Open Thread: Thankfully, a day off
By
Hello, Baltimore. The Yanks are 4-2 at Camden Yards this year. (AP Photo/Files)
For our peace of mind, the Yankees are resting today. There will be no late-inning disappointments, no walk-offs, no heartbreaks. The team enjoyed the day in Baltimore and will look to put their woes behind them tomorrow night.
The upcoming series against the Orioles should be a good one for the Bombers. They aren’t playing against potential October opponents and have recently seen the Buck-led Baltimoreans at the Stadium. The pitching match-ups are lined up to favor the Yanks as well. A.J. Burnett will face Kevin Millwood on Friday; CC Sabathia and Jeremy Guthrie will square off for the third time this year on Saturday; and Andy Pettitte will make his triumphant return against Chris Tillman on Sunday. Anything less than two out of three would be yet another September disappointment.
As part of tonight’s open thread, we’ve got a unique ticket offer that we wanted to throw out a few days early. One Yankee fan has two seats — not just club passes — to the Audi Club for Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays. He unfortunately just found out that he has to travel for work from Tuesday through Thursday and is looking to trade his two tickets for another pair of similar value (preferably in the Audi Club) for any other game next week. Hit us via the contact box if you can make the trade.
And that’s that. Do your thing. The White Sox and Twins will be on the MLB Network tonight (although some of you may get the Cardinals/Padres game). Other than that, it’s a quiet night around baseball.
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The Tyler Austin Watch
So, um, nice weather, huh?
In a word…
yes
Heh. When I left the gym, it was barely drizzling. Three blocks later, I’m being pelted with penny sized hailstones.
I was lucky enough to be walking home from baseball practice. I almost flew away.
It’s beautiful here in the Bay Area, CA.
Tomorrow is the first Friday (last week we were off) of my high school days. I honestly hope there isn’t a type of Freshman Friday.
Hah. I remember my freshman year. So many happy years have passed since then…
will you stop making me feel so old? When you graduate college I’ll be 32!!!
When you’re 32, I’ll (hopefully) be playing CF for the New York Yankees/San Francisco Giants.
I’ll still be unemployed.
At. The same. Time.
Legendary.
It’ll be 2018, it could be done.
/LeBronJames’d
Bah, that’s nothing.
Today’s my birthday.
I’m 30.
Gross.
Happy birthday, at least.
My 30th is in February.
Not really looking forward to it.
In my school on Freshman Fiday kids were on a list, and they knew the beforehand.
Any body read the article on si written by Joe Polanski about Jeter “cheat” play ? Let me summarize it- Jeter did that cause hes old and hitting .260. Unbelievable
I did read that. And now I’m ashamed for having read it. I can also summarize my feelings about him on most things progressive in baseball (such as replay and advanced stats):
Crotchety Old Man
I really like Joe Posanski’s writing but I’ve learned not to read his stuff when it comes to Yankee-specific articles.
I really like
Joe Posanski’s writingmany writers but I’ve learned not to readhisany of their stuff when it comes to Yankee-specific articles.FTFY
Well not exactly, a lot of sports writers I just won’t read period, unless I’m looking for something to laugh at. Posnanski is definitely worth reading, just I’ve learned to avoid his Yankee-specific articles.
Yep. I’m saying there’s a bunch of writers who are plenty good, but can’t help themselves when it comes to the Yankees. (cough)Rob Neyer(cough)
Gotcha. And yeah, I can’t think of too many other writers who are generally good but cannot stand the Yankees outside of Pos and Neyer. I mean, a lot of writers are just bad so I don’t read them to begin with.
Really? I find him to be pretty even-handed. I didn’t think the article was out of line at all. He didn’t moralize at all, he admits (like few sportswriters do) that the game has never been the bastion of purity that many seem to feel it was in the halcyon days of their youths. It was just like…yeah, players do stuff like this and always have. And it’s a little saddening to see Derek Jeter get old, like it was with every great player before him and will be for every great player after him.
No moralizing? He said something like that he’d be outraged if his daughters did something like that, IIRC. It wasn’t outrageous, it was just… meh.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Pos. He is a VERY good writer. I just think sometimes his specifically Yankee coverage isn’t the best. It’d be like asking me to write articles about the Red Sox.
Well, what parent would tell their kids “you see, girls? It’s cool to cheat if you get away with it!”
They’re kids, you can’t be saying that. But, in context, it doesn’t bug him. Makes sense to me. Stuff like that is part of baseball, and that’s fine.
I didn’t read the article, but why is it dismissed out of hand? I mean, no one else was thinking it wasn’t at least part of the story?
Maybe I’m way off, but it’s not crazy for me to think of players who are getting older and losing some of their skills might try a “veteran” trick or 2. It’s like the guy in Major League with the snotball…
Because anyone would do it. In the 1996 ALCS, did Jeter say “oh that wasn’t a HR”? Did anyone expect him to?
I didn’t read the article, and I don’t disagree that many players wouldn’t do the same. I have zero moral qualms with what he did, but the comparison is not to other players, it’s to the younger Jeter. Have you ever seen jeter do something so blatant like that? Maybe. I don’t remember every game, but I don’t think the meier hour is a good analogy. He really had zero control over the controversial part of that play. He was a willing actor in this one.
I don’t have a strong conviction on this since none of us can read jeter’s mind, just saying there may be a kernal of truth in poz’s premise
Have you ever seen jeter do something so blatant like that?
I haven’t really seen him given the opportunity to do anything like that. If something like that happened in like 1999 or 2006 and he was like “no no no, it wasn’t a HBP, it hit my bat” then Pos might have a point but I think his premise was flawed.
I mean, honestly, the ball hit Jeter’s bat and came pretty close to hitting him, and he flinched. The ump gave him 1B right then, not out of sympathy on the whole shebang. The rest of it was acting, but that flinch was likely genuine. I mean, I flinched in my living room.
Show me a player that wouldn’t take the base in that situation. Heck, it happened to Jermaine Dye in the 2005 WS.
Yeah, I’m not really saying this well. I certainly don’t mean that he shouldn’t have taken the base or that he did anything “wrong”. All I meant was that he oversold it, and the acting after the initial reaction was a bit out of character.
But of course I think it is silly for anyone to ascribe motives, I guess I just wasn’t ready to completely dismiss the basic idea.
Whatever, I admit I am just talking out of my ass b/c there is no baseball today.
“Have you ever seen jeter do something so blatant like that?”
Um….every stolen base he swipes the glove and holds it up to try to convince the umpre.
Everyone should submit their suggestions on wacky stuff that happened this year for the First Annual YCPB awards.
Suggestions will be expressed in poll form come next week or so and after the season, the winners get to have paeans written to their wackiness, so come nominate!
http://youcantpredictbaseball......pb-awards/
Great concept. You’re doing a great job guys.
Muchas gracias
This might be the ultimate indignity for Mets fans. It’s almost not funny how much shit they have to deal with. (Almost.)
http://deadspin.com/5640173/je.....se-why-not
I wonder if it’s too late to revisit the contraction idea. Instead of killing the Marlins and Twins, we can euthanize the Mets and… oh, I dunno, maybe the Diamondbacks. Do we really need them either?
Do they even deserve to live with those uniforms anyway?
I don’t think anyone would miss the Astros either
I don’t root for or particularly care about the Mets in any way, positive or negative, but it’s really a shame that a franchise in the biggest market in the country is handled so incompetently. That franchise represents such a gigantic wasted opportunity. (Ditto, of course, the Knicks, etc.) And it’s not just the player personnel decisions, it’s everything… Everything is done with such a lack of style, it’s really kind of amazing. Kinda cool and unique uniforms? Let’s toss some black highlights in there to make ‘em look like everyone else’s. New stadium? Let’s make it a retro stadium so it’s completely out of context in its location and overshadowed by every other stadium with the same look.
Whatever, I just think it’s a shame.
My rebuttal: There’s two teams in the biggest media market in the country. Only one of them is a traveshamockery. The Yankees, meanwhile, are doing just fine. If both New York teams couldn’t field a competent team, maybe I’d be more concerned.
It’s like LA with the Lakers and the Clippers. Yes, it should in the abstract be easy for a big market to create a winning team, but that abstract concept presupposes that that big market and that team exist in a vacuum and ALL of LA would support the Clippers. All of LA wouldn’t, though. All of LA doesn’t give a shit about the Clippers.
Perhaps they should move. Perhaps the Giants and Dodgers read the writing on the wall and got out while the getting was good.
It’s the blue and orange. Just an awful, awful color combination.
THAT’S RACIST!!!!
Sincerely,
The Dutch
Not if you do it right.
Who does it right? And you’d better not say the Gators or I’ll stab you with a fork.
My personal rule of thumb is if the franchise has won a WS (in it’s current location), they are immune from contraction. Twins, DBacks, Marlins are all safe.
The Rays, Mariners, Rangers, Natinals, Astros, Rockies and Padres are on the block.
And the Brewers. Also, none of those teams existed since the last time the Cubs, Indians, or Giants won.
That’s right. Knew I was forgetting a team.
Also, the Giants WS drought doesn’t get mentioned enough. That’s a highly-respected franchise that hasn’t done jack since they moved west. Despite having two of the game’s all-time greats.
Will Clark and Atlee Hammaker?
Don’t knock Will Clark.
Will Clark>>>>>Don Mattingly
:ducks:
Agreed.
No, Aubrey Huff and Aaron Rowand.
I just can’t look at Baltimore anymore without thinking of “The Wire”. Somewhere out there Marlo and Omar are going at it.
The Wire…
Great show or greatest show?
Series finale was weak but oh well.
The team enjoyed the day in Baltimore (hookers) and will look to put their woes behind them tomorrow night.
/River Ave Hookers’d
//slumpbuster’d (eww)
Why wouldn’t they just spend the night in NYC and drive/take the train down to Baltimore in the morning? Baltimore blows.
“Baltimore blows.”
Exactly. I think you missed his point.
It’s a recession, son. NYC whores are expensive, but the market’s collapsed in Maryland, that shit’s dirt cheap.
Guys, don’t worry about Tampa Bay. Surely the baseball gods will not allow a team who has done this to win the WS.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play......d=12092851
(SFW, but um. Disturbing.)
Why wouldn’t they have a DJ Kitty? It’s a desparate, low-rent move because they’re catering to an indifferent fan base.
If they’re not careful I may start hating them as much as I do the Angels.
The primary difference between them and the Angels is the Angels actually have people show up to their games. They’re completely insufferable, but at least they show up and pretend like they’ve been a fan through all the bad years.
Angels do thunderstix.
Rays do cowbells.
F them both.
Oh dear.
The Trop is a really freaky place to watch baseball games.
Who doesn’t love paying 20 dollars to end up sitting in GREAT seats in the lower bowl down the left field side? I didn’t have the greatest time watching games there this year as far as the on-the-field result goes (4-5, though I hope for a few more games between these two in October), but the ticket value I got for eight of those games was outstanding.
Oh, and I got a 2009 ring last night as well. Cool little side story.
So, Reggie Bush voluntarily forfeited and gave back his Heisman Trophy… but it’s not an admission of guilt. He still claims he’s innocent and didn’t do anything wrong.
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-.....id=5581066
You gotta be shitting me.
In his statement he says he made “mistakes”, but then says he didn’t do anything wrong? Or was he mis-quoted in his own statement?
Maybe he took himself out of context.
If you alreasdy chimed in on this I didn’t see it, what did you think about the whole thing?
I figured, whether he was ineligible or not he was still the human being that did the things that earned him the Heisman.
I guess it doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things, but wondered what others thought.
An aside, Did you know that Tommie Smith is in the Bay Area HOF but not John Carlos. I was checking out the plaque of Smith where the Sharks (that’s hockey) play.
Well, Tommie won the gold.
I agree with this.
He was the human being who did all these things. It’s not a question of steroids or anything like that.
If the NCAA dug a little deeper into any school they would find all these kids are accepting money and cutting corners in some way.
Yeah, in the matters of the athletes v. the NCAA, I always side with the athletes, because the NCAA is horrendously stupid.
Bush should keep his Heisman. If USC had never funneled him cash and he would have gone elsewhere, he would have been the best player in college football for that other random school he would have played for.
I think he called up his buddy OJ and they discussed ways to admit guilt without actually admitting anything.
Deny and make counter accusations!
There’s about 1,000 people at CitiField tonight.
And half of them are only there fulfilling their court-mandated community service.
I wouldn’t pay to watch that minor league team either.
Angel Pagan just made one of the most rediculous catches I’ve ever seen. The catch itself was nothing that amazing, but the amount of ground he covered was staggering. Off the bat, I never thought the ball would be caught. Impressive.
I love how ESPN gave Jeter such a rave review for his acting job last night. Forget actual baseball, and they played some amazing games over the past three nights, you still saw that Jeter at bat talked about more than the actual games that took place. I love Jeter but if that was A-Rod it woulda hit the fan. Every single show on ESPN and even the NFL analyst commented on it, almost all positive. They did however say it was the best acting of his career, so they did get some jabs in as well.
Really? I was watching PTI and they had the title for a segment as “Derek Cheater?”. Was ESPN really mostly positive about the whole deal?
Really? I keep seeing so many people freaking out about it.
The late Sportscenter, early (10am) SportsCenter, 1st and 10 and ESPNEWS early this morning and late last night all loved it. Even Mark Schlereth said how much he loved it. I guess once the head honcho’s at Bristol saw he was getting good press late night and early morning they changed their stance.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play......d=12084373
Is it just me or does Vernon Wells goes WAY WAY overboard?
Ways to improve the yankees:
1. Fire Dave Island. He is obviously not doing his job if phil hughes is giving up 4 runs.
2. Cut Granderson. Hitting .247 with 50 rbi’s isnt cutting it.
3. Fire kevin long. He isnt doing a good job b/e he gives granderson a new swing every freaking month and he still sucks. Goodbye!
4. Release Burnett. stats are self-explanatory
5. Dismiss Vazquez. Same reasons as burnett.
Fire Dave Island. This cannot be stressed enough.
6/10 for trolling.
Next time, try not to make it so obvious.
You left out Austin Kearns and Lance Berkman. And Brian Cashman, and Joe Girardi. And Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui and Jerry Hairston Jr.
And Joba Chamberlain.
And Joe Torre, and Don Mattingly, and Larry Bowa, and bunting, and sac flies, and hustle, and the Red Sox, and 2004, and Cliff Lee, and Johan Santana, and Thurman Munson, and Stick Michael, and bulls in a china shop, and Obamacare.
2004
NOOOO!!!! YOU SAID 2004!!!!!! /melts
(you forgot Phil Coke.)
AH, DAMN, I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT PHIL COKE AND AUSTIN JACKSON AND MELKY CABRERA AND THE WALKOFFS!!!!!
death panels too
Islands in the stream, that is what we are.
E-I-L-A-N-D
/McCarver’d
Repeating “Dave Island” has to get him some trolling points
I enjoyed it.
“Dave Island” totally made it worth a post.
Ways to improve the Yankees.
1.) Play the A lineup, when possible.
2.) Pinch hit for the 8-9 hitter late in games with RISP.
3.) Continue to play Granderson everyday, he’s an everyday player and should be given the opportunity to play.
4.) Don’t have Thames pinch hit for Berkman and vice-versa when not playing the A line-up.
5.) Don’t allow Mitre or Gaudin pitch in high leverage situations.
6.) Hire the Faux Madden and throw things at him to make us all feel better, the thought makes me smile.
/fixed
Bad troll attempt is absolutely atrocious.
So when do we find out who’s going to instructs? Is there somewhere I can find this online?
The only thing dumber than the amount of attention this Jeter hit by pitch has garnered is the argument that he did it because he is having a bad season or it is sad he had to resort to that or whatever.
It was an instinct play. Jeter doesn’t walk up to the plate this season and say, hey I am having a bad year. If by some chance the ball comes close to hitting me I am going to pretend that it did so I can get on base. It was a half second reaction by someone who is extremely competitive. Maybe if half these idiots writing about sports for a living had actually made it past t-ball they would understand what it is like to have that kind of competitive drive and instinct.
Jeter by the way has a .342 OBP after the count goes to 0-1 in his career. Even in probably the best year of his career in 1999 he had a .417 OBP after the count goes to 0-1. So yeah take the guaranteed base if the acting like it hit him works out or risk failing 60-65% of the time. Tough choice for someone focused on winning a baseball game.
“The only thing dumber than the amount of attention this Jeter hit by pitch has garnered is the argument that he did it because he is having a bad season or it is sad he had to resort to that or whatever. “
On the contrary, this was also dumber:
http://riveraveblues.com/2010/.....nt-1126665
That wasn’t serious, though. It was satirical.
Ah. I’m getting soft in my RAB absence.
(Yes, soft around the middle, tommie.)
…
(Eats tray of lasagna.)
GAAARFFFFIIIIEEEELLLLD!
(I love that comic)
I can’t quite put my finger on the reason why, but this is one of my favorite RAB comments, ever.
Related: I was fucking pissed when Jon started dating Liz. Jon’s whole character was based around him being a loser, why fuck that shit up by giving him a girlfriend?
http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/26270938
As somebody who has not made it past t-ball, I am highly offended. Highly!
Like I said above, the rest of it was acting, but I think that initial flinch was definitely genuine, and that’s what made the ump give him 1B. I flinched just watching the game.
(and well-played, Mondesi)
Fantasy football, 2 lineup questions: ONE of Breaston (@ Atl), Tampa’s Mike Williams (@ Car) or Nate Washington (vs. Pit). Start which one?
Also, TWO of Bush, Felix Jones, Harvin. Which two?
PPR leagues.
Bush is @ SF, Jones is vs. Chi, and Harvin is vs. Mia.
I busted on my Felix Jones start recommendation last week, but I’d pick him first of those three. I’ll take Harvin against a shaky Dolphins pass defense over Bush against a good Niners defense, but that depends on Harvin’s health (and Favre’s shittiness), so that’s more of a tossup.
I’ll take Breaston of the wideouts. Williams is a decent play as well, but I like Carolina’s defense (and dislike Tampa’s passing attack) a bit more. Washington is the definite non-start, that Steelers matchup looks bad for the Titans passing game.
Mostly agree – I was torn between Breaston and Williams. When it came down to it, I like Breaston to get more yards, but Williams as a better threat to score.
I take Williams out of the wideouts, and Jones and Bush for the backs. Harvin is the high-risk, high-reward start, but Favre looked bad last week and Harvin was limited.
So happy that CC is pitching on Sat because I shall be in Baltimore. I got the tickets back in June
You are lucky, I am visualizing a big win!
twin just hit pauly k in the face this game is going to get ugly fast
In a recent fangraphs chat, I saw Dave Cameron mention that he believes the best way to limit the Yankees’ huge financial advantage over other teams is to add a 3rd New York team. He’s not a believer in salary caps or luxury taxes. I personally have never seen that idea mentioned, so it caught me off guard.
I suppose his logic is that a 3rd team would further divide the NY fan base, funneling money away from the Yankees and towards the new club.
I don’t really see it limiting the Yankees much. Actually, the Mets would be the biggest loser in this circumstance (as they always are). I don’t necessarily think many people are drawn to the Yanks because of their history. I seem to recall a hell of a lot of Mets fans during my 1980s childhood. Also, Yankee Stadium had perpetually low attendance during the 80s and even most of the 90s.
There’s obviously a lot of factors that go into why fans do or don’t go to a ballgame, but the Yankee brand certainly had less appeal then than it does now. And as we all know, more appeal means more dollars. The Yankees didn’t start blowing away the payroll field until their 90s dynasty was well established (and on its way out).
Maybe a 3rd team in NY would take some dollars away from the Yanks, but that’s only if the teams is competitive. Tampa doesn’t work as a baseball town, not because the team isn’t good (like we thought all these years), but because of other factors. It’s a football town, with an awful stadium that’s in the wrong part of the metro area, in a city with plenty of other things to do.
NY obviously works as a baseball town, but a new team would probably be a small blip on the Yankees’ radar… until the team actually starts winning.
Just wondering what everyone thinks about that concept, not as Yankee fans, but more as problem-solvers (assuming it actually is a problem in the first place, which is another discussion).
(Tommie’s mention of the Laker-Clipper dynamic reminded me of this)
Move the Rays into New York. Boom, that just happened.
So he’s a believer in salary caps or luxury taxes……but he wants to artificially keep down spending for 3 (but really aiming at 1) of 30 teams based on their location. I can’t see how he can be against a cap but for a way to cap just a select amount of teams.
Sorry not a believer in salary caps
Right. Now you could argue that the New York market could easily support a third team. Of course forcing a team to relocate there would be artificial, but were a team to voluntarily move to New York (and it be approved), it would be within his stated baseball business beliefs.
All that said, I don’t think it would have as much impact as Cameron thinks it would.
The area has three professional hockey teams, and the Devils struggle to draw fans despite being playoff-caliber every year since 1997 (and 1995 too), and the Islanders…well…
So yeah. Third team doesn’t guarantee anything.
Not sure a sport with such low attendance is a good comp.
The Islanders should be contracted.
Hahaha the Mets are losers.
I’ve seen this suggestion before (adding a third team) and I wouldn’t have a problem with it if they wanted to give it a try. I love baseball, so more local baseball is a good thing for me persnally, even if I was only to take in one game a year (as I do with the Mets.)
It would seem likely, though, that they’d be looking to add another A.L. team, not an N.L. team since that would be more of a danger to the Mets, who no one really seems all that concerned about. I’m not sure how well that would work. I don’t see Yankee fans flocking away to become fans of some other A.L. team. It would take quite a bit of time to develop their own fanbase, which means they might have a lot of difficulty drawing enough fans at start, making them a weak team.
So, sure, let’s move the Diamondbacks to the A.L., plant them in New Jersey, and let’s start taking bets on how long they last.
big game
How in the world did Pedro Guerrero get a 1st place MVP vote in 1989???
There have been stranger occurrences than that…
Second in the league in RBIs? He had a fine offensive season, but was apparently a terrible first baseman.
Look at how much better Mitchell and Clark were just offensively.
It’s votes like this (and there are a billion) which hurt Hall of Fame voting down the road.
I mean, a reliever (a very good reliever, but still a reliever) won both the AL MVP and Cy Young in 1984. That’s pretty ludicrous.
and hell, another reliever (Quiz) came in second for Cy Young and third for MVP, garnering several first place votes for each.
Quiz was better than Guillermo that year, too.
Yeah, and then the BBWAA will use their past mistakes to justify their stupid HOF ballots today. Without even looking I’m going to bet Blyleven was better than Hernandez in 1984. I don’t know if he was “deserve the Cy” good, but I can almost guarantee he deserved it more than Hernandez.
by bWAR:
Hernandez: 4.8 (7th in the league)
Quiz: 3.2 (41st in the league)
Blyleven: 6.2 (2nd in the league)
Stieb: 7.7 (1st in the league)
Bah, that’s in the Majors. AL only, Hernandez moves up to 4th, Quiz to 24th. Bly and Stieb obviously stay put
Wow. The voters loved Quiz. In a 6 year span he finished top 5 in the Cy voting 5 times and top 11 voting for MVP 5 times.
You know what he did all 5 of those years?
Lead the league in saves.
We can learn from this.
He was really good, though.
Just declined very fast.
Jose Mesa once got a first place MVP vote. True story.
K-Rod, 2008.
Barf
To me, Rick Cerone getting one in 1980 is still the most random 1st place vote of all time.
Though I’ll have to look at that closer sometime to see if there’s a more random one than that.
Didn’t Jeremy Affeldt get a 10th place vote just last year? I mean, he had a nice season, but he is a LOOGY for crying out loud.
All sorts of funny names will pop up at the bottom of ballots, its usually just a writer trying to recognize a nice a season from someone he is friendly with. It’s not really a big deal since it never affects the voting.
It is a big deal because of stuff like this.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports......seball.php
Anyone see the promo video for next week’s Office premeire? Looks like they’re doing another viral video parody with the “Nobody Can Do…” song.
Which looks both funny/entertaining and an example of how the show is running out of ideas.
Nope, I’d be interested though. Link?
http://www.officetally.com/nepotism-promos
And if you look down in the comments, there’s a link to what is apparently the inspiration.
Thanks!
(I see Pam’s hair is back to frumpdom. Maybe this means the few Office boards I read will stop friggin’ going on about OMG SHE’S SUCH A BITCH!!!! now.)
We’ll see, I suppose.
I thought that show ran out of ideas years ago. I didn’t know people still watched.
Yeah, I still watch out of loyalty but the show has totally ran out of gas. In hindsight, it should’ve ended after season three. Season for was ok but started the downfall.
This is pretty much how I feel about the show, definitely.
“it should’ve ended after season three.”
It was successful. A successful show on network TV isn’t going to be ended after three seasons. There’s a better chance of Joe Girardi not getting somone on this board mad with a decision he makes tomorrow night.
But you knew that.
But but but the British version ended after like 12 episodes or whatever!!!! (British TV is different than American TV… obviously.)
Yea, Fawlty Towers is sometimes regarded as the best sitcom ever and there was only 12 total episodes.
And all attempts to Americanize it failed miserably.
I do. I’ll watch till the end. It didn’t really start to show signs of running out of ideas until last season, in my opinion.
Meh, I tired of it after the first season. Godspeed, friend.
The first season was 6 episodes. You checked out pretty quick!
Give him a pass; he had things to see and Michellein women to do.
I almost liked Hawk for about a second there because he yelled “TAKE THAT, PAVANO!!!” after Konerko’s HR off Pavano. Gross.
I’m sure Pavano is really bothered by it. Not like he has the playoffs to worry about or anything.
(sorry, I just hate Hawk)
Hawk Harrelson should die of gonorrhea and burn in hell.
/AceVentura’d
I’m young so I might be missing something: Why did Pavano throw garbage in NY but now he’s semi-rocking it in Minnesota? Perhaps more importantly, did anyone see that coming?
Injuries and rust, I guess.
Going to tag onto Matt’s comment. I really don’t think it had as much to do with ‘mentality’ or anything as others do. I think he was complacent, often injured and that led to rust and ineffectiveness when he did throw.
Because he’s a malingering sack of crap.
Pretty scary that Burnett could theoretically end up being a worse investment than Pavano.
Is that even possible with the sheer volume AJ will have pitched over him? At least AJ pitched game 2 of the WS like a fucking champ. I literally have 0 recollection of a Pavano start in pinstripes, pretty amazing.
It is possible if AJ continues to trend the wrong way. For most of this season AJ has been a below replacement level pitcher. So, it is possible AJ could actually hurt the Yankees more over 5 years by being on the field.
If AJ keeps pitching this badly, I imagine we’ll break policy and just dump his ass (eating salary).
Likely, but dumping his salary would factor into evaluating the investment.
It is mostly theoretical though, because of the unique position of the Yankees and the difficulty of measuring the postseason aspect of it.
That’s amazing, I really hope not.
Steak this late at night may have been a bad idea.
Poo-poo platter?
Fantasy Football question: Which team will win?
Team A Vs. Team B
Phillip Rivers Vs. Drew Brees
Matt Forte Vs. Frank Gore
Lesean McCoy Vs. Jamaal Charles
Ricky Williams Vs. Jahvid Best or Felix Jones
DeSean Jackson Vs. Roddy White
Steve Smith (CAR) Vs. Steve Smith (NYG)
Vernon Davis Vs. Greg Olsen
Patriots D/ST Vs. Eagles D/ST
Feely Vs. Hartley
Easy chalk up to team A, IMO.
Really? I’m team B and the team A wants to bet some money on it, but I’m unsure if that’s a smart decision.
Very. Nice. Team.
Do it. I honestly can’t see how you’ll lose this week.
Thanks, man.
Agreed. McCoy and Jackson have gigantic bust potential in that banged up Eagles offense. I don’t like Ricky or the Pats D either.
Do it.
Thanks a lot, TSJC. I have a reassurance problem.
Actually, Michael Vick is starting.
Team B holds the advantage in QB, RB1, RB2, RB3, WR1, WR2.
A couple observations: With Kolb down and out, i dont think Philly receivers/TE is a good bet. I’m saying this and I have Brent Celek. I’m sticking with him only b/c i think Vick might find Celek to be a safe target. Matt Moore is hurt, so can we reasonably expect Carolina Smith to put up another nice game? Gman Smith on the other hand is a great possession receiver and he should get more passes thrown his way with Boss hurt.
Agreed on all observations. What about McCoy? Do you think he’ll break out with more touches this game?
I think its a given that McCoy will get more touches. He’s a more talented receiver than he is traditional runner, and so i can see him net 100 total yards against a Detroit D. McCoy is good, but Jamaal Charles can definitely net 100 rushing yards against CLE. Charles is the more talented back and IMO a better bet to make a 50 yd TD run.
Its a borderline wash, but if I had to push I’d still wager that Charles should have a BIGGER game than McCoy.
I see. Thanks for the insight.
This is my first year playing FF.
LeSean McCoy was too stupid to get into Penn State, so he went to Pitt. And then he got drafted by the Eagles. So I hate him. Just wanted that out there.
More touches? Unlikely. Andy Reid can’t stand to run the ball and with Vick playing QB, he’ll lead the team in carries this week.
Yeah, the other team is starting Vick and Massaqoui instead of Rivers and Ricky Williams.
You have a clear edge. I would pick up John Carlson from Seattle and start him at TE. I just don’t like or trust Olsen.
Anyone think Thome will get offered a multi-year extension with Minnesota?
I don’t.
must win game 4 yankees lets go blue jays
Did anyone read the NY Times article “Crime Blotter Has a Regular: Yankees Caps”
Ben wrote a post on it earlier this afternoon.
It looks like Manny’s power has been completely sapped. All He does now is fight off plus fastballs into dinkers in RF. Too bad, I was thinking of him a possible DH option, albeit in a remote possibility.
He did slug over .500 with the Dodgers this year, albeit in kinda limited playing time because of all the injuries. I still wouldn’t want him as a DH next year.
Just a thought, I always been a fan of him as a hitter since his Cleveland days where he and Thome had dealt the Yanks many near mortal blows in the late 90s.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09.....6caps.html
I think they had Mets underwear on ; Best be keeping that in the dark.
Who’s watching The League tonight?
Me. (well at least recording it)
I have a feeling it’s either going to be really awesome or really lame.
Did you watch last year?
Nope. How was it? I was interested, but never got around to it.
Totally juvenile humor, so I thought it was hilarious.
Awesome, my favorite kind of humor. I imagine there is a major draft on the first episode?
This Yankee team just looks old. At some point, age would be a factor and I’m starting to think the grind of a long season has worn on them. What made the Yankees great last year was that their older players didn’t seem to age. But save for the immortal Mariano – we’re starting to see the effects of Father Time.
Derek Jeter’s batting in the .260′s – and under .240 since June. He’s never looked more lost at the plate and his GB/LD rates should give one caution.
Andy Pettitte spent the bulk of the second half on the DL.
Jorge Posada is still productive for a catcher but he’s been dinged up all season + the days of him catching 130 games/season are long over.
Alex Rodriguez – his HR numbers are down. He’s got the whole hip issue + he spent time on the DL.
… and yet somehow they still have the 2nd best record in baseball.
Thank you, every single young guy (and Mo) on the team!
This is starting to feel like 2000 …..They lost 13 of the last 15 which included a 6 and season ending 7 game losing streak……
Yeah that 2000 season sucked. We didn’t win the World Series or anything. People are just going to remember that seven game losing streak at the end of September.
I don’t really think Joe was saying they can’t win the Series.
Thanks Pat D …..
My bad, I misinterpreted your comment.
No harm no foul
I think we’re already guaranteed to win more games than the 2000 Yankees, heh.
Snarky
Mark Sanchez needs to ease off the Rex Ryan kool aid a bit. Nothing wrong with going 15-1? Wow…
Swaggerlicious.
Because he’s earned that…how?
It’s nice that the Jets aren’t mired in a Mets-like doom anymore but now it’s going too far.
It’s all relative. The Mets has more relative success than the Jets of late but obviously less than Yankees. To a less degree the Giants similarly overshadows the Jets. Rex has at least offer the Jets a outspoken personality and a bit of identity.
His optimism is at least backup by what he did last year though he narrowly made the playoff.
The Jets talk so much that it has the same effect of not saying anything of consequence at all. Nothing you say matters and nobody takes what you say at face value.
And in the NFL, talk is cheap. It is all about wins and losses on the field anyway so why not entertain during the week and off season with some bravado.
So I rediscovered this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6a-AHLRoAw
My dad has told me stories about the 80s but damn, was the music really like this?
LOL, I heard that song when I was growing up, nice beat though.
I would venture to say a few little Carloses were probably conceived
under the backdrop of similar beats.
Here is what I grew up under…
Yup, another one I somehow always seemed to turn off.
It was pretty prevalent in NY city. It’s also the fact it’s one of the greatest rap album to date. That particular track featured no less than 7 MCs , innovative piano loops , and ass kicking verses.
I know, right?
I really love Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and The Black Eyed Peas.
They just continue to spit out classics.
I don’t like any of those artists. I know 90s music and found a bunch of old 60s and 70s stuff at my dad’s old house so yeah.
Was that really a hit in the 80s? I must have turned the radio off whenever it came on! Well, Heineken made use of it for their ad last year.
Gintober !
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 National League West champions, the San Francisco Giants.
Has a pretty good ring to it, no?
No.
/Rockies fan til I die’d
/also I just don’t like the Giants so there’d
Hell yes. I have many fine memories of getting drunk in the Rock Pile seats at Coors Field.
I think so , I am rooting for Buster and Zito in company. While I think the Phillies has the best team in the NL , I do think the Giants will give em something to think about with their pitching in the playoff.
Phillies pitching in the playoffs this year >>> Giants pitching in the playoffs this year
WE WILL SEE ABOUT THAT BEX ! GINTOBER!
Zito needs to pick up the slack. He’s pitched to a 5 ERA since the ASB. Of course, there’s the offense’s inconsistency, but I think he’ll do well in the playoffs.
My money is on Cain, if the Giants makes it.
Lincecum-Cain-Sanchez-Bumgarner is a rotation I would not like to run into in the playoffs. Halladay-Hamels-Oswalt is another beastly rotation.
I don’t think Zito gets skipped because of his ~experience~.
I just randomly looked up Bond’s numbers at age 42 . He posted an OPS of 1.045 with 132 walks and 28 dingerz. I am pretty sure he was blackballed out of the baseball next year.
Totally.
Barry Bond’s numbers are simply absurd in his late 30s.
I don’t care if it’s the by product of PEDs or Roids, it’s still hella impressive.
I wonder how many players have ever had 1.045 OPS, wanted to play the next season, and couldn’t find a job. Bet its a short list.
Look how many other players committed the same sin as Bonds. My favorite player has ADMITTED to doing the exact same thing. But he still gets to play and get standing O’s and 25 mil a year. I have no problem with A-Rod being able to battle back from roids taint (did I mention he was my favorite player?). Andy Pettite got the same shot at redemption. Big Papi is still smilin’ and swingin’ from his heels in Fenway. Manny has gotten to be Manny in two other huge markets. And this is not even to say anything for the hundreds (lets not kid ourselves, its in the hundreds) of other players who haven’t been caught or had any suspicion cast their way for taking PEDs.
But yet Bonds became such a pariah that teams ignored the 1.045 OPS. I understand that he did himself no favors by being a jerk to just about everyone. But its unfair that he got run out of the game for making the same mistakes as many other players, including some of the biggest stars.
I guess the lesson is, be nice to people on the way up because you will pass them on the way back down.
True. Always treat people the way you want to be treated.
Cuz you never know…
I would have liked to see Bonds in the Bronx in 08. It would have made that season much more enjoyable.
Bonds had a ridiculous career line: .298/.444/.607
Well that, and I’m pretty sure he was on crutches midseason recovering from a leg injury.
Because of the off-night, I watched The Notebook on ABC Family instead of the game and wound up spending the whole night crying and now I’m in a crappy mood. Thanks, Yankees.
oh c’mon. that was so unrealistic (the letters, the ending in bed). it was like when you accidentally put to much sugar in your coffee.
Anyone else pumped for Manning Bowl II?
Huge Giant fan, but I’ve also been a Peyton supporter since he was back at Tennessee. Hoping for a good game that the Giants pull out on a last minute Manning-Manningham (best QB-Receiver last name combo ever?)touchdown.