Friday, May 30, 2008

PICASNER IS BORED

Nearly fell of my chair in the diner this morning when the Pux commented, "I think he's lost a step."

Sooner or later we  hear that about all players but, in this case, he was speaking about, I can hardly say it, Derek Jeter.

Understand that there is no more loyal Yankee fan than the Pux. No one more vocal about their accomplishments, no one more blind to their failings, and no one more supportive of the Yankee orthodoxy that D. Jeter is the greatest shortstop of the past decade.

I'm not sure how long I sat there speechless, staring into an empty coffee cup, unable to make sense of those words from that source, but when I finally managed to weakly ask the Pux to repeat what he had said the breakfast crowd had been replaced by the office nooners.

Now I know the Revered One has had issues in the field this season airmailing a few throws into the right field sets. It's also true he has had several senior moments on the base paths recently getting picked off second to end an inning with two men on and A-Rod at the plate. But for the Pux to utter the unutterable, to even imagine the unimaginable... I could only respond,
"How can you tell when someone with no range loses a step?"

PS - Never piss off a Pux with half a jelly donut at his disposal.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Yankees Drubbed 11-2

When you can’t tune into the game until the 7th inning break you can only hope that your team has the lead and the bullpen will close it out. For Mets fans, that was the case.


What I saw was a 6 run top of the 8th that featured a bullpen shelling, two miserable, back to back throws from right field and, worst of all – no really it was worse than Abreu’s throws – a very long half inning of ESPN’s Johnny Miller and Joe Morgan. 


Miller has the unique ability to babble endlessly about everything but the game being played, an interesting talent for a play-by-play guy and Morgan is unsurpassed for saying really stupid things, actually a pretty common characteristic for many ESPN analysts. 


While discussing the new Yankee Stadium, Morgan commented, “…if your going to keep the same (field) dimensions, why build a new stadium?” Let’s see, the first things that popped up were Renewal, Tradition, Beauty, Amenities, Safety, Personality…


Then again, Joe played in a league that really didn’t understand any of those concepts when they spent 20 years building a rash of turf-lined band boxes.


During the 6 run explosion Morgan explained David Wright’s tag up and score on a short fly to right this way. 


“His upper body left early but his foot stayed on the bag.“


Visualize that one.


Oh, yeah, the game analysis of an 11 – 2 drubbing…


Gonzales hits a 399’ out to end the 7th. Wright hits a 125’ bloop double to open the 8th.


Say no more.