Or some such thing. What do I know from cards? All I know is that C.C. Sabathia goes against James Shields today and every day is a must-win for the Yanks–and the Rays for that matter. Game is in Tampa, where the Yanks are 2 for their last 10.
Alex is back.
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Raul Ibanez LF
Russell Martin C
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Dickerson CF
Never mind the shpilkes: Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Picture Credit: Eduard Bezembinder]
Let's GO!
Somewhat better line up today.
Oh, Lou Pinella?
Way to make Shields work, Rob.
Take advantage of these walks, fellas.
Not like that Russ.
Nice job working the count, Ichi. Now...deliver.
Walk off the field Shields you piece of shit.
You know what would have worked better in that (second) inning? A hit. How about a fucking hit? Two walks, you get one fucking hit and bob's yer uncle.
Why would anyone get a tattoo on his neck? Disgusting. And it looks even worse when you strike out.
[9] Bob's yer uncle. Good one. You're not from the UK are you?
Are you kidding me.
Three bullshit hits. Three.
[11] I am not, but sometimes I think like an Australian.
[8] what'd the ugly fucker do?
[9] lohud has a little note on our ineptitude of getting hits in the ball-tumor series...
[10] couldn't agree more.
Could Cano have had that? Are they talking about it. I have the sound off.
[12] wha happened?
[13] beer!
ah, never mind - i see it now...
feh.
[13] Good on ya!
[16] Broken bat single (bloop in front of OFs); grounder that gets through the hole because Jeter now has the range of a world champion bowler; broken bat single (bloop just out of Rob's reach).
By the way, if you are following on Game Day I have bad news for you: the Rays scored. GameDay is screwed up.
Lord, I flip over to watch Serena win a few points and the Yankees go down before I get back (actually I saw Curtis bounce out).
I think Serena could bat sixth for the Yanks, by the way. Switch hitter (backhand, forehand). Her OPS would be .804.
[19] thanks, RI.
yeah, gameday at mlb and gamecast/box scores at e$%n are all effed up and s l o w . . .
[20] curtis?
not fucked up anymore.
2-0.
wonderful.
and the oreo's are up 1-zip, also...
so: this is why we have an ace?
This Jet-Lag game is not going as planned. I think I'll take a sleeping pill.
I hope we get a hit today. I assume we're gonna lose, because we lose every day, so I just hope we get a hit
The Yankees will come back today. The NY Football Giants play on Wednesday.
[25] I lied. I wanna see A-Rod bat one more time and pray he doesn't swing at the first pitch.
C.C. 2.1 innnings, 6 hits, 2 runs? Ouch not a good start for our ace
[26] Yeah. I'm pretty much back to just rooting for Jeter, and even he's been missing in action for the last couple of weeks.
[26] braves are winning 3-0 right now...and don't have a hit.
By the way, did I hear them say that lefties are 0-some big number against Shields? That might give Girardi a stroke.
[24] {29] "How Long Has This Been Going On?"
braves got a hit. 4-0...
A mighty blast!
I'll take that, it's a run.
hey, yanks got a hit!
and a run!
and an in-game look-in : )
Just got in.
The news doesn't get batter.
CC with SIX hits in 3 IP?????
I see ARod has a single. Good hit, or cheapie?
Tied up!
7-string guitar!!!
wahoo!!!
OK. Yuz guys can thank me later.
38) Cheapie. But just about everyone else is hitting seeds against Shields.
[38] seeing eye single up the middle. Just got in myself (had to mow the lawn)
[38] Cheapie. Broken bat.
But I think four of the hits off CC were cheap, too -- broken bats, roller out of range of IFer...
That's what I'm talkin' about!
BTW, A-Rod is a great base runner.
must get this runner in and grab a lead!
Checking gameday , I see Ibanez, in play, run(s), triple. So very strange. So very enjoyable.
Perhaps CC needs his personal catcher again? It couldn't hurt, the way Martin's been going. Hell, the whole staff could use personal catchers the way he's going...
Ha!
Great job by Russell and Raul!
amazingly, that's ibanez' 3rd triple of the season!
Should that be a single or a fielder's choice?
Whoo-hoo! They are playin' now!
sweet!
Back to back close plays with fiery after slides. Nice.
[51] Did they give him a triple? I would have said a double with an extra base on the throw home.
But, sure, I'll buy triple!
[52] I don't get it, how could it be a FC? Because Shields made the choice to stand on the mound instead of covering first??
Ichiro is striking out a lot more than remembered.
Stolen base by Martin? Wow.
[58] That was a crappy at bat.
[56] yes.
[58] yes.
i have to get ready to go to work. i'm gonna have to get a fancy fon for next season, so i can check scores... i'm still rockin' the razr! [held together by tape] : )
[59] Nobody was covering second! So he beats out a grounder because nobody's covering first, then he steals second because nobody's covering second.
[59] his 5th! a-rod leads the team...
Nice to see the mood of Banter denizens improve with a few runs.
lets hope C.C. can shut them down for a few innings, we need it.
Chris got dicked.
[57] Well, if that's the case, then it should be an error. But it looked to me like the 1B waited to look back the runner at third then run to 1B, so one could give a FC, or an error on the 1B. In either case, that really shouldn't have been a single.
[64] Yeah, how about that!
[58] He's averaged 69 K/162 G over his career, and he has 52 so far this season. So he's striking out at about his normal pace. I think the fact that he's hitting a lot less is making his strikeouts seem more frequent.
Any news on Granderson???
Must sleep. Will check in for the victory [knocking wood] tomorrow morning. Enjoy.
[67] I see what you mean. But he didn't actually throw home, and the runner did score, so... well, I think sometimes scorers use 'FC' as the all-purpose alternative.
[70] He took BP, and Girardi said he might be available today, and if not then tomorrow.
[72] Yeah, I guess since he didn't throw home, it would be hard to give an FC (which would mean that the fielder made a choice but failed to get an out). Rather, it was indecision on the part of the fielders that allowed Martin to reach first base safely. So I guess it really should have been an error, but of course they never give an error on the ol' failure-to-make-a-play.
By the way, Serena won 6-0 6-0. So [21] you see my point.
[69] Lately, it seems like more. Ichiro had 12 SO in 90 ABs in August.
[74] Interesting (insofar as scorer's decisions can be interesting, which is not very far), because if FC then Martin would get an rbi, but if E then he wouldn't. Or, wait, maybe he would, if the scorer judged that the correct play would have resulted in the run anyway...
[76] That's actually only a bit more than 69/162G.
I bet Sterling predicted that.
later!
GO YANKS!!!
How many more years of CC do we have?
[78] For his career, Ichiro has 800 SOs in 8000 ABs, for a 10% rate. In august he has a 13% SO rate, so I guess a 30% increase could be thought of as a bit more or not.
Well, this sure seems an opportune time to tune in.
C'mon fat man.
Jesus, Bodie, we certainly not paying you for your bat ...
[82] Well, I mean it's just two or three extra SO. It may be a largish percentage, but it sure looks like random fluctuation.
[83] No, for his speed. (You missed it!)
well at least CC held the lead for one inning. lol
Hm, one more inning for CC, I figure.
I say we have the advantage here, but if it goes to extras probably the Rays have the advantage.
Damn, not enough bat, not enough speed.
Oh, crap, are you kidding? Damn. Nice play though.
Good job Derek.
Hell yes. Nothing like a 10-pitch walk to start the eighth against a tiring starter.
No! No bunting! No!
Okay. But no being terrible either, please.
[84] Why should stats refute my perception? After all, perception is reality. But you're correct.
....
Shoulda funkin bunted.
[94] New term...functed?
Buckin funted.
Rob. Boo. That was very bad.
I really think we needed to score there.
How does Robbie not beat that out?
Did Cano loaf there?
[100] Rays announcers said he quit on it out of the box.
If so, Girardi should pull him.
[99] because [100] yes. Slow out of the box, kinda watched the ball before running.
Boooooo.
Why the f is Chavez standing on the third base line?
Ugh, why do I have a bad feeling here?
[103] Yankees are one of the worst positioned teams I've ever seen. It really stand out when they try to shift
We need someone better than Girardi to be in charge of positioning fielders. Like, hire someone away from the Rays.
[103] No doubles? And look ... no double!
Fuck yes.
Plays! Plays are deadly!
Bodie!
A play! Thanks, Maddon.
[101] I *think* he thought it was caught. Its less appalling than if he dogged it because he thought it was a groundout.
[107] Sigh. Yes, precisely.
[105] I can't usually tell by watching, but Chavez's position was ridiculous. And it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of Jeter's crappy UZR were due to bad positioning. (I mean, it would surprise me if it isn't.)
Well, Maddon worked hard for that ejection.
Not exactly sure why, Thompson was out, or close enough to being out that it was a toss-up call ...
[111] Yep, I think that's right. Still, he should just ask WWJD? and do that. And you know what Jeter would have done.
Oh Jesus Christ
What the hell? CF's ball.
[111] R u doin the thinnin' for Cano, Lucy?
Yeah, I think I would get out of the way of Eric Dickerson's cousin.
[114] I do agree, but I think its instinct to stop running when you think the ball is caught, and that split second is all you really need.
Had the ball been a true grounder that Cano just gave up on, that would have been inexcusable.
[118] Yeah, but E-Dick is always bigger than C-Dick.
Shit. Did Cano loaf on that one too?
Damn.
Sunuvabich.
That SB was a killer.
This team isn't making the playoffs. They're just not very good.
Fucking Cano.
Double thanks, bro ...
I mean, the *only* good thing that can come from this collapse is you have to fire Girardi, right?
RIGHT?
[119] Haven't seen it, but the general reality remains. This isn't some meaningless game in April, this team is fighting for its life and this is about as important a game as they will play this year. You bust ass until you're *past* certain of the outcome, which Cano obviously didn't do. Those 2 plays in back to back half-innings highlight the Cano conundrum ...
[126] Unless there's Fried Chicken and Beer involved somewhere, I don't think Girardi's going anywhere ...
[126] Some might want that, but i don't think Cash or the little Steins will do it. Too many "things" have happened that are out of Girardi's control.
C'mon ... I'm pulling a Nostra here ... ICR cranks an improbable dinger!
Or not.
[129] He's been pouring gasoline all over the flames for weeks now.
I just can't watch another season of this, especially with no results.
Oh, now Mattpat loves Nuñez!
I bet Curtis walks.
OK, Curtis, need a hit here. Or a WP or a PB
Well, thank god for small miracles, I won't have to watch Martin make the final out here ...
This is not Michael Kay's best type of situation. It's more of a shut-up situation.
Oh great, More Cowbell ...
This team needs an enema ...
Grrrrr.
Bad one.
I'm sure somehow the remedy for this is going to be the rest a lot of people and do more platoon based matchups.
[126] Well, I think that *if* the team misses the postseason, someone is going to get fired...and I think that Cashman has more power than Girardi, so the latter is going to get canned.
[142] I'd have no problem with a total housecleaning.
They can't win when Sabathia pitches, they can't win when Kuroda pitches, they just can't win.
And they lose boring, because you know they're not coming back. They never do.
Instead of fretting and hating, let's see what happens. If the team was coming from behind in the standings we would be excited. The Yankees should make the play-offs, and have the pitching to do well. Just a little attitude adjustment needed. Cano has got to get his head out of his ass. Tex must come back soon, and Arod has to be effective right away. Even with his HRs, I think Granderson is damaged.
Boss George is dead and buried. Without the sort of clubhouse meltdown that occurred last year in Boston, I'm quite confident all four of the major players (Cashman, Girardi, Long, Rothschild) will be back.
[144] Wait, they did come back. What are you talking about? They got behind today and came back.
[145] I don't think the problem is attitude, myself. I think they need to crank up those homers they were using to win games until, well, it seems like a long time ago but I'll say recently.
Explosive temper finally engaged. Fuck this motherfucking fucking shitty ass Labor Day weekend. Fuck it. Fuck it to Goddamn hell.
Yanks-Orioles.
Fucking stupid ass Michigan vs. Bama game that only a fucking moron schedules. Blowout. Fucking alcohol poisoning. Fucking spending a day throwing up in various receptacles in the fucking bathroom, some designed for the purpose, others not.
Motherfucking two day hangover.
Many many many other assorted annoyances.
Rodney shooting his fucking arrow?
Yes, shit has gone flying. Bathroom garbage can turns out to be indestructible. Plastics. It's the fucking future, man.
Other shit went flying. Only lasting damage may be ring finger on right hand that is fucking fucking fucking empty, while a douchebag I know just got married to a great girl and the girl I had a crush on at law school turns out to be engaged.
Fuck this shit and fuck my motherfucking life. God fucking dammit.
Holy fucking shit balls.
Alright, I think I feel better now.
[147] They're 0-the season when they're losing after 8.
They [i]never[/i] come back.
Oh, I forgot to mention the most talented player on Michigan's defense being lost for the entire season. Just the shit ball cherry on top of the shit sundae that this weekend has been. Good fucking Lord, I mean, come fucking on.
[146] Oh, good. Stay the course.
And then maybe we can give Joe THREE LOOGYS and TWO ROOGYS next year. And *everyone* on the bench can be a useless platoon player.
And I can drink myself into a stupor every night.
[148] Ahhh, youth. Maybe the Yankees poor performance this weekend is due to someone's behavior?
[151] Cheer up, Mattpat! You know what they say!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoaktW-Lu38
[150] Well, you can keep saying it, but as a matter of fact they were behind today and did come back.
[153] I just can't stand GirardiBall. Its the most brutally boring brand of baseball I've ever seen. If they win, you can live with it. When they're playing horrible baseball and he just doubles down on it, I don't like watching Yankee games. It shouldn't be like that. I can live with a bad year, I really can. I can't live with a boring team.
The answer to every fucking question can't be "Well, he's lefthanded." It just can't.
[152] I'm telling you, man, the worst of it is I live a virtuous life, for the most part.
It's just sports, but holy shit it's been one thing piled on another this long weekend (and there's been a lot of non-sports shit).
Brutal.
[151] And I can drink myself into a stupor every night.
Hey, wait a minute. *That's* a sensible idea...and my wife just restocked the liquor cabinet. Excellent.
[154] They lost that game.
[155] For me, one of the things that makes a bad team more interesting to watch is when they develop young players. Obviously that has not been a real attraction this season (although Phelps has been fairly interesting to follow).
[159] That was one of the reasons I hated that 2008 team. They were going nowhere, and yet we still ran Pavano and Ponson out there every five days. If the team is gonna lose, lose with the future.
[142] This might be the "down the road" that Cashman and others in the organization were putting off when they signed CC, Teix, Alex, etc. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't have spent that kind of money long term without figuring to win at least one championship, which they did, and standing to win at least a couple more in the long run. Unfortunately, players are as unpredictable Sterling is predictable in saying you can't predict baseball; be it injuries or a lack of "energy" you can't know absolutely what every single one of them will bring you during the season, only what they are capable of. Seems to me they got off the organizational track of high on-base percentage hitters and went for the short-porch approach, while saying "we have to work with what we have.'
That tells me that either the ability to get the kind of players they want for their lineup is compromised by something important (be it their self-imposed spending limit or the intangible "he can't deal with NY" attitude, etc.) or they've royally screwed up in the scouting department for several years and it's coming to haunt them now.
Either way, it's something the Yanks are seeming hinting at without acknowledging publicly, and I would suspect that unless they overhauled their scouting department or managed what they have a lot better (or they pull off a miracle dumping of their heaviest contracts), this is likely what we are going to see ongoing for the next few seasons until the crop of stud pitchers and position players they do have in the system make it to the big club. By that time, I'm almost certain at least two out of four of either Cashman, Girardi, Long or Rothschild will be gone.
[155],[159] ...agreed!! (I originally had [157] in that chain, but I have to substitute root beer or chocolate milk for medicinal purposes >;)
[156] This is a tough weekend, and yours seems a little worse then most with a conversion of of a monumental hangover, a crisis of the heart, and your teams on the swoon. Everyone is a little blue going back to work after the Labor Day weekend with the realization of the end of summer. There is a price to too much fun that is paid later. Cheer up, things will get better again. Drink lots of water, take some pain medication, have ONE cold beer, and go to bed early.
[163] Thanks for the sage advice. There is no going back to work for me tomorrow - just more of the same and less days to do it. It's finish a beast of a project, organize four years worth of a move in a month, and somehow manage to save the world in any spare time (three or four large scale projects that have no immediate benefit to me, but really, really need to keep moving forward for the good of all that is around me).
I'd just like a sliver of outside momentum to help it all along instead of one freaking steel toed kick in the nuts after another.
The cleanup was extensive (one of the bottles exploded, lol - not all plastics are made alike), so that provided some cool down time.
But man is everything sour as hell.
[164] Brownies and ice cream. Comfort food has only one purpose, as stated, and a little goes a long way.
[165] I confess I'm thinking more fried and unhealthy. But I am looking forward to it!