***SPEAKING OF THE YANKEES***
Another loss I believe you can attribute to Joe Girardi. After watching CC Sabathia pitch his heart out for 8 innings, who does Joe bring in? Chad Gaudin, who must have been shocked to find himself in a game with all zeroes on the scoreboard. To say Picasner had apoplexy is an understatement. Gaudin managed to get thru one inning by the narrowest of margins, so Joe had to turn to his other "top flight" reliever: Sergio Mitre. BANG! Game over. And it's not just me that wondered about these decisions. Here's Andrew Marchand's take:
"In what was the biggest game of the regular season -- a pitching classic between Cy Young contenders CC Sabathia and David Price -- Girardi sat down his most important relievers and turned to mop-up man Chad Gaudin, who did escape the 10th with the bases loaded, and little-used Sergio Mitre, who wasn't as lucky, giving up the game-winning homer to Reid Brignac in the 11th."
Dave Eiland's comment was, "Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war." Well, Girardi certainly has the 'losing the battle' part down pat.
When the third base coach sends a runner home only to be thrown out, does the manager sit him down and "talk" to him? No, he doesn't. Then why chastise Gardner for trying to steal third with two outs. Okay, he didn't make it, but the number of ways you can score from third as opposed to from second have been well-documented in this blog. Apparently, Girardi is still old school.
***THE CY YOUNG DEBATE***
There have been a lot of discussions the last few weeks about whether the season that "King" Felix Hernandez has had rates a vote for the Cy Young award, as opposed to CC Sabathia, who has a better won-loss record. I have always felt that the MVP award should go to a player on a WINNING team as opposed to a player with better statistics. Since the Cy Young award pointedly says nothing about 'most valuable,' but only about the most dominant pitcher, I think Hernandez is definitely in the mix. Since a pitchers record is so greatly affected by circumstances beyond his control (fielding errors, runs scored for him, the team's bullpen, etc.), you almost have to wonder, who's really good and who's really lucky. Perhaps the only true way to determine the Cy Young Award winner, would be to have the hitters do the voting. They' will certainly tell you who is the most dominant.
***THE UMPS ARE AT IT AGAIN***
They threw out Carl Crawford last night. Why? Because he had the nerve to question a call by the home plate umpire. You'd think home plate umpire Tom Hallion would have a better understanding of the situation: 9th inning, 20 games left in the season, two powerhouse teams separated by a mere half-game in the standing, frustrated by two outstanding pitchers locked in a 0-0 game for first place. When a player argues a call, how can you tell if he's mad at the ump or himself? Or if he's just completely frustrated? Don't weaken one team by ejecting a key player at that point in the game. Let him vent and walk away.
A few days ago, umpire Bob Davidson outdid himself with that powerful thumb. Not only did he toss a player, but also a pitching coach, and a FAN! Davidson said he tossed the fan because he was hurling racial epithets at catcher Bengie Molina. Neither the fan, the people around him or even Molina knew what Davidson was talking about. In a post-game interview, a smiling Davidson said he was "proud" of the job he did. I bet his mother is, too.
***SORRY. NO MANNY STORIES***
In his last ten games, he has 9 hits and no RBI's and had no controversies. ...and no haircut.
CP-
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