Wait, thunderstorms are in the forecast here in New York…
There’s an old joke. Uh, two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort, and one of ’em says: "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know, and such small portions." Well, that’s essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it’s all over much too quickly.
–Alvy Singer.
Keep your head up, Willie. The worst is over. And we still love ya.
Few things remind me of why I love New York City more than the great game of Double Dutch.
Ya heard?
People say Tiger Woods is ungodly. I’d say his performance is often flat-out godly. During yesterday’s dramatic playoff at the U.S. Open, one of the TV commentators said that Tiger isn’t used to chasing someone this late in a Major. The pressure is on Tiger, he said. A friend, who is an avid golf fan, turned to me and said, "The pressure is always on the other guy because Tiger is relentless."
Today, Joe Posnanski wonders what drives Woods and notices that there aren’t many telling anecdotes about the living legend. Michael Jordan’s competitiveness is well-documented, but Woods is almost like an android, he’s so contained, so controlled. But I thought this was revealing. Woods told reporters:
"This week had a lot of doubt to it, to be honest with you. I hadn’t walked 18 holes until the first round here since Augusta. You know, you keep playing. You just keep going, keep going forward.
All my buddies, when we were working out, used to always say ‘For.’ How many more reps do we have? ‘For. Forever.’ And that’s the idea. You just keep going. There’s no finish line."
I think Woods is simply one of the most focused, disciplined, single-minded champions of all time. He is relentless. That’s why the pressure is always on the other guy. I’m sure he doesn’t let anything get in the way of his game–family, friends, even business. It doesn’t make me want to hang out with him. How could a guy like that be fun to have a conversation with? But it’s hard not to marvel at his drive, nerve, and his continued excellence in the world of golf.
In his blog yesterday, Rob Neyer looks at the Yankees’ pitching options now that Chien-Ming Wang won’t be around for a good, long while:
One thing I’m sure about: the Yankees aren’t punting. Not now.
I don’t believe that Dan McCutchen is ready. He was excellent in nine Double-A starts this spring, but has only five Triple-A starts and generally hasn’t been able to keep the ball out of the air this season. At 25, he’s a prospect but not a savior.
Ian Kennedy? He’s on the DL, but throwing without pain. Kei Igawa has a 3.73 in Triple-A this season, and a 6.75 career ERA in the majors. Jeff Karstens has a 5.65 career ERA in the majors, and a 6.11 ERA in Triple-A this season. Dan Giese? What a story. At 31, he’s finally getting his shot and he’s getting it with the Yankees. If he really could pitch effectively in the majors, you’d think he’d have done it before now. But stranger things have happened.
Right now the Yankees don’t seem to have any attractive options. But the same was true six weeks ago, right? And Darrell Rasner stepped in, and he’s given the Yankees five quality starts (out of seven). Can the Yankees really catch the Red Sox and/or the Rays with a rotation that includes Chamberlain, Darrell Rasner and (for example) Giese? Probably not. But they have to try, and will.
(And the same goes for the Indians, who still have a fighting chance and aren’t trading C.C. Sabathia anytime soon.)
Isn’t this guy looking for work?
Hey, our boy Bouton prolly still has some life in his knuckler…
While you were sleeping…
The Mets beat the Angels in California last night. Then, they fired Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first-base coach Tom Nieto. Jerry Manuel is the new manager of the Mets.
This was coming. We all knew that. Still, it never ceases to amaze me just how these things are handled. I suppose the Met brass wanted to do this with the team out of town, do it so late in the night that it’d miss the morning papers–as if that really matters these days. I can’t call it. But it just seems like a cockamamie way to handle the situation. Why make Randolph schlep out to California in the first place?
How about this for an Odd Couple?
Tom Friend has a long piece on an unlikely friendship over at ESPN.com.
It was such a nice Yankee weekend too, wasn’t? That is, until the injury to Chien-Ming Wang. Over at Under the Knife, Will “Juicespin” Carroll reports:
Consider this another point for the DH rule, because the Yankees’ ace sprained his foot running the bases on Sunday and looks to be headed for the DL. Early reports indicated that Wang heard a “pop” on the top of his foot, a symptom that New Yorkers should be familiar with. If you don’t remember that Brian Bruney is already out for the season with a Lisfranc sprain, you might remember that missed season by the recently retired Giant speedrusher Michael Strahan. (Here in Indianapolis, it’s Dwight Freeney that comes to mind.) If Wang has injured the Lisfranc ligament or, worse, broken a bone, he’s done for the season for all intents and purposes, putting the Yankees in a terrible position as far as their rotation. With Wang on crutches, the team is unlikely to wait and see on this one, and will likely push him to the DL. The calls are already coming out to go after C.C. Sabathia, but the Yankees are going to need immediate answers. Ian Kennedy is making progress, but isn’t close enough to fill in for Wang’s next scheduled start, leaving Jeff Karstens or Kei Igawa as the most likely fill-ins. We should find out more on how serious Wang’s foot problem is in the next few days once the swelling is down enough for clear images. On the assumption that this is a Lisfranc sprain, I’m setting his DXL at three months.
And you thought we’d seen the last of Kei Igawa.
Update
Pete Abe has the latest. The news is not good. Looks like Wang could be done for the year.
As we wait for an update on the severity of Chien-Ming Wang’s injury, Tyler Kepner suggests why trading for C.C. Sabathia makes sense for New York.
There are any number of things that look better on HD TV–nature shows, cooking shows, golf. I don’t play golf but it looks so inviting, all that green, on HD. Last night, after a long day with my family, I was lying on the couch watching the last moments of U.S. Open.
“Are you watching, golf?” says my wife?
“No, I’m watching Tiger.”
I’m like a lot of people. Woods gets me to sit and watch. I’m nervous all over again just thinking about that last shot he sunk. The guy is so great it’s almost unfathomable. Imagine being Rocco and having to sleep on that? Tiger is one shot ahead after two holes so far today.
I talked to a group of kids, four dudes going into their second year of high school. Nice guys, earnest and sincere. Told me that they loved Jeter and Reyes and spent most of their time arguing who is better. They also sweat A Rod and Soriano. And Manny–duh. Two of them told me they used to play of a team coached by Derek Jeter’s sister, back when they were 10-11. Said that they got to meet Jeter on several occasions. About twenty times, one of them said.
"Yo, he took us to Mickey D’s and everything."
Like many grown men, my father cried like a baby during the father-son reunion at the end of Field of Dreams. I always thought it was a corny, maudelin scene. After my dad died, I was told that I might react differently to that scene. I’ve actually seen it since, and I still think it’s phony, but it has effectively reminded me of my dad and how he found it moving.
The old man was never one to be made a fuss over on Father’s Day. Just a quick call, “How are ya, Pop? Happy Father’s Day.” That’s all he ever wanted. To be recognized. Now he’s gone but I still like to think that he’s got a cosmic subscription to the Banter. So, Happy Father’s Day, Pop. And the same goes to my brother, an impressive young father of two, and all the other dads out there, who are holding down one of the most challenging yet rewarding jobs in the world. Big up yourself.
“When you look back on it, you win 10 any way you can do it, it’s a good year,” Mussina said. “And, actually, my minimum’s 11. I didn’t stop at 10 in any of those years. I actually made it to 11, just like Spinal Tap.”
…He leads the league in victories over his eight Yankees seasons, but he has not been an All-Star since he pitched for the Orioles in 1999.
“It would be great,” Mussina said of a possible selection. “It has been quite a few years. For the last year at Yankee Stadium, this late in my career, after the way last year went — yeah, it’d be exciting.”
(Kepner, New York Times)
Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks, and it’s still such a longshot, but…my number one baseball fantasy wish this season would be to see Mike Mussina finally win 20 games. I don’t think it’s going to happen–and I’ll more than settle for 16-17–I’m just saying I can’t think of anything that would make me happier. Just talking about individual performances, that is. Who knows, maybe he keeps pitching after this season after all. Maybe he winds up with 275+ wins.
Watching the Yankees play in Houston seems unreal like something out of a video game. The late afternoon light floods the place in odd, broken-patterns, and the Yankees’ dark helmets and black socks have never looked as menacing or sharp. They actually look like Bronx Bombers. It was especially noticable on HD TV. Rodriguez and Giambi scoring on Jose Molina’s clutch RBI single, the sun shining off their helmets. The YES replay used the angle behind the batter’s box that looks up the third base line. It was really brilliant. Giambi’s Porn Stach of Doom has never looked nastier–he’s reaching Nick Nolte territory.
And Alex Rodriguez has looked absolutely terrifying. It’s scary to think what he’d do if Houston was his home park. In his first at bat tonight, he sliced a fly ball over the fence in right, and he didn’t even really get all of it. Hunter Pence narrowed his sights on the ball as it approached the wall in right and he timed his leap expertly. But an Astros fan wearing a red shirt went for the ball too, his glove knocked into Pence’s mitt and Rodriguez had himself a dinger. It looked like a weak pop fly but he’s so strong he was able to muscle it out. Scary.
The home run put the Yankees on the board after Mike Mussina gave up a three-run bomb to Carlos Lee in the bottom of the first. But Mussina didn’t fold and he didn’t allow another run, going six, and pitching long enough to leave with a 5-3 lead. Ross Ohlendorf (1 run), Kyle Farnsworth, and Edwar Ramirez finished it off and Mariano was able to take the night off. Johnny Damon had three hits and is batting .324, Melky had a couple of hits too, and Robbie Cano and Wilson Betemit each had pinch-hit RBIs. Let’s hope this is the start of something for Cano.
Final Score: 8-4.
The win puts the Yankees at 36-33, the first time they have been three games over .500 all season. It was career victory #260 for Mussina, his 10th of the year. Unless he completely melts down over his next couple of starts, he should be headed to the All-Star Game. How unlikely is that? Good for Mussina. He’s earned it. 260 is an awful lot of wins. He’s won ten or more games for seventeen straight years.
Yeah, You Get Props Over Here.
Mike Mussina has more than exceeded expectations of late but I fear that he’s due for a stinker, especially with that awfully short porch in left down in Houston. Who knows? I’d love to be wrong. Here’s hoping the Yanks do the cookin’ tonight.
Once again, it was a nice performance by Joba Chamberlain last night in Houston.
Pete Abraham has Chamberlain’s post-game interview while David Pinto explains why Joba belongs in the starting rotation.
This is one of those Interleague weekends that look like the misbegotten results of one of those old Choose Your Own Adventure books. The Rangers vs the Mets? Padres vs. the Tribe? Nats vs. the M’s? Yanks in Houston. Right…
Shawn Chacon and Joba Chamberlain share at least one thing in common–they both rock a baseball cap with the hard, flat bill. That’s probably about it, though. Chacon, a familiar face to Yankee fans, is a veteran junkballer; Chamberlain, a hard-throwing young stud. They both pitched well on Friday night, each allowing a run over six innings. Chacon gave up three hits and walked four. For Chamberlain, it was his best start yet–he’s been a little better in each of his three turns since joining the rotation. He walked four and gave up six hits only striking out a couple of hitters. 88 pitches in all. Really, it was more like 80–he walked two batters intentionally. Joba worked in-and-out-of trouble–picked Lance Berkman off second for a big out in the fourth. Robinson Cano made a smooth play behind him too and Melky Cabrera got in plenty of running out in center. And while the Astros ran at will against the combination of Joba and Posada, the Yankee catcher made a big throw to nail Michael Bourn at third in the sixth inning.
Earlier this week, Jay Jaffe wrote:
The obituaries have been all too full of familiar names in recent weeks, men whose life’s work brought me a great deal of joy, countless hours of entertainment, and plenty of food for thought. Since Memorial Day alone, we’ve lost director Sydney Pollack, actor Harvey Korman, musician Bo Diddley, and sports broadcaster Jim McKay. Today’s bad news is the passing of writer Eliot Asinof. He was 88.
Tim Russert died today. He was just 58. I don’t know his work well but understand that he was well-regarded. He was certainly accomplished and I liked him enough when I did happen to see him on TV. I know he was a big baseball fan. He died of a heart attack. He was at work. Oh, man.
I love used book stores, I’m just a sucker for ’em. These days, used book stores are doing a lot of thier business on-line which takes some, but not all of the fun out of book-hunting. It just so happens that one of our own, a Banterite who goes by the handle "unmoderated" runs a used book store (pictured below). I’ve been using him recently in my search for old books and he’s been great to work with. Check out the store on-line and please consider supporting one of the gang.
Final: Yanks 4, A’s 1.
