As part of an example of what NASA imaging technology can do, mosey on over to this nifty applet on Sports Illustrated’s Website. The image — a composite of 124 frames shot over 10 minutes — shows just how detailed GigaPan technology can be. If you were at the Yankees-Red Sox game on July 4th, odds are pretty good that you can find yourself, in high res, in that photo. Oddly, because of the time lapse, Matsuzaka is just finishing up a pitch while A-Rod has stepped out of the box. (Hat tip to Bryan Hoch.)
Tampa Bay coming back to earth
Perhaps the best news of the month is the current seven-game slide of the Tampa Bay Rays. They looked unstoppable a month ago, but now seem to be regressing to the mean. That’s not to say they’re not a good team. They certainly are. And they’d be a lot better if Carl Crawford was hitting as he has in recent years. Given current indications, though, we could see the Rays drop off a bit in the second half, much to the delight of the Yankees.
The key to Tampa Bay’s second half is their home/road discrepancy. They currently hold a 36-14 record at home, and a 19-25 mark on the road. The significant part of that is the number of games they’ve played with each: 50 at home, and just 44 on the road. So they have 31 games left at home, and 37 on the road. If they continue to play sub-.500 ball away from the Trop and can’t keep up the torrid pace at home, they could quickly fall out of the Wild Card race.
Then again, this is an instance where past performance might not be the best indicator of future results. If Tampa Bay can get their overall road record back to .500, they could negate any kind of drop-off in play at home. Still, to know that they have more road games in the second half is a bit reassuring.
With Matsui setback, Bonds speculation grows
Yesterday afternoon, as I noted then, Hideki Matsui called his setback “short-term.” Today, we find out that the news may be worse. Matsui’s knee has swelled up again, and the AP reports that he will likely need surgery. Within the same report comes speculation that the Yanks could turn to Barry Bonds to fill the Matsui void. However, Brian Cashman doesn’t seem to want to go down that path. No matter, Matsui’s injury is bad news for the Bombers.
Longest All Star Game ever
Posted by mobile phone: The Yankee Stadium scoreboard just told those of us still left in the Stadium that this is now the longest ASG in terms of hours. After the AL fails to score in the 15th, we’ll reach a new innings mark too. Apparently, the ghosts of Yankee Stadium are trying to send a message…
Easiest DotF ever
Triple-A Scranton is off until Thursday for the All-Star Break. The Triple-A All-Star Game (International League vs Pacific Coast League) is Wednesday at 7pm, and can be seen on ESPN2. Justin Christian made the team, but he’s in the bigs so he won’t be playing. Cody Ransom has replaced him on the roster. Yawn.
Double-A Trenton, High-A Tampa, Low-A Charleston & Short Season Staten Island were all off in observance of the MLB All-Star Game. No joke. They do this every year.
The Rookie GCL Yanks were rained out. They’ll probably make in up as part of a doubleheader on July 28th.
In other news, Jim Callis of Baseball America updated the top prospect for each team in the latest edition of Ask BA. It’s been a while since the Yanks had a top prospect that … uninspiring.
Game Thread: All-Star Edition
Hooray for meaningless games. The lineups:
American League
Ichiro, RF
Jeter, SS
Hamilton, CF
A-Rod, 3B
Manny, LF
Bradley, DH
Youkilis, 1B
Mauer, C
Pedroia, 2B
Lee, SP
National League
Hanley, SS
Utley, 2B
Berkman, 1B
Pujols, DH
Chipper, 3B
Holliday, RF
Braun, LF
Fukudome, CF
Soto, C
Sheets, SP
Talk it up here.
Recapping the Jeter Debate
We all know that Derek Jeter’s defense isn’t the greatest part of the game. In case you want a full recap, Slate’s Nate DiMeo breaks down the years-old debate. One day soon, Derek may have to move off of short. I don’t envy the man who has to tell him that.