Saturday, July 17, 2010

WE'RE BACK

***YANKS SCRATCH ONE OUT***
Nick Swisher continues to have an unbelievable year. It seems every hit he gets comes in a clutch situation. He's still an adventure in Right Field (Yes, I'm being kind), but he's carrying the Yanks with his bat. CC pitched better than the stats would indicate and the Yanks are still hitting in bad luck, so it was the kind of win that really takes the wind out of an opposing teams sails.
BJ Upton got picked off of first by Rivera, which was very surprising, since I couldn't remember Mo' even throwing over to first before. Apparently, Upton was just as surprised. They showed him in the dugout afterward, screaming obscenities. Michael Kay said he was barking at the umpires, but Annie-O thought he was upset because Posada seemed to be making fun of him for being picked off. We'll see if anything comes of it today. I noticed that Texiera's and A-Rod's batting averages are getting closer: Tex's average is .253 and rising, A-Rod's is .269 and falling. Sounds like an old grammar school math quiz - "When will they pass each other?" Answer, probably about the 7th inning today.
By winning Friday, the Yanks made sure of one thing: Tampa Bay WILL leave town in 2nd place.

***AT LEAST I GOT INTO THE RECORD BOOKS***
Bengie Molina beat up the Red Sox last night (Hooray!), by hitting for the cycle. His last hit was the toughest one to get, a triple. Extremely surprising, since Bengie may be the only guy in the majors who couldn't beat his brother, Jose', in a foot race. Bengie chugged around 2nd and lumbered into 3rd like it was uphill all the way. Two pitches later, he had to be helped off the field because he had strained a quad rounding first. Since triples were uncharted territory for him, he probable didn't recognize the pain. Hope it was worth it, Bengie.

***THIS IS FOR YOU SABERMETRIC FANS***
Sabermetrics, of course, are the convoluted mathematical equations that statisticians use to prove that opinions have no place in evaluating ballplayers. It does take all the fun out of arguments, though. Colin Wyers of Baseball Prospectus makes some interesting points against the validity of what he calls "Defensive Metrics," statistics that rate the defensive ability of fielders. I've always wondered how you determine 'Range Factor' when managers and coaches often position players to 'cheat' towards where history says a ball will be hit. How do you factor in a hard ground ball hit right at a 2nd baseman as opposed to a seeing eye, 10-hop grounder that trickles into the outfield. These sabermetrics have a long way to go before they'll convince me.

***THE YANKEE OLD-TIMERS GAME STARTS IN HALF AN HOUR***
Unfortunately, they'll do it with out Yogi Berra, who fell down some stairs at his home this week and won't be attending. Luckily, the 85-year old Hall of Famer didn't break anything, but he's not up to making the trip. We'll miss him.

***ANOTHER STEINBRENNER STORY***
...and I'm sure we'll see more of them. This one's from Lou Piniella:
During the 1987 season,while in his stint as replacement for Billy Martin -- one of the many times Martin was fired by Steinbrenner; Lou both replaced, and was replaced by, Martin in New York -- the Yankees were playing the Angels in Anaheim*. Tommy John was pitching for the Yankees, out-dueling the Angels' Don Sutton early, 1-0. Both pitchers were savvy old veterans in their 40s.
Steinbrenner was watching the game on television, and saw the broadcasters focusing on Sutton apparently scuffing up the baseball. That led to a long discussion on air of how Sutton seemed to doctoring the baseball, giving his pitches tremendous movement that night.
The Boss flew into a rage, and insisted that a call be put through to Piniella in the visiting dugout at Anaheim Stadium.
"Lou, are you crazy?'' Steinbrenner said, as Piniella told it. "Everyone can see Sutton is cheating but you. I insist you go out there and make the umpires search him.''
Lou replied calmly, "George, who's pitching for us today?''
"Tommy John.''
"Well, who do you think taught Sutton how to cheat? Tommy's got a shutout. Do you want the umpires to go out and check him, too?"

"That shut him up."

CP-

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