Open Thread: 3/10 Camp Notes

March 10, 2014 by Mike Axisa 46 Comments

Guess what? There are no camp notes. The Yankees were off today for the first time since Grapefruit League games started, and it was a full day off. There were no workouts scheduled or anything. Just a day to recharge the batteries. With the Panama trip coming up and the next off-day two weeks away, a day of rest is a good thing. No news is good news and that’s exactly what we have today.

There is one thing I do want to take a second to point out: RAB turned seven years old on ~~January~~ February 20th. I am terrible at dates and I completely forgot. Just realized it today. Thanks for reading and making RAB part of your day. The site has grown far more than Ben, Joe, or myself ever expected when we launched, and I think I speak for everyone here when I say the best parts of RAB are the friends I’ve made and all the great people I’ve met these last seven years. It’s been pretty awesome.

Anyway, here is your open thread for the night. MLB Network will replay a game later tonight and SNY will re-air this afternoon’s Mets game as well, if you’re really desperate for some baseball. Old pals Bartolo Colon and Curtis Granderson both played. This happened too. The Islanders, Knicks, and Nets are all playing as well. Talk about whatever you like here. Enjoy.

(I’m re-posting that video because it was easy to overlook last Friday night. I enjoyed it.)

MP

Thanks, Mike, for your incredible work with RAB over these years. You’ve elevated my fandom and knowledge to levels I never knew I would reach. So grateful to have RAB as my first-clicked tab every time I open my computer.

From a long-time reader and occasional commenter.
- BrianMcCannon
  
  +1
- Yanksinfirst
  
  +2
- Yanksinfirst
  
  Mike you are by far the best sports write I have read in quite some time. Keep up the good work!
- Visitor in the clubhouse
  
  Mike, been coming to your site almost daily for the last three years but have never been a commenter before. Wanted to thank you for your hard work and providing me with a break during my hectic days. May this site last as long as you’d like and lead you to many deserved rewards.
Dan G

Happy Birthday, RAB. Thank you all for entertaining insight to our favorite sport.

Always a pleasure to read the high quality articles. Hell, even the visceral rants are more coherent than 90% of the rest of what gets passed off as media today.

I know at RAB I will always get a good read. Thank you!
Jon

Great work, Mike.
The site goes from strength to strength and I’m sure we all appreciate the hard work that you put in
Happy Birthday
nycsportzfan

Mike, your the man, and I love me some RAB.
gageagainstthemachine

Happy Birthday RAB and thanks for all you guys do, Mike. As a lifelong Yankee fan oddly misplaced in Montana from birth, I have to say that RAB has not only made me more knowledgable about my favorite team, but about baseball in general and, to an extent, the pulse of New York City itself. It has been great to have an open forum to talk and debate with other passionate fans (long time reader; occasional commenter) that has taken my love and appreciation for all things Yankees past, present and future to a whole new level. I especially enjoying the candidness the writers and commenters display during the live chats. Keep up the excellent work.
Hawkeye

I want to add my thanks and congratulations. I would echo what MP said, in that it is one of two must read Yankee sites for me. Thanks again to all past and present contributors.
Havok9120

Happy birthday RAB. This site has made me some good friends and remains my go to for Yankee analysis and discussion. What more can I ask from a free blog?
Yankee$ (Formerly Pseudoyanks)

I see a RAB reader lovefest coming on….Thanks Mike!
RetroRob

A great community site to discuss baseball and the Yankees. Thanks again to Mike, Joe and Ben for all their work. Perhaps one day Ben will show up again. : -) Sucks when life gets in the way!

I’m still not sure when I showed up here. Might have been during the offseason from 2008 leading into 2009, although mostly a lurker at first, and posting under different names until I settled on one.

Hope there’s another seven years and more.
- I’m One
  
  I echo the comments above. I also came in about the same time and I have to say that I have learned much more in that time than I probably even knew when I began reading this site.
  
  Great site, great content, great writers. I really appreciate when Ben & Joe can contribute (and the former weekend writers and guest writers). I find it even more amazing that you, Mike, are able to produce so much each week.
  
  Keep up the good work, all. I’ll be around to read it for however long you do this,
  - I’m One
    
    Oh, and for someone outside of the NYC metro area, this site is a godsend (as I’m sure gageagainstthemachine and Yankee$ would agree).
    - Yankee$ (Formerly Pseudoyanks)
      
      Indeed, I do agree! I got here in 2008 I think, might have been 2007…
    - gageagainstthemachine
      
      Absolutely!
  - RetroRob
    
    I was going to mention the weekend writers, but they never seem to last that long. That’s probably more annoying to Mike than anyone else if he’s looking for a bit of relief.
RetroRob

So a year back it was Didi Gregorius who Kevin Towers compared to Derek Jeter.

Now it’s Aledmys Diaz.

When will they learn.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10584419/some-st-louis-cardinals-see-derek-jeter-aledmys-diaz
forensic

Speaking of the games in Panama, are they not being televised? There’s nothing on my channel guide with YES or MLBN and I haven’t found anything online? Anyone seen anything to the contrary?
forensic

Happy belated birthday RAB!

Among other things, this site, and MLBTR, have allowed me to continue to not sign up for twitter, and I am grateful for that.
Ethan

Thanks so much for all your hard work over the years! I’ve been a daily visitor for about three years now and the quality of the content on RAB is unparalleled as far as baseball blogs go.
- Ethan
  
  I kind of wish I had a thesis in my Masters program because I would do something baseball related (I might write up something at some point if I can find the time). I think it would be neat to do some kind of regression on baseball performance to salary using some of the advanced sabermetric data. It could be a pretty neat project if I get bored down the road.
http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?p0=179&iso=20140401T19&year=2014&month=4&day=1&hour=19&min=0&sec=0&msg=Opening%20Day! Get Phelps Up

I echo what others have said above. I started reading during the 2010 season (back in the days when game threads were fun =P) and now this is my go-to place for almost all news and analysis. A big thanks to Mike, Joe, Ben, and all you fellow commenters.
NZ Yankee Fan

Happy Birthday RAB, and massive thanks Mike (and Ben & Joe) for this site.
Being down in New Zealand it’s a little harder to keep up-to-date with the Yankees and MLB in general. I genuinely do not know what I’d do without RAB – it’s taught me a huge amount and provided masses of entertainment. Long may it continue!
Reuben Sierra’s Chains

Mike do you know what inning those blown calls from Meals are in? I want to go back and watch them.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  I’m not sure, but it definitely wasn’t the first inning and Colon was still on the mound, so pretty early in the game. It all happened in one at-bat, the two pickoffs and the play at third. Wright made a great diving stop.
- forensic
  
  Colon twice attempted to pick off Jake Marisnick at first base in the second inning and appeared to get him both times, but first base umpire Jerry Meals called him safe each time. Television replays showed Colon successfully picked him off on both attempts. Later that inning, Meals called Johnson safe on an infield single although replays showed he was out.
  
  Collins did quietly argue a Meals call in the fourth inning after another close play at first. Replays showed Johnson was safe.
  
  http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=340310121
forensic

While getting caught up on yesterday’s game, I enjoyed their discussion of the Rays and how they could/should move to Montreal.

What I disagree with, however, is that they’d stay in the AL East. I think MLB would want to go with their history and separate them from the Blue Jays, thus moving them back to the NL East. That would then necessitate them moving a team from the NL East to the AL East. Obviously, that wouldn’t be the Nats or Mets, because of the Yankees and O’s. The Phillies and Braves also have a pretty long history in the NL, so I think it would make sense to move the Marlins to the AL. They seem to already have a bit of a rivalry with the Sox and despite their 2 championships they don’t really have a long NL history behind them. They also might be able to draw some extra AL fans who were left behind by the Rays.

That’d sure be a nice trade-off for the Yankees, playing the Marlins 18 times a year instead of the Rays.
pat

Turn your speakers up for the sound of some sweet, sweet, baseball porn.

http://m.mlb.com/video/v31492493/mianym-stanton-crushes-a-shot-in-the-seventh
Wheels

That father barely saved his kid from crashing into the fence in that GIF. Wife freaking out in the background.
Betty Lizard

Congratulations on your 7th anniversary Mike, Joe and Ben!
Traditionally, we are to give you wool, so I’m thinking vintage uniforms all around!
Winter

In honor of RAB’s 7th anniversary, here is the oldest page of RAB available on the wayback machine. Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner appear to be locked in a competition for the 4th and 5th starters spots, with Igawa being the favorite. John Sterling like Miguel Cairo but Joe P. doesn’t (and hopes Alberto “Attorney General” Gonzalez will take his place on the roster). And Jason Giambi doesn’t want to DH, but 1B will likely go to Josh Phelps or Doug Mientk-something.
- forensic
  
  You can just use the archive thing on the sidebar and get to the same page, back to February 20th, 2007. I wonder what happened to the other month of posts from January 20th-February 20th.
  - Winter
    
    Sure, but you don’t get to see what it looked like.
  - forensic
    
    Actually, reading through the comments from that first post on February 20th, it looks like that was the first day of the blog, not January 20th.
    
    Guess Mike really is terrible at dates…
- The Great Gonzo
  
  Also:
  
  Schilling looks like he ‘ate Dustin Pedroia’
  Published by Ben February 23rd, 2007 0 Comments
  
  So said Tony Maserotti in in article in the Boston Herald. That’s some imagery.
dkidd

just went back and browsed 2009

mondesi
rebecca optimist prime
riddering

all these names will be lost in time like tears in rain!
- Jorge Steinbrenner
  
  Mondesi returned for a one-off moment with jjyank in which jjyank O:S’ed the guy who invented O:S. It was like when they bring out a “legend” in wrestling for a pop from the crowd and he’s greeted with a kick to the gut. Sorry, congressman.
  
  I’m sure Rebecca is out there lurking somewhere.
- pat
  
  Oh man, what happened to THCRM? Recall election pull him from office?
  - Tanakapalooza Floozy
    
    Sniff. So many greats, gone.
Farewell Mo

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/414738-albert-pujols-mike-trout-isnt-in-my-league-yet

Nice to see that Pujols has remained humble. Too bad the reporter didn’t point out the fact that Trout is coming off back to back 10+ WAR seasons which is something that Pujols never accomplished even once in his career.

Pujols may be the greatest right handed hitter of all time but a little humility is a good thing.
Kiko Jones

I knew there was a reason I liked RAB: we share a birthday. Congrats, guys.
Jorge Steinbrenner

Seven years of basically being able to work in your boxers, if you so desire. Not a bad gig. :)

I remember the early days and sitting in my office wasting way too much time laughing my ass off in the comments section. Didn’t even need to add my own two cents. Special days and this place has come a mighty long way.

Thank you, real Big Three, for keeping this going.
The Great Gonzo

Happy belated to RAB. As with others here on the site, I am what some would call a ‘transplant’. So discussing, listening to, or made fun of Yankees baseball is only made possible with sites like this…

Made some great friends, learned alot about different facets of the game, had a few laughs, banged my head against the wall a little bit…
Tanakapalooza Floozy

Thanks RABbis. Sometimes I miss the days of radio silence throughout the offseason, complete ignorance of goings on down at the farm, and thinking Wins and RBIs were all that mattered. Sometimes.

But the rest of the time I come here and am glad.

Thanks, happy anniversary, and keep up the great work!

FotD™: Mike gets bored and moves to a blog about unusual carignan blends.