JD... Oh no!

ARod... oh Yes!

here is petey's update on robertson:

UPDATE, 6:36 p.m.: Spoke to Robertson. He said he’s been pitching with it for two weeks now. There has been no drop in velocity or command, just tightness after he’s done pitching. He had an MRI and said no injury was apparent.

“I’m confident it’s not going to be anything,” he said.

Robertson has never had elbow issues before.

Swish shot !!!!!!

damn swish smashed that ball - funny that it was rh

Just you and me Ms. O. Does this mean we're dating?

[3] Now if Girardi says it's nothing, then it's probably terminal for Robertson.

Evening, Team.

Nick Swisher sure did hit that baseball, no?

[8] Hey! I saw her first!

(Oops... should be [7]. So much for feeble attempts at humor.)

Damn it!

They forgot to go to commercials so we had about ten seconds of just baseball. I wish we could just get a live feed that never left the field with the option for just listening to natural sound.

Wouldn't that be nice?

[9] Heh heh.

[11] indeed

[9] we'll always have the first 20 minutes of game 140

I didn't expect it but Abreu with a .836 OPS, Swisher with an .875+ OPS. And for all his blunders, I'll take Swisher's glove over Bobby's anytime.

Is this guy's name really Gaugin?

[11] It would be great. I wonder, seriously, how much any of us would be willing to pay for it, since that is about the only way we will enjoy unused potential ad time.

[14] You really think so? I don't know. Aside from the wall, I always found him solid. He always seemed to know where the ball was going.

[16] I know. How much could they charge?

Actually, never mind. If there existed such an option, mlb would probably start mandating league-wide commercials over the stadium PA so we'd have to hear it anyway.

I guess we could always have a Leninist revolution.

[17] He may have known where it was going, but he didn't seem to get there himself, at least according to all of the advanced defensive metrics (which placed him among the worst RFs in all of baseball at the end of his Yankee tenure).

Swish looks ugly with the glove, but he actually has decent range.

[11] MiLB.TV used to be like that. I really liked it. During commercials, you got to watch the grounds crew working, heard all the stadium noise, the announcers chit-chatting, etc.

[18] I disagree. MLB would have NO problem allowing us to hear just baseball, so long as someone (us) pay for it. There is a potential market solution.

Meanwhile, when the Leninist solution comes along, we'll probably have to here re-education messages instead. : )

[20] Yeah, fair enough, I can see that. Swish does have decent range, that is true. He does seem to range farther than Abreu did.

[21] :)

Derek has some quick hands, actually.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/abreu-overload/
UZR ......... Over the last three years
Dewan has Abreu at -14 (32nd), -14 (32nd), and -24 (34th)

Ohh! That was a nice pitch.

[21] we won't have to here anything it will be mute :}

[27] Touché.

Jesus, you see that swing? Dude almost drilled himself to China.

mk making fun of sterling is usually funny

And the pitcher thinks you can pick a guy off if you throw super fast, like a striking cobra.

Oooh, well done, boys.

nice play team

is this gaudin's best outing ever?

Missed sign?

Wow.... perfect throw by Posada.

Hey-hey. Michelle Oudin obvisouly called up Chad Gaudin and told him to win one for the folks with last names that are not pronounced how you think they'd be. Or something like that. : /

[33] Probably not. Look at his 2007 season, which included a 7.0 /1 /0 /0 /3 /4 against the Yankees.

Awesome, the YES feed on Rogers Sports Net just lost sound. Mute!

Nice hustle, Teix.

Time for an A-Bomb!

Good eye, Alex.

Good hustle, Alex, just don't hurt yourself.

Ouch. ARod beats that on a good hip.

no infield hits for the yankees

those crazy rays - how dare they put one of their best pitchers in the rotation - in fact it is proof positive they are crazy

If it didn't before, this lead suddenly seems very precarious.

good go sit down - i can't stand looking at greg zaun for one second longer than i have to

Man, what a snare!

[45] well once they announced tonight's pitcher this lead was precarious, but this has been about when gaudin starts giving it up

but hey tonight is looking pretty good for ole chad

Everything's coming up roses.

But a little luck doesn't hurt. That could have been Mitre 2.0.

[48] Heh heh heh heh.

[49] Knock on wood, if you please.

Wow, I forgot that Price wasn't just the 8th inning guy, he was the closer (at least part of the time). His move to the rotation obviously explains the Rays' woes this year.

i know this is slightly old and random, but i am amazed that aaron boone was able to play baseball this year

I'm glad Kay and O'Neill have taken the opportunity to debate whether Joba should be a reliever. It moves the focus off whether Hughes should be a reliever.

Very unselfish ground out by Cano.

[55] They both seem to think that one of those guys should be in the bullpen.

Oh, and, good evening, all.

[54] Who?

Evening, RI.

[56] That reminds me, did you see that hideously selfish, stat-padding homer by Teixeira yesterday evening? I was furious. He killed the rally -- you will remember that they were on their way to a really big inning, and they only managed three runs after the blast.

[57] The best line, from O'Neill: "I said from day 1 that Joba should be a reliever, because he had done it before."

Of course, on Day 1 he had never been a reliever before...

[60] No, luckily I missed the game...so I didn't have to witness such fundamentally unsound baseball.

[61] Well, technically, yes. But you're relying on an excessively mathematical, geeky definition of "1'.

[60] :)

[61] wait mk's companion tonight is flash

but yeah it is too much to waste BOTH of them in the rotation - 1 has to be in the pen

[66] His companion. That's cute.

OK, so now Gaudin is heading into "best game for him ever" territory. If he pitches really well, and if history holds, he should be pulled from the rotation, for Mitre or possible JOsh Towers.

[65] Oh, is that Flash? I'm glad, because other wise O'Neill would have been the one sounding like an idiot.

To be honest, I have a hard time telling the various YES/MY9 former players apart--probably because I don't too many games.

wow - the yankees?!? picking off crawford?!??

Holy smokes. Go on with your Chad self. Sorry. (ducking)

Got to head out on a boring job, will miss the rest of the game. Go team!!

[0] Alex, that is a fantastic album with one of Blue Note's best ever covers. thelarmis will no doubt chime in about it later!

About the earlier discussion, on my tv here in Japan I can swtich the audio track between the English announcers (YES on the Yankee games) or the Japanese announcers...in the evening when it's a Japanese game, the English-language track is just silent..it's really fun watching the game like that! Shame about the awful camera work here, but that's another story...

[68] "...don't see too many games."

I think O'Neill and Flash are the toughest to distinguish, at least by voice quality.

[68] yeah when i didn't get yes regularly i had a hard time distinguishing them too (well not so much mk and kenny - but all the former yankee players)

[73] i agree - the most distinguishable thing to me is flash has a slight lisp and o'neill's cincy twang comes out when he is excited

[74] I find Cone very easy. I think he has a western Penn. accent, is that right? I don't know where he's from. Kenny has a melodious quality, musical.

Wow.
I wonder if he's thinking about Gehrig.

A wee slump, no?

the rays do not want to see derek get the record

[76] he's from kansas city - yeah coney is pretty distinguishable

[75 Interesting! Yes, Paul has that southern midlands accent, but to me it's subtle and I have to listen for a while to be sure. I hadn't noticed Flash's lisp. For me the content and style is what distinguishes Flaherty.

Flash: "Prce is a young pitcher...they won't let him go more than 100 or 110 pitches."

As opposed to all the veteran pitchers who regular go past 110.

Instead of Joba Rules, do the Rays have Price Controls?

The sooner Price is out of there the better.

82 Nice.

i believe that is what is called a nice piece of hitting

Good Lord, that was a beautiful hit.

Comfy-Rod. Whatever Kevin Long told him is good by me. : D

[85] He's good at hitting.
Good at baseball.

You see, that's clear evidence that Price should be in the pen. He pitched a god game, but he's losing, so it's been a waste. If he was in the pen, they could use him to preserve a win. Which do you think is more valuable?

That really was beautiful. Nice pulling in of the hands.

[86] Yep..well struck, but not too selfish. And, it moved Teix to third, so the bases are not clogged.

[89] Well, it's mute, isn't it? You could just argue about this forever. It's so subjective.

It was very unselfish of him.

[92] Yeah, probably. But one thing that is not subjective: Price just didn't want it enough to get a win tonight.

Agggggghhh!

Wow, Flash was right! I'm impressed.

Well, maybe Gaudin just left "best game ever" territory.

paging the short leash - short leash please pick-up the courtesy phone

Fun''s over. Get him outta there.

If he gets an out, could Hughes pitch five outs?

[100] If.

And the Hughes situation tonight is...?

Anyone?

[100] Only if the first out came in the eighth.

[102] Eighth inning guy.

Of course. Eighth Inning Guy.
If only it were said eighth.

Ha ha. Shoulda bunted, small ball boys.

Funky platoon, I love that song!

Navarro PH for anyone? It's good to see that overmanaging is not restricted to pinstripes.

BB. I wonder what's going to happen next.

Take that! Girardi won't let Navarro beat him, so here comes Bruney!!

[108] joe maddon has shown himself to be quite the over-manager this series

Oh, lord. Girardi and Maddon with the September rosters. This chess match could last for hours.

[109] Oh, man, I could actually hear your eyes rolling!

[112] We seem to have settled on Bruney v. Navarro--a perverse form of immovable object v. irrepressible force.

Talk about over-managing. Mixing and matching for Navarro?

nice play alex

5 unassisted. Not exactly what I had in mind. And the wheels in the sky keep on turning. Cripes. MK just read my mind.

[112] Earlier in the evening, they had some sort of poll question: if you could change one rule in baseball., which would you choose.

My initial reaction was to get rid of the DH. Upon reflection, I would abolish September rosters.

i hope no one is scoring this thing tonight either - pencilling in these moves might be dangerous to your health

Next inning Maddon will have Brian Shouse pinch hit, so Girardi will call on Albaladejo, who has good numbers against pitchers. This will take 12 minutes, and Albaladejo will walk Shouse on a questionable call.

[115] On both sides: mixing and matching FOR Navarro, in response to mixing and matching WITH Navarro.

Is Bruney now the designated Rongy?

what has gotten into jorgie with these snap throws?

[122] There's no such thing. That wouldn't make sense, to have someone designated to get one right handed batter. Don't be foolish. What a waste that would be.

Let's see what Genius comes up with next.

[120] I'm still wondering why Maddon didn't properly motivate Price to throw a shutout. : ) Atta boy, Cokey. Make it interesting.

Must...get...to...eighth...inning...

Ah, leaving Coke in. Interesting. Radical. This may work out.

nice play jh jr

[124] Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of Righ-handed One Navarro Guy.

Michael Kay! Awesome. "The mixing and matching pays off beautifully"! Amazing.

christ, not surprisingly mk fully endorsed "the duel" and how girardi "out-manuvered" maddon

[128] Well, he was facing another lefty.

In the end, Joe G. checkmated Joe M.

Girardi, you magnificent bastard!

[130] Well, now, that's not really fair, because your penchant and reputation for typos led me to believe that you had intended to type "ROOGIE".

In any case, I believe Girardi is right now on the phone to Cashman demanding a raise. See if they show Cash on his cell phone.

[134] because your penchant and reputation for typos

Be nice, now.

Lance Cormier.

He gets an automatic spot in my all-time awesome baseball names roster.

Out.

yeah he was out

no one can accuse maddon of sitting in the dugout and picking his nose all night

this is turning into a college basketball game

...and the chess match is rejoined. Your move, Girardi.

Ah, Godzilla. Very clever, Mr. Girardi, very clever.
BUT NOT CLEVER ENOUGH! {throws Randy Choate onto the board}

Checkmate.

round 3 (?) - maddon

BWAH HA HA HA! {tosses head back, laughing fiendishly}

hi all. i heard most of the top of the 7th on fuzzy radio in the car. talk about over-managing. i heard all but the Aki at-bat. i'm glad Cokey got out of it!

sounds like Go-Dan did rather well.

ooh, i hope Robertson's okay!!! sounds like he should be. i sure hope so...

did Robbie hustle on the infield single or was it a sure base hit up the middle that was blocked from reaching the outfield?

Hughes for the 8th, Mo for the 9th?!

[141] CHOATE!!!

i presume hughesy will get the full 8th - take that maddon

holy shit that wasn't supposed to happen

And now it's YOUR move, Mr. Girardi.

[145] did Robbie hustle on the infield single...

Hard to tell.

or was it a sure base hit up the middle that was blocked from reaching the outfield?

Yes.

So, what did I miss?

[148] Yes. Saving Hughes for the eighth is supposed to guarantee a win. My universe is rocked right now.

Cripes, I go to the kitchen to get some ice cream and heat up chocolate sauce (no scotch tonight), and look what happens.

shit. well, that sucks.

boston's up big, but texas won game 1 and is winning game 2.

Hughes can't handle the eigth inning. Make him a starter.

[155] : )

[152] On the bright side maybe he'll pitch the 9th, too. If the Yanks don't score in the 8th of course.

[151] gaudin pitched pretty well, price did okay but yanks got 2 runs off him, somehow bartlett cranked a 1st pitch hr off hughes, and derek can't buy a hit - plus a lot of over-managing for the last inning and a half

I can handle Hughes blowing a lead.

Bruney and Coke, not so much

[155] i loves it!

BTW Bucholz is looking good lately, granted it was the Orioles today but still.

Okay. Here's where Jeter cranks one out

damn robbie turns a beautiful double play

Good D tonight.

Cano is godlike out there.

[152] i think i am still a bit stunned

[162] He and Hughes planned it. This way Phil gets the W.

okay, well...we're not losing.

Phil only threw 11 pitches. i say send him out for the 9th and save Mo, for the...you know - save.

[162] i was just thinking that. or, at least, a single, stolen base, run scored...

Just a bit outside

[157] Well of course, because it's not a Save Situation ®.

[161] i like to call him Fuckholz. though "Laptop" will do just fine! : )

Perhaps Jeter is unaware that this is Randy Choate

i'll be very disappointed if we don't beat CHOATE!!!

one of the best moments of the season was when o'neill was absolutely stunned that randy choate was tampa's closer

Jesus christ

This series sucks.

O fer crying out loud.

jeter can't buy a hit. but if he could, he can certainly afford it!

fucking shit

Great bunt...better defensive play.

The Yankees can't hit Randy Choate

Astounding.

[175] Randy Choate is the closer even though no one knows it. He is...the most interesting man in the world.

[0] Alex used this album cover somewhat recently. i've got a stack of about 30 Jimmy Smith CD's on Blue Note Records on my kitchen table (yes, i've completely run out of room) and this one is on top, 'coz i LOVE the album cover soooo much. a total classic - aesthetically and musically!!!

why is Johnny bunting?!?!?! : /

[182][183] I imagine Sterling would have something to say about this.

CHOAD!!!!! I mean CHOATE!!! : )

Well, that was embarrassing

This would be a blood boiling game if we were in some kind of race. Instead it's just kind of amusing.

Feh.

Phils have 4 batters w/ 30 or more homeruns: Werth, Ibanez, Utley & Howard

Javy Vazquez has as many hits tonight as he's given up: 2

[188] A bullet that to the RF that was caught and a brilliant defensive play, on the first two batters. Hardly embarrassing.

Is 13 the real number or does Kay still refuse to count the Castillo game as a walk off win?

[191] Randy Choate got through the Yankees DH and top of their order without allowing a run. Or a baserunner of any sort.

Damn, no more Phil.

Oh, right, I just remembered one of the Rulz: at home, you can use your closer in a tie game.

Does anyone think Joey Joe Joe would have done anything different in the 8th and 9th tonight if this was game one of the ALCS?

Oooh, Rivera for the ninth in a tie. The chess game continues...

Girardi: "Mais oui, but we are all pawns on the chessboard of life."

Maddon, Biensûr, mon ami.."

[196] probably not - possibly pull hughes after the hr in a panic, but i think he "trusts" hughes

[193] I somehow doubt that Jeter is embarrassed by working nine pitches and driving the ball.

[164] Yes, good D tonight.

And Mo.