Posts Tagged ‘Yankees’

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Who’s At Fault Here?

August 19th, 2013 by AmyMac | Comments Off on Who’s At Fault Here? | Filed in Baseball, General, Sports
Alex Rodriguez wax drilled in the left arm with a 92 mph fastball last night.

Alex Rodriguez wax drilled in the left arm with a 92 mph fastball last night.

By Amy McGinnis

At Fenway Park last night, the Red Sox hosted the Yankees, and things got interesting in the 2nd inning.

Of all the people wondering why Alex Rodriguez is playing despite his 211-game suspension, the Red Sox top the list. Last week, John Lackey was asked if he has a problem with Rodriguez continuing to play.”You bet I do. How is he still playing? He obviously did something and he’s playing. I’m not sure that’s right … It’s pretty evident he’s been doing stuff for a lot of years I’ve been facing him.” Last night, in the second inning, starting pitcher Ryan Dempster took action.  His first pitch, at 89 mph, flew behind Rodriguez, nearly hitting him in the left leg.  By the fourth pitch, with a 3-0 count, Dempster made contact with Rodriguez – he drilled him in the left arm with a 92 mph fastball. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, “You’d have to be really unaware or not paying attention to not know he threw at him on purpose.”  There’s really no question that it was intentional, even though Dempster later stated, “I was just trying to pitch inside.” (If you plunk someone intentionally, at least own it.)  Boston fans cheered while home plate umpire Brian O’Nora ran to toward the mound and issued warnings (with finger pointing, for effect) to Dempster and to both benches.

Joe Girardi flew from the dugout, screaming at Dempster and O’Nora … the red-faced, hat off, vein-popping type of screaming.  O’Nora had warned the benches, but he hadn’t wagged his finger at the bullpens, so they promptly emptied.  When all was said and done, no punches were thrown, A-Rod took first base, Girardi was ejected, relief pitchers jogged back to the bullpens, and Dempster prepared for the next batter.  That’s not a typo, folks – Dempster stayed in the game.  Nearly four hours later, once the game had ended, Joe Girardi was still furious.  He made it very clear to the media that drilling a player isn’t acceptable, regardless of any scandal.  “Whether I agree with everything that’s going on, you do not throw at people and you don’t take the law into your own hands. You don’t do that. We’re going to skip the judicial system? It’s ‘My Cousin Vinny.'” On ESPN, Curt Schilling stated what everyone was already thinking … “It was as intentional as it gets.”

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Raúl Ibañez Saves the Day

October 11th, 2012 by AmyMac | Comments Off on Raúl Ibañez Saves the Day | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

New York's newest golden boy!

By Amy McGinnis

I’m sure you’ve all seen or heard by now that last night, former Phillies left fielder Raúl Ibañez single-handedly saved the Yankees from falling 2-1 in the ALDS against the Orioles.  I suppose he had been saving up that postseason awesomeness for the last few years.

We all remember that Ibañez had his streaks at the plate … some hot, and some very, very cold.  Last night, he made MLB history as the first player to homer twice in a postseason game in which he did not start.  The last four words of that sentence are my favorite part (or maybe the only part I even like) about Raúl’s heroics in Game 3.  He came in as a pinch hitter for … wait for it … Álex Rodríguez.  A-Rod’s performance in the 2012 playoffs thus far are a far cry from his numbers in 2009.  For the ALDS, he has been 1-12 (not a typo).  Yankees fans essentially begged Joe Girardi to move Rodríguez from the 3-spot in the lineup, and last night, he did … he moved him to the bench.  It turned out to be a risky move that paid off in a big way – Ibañez homered to tie the game in the ninth, and he homered again in the twelfth.  Luckily, A-Rod was gracious about it … and I use the word “luckily” because I would have gladly put him on blast for unnecessary douchebaggery otherwise.

Raúl isn’t exactly a hometown boy, but he did spend three division-winning years here in Philadelphia.  I could say “I TOLD you Amaro should have kept him,” but I would be lying through my teeth.  Incidentally, do not say those words to me – that you never wanted him to leave Philadelphia – because you’ll most likely get an earful.   Do you remember the end of the 2011 season? I do.  I like Ibañez as much as the next baseball nerd – I have a foul ball of his in my living room – but I was ready for him to ship out after last season.  Why?  you ask.  Why the piss do you have to be so mean?  Well, kids, I’ll tell you why.  He was a 39 year old banged-up left fielder who had hit .245 for the season.  Yes, he gets a lot of credit for the 84 RBIs, but please do not forget that the Phils paid him more than $12M for them.  Our already-old, already-overpaid team needed to make room for new contracts (looking at you, Cole Hamels).  It was the right decision.

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See what happens when you assume

April 14th, 2011 by Mike H. | Comments Off on See what happens when you assume | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

On Wednesday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post released an article in which it describes the Yankees (half-hearted) attempts to acquire a starting pitcher last July. They weren’t too upset when they lost out on Cliff Lee because they assumed that he would sign in the Bronx in the offseason. They played with the idea of trading for Dan Haren, who ultimately ended up in Anaheim. They were, however, frustrated with Astros GM Ed Wade for not making the Yankees fully aware that Roy Oswalt was available.

So it’s Wade’s fault that the Yankees didn’t do their due diligence? Give me a break. Sherman even goes on to say that not acquiring Haren, Lee, or Oswalt also cost them Petitte. Petitte was quoted as saying that if Lee had been signed by the Yankees, he would have too. Sherman assumes that Petitte would have returned if Haren or, long-time friend, Oswalt had been there.

This is what happens when you assume. The Yankees assumed they could trade for Cliff Lee. Wrong. The Yankees assumed that they could buy Cliff Lee in the offseason after Lee was traded to the Rangers. Wrong. The Yankees assumed that Roy Oswalt was unavailable. Wrong. The Yankees assumed that Petitte would return for 2011. Wrong. It must sting some to think that the Yankees missed out on not one, not two, but potentially three starting pitchers because of their assumptions. The best part of the whole thing is that Oswalt has been the best pitcher since being traded to the Phillies. Since being acquired by Philadelphia, Oswalt has been nothing short of spectacular.

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Manny’s Legacy vs. Hall Of Fame; It Ain’t Rosey!

April 12th, 2011 by DJChris | Comments Off on Manny’s Legacy vs. Hall Of Fame; It Ain’t Rosey! | Filed in General

Who Cares?

So Manuel “Manny” Aristides Ramírez Onelcida has retired from Major League Baseball. He went out without celebration, without a goodbye, without a parade, and most importantly, without a fan base (Tampa Bay cannot be considered a fan base by any stretch of the imagination). That is sad. In Manny’s illustrious career, he has accumulated 555 HRs, 2574 Hits, 1831 RBI, and maintained a 312 BA. Simply. This guy was good.

As I watched this Shakespearean tragedy play out last week, I heard rhetoric and hyperbole from many of the baseball puritans, sportswriters, anal-lyst, and talking heads who have banished Manny from the Hall of Fame. How his legacy is ruined. How it’s one of the worst endings of a baseball career in history. And more. Even worst was the writers who stated that they would never vote Manny Ramirez into the Hall of Fame.

Well, let’s discuss The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for a minute. Because I’m going to guess that Manny Ramirez has never been there, even for a visit and I would place a very heavy bet on the odds of him ever attending in the future. Any takers? I’m also going to take a wild guess that only 1 out of 25 of you who read this post has ever been to the The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. So, why would Manny, Barry, Pete or whoever else has been verbally banished from this Holy Shrine really care if they’re in it or not? I live in upstate New York, about 65 miles from Cooperstown, NY. I have been to the Hall numerous times. Even ate a Hot Dog on the Holy front steps with an orange soda, as only a Philadelphian would do (It wasn’t a Frank’s, Thanks). And I will tell you; I wasn’t that damned impressed. The Hall gets about 350,000 visitors a year. A very small sample of MLB’s fan base. You would think that because of all the emphasis on who gets in and who is kept out, they could at least draw a million fans there per year. But they can’t and they won’t! You know why? Because, everybody who has meant anything to this recent era of baseball is being kept out; Starting with Pete Rose to Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmiero, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and Manny Ramirez. A-Rod might get in there, but he will be very old or dead before “they” let him in. So our children and our children’s children might travel hundreds of miles to Cooperstown to look at plaques and paraphernalia belonging to Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven. Big whup.

Take a look at these names:
Aaron, Ashburn, Averill, Bell, Brock, Brown, Burkett, Carey, Charleston, Clarke, Clemente, Cobb, Combs, Crawford, Cuyler, Dawson, Delahanty, DiMaggio, Doby, Duffy, Flick, Goslin, Gwynn, Hafey, Hamilton, Heilmann, Henderson, Hill, Hooper, Irvin, Jackson Kaline, Keeler, Kelley, Kelly, Kiner, Klein, Mantle, Manush, Mays, McCarthy, Medwick, Musial, O’Rourke, Ott, Puckett, J. Rice, S. Rice, Robinson, Roush, Ruth, Simmons, Slaughter, Snider, Speaker, Stargell, Stearnes, Thompson,Torriente, L. Waner, P. Waner, Wheat, B. Williams, T. Williams, Wilson, Winfield, Yastrzemski, Youngs.

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“If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying”

April 7th, 2011 by Mike H. | Comments Off on “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying” | Filed in General

I'm not stealing signs, I'm checking out the hot blonde behind the dugout!

Last May, the Phillies were invited out to Colorado for a three game series. Unfortunately, the split and rainout will never be associated with the trip. During the telecast of the May 10th game, the Phillies bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer was caught looking in from the bullpen with binoculars while the Phillies were batting. For the remainder of the series, and for a portion of the season, the Phillies were constantly being referred to as cheaters and that they were trying to steal signs. The Mets had also accused the Phillies of stealing signs earlier in the month after Johan Santana was knocked around to the tune of 10 earned runs over 3.2 innings while allowing 4 home runs. MLB investigated the incident and found the video inconclusive. At the same time, they notified the umpire’s union of the situation and basically put the Phillies on “double secret probation.”

Now, less than a year later, another case of sign stealing has been alledged. You may not have heard about it though. Unless you are a follower of Keith Olbermann’s twitter feed or a subscriber to to the Star Ledger. On April 1st, Olbermann attended the Yankees-Tigers game at Yankee Stadium. During the game, Olbermann noticed, and photographed, Yankees’ coaching assistant Brett Weber sitting roughly five rows off the field, wearing a microphone and head set, making gestures to Yankee players in the batter’s box. The photograph of Weber shows him gesturing to the batter’s box, holding up four fingers.

Derek, it was a changeup....I mean.....Beer man, four more beers!

Doing so is a direct violation of baseball operations bulletin C-4, which states that coaches are prohibited from using hand signals to communicate pitch speeds and/or types. Yankees GM Brian Cashman explained the reasoning behind the gestures was that the scoreboard was reading 912 MPH during the first inning. So does that mean that Weber was indicating the pitch was four miles per hour? Then, while Olbermann was doing an interview, Cashman intervened joking that Weber was ordering alcoholic beverages.

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AL Cy Young Race Isn’t Really a Race

September 30th, 2010 by Johnny G | 2 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General

King Felix Reigns Supreme

I’ll admit I thought the entire fan base of baseball as a whole, had taken at least a couple of steps forward as far as throwing old, ridiculous myths and falsehoods out the window. Apparently, I was wrong. In reality, there should be no need for an article to discuss who should win the AL Cy Young award because this isn’t even close. If not for the people who still grasp at a pitcher’s record to judge how their season played out, this would be a unanimous vote. I really honestly have gotten to the point where I feel bad for people who will say “Felix Hernandez can’t win the Cy Young! He only has 13 wins!”. Oh, he only has 13 wins? So what?

I’m going to show you on the most basic levels why wins for a pitcher are meaningless and why Felix Hernandez should be your unanimous Cy Young winner.

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Lets first start by analyzing two different situations. Pitcher A goes 8 innings while allowing 1 earned run and striking out 10. Pitcher B goes 5 innings while allowing 4 earned runs and striking out 2. Pitcher A’s offense is shutout for the entire game and Pitcher B’s offense explodes for 10 runs. Well, Pitcher A gets tagged with the loss and pitcher B gets a gift wrapped win. This is the most basic level of why wins and losses are practically meaningless for a pitcher. For anyone who is still putting emphasis on wins and losses, I have a simple question for you. Do you still believe the earth is flat? Because that is the same type of logic we’re using here.

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2010 MLB Power Rankings: Playoff Edition

September 23rd, 2010 by Johnny G | 24 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General

The Power Rankings Are Back!

1. New York Yankees (92-60)-  The Yanks are still the class of the MLB but this team is starting to show some weaknesses. The starting rotation has taken some major blows since my last ranking. Javier Vazquez has been removed from the rotation, A.J. Burnett has continued to struggle, Andy Pettite is still not back from injury, and CC Sabathia is the only consistent starter for the Yankees right now. Gardner in Left Field has seen his average steadily decline recently and Derek Jeter, despite his latest 11-game hitting streak is still hitting just .267. This is the kind of veteran team that can turn it on when the bright lights come on, though.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (90-61)- This is the Rays chance. Ownership has stated they will be cutting payroll by 22 million next season, no questions asked. That means it is extremely unlikely that guys like Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, and Rafael Soriano will be resigned. On the flip side of the coin, the Rays minor league system is flush with talent just waiting to be summoned to the Major Leagues. The knock on this team entering the playoffs right now would be their lack of a true ace. James Shields has not pitched like a #1 but David Price certainly has. With Price, Garza, Shields, and Niemman, it is going to be tricky figuring out how they will shuffle this rotation. This team is built perfectly for a 162 game season, not necessarily a 5 or 7 game series, which is the only thing that would worry me entering the playoffs.

3. Philadelphia Phillies (92-61)- Well, its September. That could only mean one thing- the Phillies are absolutely red hot. With Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt, they have the best top of the rotation in the game. As crazy as it may seem, Hamels has actually pitched most effectively in the second half and he has looked nearly unhittable for months now. The Phillies have won 10 in a row without the services of Jimmy Rollins and Brad Lidge has quietly pitched effectively over the last several months. This is where I draw an imaginary line between these three teams listed above and the rest of the MLB. The Phillies, Rays, and Yankees are in a class of their own and whoever comes out of the ALCS between the Rays and Yanks, will be facing off against Philly in the Fall Classic.

4. Minnesota Twins (92-60)- The Twins were the first team in the Big Leagues to clinch a division title so it will be interesting to see how they go about resting some of their big sluggers. This team needs to get Justin Morneau back to have a shot at advancing deep into the Playoffs and they will also need their largely inexperienced rotation to pitch effectively. Ron Gardenhire has already announced that Francisco Liriano will get the ball in their first playoff game but will Gardy go with the veteran Pavano or the young guns like Brian Duensing and Scott Baker. We’ll find out soon enough.

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