No-hit by Erasmo Ramirez, believe it. Never mind the fine performance C.C. Sabathia delivered–one of his best of the year–this was pitiful. Or was it unlucky? The Yanks hit the ball hard, it found gloves. But our frustration was real. And it deepened when the Rays scratched together a run in the bottom of the 8th.

It peaked in the 9th after Dustin Ackley singled and then the slumping Jacoby Ellsbury hit the first pitch right at the first baseman who started a double play.

Worst loss of the year, I thought, though I didn’t say it out loud because I say that roughly a dozen times each season and the effect seems to be lost on The Wife. Self-pity doesn’t get me anywhere with the woman.

But there it was, a sure candidate for worst loss of the year. Then Brett Gardner walked and stole second. He came round to tie the game when Alex Rodriguez pounded a line drive to right center field, good for a double.

I got my ass off the couch, threw my fists around in the air like a spaz and clapped loud enough to clear the room of all cats.

Brain McCann was walked intentionally and then Slade Heathcott–who’d come in as a pinch-runner for Carlos Beltran in the 8th–swung at the first pitch he saw, a high fastball out over the plate. He hit it to left field and it kept going until it landed in the first row, a 3-run home run. Now, I was up again, and yelled loud enough to make my throat scratchy the rest of the night.

To celebrate improbable 4-1 win? It was worth it.

[Photo Credit: Brian Blanco/Getty Images]

Yanks are in Tampa for 3 vs. the Rays. The Trop has not been kind to our boys in recent years. Let’s hope that changes starting now.

It’s ol’ CC on the bump.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B

Never mind the catwalks:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Ian Hughes via This Isn’t Happiness]

I know you got soul.

Bacon and Egg Breakfast Ramen.

Kline.

I was at the barber shop this afternoon waiting to get my haircut when the game started. There are two big screen TVs at the barber shop and I watched the first couple of innings of the Yankee game with the other men. There were three barbers working and four guys waiting including a dude with a Mets shirt who said he was a Yankee fan.

There were two guys ahead of me which made me impatient. I wondered how the Jays were going to humiliate the Yanks today when Kevin Pillar answered my question with a diving catch to rob Carlos Beltan of a double in the first inning. By the time I got in the chair for a haircut the Yanks scored a run on a sacrifice fly with one out and now Didi Gregarious hit a fly ball to medium-shallow center. It didn’t look deep enough to score Alex Rodriguez from third but as soon as Pillar caught the ball Rodriguez tagged.

A sprint. An exercise Rodriguez has done thousands of times in his life. But now he’s an old man and he doesn’t have many of these left. He’s still a large, athletic man and he ran with his head down as fast as he could. Rodriguez slid head first into home, hands stretched out ahead of him, before the tag arrived, and he was safe.

He let out a whoop and everyone in the barber shop laughed and smiled. Those who’d missed it now looked at the replays. All of the barbers stopped cutting and watched. They smiled and laughed, then went back to what they were doing and didn’t talk again.

(In some ways, I bet Rodriguez will feel as good about that play as any all season–in all it was a memorable day for him).

I got home a few innings later, had lunch, then attended to the Sunday chores as Masahiro pitched 7 scoreless. There’s no doubt about it–Tanaka is the ace of this team and he pitched accordingly. There was no agita today as the Yanks beat the Jays without incident, 5-0. They’re 3.5 behind in the East, 3 ahead of Texas for the first Wildcard spot, 4 up in the Wildcard overall.

It was a weekend to forget but today’s win was a great relief.

Mostly sunny today, and hot.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Chase Headley 3B
Dustin Ackley 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

It’s Tanaka Time. Will a Yankee starter finally show up?

Never mind the bruises:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

And no, it wasn’t the Yankees doing the beating. It was them catching a beating. Twice, though somehow it seemed like more. You can’t say the Yanks don’t have it coming to them after owning the Jays for so many years but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.

Hey, you remember the series against the Jays in ’85? I sure as hell do. This feels just as bad (although now, of course, the Yanks have  wildcard to fall back on).

I guess the only way to make sense of it is that a) The Jays are the better team and b) everything that could did go wrong for the home team.

They had a 4-1 lead in the first game. Mike Pineda gave it up. They had a 1 run lead in the 8th–Dellin Betances gave it up. A lucky play by Chad Pennington prevented the Yanks from taking the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Never mind the Twilight Zone misery of the 11th inning when the Jays scored 4 runs on 1 hit (plus 5 walks, a wild pitch and hit batter).

In the second game, Ivan Nova couldn’t make it out the second. He lost control of his curve and Jays took bp off his fastball. It was 6-0 when he left. Course, the Yanks pulled to within 6-4, wasted a second and third, 1 out chance for more. The Jays scored 4 more runs after Chris Capuano couldn’t truckulate his wide ass to first in time. Yanks scored 3 more runs (Brett Gardner’s second 3-run shot of the game, his third homer on the day) but it wasn’t enough.

The second game was delayed by rain and a lot of Yankee fans cleared out. Which left a hearty–and happy–band of Blue Jays fans, who made plenty of noise. Hell, the Jays fans have been loud since Friday night. So, in the end, The Stadium was empty and the Jays thoroughly embarrassed our boys. So much for the biggest series in 3 years.

The Yanks showed some fight–I can’t blame their effort–but they just couldn’t get anyone out.

Chad Jennings has the gruesome details. 

Final Score Game One: Jays 9, Yanks 5

Game Two: Jays 10, Yanks 7

Here’s hoping they find a way to avoid getting sweep today.

Big Mike’s on the hill for Game 1.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Time for our boys to get even.

Never mind the Gashouse Gorillas:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

The Yanks got their asses kicked but good on Friday night.

The Gashouse Gorillas now have a two-and-a-half game lead.

Tex is done for the year.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B

Severino, Price.

Never mind the hype:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

How to cook perfect rice without a rice cooker.

If you enjoy long non-fiction writing may I suggest The Sunday Long Read, a carefully-curated weekly newsletter by Don Van Natta and Jacob Feldman.

Don’t sleep.

The latest included a link to Scott Price’s recent SI profile of Brian Cashman.

Painting by Diebs.

Go away and come back tomorrow.

Severino vs. Price will have to wait for Friday night.

They’ll play a double header on Saturday.

And now, a word from our sponsors:

[Photo Via: Mangin Photography Archive]