You are soooooo behind the times, Merlot. It used to be "light-hitting Yankees," but not any more. It's now "light-hitting, pitching-poor Yankees." Please get it right next time.
2013 Official Major League Baseball Thread.
- Thread starter Special K
- Start date
Jays now only 1 1/2 back of the slumping Yankees after demolishing the Tigers today at the Rogers Center.
My prediction that the Yankees will finish last looks good so far.......how about my prediction that Mo Rivera will retire before the season is over??? Ooops, i haven't predicted that yet!
My prediction that the Yankees will finish last looks good so far.......how about my prediction that Mo Rivera will retire before the season is over??? Ooops, i haven't predicted that yet!
Here is my prediction, the Red Sox will suffer another epic collapse, mark my words, history is on my side.:smile:
It will be fun watching playoff baseball in Toronto this year, I can't wait to buy my tickets, the atmosphere at Rogers Centre will be electric.
It will be fun watching playoff baseball in Toronto this year, I can't wait to buy my tickets, the atmosphere at Rogers Centre will be electric.
I agree with you on all counts. Any chances that Anna might be sitting between us @Rogers Center during the playoffs?
I just adore Joe's vision of "history": i.e.. that which happened once, will happen every time.
Does that mean that the Yankees will blow a 3-0 lead in the ALCS every year? Wouldn't they have to get there first.
I do applaud, Joe, however, as he's the only Yankee fan with the stones to show his face in this thread. Hey, Joe, when you get back to the rock, say hello to the boys for me.
Fact: Old players get hurt more than young players, so it should come as no surprise that the light hitting, pitching poor Yankees are experiencing more than their share this year. The latest: Hiroki Kuroda, the only Yankee pitcher who's pitching almost as well as John Lackey. From Lohud:
Hiroki Kuroda felt some tightness in his left hip flexor before Sunday’s start in Baltimore. The Yankees found out about it after the game and sent him back to New York for an MRI today. The MRI came back clean — there’s no tear — but the Yankees will have Kuroda skip Friday’s start as a precaution.
Joe Girardi said it’s possible he’ll start a few days later without necessarily missing a full turn through the rotation.
“We’ll just figure out when we see him Friday,” Girardi said. “If we can slot him in somewhere, we’ll slot him in.”
The Yankees have kept Ivan Nova on the roster and played with a short bench, and now it’s clear that they actually need him. Nova will start Friday in Kuroda’s place.
Ultimately, Girardi said, today’s MRI was good news. He said this is a low-concern situation.
“Because of the doctor’s report,” Girardi said. “If the MRI comes back and you see something, obviously you’re going to be concerned with a pitcher that it’s going to be a while because we worry about the arm, but the fact that it came back negative makes you feel good.”
Hiroki Kuroda felt some tightness in his left hip flexor before Sunday’s start in Baltimore. The Yankees found out about it after the game and sent him back to New York for an MRI today. The MRI came back clean — there’s no tear — but the Yankees will have Kuroda skip Friday’s start as a precaution.
Joe Girardi said it’s possible he’ll start a few days later without necessarily missing a full turn through the rotation.
“We’ll just figure out when we see him Friday,” Girardi said. “If we can slot him in somewhere, we’ll slot him in.”
The Yankees have kept Ivan Nova on the roster and played with a short bench, and now it’s clear that they actually need him. Nova will start Friday in Kuroda’s place.
Ultimately, Girardi said, today’s MRI was good news. He said this is a low-concern situation.
“Because of the doctor’s report,” Girardi said. “If the MRI comes back and you see something, obviously you’re going to be concerned with a pitcher that it’s going to be a while because we worry about the arm, but the fact that it came back negative makes you feel good.”
The Texas Rangers have just signed Manny Ramirez to a minor league deal. One wonders why the light hitting, pitching poor Yankees didn't take a flyer on the Washington Heights native.
Hey Boyz,
Anyone seen any Yankees fans around here???
Joe's like that arcade game with the moles. No matter how much he gets whacked by his losing predictions he keeps coming back for another beating.
So who was it who said Jonny Gomes would suck. Yes, raise your hands all of you Yankees fans, you're dead wrong again. Gomes got his 3rd pinch hit walk-off of the year tonight to complete an excellent pitching performance by Lester who hung in against an equally tough opponent. The Red Sox are now 7-1 on this home stand with 1 game to go.
This comes one night after John Lackey gave another excellent pitching performance last night. Lackey now has a 2.81 ERA over-all, with an amazing 1.32 ERA at home. The man is currently on fire.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/07/02/john-lackey/eDle3Ki3cx99kaejRH2p3I/story.html
As the lazy Chase Headley fly ball hung in the air, waiting for its inevitable fate, John Lackey made his first strides toward the dugout.
Once the ball settled in right fielder Shane Victorino’s glove, Lackey knew his night’s work was done.
So did the crowd at Fenway Park.
For the first time in two years, Lackey had pitched eight dominant innings, using 103 pitches to buzz through the San Diego Padres lineup Tuesday night.
When he left the mound he was showered by a sound that for the most part had been unfamiliar in his three seasons with the Red Sox.
It was the sound of appreciation.
It wasn’t just because he fed the Padres fastballs, striking out six, and allowing just one run.
His dominance in the Red Sox’ 4-1 win continued a run in which he’s gone at least seven innings in his past four starts and held opponents to two runs or fewer in each of them.
He has been especially effective in front of the fans in Boston, with a 1.32 ERA at Fenway, as if proving with every pitch that he was better than the starter they once had booed unapologetically.
Asked whether it meant he possibly had won over some of the critics who used him as a verbal punching bag, he paused long and hard.
Four solid seconds went by.
He looked up at nothing in particular, as if he could see the words rolling around in his head.
“Um . . . ”
Five more seconds passed. When he finally decided on the thought he wanted to go with, he stuttered before letting it out.
“I, I, I, . . . I don’t know,” he said.
It was one ovation. After one start. What he understood, though, was that he and the fans wanted the same things.
“I’m going out pitching, pitching well, and I think that’s all they want to see, I guess,” he said. “So hopefully that’s enough. But having to win the fans back is . . . whatever.”
But his teammates understood just how much scrutiny Lackey has had to withstand, after signing a five-year, $82 million contract in December of 2009, going a disappointing 26-23 in two seasons, and then undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2011.
“People were [expletive] and complaining about him,” said David Ortiz. “That guy wasn’t healthy. What can you do about it? Now we’re seeing the Lackey that this organization expected [him] to be. So it doesn’t surprise me what he’s doing.”
Coming off a career-high-tying 12 strikeouts in his last start, against the Rockies, Lackey set the same aggressive tone from the start against the Padres.
His first 14 pitches were all fastballs. The hardest was 95 miles per hour. The softest was 92.
In the first inning, the only Padre who managed to get a bat on it was Carlos Quentin, who fouled off a 95-m.p.h. heater before bouncing another one to shortstop to end the inning.
Otherwise, leadoff man Logan Forsythe stared at one for strike three and after watching one go by for a ball Chris Denorfia flailed at three straight.
“I kept throwing it,” Lackey said. “There’s been a lot of hard work, 18 months of rehab and work in-between starts and my arm’s feeling pretty good right now. It’s fun to let it loose a little bit and not feel anything.”
He got all the support he would need in the fourth inning, when third baseman Brandon Snyder, making his second start in as many games, came up with the bases loaded and cleared them with a double off the Monster in left-center off Padres rookie starter Robbie Erlin.
The lefty is one of the Padres’ top prospects, and through the first three innings he showed why, calmly weaving through the Red Sox lineup the first time through, giving up just three hits and a walk.
But he was facing a lineup that had been hard on rookies all year. In 12 games against rookie pitchers coming in, the Sox were 8-4 and those pitchers had an 8.19 ERA.
They made it a point to run up Erlin’s pitch count as quickly as possible.
In the fourth, Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked him for a seven-pitch walk that loaded the bases and also ran Erlin’s number of pitches to 84 with just one out in the books in the inning.
It was obvious when the Padres conferenced at the mound that Erlin was reaching his threshold. He had averaged 95 pitches in his first two starts.
“I thought we had overall an outstanding approach against Erlin,” manager John Farrell said. “Drove his pitch count up early.”
When Snyder stepped to the plate, he was facing a pitcher running on fumes and he offered no sympathy. Snyder fouled off five pitches, four with two strikes, before finally smacking a 2-and-2 fastball off the Wall to give the Sox a 3-0 lead.
“I figured he’s gonna try to beat me with his best stuff,” Snyder said. “He’s not gonna try to beat me with his breaking stuff.
“He commanded his fastball pretty well all night, he was throwing it 88-90, but locating it really well.”
Through the first four innings, Lackey notched five strikeouts. He threw just six balls in his first three innings. Of his 103 pitches, 73 were strikes.
“Establishing the fastball is always a good thing,” Lackey said. “You don’t want to — if you can — show too much too early. So you can mix things up when things get hot, guys get on base, and you get into some tough situations. Pretty much every game, you’re going to have a situation that can kind of turn the game one way or another and to be able to mix things up in those situations when you haven’t shown a whole lot is nice.”
He threw so many strikes it made him wonder if he had gone overboard.
“Honestly, there is such a thing as too many strikes,” he said. “I’ve got to look at that. When you go against a team that’s going to swing a lot, you definitely want to throw strikes, but there is such a thing as too many at times. You’ve got to be careful of that.”
But on a night when he got 13 swings and misses on his fastball, he said, “I’ve had worse problems, for sure.”
Too many STRIKES??? What a great problem for a pitcher to have. :eyebrows:
HONK IF YOU SEE A YANKEES FANS. :lol:
Cheers,
Merlot
Anyone seen any Yankees fans around here???
Joe's like that arcade game with the moles. No matter how much he gets whacked by his losing predictions he keeps coming back for another beating.
So who was it who said Jonny Gomes would suck. Yes, raise your hands all of you Yankees fans, you're dead wrong again. Gomes got his 3rd pinch hit walk-off of the year tonight to complete an excellent pitching performance by Lester who hung in against an equally tough opponent. The Red Sox are now 7-1 on this home stand with 1 game to go.
This comes one night after John Lackey gave another excellent pitching performance last night. Lackey now has a 2.81 ERA over-all, with an amazing 1.32 ERA at home. The man is currently on fire.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/07/02/john-lackey/eDle3Ki3cx99kaejRH2p3I/story.html
As the lazy Chase Headley fly ball hung in the air, waiting for its inevitable fate, John Lackey made his first strides toward the dugout.
Once the ball settled in right fielder Shane Victorino’s glove, Lackey knew his night’s work was done.
So did the crowd at Fenway Park.
For the first time in two years, Lackey had pitched eight dominant innings, using 103 pitches to buzz through the San Diego Padres lineup Tuesday night.
When he left the mound he was showered by a sound that for the most part had been unfamiliar in his three seasons with the Red Sox.
It was the sound of appreciation.
It wasn’t just because he fed the Padres fastballs, striking out six, and allowing just one run.
His dominance in the Red Sox’ 4-1 win continued a run in which he’s gone at least seven innings in his past four starts and held opponents to two runs or fewer in each of them.
He has been especially effective in front of the fans in Boston, with a 1.32 ERA at Fenway, as if proving with every pitch that he was better than the starter they once had booed unapologetically.
Asked whether it meant he possibly had won over some of the critics who used him as a verbal punching bag, he paused long and hard.
Four solid seconds went by.
He looked up at nothing in particular, as if he could see the words rolling around in his head.
“Um . . . ”
Five more seconds passed. When he finally decided on the thought he wanted to go with, he stuttered before letting it out.
“I, I, I, . . . I don’t know,” he said.
It was one ovation. After one start. What he understood, though, was that he and the fans wanted the same things.
“I’m going out pitching, pitching well, and I think that’s all they want to see, I guess,” he said. “So hopefully that’s enough. But having to win the fans back is . . . whatever.”
But his teammates understood just how much scrutiny Lackey has had to withstand, after signing a five-year, $82 million contract in December of 2009, going a disappointing 26-23 in two seasons, and then undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2011.
“People were [expletive] and complaining about him,” said David Ortiz. “That guy wasn’t healthy. What can you do about it? Now we’re seeing the Lackey that this organization expected [him] to be. So it doesn’t surprise me what he’s doing.”
Coming off a career-high-tying 12 strikeouts in his last start, against the Rockies, Lackey set the same aggressive tone from the start against the Padres.
His first 14 pitches were all fastballs. The hardest was 95 miles per hour. The softest was 92.
In the first inning, the only Padre who managed to get a bat on it was Carlos Quentin, who fouled off a 95-m.p.h. heater before bouncing another one to shortstop to end the inning.
Otherwise, leadoff man Logan Forsythe stared at one for strike three and after watching one go by for a ball Chris Denorfia flailed at three straight.
“I kept throwing it,” Lackey said. “There’s been a lot of hard work, 18 months of rehab and work in-between starts and my arm’s feeling pretty good right now. It’s fun to let it loose a little bit and not feel anything.”
He got all the support he would need in the fourth inning, when third baseman Brandon Snyder, making his second start in as many games, came up with the bases loaded and cleared them with a double off the Monster in left-center off Padres rookie starter Robbie Erlin.
The lefty is one of the Padres’ top prospects, and through the first three innings he showed why, calmly weaving through the Red Sox lineup the first time through, giving up just three hits and a walk.
But he was facing a lineup that had been hard on rookies all year. In 12 games against rookie pitchers coming in, the Sox were 8-4 and those pitchers had an 8.19 ERA.
They made it a point to run up Erlin’s pitch count as quickly as possible.
In the fourth, Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked him for a seven-pitch walk that loaded the bases and also ran Erlin’s number of pitches to 84 with just one out in the books in the inning.
It was obvious when the Padres conferenced at the mound that Erlin was reaching his threshold. He had averaged 95 pitches in his first two starts.
“I thought we had overall an outstanding approach against Erlin,” manager John Farrell said. “Drove his pitch count up early.”
When Snyder stepped to the plate, he was facing a pitcher running on fumes and he offered no sympathy. Snyder fouled off five pitches, four with two strikes, before finally smacking a 2-and-2 fastball off the Wall to give the Sox a 3-0 lead.
“I figured he’s gonna try to beat me with his best stuff,” Snyder said. “He’s not gonna try to beat me with his breaking stuff.
“He commanded his fastball pretty well all night, he was throwing it 88-90, but locating it really well.”
Through the first four innings, Lackey notched five strikeouts. He threw just six balls in his first three innings. Of his 103 pitches, 73 were strikes.
“Establishing the fastball is always a good thing,” Lackey said. “You don’t want to — if you can — show too much too early. So you can mix things up when things get hot, guys get on base, and you get into some tough situations. Pretty much every game, you’re going to have a situation that can kind of turn the game one way or another and to be able to mix things up in those situations when you haven’t shown a whole lot is nice.”
He threw so many strikes it made him wonder if he had gone overboard.
“Honestly, there is such a thing as too many strikes,” he said. “I’ve got to look at that. When you go against a team that’s going to swing a lot, you definitely want to throw strikes, but there is such a thing as too many at times. You’ve got to be careful of that.”
But on a night when he got 13 swings and misses on his fastball, he said, “I’ve had worse problems, for sure.”
Too many STRIKES??? What a great problem for a pitcher to have. :eyebrows:
HONK IF YOU SEE A YANKEES FANS. :lol:
Cheers,
Merlot
Unbelievable. Absolutely unfuckingbelievable. Is Jonny Gomes the new Ortiz. 13 pinch hitting appearances this year, 3 home runs. It's really astonishing how many big hits the guy has had.
Unfortunately, I missed this one by about three minutes. My doorbell rang and, by the time Gomes launched his bomb, I was having a Wild Time with Amelie. Review tomorrow; I've gotta mull this one over.
Hello BOYZ,
Two INCREDIBLE events today, one glorious and the other quite just so expectedly inglorious.
First, the Red Sox became the winningest team in the entire MLB today by sweeping the Padres, not a great team, but it all counts win or lose. Allen Webster pitched 6 good innings of 5-hit ball despite loading up the bases with no one out once. Even Andrew Bailey had a 1-2-3 inning on a blisteringly hot day at Fenway. Despite the loss of Cy Young candidate Clay Buchholz the starting Sox pitching staff has been on an extremely strong performance run, and someone comes through with the decisive hit most of the time.
The Red Sox continue to prove they are a real T-E-A-M.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...1-homestand-dustin-pedroia-david-ortiz-070413
BOSTON (AP)
Dustin Pedroia has been in the heart of Boston's batting order during its strong start. His play was on the mind of San Diego manager Bud Black before the game.
Pedroia hit a two-run double to jump-start Boston's 18-hit effort, David Ortiz had a two-run single and the Red Sox wrapped up a big homestand by beating San Diego 8-2 Thursday, sending the Padres to their season-high sixth straight loss.
"He's been in the middle of this offense from Day One and continues to be so," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Pedroia, who raised his average to .325 by going 2 for 4.
Brandon Snyder and Jacoby Ellsbury each had solo homers for the Red Sox. Boston went 8-1 at Fenway Park to match its best homestand since June 2010.
The Red Sox also won for the 12th time in its last 14 games at home. The AL East leaders improved to 19 games over .500 (53-34).
continued...
Second, the hitting embarrassment and shaky pitching show known as the New York Yankees managed to sweep four games from the lowly Minnesota Twins. One might think that would be a very big deal for their fans in a very poor season that seemed headed into the tank, and may well still only be experiencing a stall of the ignominious end. But....WHERE ARE MY YANKEE PALS??? Oh boys, are you still out there?
It seems my Bronx buddies are a lot better at giving out all of the major awards in March to Yankees, but a total failure at loyalty to the team in July. I hope my pals are well.
Happy July 4th,
Merlot
Two INCREDIBLE events today, one glorious and the other quite just so expectedly inglorious.
First, the Red Sox became the winningest team in the entire MLB today by sweeping the Padres, not a great team, but it all counts win or lose. Allen Webster pitched 6 good innings of 5-hit ball despite loading up the bases with no one out once. Even Andrew Bailey had a 1-2-3 inning on a blisteringly hot day at Fenway. Despite the loss of Cy Young candidate Clay Buchholz the starting Sox pitching staff has been on an extremely strong performance run, and someone comes through with the decisive hit most of the time.
The Red Sox continue to prove they are a real T-E-A-M.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...1-homestand-dustin-pedroia-david-ortiz-070413
BOSTON (AP)
Dustin Pedroia has been in the heart of Boston's batting order during its strong start. His play was on the mind of San Diego manager Bud Black before the game.
Pedroia hit a two-run double to jump-start Boston's 18-hit effort, David Ortiz had a two-run single and the Red Sox wrapped up a big homestand by beating San Diego 8-2 Thursday, sending the Padres to their season-high sixth straight loss.
"He's been in the middle of this offense from Day One and continues to be so," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Pedroia, who raised his average to .325 by going 2 for 4.
Brandon Snyder and Jacoby Ellsbury each had solo homers for the Red Sox. Boston went 8-1 at Fenway Park to match its best homestand since June 2010.
The Red Sox also won for the 12th time in its last 14 games at home. The AL East leaders improved to 19 games over .500 (53-34).
continued...
Second, the hitting embarrassment and shaky pitching show known as the New York Yankees managed to sweep four games from the lowly Minnesota Twins. One might think that would be a very big deal for their fans in a very poor season that seemed headed into the tank, and may well still only be experiencing a stall of the ignominious end. But....WHERE ARE MY YANKEE PALS??? Oh boys, are you still out there?
It seems my Bronx buddies are a lot better at giving out all of the major awards in March to Yankees, but a total failure at loyalty to the team in July. I hope my pals are well.
Happy July 4th,
Merlot
Kinda quiet in here the last 3 days from the red sox homers since the healthy team in boston have lost 3 in a row meanwhile the injury ravaged Yanks are right there ready for a second half run with Jeter and Arod ready to come back after the allstar break and Pineda and Granderson not far behind them..........Crickets "boyzzzz" .... oops!
meanwhile the injury ravaged Yanks are right there ready for a second half run with Jeter and Arod ready to come back after the allstar break and Pineda and Granderson not far behind them..........Crickets "boyzzzz" .... oops! Yep, three losses in a row and how many games have the hapless light-hitting Yankees picked up in the last 10 days. Exactly none. Let's see at that rate, they ought to catch the Sox by...let me figure this one out...um, never.
You know what's really sad. Those poor guys who are waiting for a couple of used-to-be guys to get wheeled in from the old folks home. Have you noticed that the two of them aren't even hitting at A ball? I can't wait to see these two try to cover the left side of the infield. That's going to be the funniest thing to hit baseball since Abbot and Costello.
You know what's really sad. Those poor guys who are waiting for a couple of used-to-be guys to get wheeled in from the old folks home. Have you noticed that the two of them aren't even hitting at A ball? I can't wait to see these two try to cover the left side of the infield. That's going to be the funniest thing to hit baseball since Abbot and Costello.
Oh, and in English, we say "should have" had a coffee instead.he should of had a coffee instead
I wanna see you write that in French, and add in a few fancy words to make "yurself" feel better......... :lol:
Yanks are right there in the hunt for a WC after more than half the season and with all the injuries. If they make it Joe G should be manager of the year and Cashman gm of the year.
Yanks are right there in the hunt for a WC after more than half the season and with all the injuries. If they make it Joe G should be manager of the year and Cashman gm of the year.
Been quiet for well over a week from every homer in Yankeeville!! I wonder why? Hahaha. As for injuries, the Sox are only missing THE best pitcher in the AL right now but they've still not lost a beat in keeping THEIR division lead! Best of luck in the 2nd half Iggy, your boys will badly need it!!
And their closer who went down for the year. And, and, and...they haven't spent $220 million to find themselves in fourth place, hanging on the outer fringes of the pennant race.
In English, we say "incredibly." Yes, they are doing incredibly shitty. When you consider the players on the DL, they still have over $120 million on the active roster. Blecch.
Hello BOYZ,
:lol: HOMER Deluxe, Iggy jumped off of the bandwagon over 11 days ago. Pure Iggy, no loyalty when things got rotten. Nothing else was expected. It all shows just how bad he really thinks things are in Yankeeville when he's dumping the team for so long. Where are all the guys who gave out the World Series trophy and major Individual awards in March???
BTW: I hear they are fighting for the top bunks in the hole under their rock, and planning to add a game room. It's going to be a long stay for all of them. :thumb:
Just the kind of help to insure a last place finish. Digging up Gehrig would be more helpful.
Merlot
:lol: HOMER Deluxe, Iggy jumped off of the bandwagon over 11 days ago. Pure Iggy, no loyalty when things got rotten. Nothing else was expected. It all shows just how bad he really thinks things are in Yankeeville when he's dumping the team for so long. Where are all the guys who gave out the World Series trophy and major Individual awards in March???
BTW: I hear they are fighting for the top bunks in the hole under their rock, and planning to add a game room. It's going to be a long stay for all of them. :thumb:
Just the kind of help to insure a last place finish. Digging up Gehrig would be more helpful.
Merlot
When you subtract the salaries of all the guys the Yankees have on the DL, you come up with $135 million on the active roster. Pity the Yankees can't compete with a $135,000,000 roster.
The Red Sox active roster, by the way, is $8 M less than that of the Yankees and they have a generous lead in the division.
So much for the recent whining.
The Red Sox active roster, by the way, is $8 M less than that of the Yankees and they have a generous lead in the division.
So much for the recent whining.
Kinda quiet in here the last 3 days from the red sox homers since the healthy team in boston have lost 3 in a row
Everyday is fly whit you iggy LOL.
Could this be the beginning of the swan dive, epic collapse that I had predicted earlier?, we will soon find out.
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