Move over 2004 Yankees
By · CommentsThe Mets, up 7 with 17 games left to play, have lost the NL East. The Phillies wouldn’t say die and managed to overtake the Mets this weekend to claim the NL East title. Wow.
Cover your eyes Mets’ fans
By · CommentsIt’s gettin’ ugly early. 4-0 Fish, 1 out in the top of the first.
Update: Glavine just plunked Dontrelle Willis with the bases loaded, 5-0 Fish. Tommy’s out, Jorge Sosa’s on in relief. Still only 1 out.
Update 2: Big K of Hanley by Sosa.
Update 3: Double down the LF line by Uggla. 7-0 Fish after the first. Ya gotta believe.
Baseball? In Hawaii??? What a novel idea!
By · CommentsHWB Honolulu (7-0 loss to Waikiki)
Austin Jackson: 0 for 4, 2 K – one too many Mai Tai’s I see
Bradley Suttle: 0 for 0, 1 BB – came in as a defensive sub in the 6th
George Kontos: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 0-4 GB/FB – wasn’t helped out by a throwing error & 2 passed balls by his catcher
Anthony Claggett: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP – didn’t even know he was heading to Hawaii
These games are almost like Spring Training games, with mass substitutions in the middle innings, and pitching changes every other inning or so. Somehow, someway, the 6th overall pick, and the consensus top position player talent in the 2007 draft, Matt Weiters, batted 9th in the starting lineup. Oi.
The next game that counts is Thursday
By · CommentsSean Henn drew the short straw for today’s game, and as Yankee fans, who cares? Sure, it would be nice for Robinson Cano to drive in 3 runs on Sunday and for Bobby Abreu to get that elusive 100th RBI, but in the grand scheme of baseball, the Yanks’ next meaningful game isn’t until Thursday.
That day, the Yanks will play their first postseason game in Cleveland since the 1998 ALCS. From those two teams, only Kenny Lofton, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera remain (or have returned to) the same teams they were on then. Unbeknownst to me, Ron Villone threw a few innings on the 1998 Indians but wasn’t on the playoff roster. (Hear that, Joe? He was not on the playoff roster. Take a lesson.)
The Yanks got a bit lucky with the playoff schedule as Boston picked the long series. While this may limit Joba Chamberlain‘s availability and otherwise tax a weak Yankee bullpen, by playing the short series, they won’t have to face C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona twice each. Sabathia would go twice only if the series runs to five games.
The schedule and pitching match-ups follow with game times to be determined:
Thursday: Cleveland – Wang vs. Sabathia
Friday: Cleveland – Pettitte vs. Carmona
Sunday: New York – Clemens vs. Westbrook
Monday: New York (if necessary) – Mussina/Hughes vs. Byrd
Tuesday: Cleveland (if necessary) – Wang vs. Sabathia
Let the fun begin, and feel free to discuss today’s game here once 1:35 p.m. rolls around.
No research necessary
By · CommentsWhy I continue to acknowledge writers like Bill Madden, I’ll never know. This one comes via MLBTR, which links to the second page of a Madden column. The quote:
And, please, enough about Austin Jackson. The guy hit .285 with nine homers in Double-A ball – hardly superstar-in-the-making numbers.
Nevermind that straight batting average is a terrible, terrible number on which to base any kind of projection. We’ll go with this, though: One Bernabe Figueroa Williams hit .281 with 8 home runs in his age-21 season at Double-A. Feel free to test out your scouting skills with another player, Bill.
Eliminating the pigeons
By · CommentsEarlier this sumer — Old Timer’s Day to be exact — Ben and I sat high in the Tier Reserves. Over the course of both games, we were on high alert for pigeons perched above us; a number of people in our section had been pooped on, though they were a couple of rows in front of us. One guy actually got hit three times (he deserved it, as he was a drunken idiot). Clearly, though neither of us was hit, this was a nuisance. Pigeons suck and that goes triply for ballgames.
I’ve always wished we could do something to abolish pigeons. After all, what freakin’ purpose do they serve other than playthings for old, smelly ladies in the park? The Cincinnati Bengals have a solution: gun them down. Yes, the team is seeking permission to eliminate pigeons with pellet guns. This brings two things to mind:
1) This is by far the coolest idea in the history of human existence.
2) How does one sign up to shoot these pigeons?
Hey, almost all of us have experience. Who didn’t sit on their friend’s porch and pick off squirrels and birds and whatever else presented itself as a target?
ByClaim: Edwar Ramirez just finished pitching himself off the playoff roster tonight. Discuss. · (39) ·
Game 160: Trotting out the “A” lineup
By · CommentsBetcha can’t guess who’s not in the lineup. You’ll know after the leadoff slot.
1. Johnny Damon, CF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, LF
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Jason Giambi, DH
8. Robinson Cano, 2B
9. Doug Mientkiewicz, 1B
And on the mound, No. 35, Mike Mussina.
I’ll now be accepting any and all complaints about my (relative) dislike of Melky.
ByBoston Dirt Dogs, the quasi-fan produced/corporate site, has a little blurb up from last night saying “Tampa Bay Hates Us” (where “us” means the Red Sox) since they couldn’t beat the Yankees. NEWSFLASH BOSTON: One of the main reasons you’re in first place is because the Devil Rays crapped the bed when they played you earlier this month and in August. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. · (1) ·
A midtown showroom for the new suites
By · CommentsWhy are the Yankees building a New Yankee Stadium? To sell luxury suites. Who are the target customers for these luxury suites? Why, folks who would find a showroom for the suites on Fifth Ave. between 50th and 51st Sts. appealing.
According to Charles V. Bagli of The New York Times, the Yankees are set to open their very own Fifth Ave. showroom of sorts in January. The showroom will feature full-sized models of the luxury suites. What better to woe the suits at NBC and Tiffany & Co. who work in the neighborhood. The Cityroom blog has more:
The team just signed a lease at 45 Rockefeller Plaza, on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets, for a showroom for the new 51,000-seat stadium now under construction in the Bronx. When it opens in January, potential buyers will be able to walk into a series of plush models of the 57 luxury suites planned for that stadium, which is rising quickly just to the north of the Yankees’ historic home in the Bronx.
Buyers who visit the showroom on the 32nd floor will also get the opportunity to test out a few of the 5,000 to 10,000 wider, more thickly cushioned premium seats that will also go on sale when the stadium opens, presumably for the 2009 season. Premium seats, naturally, have the some of the best views of the action on the field.
Currently, luxury suites at Yankee Stadium sell from $2,8000 to $6,600 a game (or $265,000 to $350,000 for the season). You can bet those prices will head north in a hurry. That is, after all, why the Yankees are building a new stadium and daring to tear down a piece of baseball history.
In the end, I’m not sure if this is more or less disgusting than this pleasant story about Barry Bonds. It certainly is baseball economics on display.
