Quick hits: Joe Girardi, Teixeira’s All Star chances

by 38 Comments

Revisiting an almost-trade of Mariano Rivera
Game 76: Back to the big boys' league

By Joe: No topic divides a fanbase quite like the debate over the franchise’s current manager. It takes some serious string of winning, a la Joe Torre in the late 90s, for a manager to get near universal approval. Joe Girardi has not come close to achieving that. Fans take issue with him for some reason or another; some legitimate, some a bit less than. Gary Armida, formerly of the excellent FullCountPitch.com and now writing for NY Baseball Digest, takes a look at the situation. He’s not a fan, so he’s a bit more detached. The conclusion is mostly positive, though Armida is not hesitant to point out the skipper’s flaws. His best line: “It’s time to let go of the Torre era and realize that there is a manager in place who has grown from mistakes and isn’t afraid to try new things.” As with most things Armida, I suggest a full read.

By Ben: With just 54 hours and 30 minutes left until All Star voting closes, Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis are locked in a close battle. While last week Teixeira had the lead, this week, the Red Sox’s first baseman — who actually manned third for the past week — has a slim 40,000-vote lead. To get Teixeira to St. Louis, Yankee fans will have to vote their requisite 25 times a day between now and Thursday night. Voting is here. Vote also for Ian Kinsler too. He leads Dustin Pedroia by 7000 votes. Unseating an undeserved Josh Hamilton would be a-OK with me too.

Revisiting an almost-trade of Mariano Rivera
Game 76: Back to the big boys' league
  • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

    Aw, man, if you’re gonna swallow up the off-topic ASG voting convo from the previous thread because it was wrongly off-topic and then put up a post about ASG voting, the least you could do is move the comments from that thread to this one with your magical admin powers.

    All you guys are doing is further tarnishing your already damaged credibility.

    • jsbrendog

      it’s ok. we’ll always have youkilis going to the blue oyster in his assless leather chaps in our hearts

      • http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/413671602_daded72a81_m.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi

        Did anyone see my “Youkilis has more strikeouts than hits in May/June so he sucks just like Nick Swisher” comment? I was so excited about that one.

        • jsbrendog

          no i didnt. but i enjoy it now nonetheless.

          allow me to dmeonstrate.

          hahaha youkilis is teh suxoriest!!

    • http://www.riveraveblues.com Benjamin Kabak

      Unfortunately, we can’t. Viva el socialismo.

      • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

        VIVA LA REVOLUCION, AMIGOS!!!

    • http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/413671602_daded72a81_m.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi

      Co-sign. Fascists.

      • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

        Fine, then. I will explain. No, there is too much. I will sum up.

        While our team is the balls and makes wolverines purr, none of our individual players are actually the best players at their positions at the moment. Irony can be ironic.

        My ballot:
        C-Joe “Mr. Minnesota” Mauer
        1B-Ol’ Dead Squirrel-Beard
        2B- Aaron Hill (don’t sleep on him)
        3B-Evan Longoria-Parker
        SS-Jason “Yes, I’m playing way over my head” Bartlett
        LF-Jay Ray Bay
        CF-Torii “I ain’t dead yet, motherf#$%er!” Hunter
        RF-Ben “See Jason Bartlett” Zobrist

        • http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/413671602_daded72a81_m.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi
          • http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/413671602_daded72a81_m.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi

            “Watch out American League… We’re gonna Night Move all over your face…. Seger-Eagle, away!”

            • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

              My other nickname for Youk is Captain Caveman.

              http://fattybobatties.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/captain-caveman1.jpg

              You have to admit, the resemblance is uncanny.

              • http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/413671602_daded72a81_m.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi

                Totally, it’s a good one. Captain Caaaaaaavemaaaaaaaaan’s even got his bat with him.

                I love that Beard of Truth site. If he switches to “Night Moves,” it would be pretty cool of him.

        • RAB poster

          Jeter over Bartlett.

        • Whitey14

          That’s a pretty good looking team there TSJC….too bad the fans of the Red Sox and Yankees won’t all vote honestly and help make it happen.
          It’s really a shame that some fans use their team biases to ruin the All Star Game voting, huh?

  • Salty Buggah

    Damn those Boston fans who have no lives and vote 200+ times a day by using multiple email addresses!!!!

  • http://www.twitter.com/TheManchine Bruno

    Rick Peterson, the former Pitching Coach for the Oakland A’s and New York Mets had an uncanny way of summarizing the difference between the two cities. He said that in Oakland you played one, 162 game season while in New York you played 162, one game seasons.

    Perfectly put.

    • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

      He said that in Oakland you played one 162 game season while in New York you played 162 one game seasons.

      There’s only one fair way to interpret that:

      New York fans are irrational. Sorry, fellas, it’s true.

      • Zach

        I went to a game in Oaklnd 3 years ago. Walked up to the window 30mins before the first pitch, got tickets 2 rows behind the dugout for like $50, enough said

  • RAB poster

    Since when were the Soxa juggernaut that wins championships year after year? Becasue they have won 2 in five years? Yeah, that’s comparable to the Yanks winning 4 in five years.

    • RAB poster

      Soxa is Sox a

    • Professor Oak

      Because the sox are the model franchise every team should try to be like. Pfft, I wonder where all that started. I’m very interested to see what Post-Epstein Boston is like, they can’t keep it up that long.

    • Joe LA

      Actually it’s basic sabermetrics, you just have to follow the pattern:

      2 WS championships + the DOUBLE-grit twins (Pedroia and Youklis)= 4 WS championships.

      See now? 2 + 2 = 4.

      Basic math. Extremely awesome, clutchy and magical dynasty.

      http://tinyurl.com/kuon76

  • http://www.twitter.com/TheManchine Bruno

    At this point, there should be zero “Joe Torre didn’t do that” comments like the one YES Network announcer Michael Kay uttered when Rivera was brought in during the 8th inning of the aforementioned Mets series.

    Where was Kay during the Torre years? Joe T brought Mo in in the 8th A LOT. He did it in April in Boston after saying during ST that he wouldn’t do that anymore. Kay fail.

    • http://myspace.com/lincolnsworld Link

      And add that Michael Kay couldn’t STAND Joe Torre and that makes the comment all the more ridiculous. Until I remember that Michael Kay said it. It all makes sense now.

  • DaveinMD

    Girardi needs to stop batting Cano 5th. That’s my biggest complaint right now. Posada needs to hit 5th. How anyone can go 9 games without an RBI hitting 5th in our lineup is beyond me.

    • jsbrendog
    • Charlie

      i guess cano shouldn’t be fifth, but where everyone hits in the lineup isn’t really a big deal and the idea is pretty overrated. As long as the best hitters are in the lineup, i’m not complaining about that.

      • DaveinMD

        I really disagree. Putting a guy who is completely unselective behind A-Rod is suboptimal. Put your low obp guys at the bottom of the order and make fewer outs.

    • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

      I could be wrong, but I’d guess the reason Cano’s hitting 5th is twofold:

      1) We want to show him we have confidence in him being a middle of the order hitter
      2) He’s lefthanded and toggling the main 1-6 lineup by going righty-lefty-switch-righty-lefty-switch makes it tough for managers to navigate that with situational pitching matchups.

      • JP

        I’d say you could be right.

  • really really bored at work

    I just voted for tex 150 times on my 6 email address’s
    I am realllllly bored at work. It even crossed my mind to create a few new email address’s in honor of tex..but my I though better of it…

    • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

      I am realllllly bored at work.

      I never would have guessed that. You hid it so well.

      • really really bored at work

        If we all decided to do that then we wouldnt have to see Kevin “trailor park trash” youklis man 1st….

        Cmon troops. Lets keep this economy at its all time low and burn time in work voting…its for the greater good….

        • http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/413671602_daded72a81_m.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi

          What makes you think he’s “trailor [sic] park trash?”

        • Jersey

          Actually, you’re doing more by doing nothing. The more guys they need to hire to do one guy’s job, the better. It’s economics!

  • Ivan
  • Jeremy

    Tristan H. Cockcroft strikes again!

  • Jersey

    I just accepted a new job offer, just so I’d have one more email address with which to cast 75 more votes between now and Thursday.