Six runs was not enough tonight. Derek Jeter went 4-4 with a home run, while Robinson Cano and Jason Giambi had dingers too, but Kevin Brown was awful as the Yanks dropped their third straight to the Angels. The final score was 8-6. What began as a promising road trip has now officially hit the skids. The Yanks are 5-5 since the break and they fell another game behind Boston who shutout the White Sox tonight in Chicago.
Tuesday
December 3, 2024
Since 2002
"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver
--Earl Weaver
1. I was surprised that Torre used Small. As long as he was available, why didn't he relieve Brown instead of Graman?
2. Alex, I'm right there with you. I absolutely hate the Angels. It could be because I've spent an awful lot of nights at Anaheim Stadium watching the Yanks lose, but more likely it's because of everything surrounding the team -- the garrish uniform, the insufferable fans, and the atrocious announcers. And it seems like they always have a handful of players that are easy to hate -- Gary DiSarcina, Troy Percival, and the Flying Molina brothers come to mind.
And the fans -- I've lived in Southern California for twenty-five years, and until 2002 I had only met one serious Angel fan -- honest. Now they're suddenly all over. It doesn't bother me that people became fans after they won the World Series, but these fans are absolutely clueless -- like the guy who told me on Friday that "Vladimir Guerrero has been absolutely on fire since he came off injured reserve."
Because of all this, these losses to the Angels are crushing to me, even more than losses to the Red Sox would be. It would really be nice if Mussina can come through tomorrow.
3. "I was surprised that Torre used Small. As long as he was available, why didn't he relieve Brown instead of Graman?"
They didn't want to overuse him because they made need him in a couple days if RJ's back problem flares up.
4. I grew up in Anaheim and still live near there, and I've met plenty of Anaheim fans, who've been fans longer than a couple of years. The one thing I do hate are the announcers and the way their players tend to "overcelebrate." Sure, it's exciting to win, but practically every game has a "post-game atmosphere" (a phrase that I'm sure is familiar to anybody who has to listen to Rex Hudler), and it gets to be ridiculous.
5. I'm not surprised that the Yankees lost. It's probably only slightly better odds for the Yankees with Kevin Brown on the mound than a forfeit would be.
6. Rex Hudler = 0 postseason appearances.
7. Look, the Angels just have their number. The pitchers are just the right type of pitchers to get the Yankees out, the hitters are just the right combination to cream Yankee pitching. It happens. I remember in '98, '99 and '00, the Detroit Tigers had the Yankees number. I lived in Southeast Michigan (Ann Arbor, to be specific) at the time, and would attend the Yankee - Tiger games at Comerica only to watch the Yanks get their brains beaten it. Without checking, I'd bet that the Yanks went something like 6-12 against them in those three years - which is a big deal, considering the Tigers' winning percentage at the time was hovering around .350.
So, the Angels own them. Whatever. Hopefully we can squeak a win out tonight, then head back east, take a day off & concentrate on getting the pitching staff back, healthy.
8. Kay and Murcer are talking about Juan Rivera and the Jeter's glove-stealing incident. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that Ruben Rivera?
9. Wasn't it Ruben Rivera who stole Jeter's glove? What are Kay and Murcer talking about?
10. Dan-el,
Thanks for confirming that I'm not crazy.
11. HAHA dtrain, Kay just realized his mistake. "I just made a terrible mistake Bobby..." -- at least he got it right.
12. Why is Tino Martinez playing 1st base against a lefty pitcher? Insanity.
One hit through 5, jeeze.
13. Great, finally a very nice start from our guy, and the other starter's slightly better.
14. Did Andy Phillips kill Torre's dog? Poor guy has been up for a week and hasn't played at all.
15. While we are up 4-1 in the 9th, once again in this series, we didn't score a lot for RJ and Moose. With our pitching in shambles, we must score enough to win when these guys pitch.
16. singledd, mission accomplished for tonight - the Yanks scored enough to win when Moose pitched - a win's a win's a win, whether its 19-1 or 4-1 or 2-1
Why did we need Mo for 5 outs? Was Gordon hurt or just that wild?
17. Why Mo for 5 outs? Trust. Or lack thereof.
If we were going to lose this one, it was gonna be against Mo, which you can half-way live with. If Flash gives up a 3-run dinger at that point with Mo rested and ready, well... 'nuff said.
I still hate these West Coast trips. I live in California now, but have always held the belief that if there are two states professional baseball should not be played in, it's California and Florida. But that's just me.
Hopefully we'll get some payback this week when the Halos visit The Bronx.
18. Gordon was wild, a bit. We needed that win, so Joe wasn't taking any chances.
And a 6-5 record on the road, against two division leaders plus a good hitting .500 team isn't too shabby, especially with only two starting pitchers. We're still only 1.5 games behind.
Oh, and Brown's going to have his back checked again.
19. .286/.437/.534
EQA: .328
RC: 56.0 RC27: 8.74
Time to move Giambi up in the lineup.
20. Rich -- I was thinking the same thing about Giambi. Why not hit him second and drop Canó?
Jeter
Giambi
A-Rod
Sheffield
Matsui
Posada
Tino
Williams
Canó
Or, you could put Canó sixth and slide everyone else down.
As for Tino starting against a lefty, I think they said that he had good numbers against Washburn -- 6 for 9, 2 HRs, something like that.
21. that would be crazy to bat Cano 9th behind Tino and Bernie. Do I have to remind folks that this kid is on a 13 game hitting streak and is on fire. The top six in the luneup have to be Jeter, Cano, Sheffield, A-rod, Matsui, and Giambi. Now, you could tool with the order some but I'm not sure that you would gain much in any fashion. #7 is Posada. And our weak spots are CF and DH/1B. Can you believe that assuming Giambi plays first that DH is our weak spot?!? Bizarre.
And for what its worth, Torre has to stop playing Tino, Flaherty, and Bubba when RJ is pitching.
22. How about:
Jetes
Cano
Shef
Giambi
ARod
Matsui...
gets that R/L/R/L/R/L thing going
Also, since Giambi typically has the highest OBP (even when he's not hot), that puts him in front of ARod.
23. I think against a lefty, the lineup should be changed. I was thinking...
Jeter
Bernie(Bernie has hit better RH the last few years)
Sheffield
ARod
Matsui
Posada
Giambi,
Phillips
Cano