That Wasn't Pretty

The Good

Mark Reynolds hit like Miguel Cabrera yesterday.

The Bad

No one else did.  The Yankees scored two runs, but the offense was mostly muted.  I don't know that it would have mattered with a 7 run deficit to overcome, but 5 hits, and no homeruns is typically not enough to beat a team.

The Ugly

Kuroda put up another bad line.  5 innings and 7 runs, albeit 5 earned, is more akin to Phil Hughes than Kuroda.  We really need every game at this point, and to be down 7 runs by the 3rd inning, really doesn't position us well.  Whatever is up with Kuroda, I hope corrects itself by his next start.  Maybe it's simply an aversion to the month of August, which will be remedied by his next start occurring in September.  Maybe.

Oh Boy

Nothing.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 24hr = $48
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 4hr = $8
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 11hr = $22
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 4hr = $8
Mark Reynolds 2hr = $4

Total 120 hrs = $240

Blue Jay Down!

The Good

Soriano continues his recent trend of single handedly beating teams.  Pettitte provided the defensive support of 7 shutout innings, while Soriano launched 2 homeruns and drove in 4 runs, most of which constitutes abuse.  Jeter had a pair of hits and an RBI of his own.

The Bad

Mark Reynolds hit a homerun, and I totally forgot about it when I was writing the Good section of this post.  I could hit the up arrow and correct this slight, but that would require more key strokes then I've alloted for today.

The Ugly

I also forgot that A-Rod hit a homerun, which should be included in the good section, but I'm going to put it in the ugly because this homerun puts him 9 homeruns shy of tying Willie Mays homerun record.  A milestone which will pay Alex an additional $6 million dollars on top of his already ridiculous contract.  It's the contract that keeps on giving.

4 Homeruns Vanquishes Blue Jays and Bird Flu

Because of the heroic efforts of the Yankees offense, bird flu has been eradicated in children.  Thank you Yankees.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 24hr = $48
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 4hr = $8
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 11hr = $22
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 4hr = $8
Mark Reynolds 2hr = $4

Total 120 hrs = $240

Yankees Stumble in Toronto

The Good

Jeter's back!  Also, David Huff pitched a pretty good long relief effort. 

The Bad

No offense.  A solo homerun by A-Rod, and a an RBI from Cano was all the Yankees scored yesterday, and with Hughes on the mound, we need some more padding than that.

The Ugly

Hughes had made some progress in his last couple starts, but consistency has always been his problem.  Yesterday was not a good start.  He lasted 4.2 innings and allowed 3 runs before being pulled.  Upon taking the loss last night his season record stands at 4-13.  But rest assured that his place in the rotation is secure:

“Right now he’s in our rotation,” Joe Girardi told reporters postgame in Toronto. “We haven’t talked about taking him out of our rotation." (SOURCE)

The thing is, Hughes seems like a nice guy.  He really does.  But at some point you have to realize that he's not a major league starter.  That's not a knock against him.  He has thrived in the bullpen before, and there's no shame in being a major league reliever, but for reasons unknown to us, Hughes is immune to being sent to the minors, or moved to the bullpen.  Nova has to be sent back and forth to work on his pitching issues, but Hughes gets a pass?  What does Hughes have on the Yankees?

Cash Money

Two dollars worth to be exact.  That's what A-Rod's homerun gave to the children.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 24hr = $48
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 4hr = $8
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 9hr = $18
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 3hr = $6
Mark Reynolds 1hr = $2

Total 116 hrs = $232

Tough Weekend in Tampa

The Good

The Yankees stole a game, literally, last night to avoid being swept in Tampa.  Soriano hit a double, and then stole third in the 11th inning, setting himself up for a sac fly that would be the difference in the game.  Sabathia and Nova gave us quality starts even though Nova put on a ton of base runners, and Sabathia took a loss.

The Bad

We dropped 2 of 3, with the offense going mostly cold those first two games.  The toughest part of this series is realizing that Tampa is a contender we need to beat, and it's not a good sign that they dominated us.  Luckily, we're playing Toronto again, so that should help us get some swagger back, and hopefully further our playoff push.

The Ugly

Kuroda gave up 7 runs in 6 innings.  He's easily been our best pitcher, and I'm sure this is just a blip, but it's certainly not pretty.  In fact, you may even call it ugly.

Empty Handed?  No!

The Yankees offense looked like they wanted to leave the kids empty handed this weekend, until homerun club captain Robinson Cano put his foot down in last night's game.  That one homerun ensures that the kids will not go home empty handed, and for that, we are grateful.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 24hr = $48
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 4hr = $8
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 9hr = $18
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 2hr = $4
Mark Reynolds 1hr = $2

Total 115 hrs = $230

4 Game Sweep

The Good

The Yankees completed a 4 game sweep of Toronto, and yesterday, it was Pettitte's mastery of ground ball outs, and Granderson's homerun that led the pack.  Pettitte pitched 6 innings allowing just 1 run, and the Yankee offense came from behind to win 5-3.

Technically, the Yankees didn't hit too well.  They managed just 4 hits yesterday.  The difference was that they walked a bunch of times and got the hits when they needed to.  Granderson's homerun got the most attention, but Nunez's two-run single made the difference in the game.

The Bad

Eduardo Nunez has a .248 average on the season, yet in the last 10 days he's hit .343.  Because of his low season batting average, no one even notices how well he's been playing, and it makes him really sad. 

The Ugly

Jeter had two-hits yesterday.  Unfortunately, they were in Scranton :(

Yes!

Just what we've been waiting for all summer: regular power.  Granderson hit a homerun leaving continuing the Yankees contributions to humanity.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 23hr = $46
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 4hr = $8
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 9hr = $18
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 2hr = $4
Mark Reynolds 1hr = $2

Total 114 hrs = $228

Has the Monster Been Awoken?

The Good

 Last night the Yankees took a 3rd straight game from the Blue Jays, and included a milestone in Ichiro's 4,000th hit, and a tie-breaking 2-run homerun from Soriano.  David Huff started the 4th and pitched 5 innings of shutout baseball.  Rivera locked down his 37th save of the season.

The Bad

Jayson Nix was hit by one of RA Dickey's pitches, and has suffered a broken hand.  He's likely out for the rest of the season, and for a player who has been here through all the mediocrity, it's a shame that he won't be around to see the Yankees while they're catching on fire.

The Ugly

According to David Ortiz, Dempster's plunking of A-Rod has awoken a sleeping monster.  Since that plunking the Yankees have been playing a more inspired form of baseball.  A lot of Red Sox fans I know have been saying that the Yankees are always a second half team, and we're just seeing them stick true to form.  However if you saw this team in July you'd know that we were beyond that.  This has less to do with us being a second half team, and more to do with a combination of getting A-Rod, Granderson and Soriano into our lineup, and getting some fire in our bellies.  We'll see if the Yankees continue this trend through the coming weeks.

Soriano Is The Most Caring Yankee

Since returning to the club, Soriano has not stopped looking out for the children.  Another homerun adds another $2 for the babies.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 23hr = $46
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 3hr = $6
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 9hr = $18
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 2hr = $4
Mark Reynolds 1hr = $2

Total 113 hrs = $226

4,000

Ichiro recorded his 4,000 hit in professional baseball, 2,722 of which have come in the Major Leagues. That is a lot of hits, way more professional hits than I have, and should be applauded.

Some will say the stat is diminished by the fact that Ichiro spent the first nine years of his career playing in Japan, where the pitching isn't as good. To anyone who says that, I respond, "Have you ever watched a Phil Hughes start? A Joba Chamberlain relief effort?" Check and mate.

Double Header Leads to Double Victories

The Good

Don't look now, but the Yankees are playing well!  In the first game Nova wasn't exactly great, but two three-run homeruns from Cano and Chris Stewart of all people, helped put the Yankees ahead.  But the Yankees wouldn't stop there, no, they tacked on a couple extra runs for good measure.  Then we had a walk off hit by Jayson Nix in the second game of the double header, only a couple innings after he had hit a homerun.  Hughes put up 6 innings of 2-run ball, which is definitely a highlight.

The Bad

Rivera had to pitch in both games of the double header, which is just mean.

The Ugly

After months of grinding losses, and incessant mediocrity, the Yankees are finally giving us an exciting team.  It makes me wonder what I could have done with all that time lost following awful baseball.  I could have learned a new language.  I wouldn't have, but I could have, and that's what really matters. 

Backup Bombers

Sure, Cano hit a homerun, but he does that fairly often, it was Chris Stewart and Jayson Nix who had the surprising pops.  That $6 for the kids.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 23hr = $46
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 3hr = $6
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 8hr = $16
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 2hr = $4
Mark Reynolds 1hr = $2

Total 112 hrs = $224

The Integrity and Sanctity of Baseball

I just read this column by the Daily News's Bill Madden. It' mostly about A-Rod, but one of the themes of the piece is that baseball is a game of integrity and sanctity.

Recently, while watching a Yankees' game, I saw an ad for the MLB Civil Rights Game, a game honoring the Civil Rights Movement. As the first major American sport to officially desegregate, Baseball often celebrates its own history with regards to race and civil rights. But it's not clear to me why we should celebrate Major League Baseball's role in desegregation rather than lament it's role, prior to Jackie Robinson, in segregation.

A quick Google search tells me that MLB dates back to 1901 (one of the leagues dates back to 1875 but MLB, as we know it, has two leagues so I'll go with the later date). That means that from 1901 to 1947, MLB was a segregationist entity (Yes, Jackie Robinson signed in 1945, but he didn't play his first Major League game until 1947). That MLB broke the color barrier is only worthy of applause if the baseline from which you judge meritorious action includes the acceptability of things like legal segregation, burning crosses, and lynchings. If that is not the baseline from which you judge, then desegregation doesn't merit nearly as much applause. It is simply a step towards the baseline from which we would actually judge an action to be meritorious.

What Jackie Robinson did deserves more admiration than it could ever receive. Mr. Robinson desegregated baseball at a time when it was de facto legal to kill a black man on a white man's whim in much of the country. The same whim which Major League Baseball endorsed and legitimized for the first 46 years of its existence.

Forty-six years. Longer than I've been alive. Forty-six years condoning a caste system centered on utterly arbitrary physiological markers. Is that what we call integrity? Sanctity?

Some will argue that that was then, it was a different country and a different time. But is being awful for 46 years more acceptable if the country was collectively awful?

To say things were different 'then', or that we've come a long way, is to say it was okay then, which is to say that the baseline from which you measure a fair and equal society is one in which black bodies may be indiscriminately hung from trees, which is to say that lynchings (or 'separate but equal') would be okay now if only the practice received broader social acceptance.

If that's your position: fine, say so. If not, please drop the whole integrity and sanctity of the game nonsense. It's an insult to every player who was denied participation in the Major Leagues prior to 1947, and to all that Jackie Robinson had to endure because MLB chose to function as a segregationist entity for 46 years prior to his first game as a Dodger.

If you murder someone, no one praises you for not murdering anybody else since then. So why do we praise MLB for not participating in a regime that cost many persons their lives since 1947?

Perhaps Bill Madden, as a white male, has never concerned himself with such questions. I don't know, and this isn't intended to start an 'is Madden racist?' debate. That's not really the point, and the column clearly was not driven by any racial animus anyway. But there is a certain level of white entitlement and privilege expressed when one talks about Baseball as a game of integrity and sanctity.

I think it's about time we tucked that discourse away. It's not befitting anything that is, at days end, simply spectacle ('Ooh, that guy hit a ball really far!'). Especially when part of that spectacle was an almost 50 year endorsement of white supremacy.

Ryan Dempster Opens Up to RJG

After the latest bruhaha over Ryan Dempster's intentional pegging of Alex Rodriguez, we decided it was time to fire up the old satellite video phone. Only this time we didn't call long time friend of the blog Brian Cashman. Instead, we called Ryan Dempster to find out why he intentionally threw at A-Rod. The following is a transcript of our conversation:

RD: Hello?

RJG: Hi Ryan, I'm calling from RJG with a brief survey. Do you have a few minutes to answer some questions?

RD: Yes, I have a few minutes.

RJG: Great. First question: why are you such a piece of $#!% ?

RD: Well, my parents really loved me and raised me to be a conscientious, compassionate, and well-adjusted human being. But I can throw a major league fastball so #@$& all that noise. Nah mean?

RJG: Yes, thank you. Did you throw at Alex Rodriguez because you're a racist?

RD: Yes, I am a racist. Want to hear a funny story? I once punched a baby in the face. The baby was a racist too, but not racist enough. Also, Ryan Braun is an anti-Semite.

RJG: Ryan Braun is Jewish so that seems unlikely. Do you always slander your fellow union members?

RD: I'm in a union?! What?!

RJG: Yes, you are in one of the most powerful unions in America. How did you not know that?

RD: Well, I always saw that area on my paychecks where it says 'union dues' but I thought it was a joke, like that joke website 'democrats.org' where you can make joke donations to Barack Obama.

RJG: That's not a joke website. That's how you make donations to the Democratic party.

RD: What?! I've donated thousands on that website! It's real?!

RJG: Why did you grow a beard?

RD: I didn't grow a beard. That's my hair follicle's trying to get away from my face. That's what my doctor told me anyways.

RJG: Was he laughing when he said it?

RD: Yeah, he's always laughing at me. What a guy!

RJG: Do you know how to read?

RD: I've always felt that reading is fundamental . . . for nerds. I'm not a nerd because I play baseball. The only thing I need to read is the number on the back of my uniform.

RJG: So you don't know how to read but can recognize number symbols?

RD: No, I have one of the clubbie's point me to my locker everyday. I always forget.

RJG: Do you have a short-term memory condition?

RD: No, I'm just not very smart, likeable, or attractive. Also, I'm mediocre at my job.

RJG: No arguments here. Okay Ryan, those are all the questions I have for you today. Thank you for taking our survey.

RD: Anything I can do to not help.

[Click]