2013 Official Major League Baseball Thread.

[rumpleforeskiin]

In other news, Phil "No Trade Value" Hughes is pitching for his spot in the rotation today. Assuming he takes yet another pounding, I'm sure the "pitching rich" (per E. Beaver) light hitting Yankees, will be able to deep into their rich pool and replace him with Ivan Nada and his 4.91 ERA.

Hughes sucks. Pettitte's had the radish. Sabathia's in decline. Phelps is a five starter. Yeah, the Yanks are loaded with pitching to deal.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Doom and gloom for 2013 and beyond in the NY Daily News. This from John Harper:

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman feeling Bronx decline

Maybe Wednesday’s news that Mark Teixeira needs season-ending wrist surgery didn’t provoke the same reaction as A-Rod’s now-infamous tweet from a day earlier, but it’s crushing to an organization that already has too many question marks for 2014.

Brian Cashman’s rather coarse words regarding Alex Rodriguez notwithstanding, is anyone really surprised the GM is a bit cranky these days?

His team continues to fall apart on him, mostly in terms of age and injuries, and Cashman is not only faced with potentially missing the playoffs for only the second time since the Yankees’ postseason run began in 1995, but then what?

Maybe Wednesday’s news that Mark Teixeira needs season-ending wrist surgery didn’t provoke the same reaction as A-Rod’s now-infamous tweet from a day earlier, but it’s crushing to an organization that already has too many question marks for 2014.

And then on Wednesday night Andy Pettitte didn’t quite put to rest any fears that age may be catching up with him, giving up four runs in the third inning of an 8-5 loss to the Rangers.

It was the fourth time in his last five starts that Pettitte has surrendered at least four runs, as his ERA rose slightly to 4.22.

Though he toughened up to at least survive six innings, five of them scoreless, Pettitte continued his recent trend of paying for mistake pitches in big spots, an ominous sign for a pitcher whose ability to wiggle out of jams has always been a trademark.

More ominously considering he has carved out a reputation as a stopper over the years, Pettitte has surrendered leads in five of his last seven starts.

None of that bodes well for the Yankees making a big second-half run this season, since they’re going to need dominant starting pitching to overcome a lineup that started the day ranked 12th in the AL in runs scored.

It’s still possible that returns from injury by Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, and, yes, A-Rod, could jump-start the offense, but at this point, the way things have gone this season, you’ll have to see it to believe it.

But beyond the doom and gloom is the bigger picture: suddenly you can’t look at these Yanks without thinking Cashman has quite the daunting task ahead of him.

That is, finding a way to field a championship-caliber ballclub next season and beyond despite the likelihood of a reduced payroll and very little immediate help coming from the farm system.

 

[Special K]

Looking at the last cpl weeks in here more so than anything else, i see a bunch of frustrated rEd sOx fans at best.... lol, guys, enjoy your team while in first place while you can. Are you gonna run away with the division? Not even if rumps aunt gertrude says you are, will that happen.

Will you make the playoffs? not even sure Gurty would proclaim that with 90 or so games to go, she may be senile but even she is not that dumb to predict those kind of red sox proclamations with over half a season to go.

Frustrations of a reD soX fan = Yanks are in the hunt despite the massive injuries they have endured... unlike how the red sox showed us all how they could overcome such injuries with all that depth they DID NOT have last year........... cheer up boys, you are in first place (for now) (but we do thank you for the entertainment) :thumb: :lol:

You are one delusional YaNkS fan iggy. It's just murdering you every day inside that the lowly Red Sox are in first place heading into the break!! Oh, it's beautiful, all the while the YaNkS are circling the toilet bowl like a Joe.t wager. Haha. Remain in denial mi amigo, it should all be over soon for you guys.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

You are one delusional YaNkS fan iggy. It's just murdering you every day inside that the lowly Red Sox are in first place heading into the break!! Oh, it's beautiful, all the while the YaNkS are circling the toilet bowl like a Joe.t wager. Haha. Remain in denial mi amigo, it should all be over soon for you guys.

Jeez, K, don't you even know how to write in iggyspeak? The proper spelling is: lIght hItting yAnks.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Light-hitting Yankees lose again!!!!!!!

The Yankees were shutout once again by a score of 2-0 against the Texas Rangers at the new Yankee Stadium. The light-hitting Yankees only produced 2 measely hits offensively, thus wasting a rare strong outing by Phil Hughes, who pitched 8 innings & scattered only 5 hits.

Vernon Wells was inserted into the lineup to provide some punch, yet went hitless in 3 at-bats, now hitting a measely .223. Lyle Overbay was no better, also going hitless in 3 at-bats and now hitting only .236.

The second baseman & third basemen (Adams & Gonzalez) also went hitless & Adams is now hitting an embarrassing .179. Gonzalez is barely better at .188. The catcher, Austin Romine, had a hit & brought up his average to an embarrassing .150.

Embarrassing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yankees are now ONLY 2 1/2 games ahead of Toronto, who will be in Boston tonight. Rain is in the forecast for the next couple of days, so hopefully they'll be able to get a game going tonight.

 

[Special K]

Holy shit. What a dismantling of the lIght hItting yAnks lineup today! Just finished watching Texas pitcher Holland throw a complete game shut out on just 91 pitches!!! :cheer2: 91 pitches!!! That's unheard of in the majors these days, well, unless it's against the lIght hItting yAnkz!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Just finished watching Texas pitcher Holland throw a complete game shut out on just 91 pitches!!! :cheer2: 91 pitches!!! That's unheard of in the majors these days, well, unless it's against the lIght hItting yAnkz!

Good observation, SK. However, R.A. Dickey also pulled it off yesterday afternoon while pitching in Tampa.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Vernon Wells was inserted into the lineup to provide some punch, yet went hitless in 3 at-bats, now hitting a measely .223. Lyle Overbay was no better, also going hitless in 3 at-bats and now hitting only .236.

Funny thing is that while the writers for the NY papers have been writing for a while now that the yAnkees good start was all smoke and mirrors, our friends (and Doc's little buddy) with the pinstripe-colored glasses were fooled into thinking the yAnkees were for real when the corpses of hAfner, wElls, and oVerbay uncovered a small cache of pixie dust, now long used up.

On May 15, the light hitting yAnks, were in first place, a game and a half ahead of the Sox. Since that time, they've lost 5.5 games to the Sox in the standings and 6.5 to the Jays. The light hitting yAnks record since that time is a pitiful 14-20. I have little doubt that they'll hit the ASB under .500.

Of course, then their "heavy hitters" should return, whoever they may be.

Just finished watching Texas pitcher Holland throw a complete game shut out on just 91 pitches!!! :cheer2: 91 pitches!!!

Big fucking deal. I just took a nap and while I was resting, I saw my Aunt Bertha 2 hit the light hitting yAnkz on 74 pitches.

Vernon Wells was inserted into the lineup to provide some punch, yet went hitless in 3 at-bats, now hitting a measely .223.

Actually, Doc, the late Mr. Wells not only went 0-3, but he strolled off-stage wearing a silver sombrero. Punchado, punchado, punchado.

 

[Merlot]

Hmmm,

Where's the usual iGnA raNT tonight??? Did he jump off the baNdWAgoN? Maybe he's just too embarrASSed to be a yAnkEe fan right now. Well, when your liGht-hItTing team only gets two hit can only manage two lousy hits against a then 5-4 pitcher it's time to run and hide for a while. I thought those big bats were supposed to be arriving by this time. Did I miss them? iGgy, jOe, beAveR, cCf, dReamer...cricket...cricket...cricket.

In the meantime the Red Sox have now stretched out their lead against the yAnkS to a new high for the season of 4.5 games, while their deLUsioNal fans continue to believe the sky is not falling in on them. It seems nothing cures a shaky John Lester as fast as eagerly swinging Blue Jays, and nothing makes for an explosive inning like former Yankee pitching.

One big difference between the Red Sox and Blue Jays this year is the Sox players have been able to function like a unit in sync together with someone or two or three coming through on most nights, while the Jays have not been able to find a sync until just lately...nullifying the supposed overall talent.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/06/27/red-sox-get-win-over-blue-jays/2466363/

BOSTON (AP) — Jon Lester pitched into the eighth inning before leaving with an apparent injury, and Dustin Pedroia homered in a seven-run second to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-4 in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night.

AL EAST: Unprecedented five-team battle unfolds

BOX SCORE: Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4

Toronto, which reeled off 11 straight wins this month, had won 12 of its past 14 games and 15 of 19 to close within 6½ games of the AL East-leading Red Sox.

Then the Blue Jays ran into Lester.

The left-hander retired 10 straight to begin the game and didn't allow a hit until the fifth. He came out after giving up consecutive singles to start the eighth and running the count to 3-0 on Emilio Bonifacio.

Red Sox manager John Farrell came darting out of the dugout as the infielders crowded around Lester. Moments later, Lester walked off the field and Junichi Tazawa came on in relief.

The Blue Jays capitalized, cutting the deficit to 7-4 on a sacrifice fly by Jose Reyes and a groundout by Jose Bautista.

Koji Uehara pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.

continued...

The Red Sox who had 69 wins all of last season now have 48 at the half way point of the year, the best record in the American League. It looks like my 85-87 wins prediction should be safe.

I can't wait for the same old parrot to tell us how many games are still to play as he's done like a broken record nearly every day of the year.

Cheers BOYZ,

Merlot

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Looks like the heavy hitters the Beav was talking about are about to materialize:

Per MLB Trade Rumors:

Yankees, Ian Stewart Discussing Minor League Deal

The Yankees and Ian Stewart are discussing a minor league deal, according to Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). The Cubs released Stewart earlier this week after a controversial outburst from the former first-round pick on Twitter.

Stewart hit just .168/.286/.372 in 133 plate appearances for Triple-A Iowa this season. He's struggled tremendously since a solid 2010 season with the Rockies as a result of a wrist injury that he tried to play through.

Given Stewart's inability to hit minor league pitching, the 28 year old backup third baseman would be a perfect fit for the yAnkees' new light hitting image.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Typical yAnkee fan. Wonder if the defense was represented by the firm of Beaver, Beaver, and Beaver.

Red Sox fan stabbed in Connecticut by Yankees fan gets $4.3M

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- A Boston Red Sox fan who was harassed and stabbed through the neck by a New York Yankees fan at a restaurant in 2010 has been awarded $4.3 million by a jury.

The jury in New Haven reached the verdict Thursday in favor of Monte Freire and against the restaurant, U.S.S. Chowder Pot III, in Branford, attorneys for both sides said. Bartenders ignored warnings that the Yankees fan was harassing fellow patrons and trying to start a fight and continued to serve him alcohol, said attorney Timothy Pothin, representing Freire.

"We're grateful that the jury was very attentive. They understood our case and held the Chowder Pot responsible for its employees' negligence," Pothin said. "Perhaps this will provide a lesson to other bars and nightclubs in our community and their insurance carriers who continue to maintain untenable positions in cases of clear negligence."

Freire, 45, suffered life-altering injuries, including a brain injury, a stroke, impaired speech and vision and severe scarring, Pothin said.

The Yankees fan, John Mayor, was convicted of assault and is serving a 10-year prison sentence.

Mayor told Freire, of Nashua, N.H., and his friends that based on their accents he believed they were Red Sox fans and declared it was Yankees territory and they weren't welcome, Pothin said. Mayor continued to harass them before the unprovoked attack, he said.

The restaurant's attorney, Jan Trendowski, said he'll appeal. He said the complaint was that the patron was arguing about a baseball game and the bartender looked over at the patron, who was sitting quietly, and decided to monitor the situation.

"They warned the bartender the guy was acting like a jerk," Trendowski said. "How they make the jump from jerk to stabbing, that's the real issue here. What is the sane response to the insane situation? If you don't know why he stabbed him how can you possibly say that something contributed to it?"

A message left with Mayor's attorney on Thursday wasn't immediately returned.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I know both of the attorneys involved in the case and they are both excellent attorneys. Jan Trendowski specializes in dram shop claims. I also know the restaurant and have been a customer there. It is a meat market for the 35-60 crowd with live music on certain nights. Seafood restaurant with above average food, a great location near I-95 and always busy.

Trendowski is correct that it is difficult for a bar when someone is just being a jerk to anticipate or foresee that he goes from being a jerk to being a maniac. Tim Pothin is a well known plaintiff's attorney and his sister is a defense attorney for Allstate. Pothin is a fine trial attorney and it is not the 1st multimillion $ jury verdict he has gotten. He just whacked the State of Connecticut for 4 million a few months ago. Bottom line is the jury thought this guy was out of control and the bartender should have stopped liquoring him. I kind of feel bad for Jan, it sounds like a tough case to have defended. Insurance carrier probably dug in and he did what he could. He has defended hundreds of dram shop claims with million dollar plus exposure.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Clearly, the insurance company should have hired the firm of Beaver, Beaver and Beaver, the principal partner of which is a known Yankee fan. The defense was an obvious one that Trendowski, possibly not a Yankee fan, clearly overlooked.

Beaver would likely have used a defense not entirely unlike the Twinkie defense, to wit: the perpetrator, an obvious Yankee fan was more than likely unhinged and prone to erratic and possibly violent behavior and, in light of his teams inability to score runs on a regular basis, is not responsible for his behavior.

The other problem I see in the handling of this case is with Pothin. By failing to include Brian Cashman as a co-defendant in the case, partially responsible for the attack by failing to provide proper run support, hence, creating the condition leading to Mayor's rage. Had Pothin included Cashman in his complaint, Friere could possibly have gotten a much greater judgement.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Stories like this are such fun.

Yankees offense hitting the wall, but not too many baseballs recently

By Bill Madden NY Daily News

Amid the continuing mystery as to exactly what Alex Rodriguez has been cleared to do down there in Tampa — rehab games? Simulated games? Poker games? — the Yankees slogged their way through another desultory loss, 2-0, to the Texas Rangers in the south Bronx Thursday.

It was a defeat you can pin on any number of factors — day- game-after-night-game blahs, Robinson Cano’s contract blues, Vernon Wells’ slider blues — none of them, however, Phil Hughes. In Hughes’ case, it was unclear as to whether he was pitching for the benefit of himself or the scouts.

But while Hughes’ inconsistency may have been a trying issue for Joe Girardi, it is nothing compared to the Yankees’ continually anemic lineup, which Rangers lefty Derek Holland toyed with Thursday in a nifty two-hit shutout that required only 92 pitches. How he managed to walk two batters in this lineup, which featured five hitters batting under .240, and a No. 5 hitter, Zoilo Almonte, who came in having played all of seven games in the major leagues, is anyone’s guess. If nothing else, he ought to have style points subtracted for that.

The shutout marked the ninth time in the Yankees’ last 18 games that they have scored two or fewer runs, and only three teams in the American League — the White Sox, Mariners and Royals — have scored fewer runs than they have.

“We’re struggling right now,” Girardi understated.

The presence of the lefthanded Holland on the mound provided an opportunity for Vernon Wells (now hitting .223) to get back into the starting lineup after a week’s hiatus. No doubt the beleaguered Wells welcomed the opportunity to return to the cleanup spot, but once back in there he was helpless against Holland, who struck him out three times on those same nasty sliders off the plate that have been the ruination of his career.

This was precisely the sort of game where the Yankees needed Cano to be The Man for them — as in the man who is seeking to become the next $200 million player in baseball. Cano, of course, has been nowhere near that kind of player all season, and Thursday was no exception. In his one opportunity to get something going for the Yankees — after Holland walked Jayson Nix on four pitches leading off the fourth — he struck out. Then, after drawing a leadoff walk in the seventh, Cano was thrown out trying to steal second when Holland’s pitch in the dirt to Wells took a perfect bounce up into Ranger catcher Geovany Soto’s glove.

Such are the bad breaks for a team that has no margin for error.

One can only imagine what George Steinbrenner would be saying about this sorry excuse for a Yankee lineup; Steinbrenner always operated on the “star” theory his longtime theater partner, Jimmy Nederlander, preached to him when he first bought the Yankees in 1973.

“Ya gotta have stars in this town,” is what he said. Stars in order to charge the kind of money the Yankees are asking for tickets in the new Yankee Stadium.

The problem for the Yankees is, other than Mariano Rivera, whom the fans can’t pay to see if he doesn’t get into the game, their only stars, however faded or tainted, are down in Tampa, working out and waiting to be “cleared” to play real baseball games. One of them, Derek Jeter, is 39 and wondering if he has any shortstop left in him. The other, the lightning rod that is A-Rod, is wondering how soon the major league drug authorities will be dropping the hammer on him.

 

[daydreamer41]

Typical yAnkee fan. Wonder if the defense was represented by the firm of Beaver, Beaver, and Beaver.

Not a typical Yankee fan. The guy who did this is a thug, and he should have gotten 3 times the sentence that he got.

Violence should never result from difference in which team people support.

But your rash statement painting all fans of a team you obviously hate doesn't say much for you, rumps.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The guy was a nutcase who was drunk and the fact that he mentioned the Yankees was incidental to the whole incident. It is not even established that the guy is a Yankees fan he just commented on the territory of Yankees fans, and CT (especially in that area just east of New Haven) is divided between Yankees and Red Sox fans. If you live here you would know this. It is something the local media picked up and ran with as a result, although it was never proven how much of a role this played in the incident. He was being a jerk before making any comments about sports and was harassing others at the bar. It came down to whether the bar should have ejected a customer for acting like a jerk.

Reminds me of 1985 when I went to the Hartford Civic Center Auto show to get Don Mattingly's autograph. I met and shook hands with Mattingly shortly after he won MVP in 1985. In those days beer was served at the show and there was a guy incredibly intoxicated abusing Mattingly and no security to throw the guy out. Mattingly ignored the guy but took a lot of abuse. Mattingly was being showered with abuse as he signed my autograph and ignored it and signed and actually spoke to me a bit. Very good guy now manager of the LA Dodgers. Best all around 1st basemen I have ever seen. Won 9 gold gloves, batting title, RBI title and MVP.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

But your rash statement painting all fans of a team you obviously hate doesn't say much for you, rumps.

And your inability to use the quote function on top of your lack of a sense of humor don't say much for you, little buddy.

It is not even established that the guy is a Yankees fan he just commented on the territory of Yankees fans and CT especially in that area is divided between Yankees and Red Sox fans. If you live here you would know this.

The area where I live is primarily Red Sox country, though it is heavily populated by Yankee fans as well. Most Yankee fans as well as most Sox fans I know have a good sense of humor about the rivalry.

 

[daydreamer41]

And your inability to use the quote function on top of your lack of a sense of humor don't say much for you, little buddy.

Humor? You need GIANT cue cards saying LAUGH to determine whether you intended something to be funny, rumps.

Plus, rumps, my original point was there was nothing funny about your what you said.

Saying that the typical Yankee fan would permanently injure anybody for being a fan of another team, including the Red Sox, is funny, is rather twisted, rumps.

But I understand where you come from, pal.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Humor? You need GIANT cue cards saying LAUGH to determine whether you intended something to be funny, rumps.

Only for you, Doc's little buddy, only for you.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

OK, here's the situation: Team A is starting it's ace, a six time All Star. Team B is starting a rookie, a second-rate reliever making his first major league start. An easy win for Team A, wouldn't you say.

Let's now re-phrase this a little. The Yankees are starting their ace, cc sAbathia, a six time All Star. The Orioles are starting some guy named TJ Mcfarland, a rookie, a second-rate reliever making his first major league start. An easy win for the Yankees, wouldn't you say. Not so fast. These are the light hitting Yankees of 2013.

Orioles 4-3. However, every cloud does have a silver lining: vErnon wElls got a hit.