Thursday, April 26, 2018

THE BRONX BOMBERS ARE BACK

...and with a vengeance. They are currently leading the majors in runs, homers and OPS. I know all you sabermetric fans will disagree, but these are important numbers.
It is very early yet, so things can change drastically in the next few months. Here are a few things that won't look the same come the 4th of July.
** The Washington Nationals are languishing in 4th place with a .440 winning percentage. Too many good pitchers and too many good hitters, including Bryce Harper. They'll be in first on the 4th.
** The Red Sox look like they're running away with it. They won't. Toronto's got some stuff and the Blue Jays will battle the Sox for a playoff spot.
** The Mets are in first place. Enjoy it while you can. There is some bad karma here.
** The Cubs are in 4th place  (See the Nationals comment above)
** Arizona is in 1st place. The Dodgers will eventually prevail but the Diamondbacks will make it interesting for a while.
** Yankee shortstop Didi Gregorious, with 9 dingers, is only one homer behind Mike Trout. The projection for him is 44 for the season which is too high, He is definitely helped by the Yankee Stadium dimensions, if the current home stand is any indication. 30-35 is a more reasonable goal. The RBI total is outrageous too.
** Giancarlo Stanton is not blasting homers the way Yankee fans expected. He'll break out eventually, but the only good thing about it is that we don't have to listen to John Sterling's rediculous homer run call - "Non dimenticar, that ball traveled very far"

Gregorious again 
After he hit one last night, I told Annie-O that I hoped he wouldn't hit another that game. When she asked why, I told her they would probably have to stop the game while they installed his plaque in Monument Park.

It should be Sonny 'Black'
For a guy who was supposed to be the #2 starter, Sonny Gray has been singularly unimpressive. The Yankee broadcasters' comments are equally ridiculous - "His stuff is too good."  I'm not buying that one.
That'll teach him
Did I read this right? The police are searching for WWE wrestler for throwing a cup of coffee at a fellow wrestler. Why didn't he just hit him with a folding chair? The complaint was signed by Starbucks.
Do these guys listen to themselves?
Statement #1 - His fastball is so good, he can throw it right down the middle and get away with it.
Statement #2 later in the game - "No matter how good your fastball is, major league hitters will hit it."
I wish I wasn't listening to them

I'm becoming disenchanted with YES Network's Michael Kay. He's been mis-calling some plays, gets the count wrong and often doesn't know the rules. He questioned why there was no infield fly call made on one play when it didn't qualify. His cohort in crime, Paul O'Neill, a former player, can recite the menu of every concession stand in the park, but he's clueless about the rules, too. I like his insight into the game, but I don't need to hear it three times. His main function seems to be to rag on Michael Kay. Good at it, too.


***THEY SAID IT***
"The Commission on College Basketball has recommended potential lifetime bans for coaches who cheat. Over-under on how many coaches suddenly retire or move to NBA?"  -- Janice Hough
"A recent Chicago White Sox home game against the Rays drew 974 fans. Or as the Miami Marlins call it, a really good crowd."  -- RJ Currie
"There's talk of a Floyd Mayweather-Connor McGregor rematch. I haven’t been this excited since ‘Rocky V’."  -- Brad Dickson
"Patrick Reed has been spotted seemingly everywhere since winning the Masters, still wearing his green jacket. The movie-theater stop proved a bit awkward, however, when patrons wouldn’t stop handing him their tickets."  -- TC Chong
"Adults should average no more than one alcoholic drink per day, according to a new international study. With the obvious exception of, say, Browns fans."  -- Dwight Perry
"That 21 pitch Brandon Belt AB Sunday lasted longer than some celebrity marriages."  -- Janice Hough
"The head count totaled only 974 in attendance for a Rays-White Sox game in Chicago. All the fans bought a hot dog and beer, so the team still made $3 million from the concession stands."  -- Jim Barach
"It's hard to believe quarterback Mark Sanchez got caught using a performance enhancing substance. If ever a guy should demand a refund."  -- RJ Currie
"If 5½-foot Astros star Jose Altuve ever needs to do some injury rehab in the minors, we’ve found the perfect team to do it with: the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp."  -- TC Chong
"The Twins had to postpone three straight games against the White Sox because of a nasty spring snowstorm. How can you tell you’re in Minnesota? The catcher tells you one’s a fastball, two’s a curve and three’s a snowball."  -- Dwight Perry
" A 112-year-old Japanese man assuming the mantle of world’s oldest man. Man, they keep dying. I’m beginning to think that title is cursed."  -- Brad Dickson

CP-
 




Monday, April 02, 2018

SOME THINGS JUST IRRITATE ME

Not that anyone is surprised at that. The list can be long, depending on how egregious the activities are.
Announcers
Can't they just shut up and let the game itself entertain us? Some comments are fine, but they feel they have to explain everything. Maybe the pitcher just wanted to catch his breath. Maybe he had to sneeze. Don't make up reasons. Sunday, on the Yankee game, even David Cone admitted that they received a tweet saying basically, shut Cone up. Wish I'd said that. In his defense, he does express his opinion on some plays and strategies. Yesterday, in the 9th inning, he vehemently disagreed with walking a hitter intentionally to pitch to the next batter. He was correct - the next hitter blasted a brand slam to win the game.
Baseball's unwritten rules
Sunday, an Oriole hitter bunted for a hit against an extreme Minnesota shift in the ninth with the score 7-0. The Twins were upset, saying it wasn't the way the game should be played. Why not? You gave him the opportunity, why are you upset that he took advantage of it? Don't like all these shifts? Keep doing this and it will stop.
Baseball's written rules
I will never understand why a team will "let" a runner steal a base late in a game because his run means nothing and the runner gets no credit because of "defensive indifference." You LET him get a stolen base, so suffer with the stat.
Speaking of bad stats, earlier this year a saw a pitch go thru a catcher's legs to the backstop that was called a wild pitch, not a passed ball. Why? Because the pitch hit the ground before it got to the plate. It shouldn't matter. This was a major league catcher. It was his job to block that errant pitch. I understand if the ball takes a crazy, unexpected hop and the catcher can't get in front of it, but this ball went thru his legs while he was kneeling down. It wasn't the pitcher's fault, it was yours.
More on announcers
Why are the Yankees making such a big deal about radio announcer John Sterling's home run call. He's run out of good calls. The last one heard that was any good was, "An A-Bomb from A-Rod."
That was okay, His latest was his description of a Giancarlo Stanton homer which was in Italian, no less. I'm Italian and I don't get the reference. 
I just wish they would all speak English and not try to describe things in obscure terms. Basketball announcers are the worst. Players don't jump anymore. They go vertical.  They don't dribble and shoot, they score off the bounce. They love that bounce thing. They repeat it over and over to show you how hip they are. 
"In the seventh inning of the Yankees’ opener in Toronto, Brett Gardner homered over the 375-feet sign. Soon, despite that 375-feet sign in full view in two replays, YES’ David Cone parroted a graphic reporting that the home run was “projected” to have been hit 372 feet."  -- Phil Mushnick

The YES network has a new thing: The Nine-Person Booth. All nine of the Yankee broadcast team supposedly in the booth at the same time along with all the variations on how it would work. It's pretty cute, but I suspect I will be sick of it before long. Like, yesterday. They can't stop showing it. Lighten up guys before it becomes monotonous and no longer interesting.

Outside of one good game for Stanton, the Yankee powerhouse hitters have done nothing and the "best bullpen in baseball" has blown two straight games. Here's a baseball axiom that's still true: No matter what the stats say about who's the best, you still have to play the game. 

If the list of Yankees on the DL continues to grow,  the Nine-Person booth could become the Nine-Person on the field.

Just when you thought things couldn't get sillier 
We've all know about the One 'N Done college basketball recruits, but Syracuse Univ. #1 recruit just decide to forgo his one year and signed to play in the NBA's Development League, becoming the first ever None and Done.
I have to stop blogging now and go back to bed so I can stay up to watch NCAA's premier college basketball game  - the Final Four Tournament Championship game, which will air at 9:20 tonight. Which means you better be awake at midnight if you want to see the end of the game. And you thought college was the seat of higher learning. Apparently the NCAA never graduated...or attended.


***THEY SAID IT***
"Looks like God may have decided to abandon Sister Jean in favor of Notre Dame women’s team."  -- Janice Hough
"Danica Patrick said she's going to the Indy 500 to win it. It could happen. Now excuse me while I go onto Twitter to ask  Gal Godat to marry me,"  -- RJ Currie 
"He's the oldest tennis player to be ranked No. 1. Somebody might have mentioned that to me already, but I had a hard time hearing.”  -- Roger Federer
"The Cavaliers suspended guard J.R. Smith for one game because he reportedly threw a bowl of soup at assistant coach Damon Jones. Guess you could say he made himself bowl-ineligible."  -- Dwight Perry
"Major League Baseball wants to speed up their games to attract “millennials” who find the games too long and boring. How about eliminating: The Anthem; God Bless America; Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Sweet Caroline. That’ll save 25 minutes."  -- TC Chong

"The final spring training game  between  the Angels and Dodgers ended in the fifth inning because of a foul-smelling sewage leak onto the field.  Some punchlines just write themselves."  -- Janice Hough
"If we find out that Sister Jean accepted money from a booster to steer her away from rooting for DePaul I’ll become even more jaded."  -- Brad Dickson
"Michael Strahan is to red-carpet interviews what Ryan Seacrest is to rushing the quarterback.”  -- Jerry Perisho
"Five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has signed with the Los Angeles Rams. He spent the last three seasons in Miami — his old stomping grounds."  -- RJ Currie
"There's a lot of  hubbub over Dwight Howard producing the first 30-point, 30-rebound game in 36 years. By the way, Wilt Chamberlain accomplished the feat a mere 124 times."  -- Bob Molinaro
"The Arizona D’Backs are trying to speed up games by employing a golf cart to deliver pitchers from the bullpen to the mound. I remember when the Red Sox used that same M.O. and when the vehicle was not used, they sent it down Yawkey Way to pick up fried chicken and beer."  -- TC Chong
"Incidentally, Michael Kay finally may have succumbed to the ESPN virus. After Gardner’s opening day homer, he said, “It’s his first of the year.”  -- Phil Mushnick

CP-