1. The Yankees' struggles will continue when they get swept by the Mariners at home. Even worse, they'll begin to feel cursed when Yankee emertius Mickey Rivers, while pulling the "Regular Season Countdown" lever after the fifth inning, suffers a Grade 2 strain of his right quad and a stress fracture of a rib on his right side. Joe Girardi will exacerbate his problems with the the media (scroll down) when he says, testily, "There's nothing wrong with Mick. He's still quick."
2. The Mets will rebound from Wednesday's abomination by sweeping the Diamondbacks in Arizona. But when the team arrives in Los Angeles Sunday night for its next stop, and Billy Wagner gets a hotel room close to the noisy elevator, the Mets' closer will blame Oliver Perez.
3. Carlos Delgado will see this play Saturday night in Phoenix, and he'll grow enraged when the actors decline to come out for a curtain call.
4. The beleaguered Roger Clemens, a longtime friend of George H.W. Bush, will find sympathy from the other side of the political aisle. Hint: It's someone who will feel his pain.
5. And now, the correction. I have been communicating with Gary Mintz of South Huntington for probably about three years now. Gary is a huge Giants fan, and he is involved with the New York Giants Baseball Nostalgia Society. In my Midweek Insider on Wednesday, I improperly connected some dots, and I concluded that Gary rooted for the Giants back in their Polo Grounds days.
Gary politely notified me this week that he's 47; he roots for the Giants in honor of his late dad, Louis. So Gary doesn't remember the 1962 World Series, let alone the days in Harlem.
My apologies to Gary.
Comments (17)
Great column in the paper today. Once again, you are the voice of reason. I think the Yankees are playing quite poorly right now, but "this too shall pass." Not having A-Rod in the lineup is a big blow. I am not counting on Posada much at all this year. I saw something in Kennedy last night, even though he didn't pitch well overall. The pieces are clearly there and I do think he will develop into a solid MLB starter. Yes, Igawa should be given another chance. His numbers in AAA are very good. Can he be any worse than who he will replace?
What are the odds of the Yankees making a move to sign Freddy Garcia. He's 31 (will be 32 in June) and is a Type B free agent, if my memory is correct. Doesn't that mean whoever signs him has to surrender a sandwich pick in the draft? I guess if the Yankees are far back in the standings by the time Garcia is ready, they will pass and make do with what they have in house.
Thanks for the feedback, Jim, and yeah, I agree on Freddy. They'll go for it if they turn things around. I'd be surprised if the Yankees didn't at least turn things around to respectability, even though I'm still betting against a playoff berth.
This is definitely looking more and more like a transition year for the Yankees. Regardless, it should be an interesting offseason with so many dumb contracts off the blocks of players who don't fit into the long-term plans and Sabathia and Texieria free agents at positions the team needs upgrades in.
Anyway, I still believe it was the right decision to pass on Santana and keep the kids. Continue to build from within and develop your own. Still believe Hughes will develop into an ace for the Yanks one day. Obviously the guy needs to stay healthy and have more experience under his belt. Kennedy looks to me like a #3 starter at best, though. I also like Girardi as manager, even if he has made some questionable moves these first 30 games.
Anyway, Rasner and Igawa deserve to be in the rotation now.
The offense will come around soon and hopefully A-Rod and Posada come back once their time on the DL is over with.
Ken, so far Girardi has been shaky with the Media. Girardi seem to trying to do things all at once. One of the things that made Joe Torre such a good manager with the Yankees was when the Yankees were in crisis and facing adversity, Torre was able to deal with it and calm his players down. Right now we are going to see how Girardi handles it with the Yankees strugging. Also the Yankees offense has to take the blame just as much as the pitching staff. As much as the pitching has struggle, the offense the hasn't pick up the slack. If the Yankees offense had done its job, the starters would not have pressure on them to pitch shut out ball all the time. It would have at least given Hughes and Kennedy time to get their feet wet. One last thing, rigth now the Yankees are 14-16. I for one am not going to give up on this season yet like some Yankees fans because of the last 3 seasons. The Yankees in the last 3 years have started out as badly as this year's team, yet found a way to make the playoffs. So let's not bury the Yankees just yet.
Didn't Abreu hit a three-run homerun in the first inning last night? Doesn't that take some pressure off the pitcher? Yes, the offense has been poor, but the pitching has been worse.
This offense has been dreadful. As bad as the pitching. Two nights in a row they scored a few runs in the first and then went down like lambs the rest of the game. They also seem incapable of getting a hit with runners in scoring position.
It hurts that A-Rod and Posada are out, but the guys who are there are not hitting. Giambi and Cano are killing them right now. The only consistent hitter is Melky.
This is definitely a transition year. Not just because of Hughes, Kennedy and Joba being here to take over the rotation next year. You'll also have a very different, (in relative terms) less expensive team coming back next year: no Giambi, no Moose, no Farnsworth, Hawkins, Ensberg, (maybe) Abreu.
One guy not getting any grief who has to step up is Pettitte. Mussina has managed to string a few decent starts together. Pettitte has been getting bombed. He needs to get his act together or the only game the Yankees will feel comfortable going into is one started by Wang.
And also Girardi is getting a bit of a pass. This team is everything it was supposed to not be: injury-prone and unmotivated. I'm glad Torre is gone -- and I no longer scream at my TV at the pitching changes -- but Girardi's "military, tough style" of managing and conditioning has utterly failed.
The Yanks would probably have to go 76-56 (ending at 90-72) to have a reasonable playoff shot, so there is no panic needed now.
However, it will be difficult to be sitting at the All-Star game at 45-45 or so and expect the same club to go 45-27 in the second half with 50% of the remaining games against a much improved AL East.
Perhaps the impatient Steinbrenner children will imitate their father and do something stupid to change the subject from the play on the field to holding players to a standard that approximates their compensation?
Perhaps a random "release and eat" of a contract?
Suggestions are welcome.
Unless Giambi starts hitting at least his weight, I would take him out of the lineup - permanently and either use him as a pinch hitter or let him go. He stinks at this point, even tough he looks fit physically. He's near the top of my list of those worthy of being released. But, alas, I have little hope it will happy.
a left-over Clemens comment.......if Roger was regularly using steroids, they would supposedly affect his sex drive and function.
How is he able to have these multiple affairs cited by the I-team at Hustler...er the NY Daily News...throughout the last decade?
An excellent question, Bob. It is interesting to note that McNamee made a point of saying he didn't think Clemens "abused" steroids, just that he used them sporadically when he needed an extra push. I think the "Hustler" line is apropos.
Steroid family drugs don't work with one use. They have to be used as part of a combined regimen with multiple drugs over a specific time frame to obtain results. To succeed, you need to take more than the body produces, which is "abusing" your body.
Bob is right, re: steroid use can't be merely random or occasional. It is supposed to be regimented, If McNamee suggested sporadic use he is a bigger fool than I have believed all along. If Clemens used these drugs this way then I doubt they did much to help him after all.
All this stuff about affairs and such is past the point of sickening. Considering McNamee's Florida history, these leaks on Clemens are even more laughable.
I'm going to start rattling the saber against Girardi. If you're going to demand that your players show up in shape already for spring training, and then put them through a grueling camp, well, guess what, there are going to be injuries. Maybe Torre was right about having a "laissez-faire" attitude (Mad Dog Russo's term, not mine) in March.
Also I found it hard to believe in February that Girardi was saying how he expected Giambi to be the everyday 1st baseman. Did Girardi have some sort of magic elixir, or was he privy to some sort of Faustian deal (my term, not the Dog's) that he or Giambi made?
Bring back Zimmer.
To clarify, re: Clemens and McNamee, McNamee testified that Clemens used the steroids for half-seasons (at least, with McNamee), rather than whole seasons. "Sporadic" was probably not the best word choice on my part.
Thanks for the McNamee clarification Ken.
Girardi is getting a bad rap here today. I think he will be fine. Yes, he has made a couple of "mistakes" IMHO, including playing the wrong catcher one day, not bunting another time, sitting one of the few players who was hot at the plate. But, considering the state of the staff, the injuries and the inconsistencies at the plate, I am not ready to jump all over the guy, nor point the finger at his spring training program.
read yesterday's blog and, thankfully, you were wrong about the Yanks being swept by the Mariners this weekend.
For all the talk about doom and gloom after Sunday's game they are 17-16, three games behind the Boston Red Sox. They trail the Orioles, Devil Rays and A's in the wildcard and it will be a surprise if any of those teams have a winning record come October. They are 2 games ahead of Cleveland and 2 1/2 games ahead of Detroit, two teams who should be in contention.
Torre did a great job with the media (if only he could manage a bullpen as well. Jeff Weaver in the World Series??) but aren't people forgetting what Joe Torre did his first year? On April 24th, 1996 of MSG asked Torre is Paul O'Neill was benched because of injuries of being punished. Torre said no and thought he was being put on the spot. So the next day in front of many players Torre irately told Kay "Don't **** with me" and accused him of trying to create unease between the manager and players.(source Joel Sherman "Birth of a dynast'" pp.83-84).
If Girardi chews out a reporter wouldn't he get slammed for it and it becomes talk show fodder for a week?
For all the bashing of the Steinbrenners let's remember they have been to 10 world series and won 6 of them since George bought the team in 1973 (at a lower price than what CBS paid for them in 1964). The Mets haven't done as well. The Knicks haven't won anything, just two finals appearances in that time and they spend like drunken sailors. The Rangers have won one and just been eliminated..only one championship in 67 years.