Thursday Night Open Thread

June 21, 2012 by Mike Axisa 95 Comments

Atlanta Braves v New York Yankees — (Al Bello/Getty Images)

The city is brutal when the temperature starts to flirt with triple-digits. The crowded subway platforms are just gross, the streets are filled with that lovely hot garbage stench, and ConEd is cutting back on the voltage so even if you wanted to blast the air conditioner, you can’t. It’s rough, but thankfully it’s supposed to cool off a bit tomorrow and into the weekend. The Yankees got lucky having today off, this heat can be a killer.

Anyway, here is your open thread for this evening. Game Five of the NBA Finals is on tonight (9pm ET on ABC), plus MLB Network is showing the Red Sox and Marlins at 7pm ET (Zambrano vs. Dice-K). You folks know what do here, so have at it.

yooboo

Poor David Ortiz. He could not stand it with media over there in Boston.

Maddon is a comedian. I mean how could he call Davey Johnson a coward when the foreign substance was discovered on Peralta’s glove. What a punk!
- Brian S.
  
  What happened to Ortiz?
  - yooboo
    
    despite he is having a good year, media gives him and his team a bad roll. Because of media drama, he no longer has a good time.
- pat
  
  Come play in NY next year. We love you long time. Fcuk Boston.
  - Brian S.
    
    Uh….no.
    - pat
      
      Yeah why would we want a power hitting LHB DH on a short term deal? He only has a 1.000+ OPS
      - Brian S.
        
        David. Ortiz. You do realize the fanbase hates him right?
        
        Alkaline
        
        A few homeruns to that left field porch and they would forget about him playing in Boston. You remember a guy named Damon, right?
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        ….and a guy named Boggs and a guy named Clemens and a guy named Ruth….
        
        nsalem
        
        and a Cy Young award winner named Albert who we stole from the Red Cox how can you forget about him.
        Shame on you Robinson!!!
        
        pat
        
        IMO even the WFAN type Yankee fan base realizes that he would be a monster here. As Alkaline alluded to, they accepted Damon with open arms. I don’t think it would be different with Ortiz.
        
        nsalem
        
        I think he would be accepted here immediately. We’ll have our chance, especially if the Sox miss the playoffs for the third straight year as the organization continues to go in the wrong direction with one of the highest payrolls and the most pissed off fan base in the history of baseball. This will be a very interesting off season. Have a feeling Ortiz will be looking for much more than one year if his excellent hitting continues,
        
        Brian S.
        
        WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE
        
        http://thecarsboneblog.tumblr.com Raul Ibanez AKA Tom Marvolo Riddle
        
        We root for laundry. Idk what his name is, what he’s done in the past, were he did it, or what jersey he was wearing while doing it. If he can help the team win and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, fuck it. These guys are mercenaries for the most part anyway.
        
        Brian S.
        
        Yeah but David Ortiz isn’t just any old mercenary. Would you have wanted Pedro after 2003? How about Varitek or Schilling after 2004?
        
        http://thecarsboneblog.tumblr.com Raul Ibanez AKA Tom Marvolo Riddle
        
        Pedro circa 2003: Maybe, his lack of size would’ve worried me a bit, but from an ability stand point yes.
        ‘Tek circa 2004: No, but I had never been overly impressed with his hitting or defense ability. In my mind he’s always been incredibly overrated
        Schilling circa 2004: 37 year old with 2800IP on his arm? No thanks, plus he was an actual douchenozzle.
        
        Papi is just slightly pompus and I think a lot of the shit he says is blown up by the media because he’s the current face of the team.
        
        pat
        
        WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU PEOPLE??
        
        Brian S.
        
        The blacks obviously.
        
        JohnnyC
        
        He would fail the first PED test he takes after leaving the Red Sox. Especially if he goes to the Yankees. Not saying he’s ever passed before. Wink, wink.
        
        Betty Lizard
        
        Well, yeah. But if he could get over that little hurdle, even I would welcome him hitting the snot out of the ball.
        
        Sigh. Principles-power, principles-power, power!
        
        VT Yankee Fan
        
        I can guarantee you that Ortiz has NEVER cleared a hurdle.
Pat D

So the local union-type people can’t let my center close in peace.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.co.....or_co.html

If I see any of these clowns tomorrow, I’m going to say two things to them. 1) Where were you 3 months ago when our closing was announced, and, 2) Go do something useful, like campaign for Obama since Romney sure ain’t gonna be sympathetic to you.
- Jimmy McNulty
  
  I’m confused on your stance, you want your center to close?
  - Pat D
    
    As I’ve said at various times, I’ve been generally dissatisfied with the direction of my company for some time and I don’t believe it has much of a future either. I was determined to start looking for a new job before our closure announcement came through. I’ve stayed to collect severance.
    
    Nothing is going to prevent my center from closing, so I just want my last day to be hassle free and be able to say good bye to my friends in peace. I don’t need these worthless meddlers around (and generally I’m pro-union, but it wouldn’t work at this place).
    - Jimmy McNulty
      
      You work at a call center right? That’s definitely a group of people that should unionize. They’re too easy to ship overseas and they’re jobs that Americans with a high school diploma (no offense) can handle. Not everyone is college material and I believe that people should be able to live off of a job that requires a high school diploma. I worked at a call center for ESPN (by way of West) and they were vehemently anti-union and it was the typical propaganda bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, unions haven’t made themselves easy to like but it’s not like they haven’t had a choice lately. I’m always astonished when people think that their boss has their best interests in mind and knows what best for them.
      - Pat D
        
        The problems with unions in call centers is that it tends to breed an environment of complacency and an “Oh, this is all I have to do” attitude. AT&T’s customer service is unionized and they have usually been ranked lowest of the low, lately.
        
        At T-Mobile we used to challenge ourselves to go the extra mile for customers and it showed by the fact that we constantly won JD Power Awards. Then everything gradually changed. Our profits fell, so the parent company looked to sell, and once that fell through that was that. But we changed the way we did things. They took options and resources away from us. They reduced the goal for our call times. They started counting handset exchanges as a metric. And we opened some outsourced centers, at first to deal with just “FlexPay” customers, but that’s been gradually taking calls in other departments. All of this led to increasing customer dissatisfaction that has not been slowing down.
        
        As far as unions are concerned, they would probably have made it harder for us to achieve some of the things we used to achieve. Over the last two years, no, it might not have been a bad idea, but so many people had been indoctrinated to be anti-union. Years ago we did have meetings where we were warned about talking to the union people, not because we’d get in trouble, but because they didn’t have our best interests in their hearts. Frankly, at the time, I believed it because the people who came to our center were real fucking pricks. They’d block our cars from the parking lots, they’d throw their flyers at us, and do things to disrupt our day. Then they filed a complaint against us when our security guards asked them to keep their presence confined to the entrance ways and to only talk to us if we approached them.
        
        Trust me, tomorrow’s not going to be a good day for me. I’ve made a lot of good friends, there’s a good chance I won’t see a lot of them again, and I’ve given 6 1/2 years of my life to the place. So I really don’t want these assholes there making anything harder than it has to be. I just want to go there, pack up my things, enjoy the barbeque we’re going to have and hopefully not have to take any calls. I got away with not getting emotional on calls tonight, but tomorrow I probably won’t and I’ll feel compelled to tell that last person that they are my last customer and they should leave T-Mobile before the ship sinks, which is all I’m going to tell anyone once I’m free (provided my severance agreement permits it, which I’m sure it won’t).
- Paul VuvuZuvella
  
  It really seems like they are just there at the last minute to get some press and play politics. That’s pretty sad. Give ‘em hell Pat D.
- Erica
  
  Pwn those n00bs, Pat!
Tom

Made the mistake of watching the start of Marlins-Red Sox. With Dice K – Zambrano this should be a crisp 2hour game

….. when the 4th inning rolls around!

Marlins are just running wild on the DiceK-Salty combo (3 steals in the first and none have been even close to outs). Dice K with his typical economical 33 pitch first inning.
MARK

LETS GO OKC I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!!
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Pick another miracle, then. This shit ends tonight.
  
  GO HEAT!!!!!!!!!!!
Erica

The city was just putrid today. Blegh.
- Paul VuvuZuvella
  
  Brutal. Yesterday and today.
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  It was so bad that I had a meeting down in the 20s on the East side that I decided to DRIVE to from Brooklyn. That’s right. I chose spending $30 on parking rather than wait on multiple subway platforms, which is the type of thing I NEVER do.
  - Paul VuvuZuvella
    
    perfectly cogent and rational decision. no issue here. your dry cleaning expense would have ate up much of the savings had you taken the subway and perspired uncontrolably on the subways.
    - Robinson Tilapia
      
      Thank you, sir.
      
      You think being a regular commenter on a site co-owned by Ben Kabak would get that 2nd Ave. Subway built faster, but no. 2089 is the last I heard.
      
      Those big-ass fans they’ve got going on the 4/5/6 platform at Union Square are fooling no one. Somehow, they’re blowing hotter air around.
Brian S.

I hate the Marlins.
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  “Unlike the city in which we play in, at least you care.”
  
  Love,
  The Florida/Miami Marlins
  - Brian S.
    
    Well they got the lead back so for now I’m cool with them. Also Pedroia is 0-4 and that makes me really happy.
eephus_pitch

Whoa, José Contreras is still in the big leagues. I honestly had no idea.
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  I’m pondering where Esteban Loaiza falls on my “Least favorite Yankees of all time” list. Not enough to unseat Pavano, probably, but he’s up there.
  - eephus_pitch
    
    The combo of Randy Johnson/Kevin Brown trumps them both, for me. Two thoroughly unpleasant Hall of Fame-caliber pitchers who came to the Bronx and proceeded to utterly stink the joint up while also alienating everyone in the press. Thanks for nothing, guys.
    - Robinson Tilapia
      
      Time has definitely taken the edge off of those two for me. Loaiza just looked like a scrub who had no business ever wearing pinstripes, and wound up pitching like one as well. I was also still on the Contreras bandwagon at the time and thought they gave up on him prematurely when the trade happened.
Robinson Tilapia

Looks like the one comment I had time to type all day, in the Hughes thread, sparked quite the back-and-forth between McNulty and Jim is Bored. I enjoyed going back and reading it.
pat

My goodness, I dislike Lebron James immensely.
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Michael Kay did an excellent job of flipping the narrative today by comparing the things fans reactively get on Lebron for with what Carmelo Anthony’s done. One of Kay’s better radio moments.
- Jimmy McNulty
  
  I hate D-Wade more. Everyone realizes Chris Bosh is a whiny little bitch and LeBron James is an asshole, so I’m okay with those guys. D-Wade has the bitchiness of Chris Bosh and the arrogance of LeBron. He’s probably my least favorite player in the NBA.
Bartolo’s Colon

Don’t know if anyone saw this, but you can vote for the new name for the SWB yankees, i guess no minor league teams will be called the yankees anymore…

http://scrantonwilkesbarre.yan.....8;sid=t531

I made my vote…the SWB Centaurs. That would be awesome on so many levels, think about the logo, merchandise, etc. Not to mention the obvious A-rod reference. I think it would be a great name for a AAA team. Any other good ideas??
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Scranton Sabres. Went with a wink-wink “The Office” reference.
Kevin

And now the Sux lead again 6-5..god do the Marlins suck.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  They’re an Ozzie Guillen team. Of course they’re underachieving.
- Brian S.
  
  The Marlins let the Rays and Sox walk all over them. They are singlehandedly trying to make the AL East as tight as possible.
Kevin

And they get to face a guy with a 10.80 ERA tommorrow..oh joy.
- Brian S.
  
  And we get to face Niese. Who sucks. And then Chris Young, who also sucks.
stuart a

will middlebrooks has 1 less RBI then the great Arod in a ton less AB’s…

but I am on a vendetta against arod.

the guy has as may extra base hits as a weak hitting 2nd baseman type but hey bat him 4th we do not want to insult him..

nah…
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  They’re not even playing tonight and you’re still talking about Alex.
  - Kevin
    
    I wonder why he won’t mention Cano or Granderson,who are just as much as culprits with RISP as A-Rod is.
    - nsalem
      
      Becaause Cano is 29 and A-Rod is approaching his 30’s with a PED history and a bad contract. It’s not fair but it goes with the turf. Cano has been much worse than A-Rod I checked real quick and I thing A-Rod’s OPS with RISP is in the low .700’s while Robbie is around .550. Granderson hasn’t been lighting the world on fire but not as bad as the other two. As long as we’re winning I would give it a month or two before starting to think of moving A-Rod in the order. It is worriesome, but great pitching covers a lot of warts, Moving A-Rod up or down in the order should be an August conversation. At least he has been healthy.
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        I like how you refer to us guys in our late 30’s as “approaching” the 30’s. Keep up the good work, nsalem.
        
        VT Yankee Fan
        
        Hold on to your late 30s as long as you can. I doesn’t get better afterwards!
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        There’s an inspiring thought. :)
        
        I plan on making it better every day.
        
        nsalem
        
        What about the old saying “Life begins at 40″
        
        Cris Pengiucci
        
        or 50?
        
        nsalem
        
        Meant late 30’s, sloppy on my part. I’m working late and commenting here and doing neither very well. Hope I made you feel younger for a few minutes. As time goes by and A-Rod declines while making over 15% of the team payroll the stuart a’s of the world may start dominating this board. If A-Rod starts to really go south around 2014 0r 15 it will become on of the bigger stories of this decade.
- eephus_pitch
  
  He’s on the team. They’re not getting rid of him. Honestly, what do you think they can do with him, other than keep running him out there and hope he produces?
  - pat
    
    Trade him for that Stenton kid in Miami.
    - Brian S.
      
      Stanton kind of reminds me of a young A-Rod.
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        Stuart must kill him, then.
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  This is far more amusing when removed from the confines of a game thread.
  
  Next you’ll be telling us how he’s down to screwing Billy Kidman’s sloppy seconds.
- Tom
  
  Will Middlebrooks after the 1st five games (when he had an OPS of 1.300+):
  
  .282/.322/.427 (.749 OPS), and that’s with a somewhat unsustainable .355 BABIP
  
  Am I the only one hoping the Red Sox trade Youkilis? Yeah he’s broken down, but I’d much rather face Middlebrooks than Youkilis. I’m not sure why the Red Sox are so eager to trade him unless they get some significant value back (which I don’t think they will)
  - Brian S.
    
    427 slugging percentage middlebrooks is a slap hitting second baseman he sucks get rid of him…
    - Tom
      
      .427 ain’t special… (especially when you look at the BABIP supporting it)
      
      Derek Jeter has a .427 SLG this year, as does Mike Aviles, as does Zach Cosart and Wil Venable.
      
      I’m just saying the first 5 games really colored people’s perception of the guy and since then he’s been OK, but hardly as good as the hype has been.
  - JohnnyC
    
    Red Sox think Youkilis is disintegrating physically. He’s a really old 33.
    - Brian S.
      
      His weird batting stance has slowly eroded his genitals over the years.
    - Paul VuvuZuvella
      
      I was in Fenway for a game a few years ago. I noticed and commented to my rSox fan buddy with me that I’ve never seen ANYONE take more aggressive hacks in the on-deck circle than Youk. He would seemingly have a whole AB in the on-deck circle before his actual AB and over the course of a season, that’s gotta take a toll. What about Batting Practice and pre-game warm ups? If he approaches those like he does his pre AB routine in the on-deck circle, it’s no surprise to me that he is a VERY old 33.
    - Cris Pengiucci
      
      “Red Sox think Youkilis is disintegrating physically. He’s a really old 33.”
      
      He is disintegrating physically. Probably been seeing Ortiz’s doctor for a few years.
stuart a

alvarez the great 3B on Pittsburgh from washington heights is hitting 220 and has more rbi’s then the great 1.

my point is arod has been horrible… grandy has 10 more rbi’s then arod and he strikes out a ton…..

cano has been terrible this year also, his numbers do not you the whole story…
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Did you look down Cano’s pants or something?
- http://thecarsboneblog.tumblr.com Raul Ibanez AKA Tom Marvolo Riddle
  
  Capitalization, coherent sentences, use of periods, and less rambling train of thought would make your incessant A-Rod hate a lot more bearable.
  
  Honestly, if we judge him against his contract, or his past, he will always fail. Is he underachieving right now? God damn right he is. Even at this age he’s probably better than the numbers he’s been putting up. However, we can’t and shouldn’t judge him against a contract he was handed, and to judge him against his prime self is just unfair.
  
  All we can do is judge him against his peers, and according to wRC+ (an all inclusive offensive stat) he’s been a top 5 third baseman in baseball. At age 36 to expect anything more from him would just be greedy. Should he be batting 3-4-5? Probably not, he’d be perfect in the 2hole. That’s a matter of line-up switching that Girardi should absolutely consider.
  
  Finally you keep calling everybody posting opinions contrary to yours A-Rod apologists, while I cannot speak for everybody, I can say that I am not. I am simply a level headed fan who realizes that he’s a 3rd baseman on the wrong side of 35 who is still producing at a top 5 level when judged against his peers. If we took the name Alex Rodriguez out of the conversation and replaced it with Aaron Boone doing such things, fans (including you) would be ecstatic.
- http://thecarsboneblog.tumblr.com Raul Ibanez AKA Tom Marvolo Riddle
  
  Capitalization, coherent sentences, use of periods, and less rambling train of thought would make your incessant A-Rod hate a lot more bearable.
  
  Honestly, if we judge him against his contract, or his past, he will always fail. Is he underachieving right now? God damn right he is. Even at this age he’s probably better than the numbers he’s been putting up. However, we can’t and shouldn’t judge him against a contract he was handed, and to judge him against his prime self is just unfair.
  
  All we can do is judge him against his peers, and according to wRC+ (an all inclusive offensive stat) he’s been a top 5 third baseman in baseball. At age 36 to expect anything more from him would just be greedy. Should he be batting 3-4-5? Probably not, he’d be perfect in the 2hole. That’s a matter of line-up switching that Girardi should absolutely consider.
  
  Finally you keep calling everybody posting opinions contrary to yours A-Rod apologists, while I cannot speak for everybody, I can say that I am not. I am simply a level headed fan who realizes that he’s a 3rd baseman on the wrong side of 35 who is still producing at a top 5 level when judged against his peers. If we took the name Alex Rodriguez out of the conversation and replaced it with Aaron Boone doing such things, fans (including you) would be ecstatic.
stuart a

middlebrooks slugging % is higher then arods btw….
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  No starlet wants to screw a guy named Will Middlebrooks.
  - pat
    
    Don’t even bother.
    - Robinson Tilapia
      
      Like I said, I’m finding this amusing, outside of a game thread, in small doses. Now, if this continues all night…
  - Jimmy McNulty
    
    Well A-Rod does deserve quite a bit of criticism. It’s not all his fault but he’s making 300M and getting paid like that he needs to hit better than a middle infielder. Now, I think a lot of the criticism that he received in the past was unwarranted (I still like calling him a choker because it’s easy and fun) but the guy’s sporting a .350 wOBA and the highest paid player in the league. It’s okay to be pissed about that, and it’s okay to take it out on A-Rod.
    - eephus_pitch
      
      I think we’re all disappointed with the way he’s played, but there is simply no alternative. He’s on the team for 5 more years. We all knew the Yanks would be paying for some of A-Rod’s decline phase; we just didn’t know it would come 2 years into a 10-year contract. But come it has.
      Still, what can you do? It’s not as if he’s trying not to hit homeruns. His approach at the plate looks good. He’s not pull-happy like Teixeira. He seems like he’s hitting the ball where it’s pitched. The power and bat speed just aren’t there anymore. He’s not a a 50-homer man anymore. Probably not even a 30-homer man. He is the player he is now. 5 more years of grumbling about it isn’t going to change anything.
Robinson Tilapia

The Heat are hitting every three I could swear they weren’t hitting the entire season. Not counting my chickens yet, though.
- pat
  
  OM effing G. Miller and Battier pretending they’re back at Duke and UF.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    Makes up for a ton of frustrating moments throughout the season, let me tell you.
- Brian S.
  
  Go ahead and count those chickens.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    I would, but they keep on scoring all over OKC.
Robinson Tilapia

Nine minutes away from Eddy Curry finally getting that ring.
- http://thecarsboneblog.tumblr.com Raul Ibanez AKA Tom Marvolo Riddle
  
  I just vomited in my mouth a little bit.
DM

Interesting bit on Melky…

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports.....QXwctiCM/1

Crap hitter on a fluke run for 1.5 seasons — or a genuine talent maximized thru focus and work ethic? Character counts. There’s no fangraph to help project the difference that can make.
Bavarian Yankee

has anybody seen Alvarez’ homer yesterday? He literally crushed one OUT of PNC Park, that was ridiculous.