Today’s news is powered by the match-up between a swordsman and a baseball pitching machine:
- Three Yankees headed to the All Star Game:
Mark Teixeira was not glued to the progress reports of fan balloting for the 2009 All-Star Game, but his friends and family made sure to keep him updated. All he knew was this: there was ground to make up.
Teixeira’s back-and-forth battle with Red Sox counterpart Kevin Youkilis to serve as the American League’s starting first baseman ended on Sunday, and the slugger is headed to the July 14 contest at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium, joined by Junior Circuit leading vote-getter Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, both 10-time All-Stars.
“I’m so appreciative of the fans,” Teixeira said. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve said they were the best fans in the country. I want to thank all of the fans for going out there and voting. It just shows how passionate Yankees fans are.
[My take: The recognition is nice, but after a while, I think these guys would like a three-day vacation in the middle of the long season.]
- No Tex in the Home Run Derby:
Teixeira said after the Yankees’ 10-8 win over the Jays on Sunday that he would not accept an invitation to perform in the hitting exhibition at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium on July 13, saying that his one experience before the 2005 Midsummer Classic was more than enough.
“I’m just not a Home Run Derby guy,” Teixeira said. “It doesn’t fit well for me. If I go out there and just hit two or three home runs, I’d rather let someone else go out and do it.”
- CMW DL’ed:
Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang was put on the disabled list Sunday with a right shoulder strain, and manager Joe Girardi said he’s not sure how long the right-hander will be out of the rotation.
Wang, who missed time earlier this season with a hip injury, won’t begin throwing until at least after the All-Star break.
“He has a shoulder strain and they want to give it a rest and a chance to build back up a bit, and when we get back he’ll start playing catch,” Girardi said. “It’s a week off in a sense, but we have the All-Star break, so it ends up being two weeks.”
Girardi isn’t sure who will fill in for Wang on Thursday at Minnesota, although he’s almost certain it won’t be young right-hander Phil Hughes.
[My take: What are the odds they make another trade with the Pirates, this time for a pitcher?]
- PeteAbe provides the Jose Molina rehab update:
Jose is 1 for 7 in three games, which really doesn’t matter much. What does is that he caught seven innings and apparently felt fine.
It appears he will be activated in Minnesota on Tuesday. Unless the Yankees have some trick up their sleeve, Francisco Cervelli will be sent down.
[My take: We’ll miss you Frankie!]
- Steve Serby catches up with The Captain for a Q&A.
- Lance Johnson turns 46 today. The speedy outfielder finished up his career with 30 ABs with the 2000 Yankees.
- Happy 55th birthday to Willie Randolph! A long-time fan favorite, Randolph was acquired in December 1975 with Ken Brett and Dock Ellis from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Doc Medich.
- On this date in 1920, the Yankees score 14 in the fifth and beat Washington 17-0. It’s the biggest inning ever until the Red Sox score 17 in a 1953 game.
- On this date in 1941, a center field monument dedicated to Lou Gehrig is unveiled by the Yankees. Gehrig died the prior month from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
- On this date in 1990, in his first start since losing a no-hitter, Andy Hawkins pitches 11 2/3 innings of shutout ball only to lose in the 12th 2 – 0 to the Twins. Hawkins threw 131 pitches in his no-no, and 145 in this game.
[My take: Is it any surprise that 1991 was his final season, at the age of 31?]
- On this date in 2000, the Yankees clip the Orioles, 13-9, scoring eight runs in the 2nd inning to come back from a 7-run deficit. Sidney Ponson helps with four straight walks in the inning. Yankee Scott Brosius ties the major-league record for 3B by starting four DPs in the game.
Can we back off the "Fire Kevin Long!" chants yet? The Yankees currently have the best offense in baseball.
Wow, talk about not getting any offensive support for Hawkings. Yikes, I didn't realize he threw a shutout the next time out.
[1] People are calling for Kevin Long's head? Seriously?! Who? Why?
Aren't the Yanks on a 10 of their last 11 winning streak?
[2] I remember the almost-shutout, but I didn't realize at the time how many pitches he threw in both starts. [0] Diane, even less surprising, in his next start after the almost-shutout, Hawkins gave up 8 runs in 4.1 IP, and did the same in the start after that.
If I were Wang's agent, I'd be bending their ear quite hard to get him out of here. Yanks have handled Wang pretty badly, which leads me to believe they were never keen on keeping him around long-term, and were only happy to see him win 19 games twice. Methinks they either never gave him enough credit from the start, or they know something about his makeup and mechanics that spells doom in the long run. But yeah, he's been jerked around this year and if I were him, I'd hightail it out of here and not look back.
I think some guys get psyched about the ASG beyond the monetary benefits (if it's in their contracts, of course); moreso for the glory of being counted among the "best" players in the game at the moment, a barometer of their fan appeal. That may imply that their ego is bigger than their game, but what do you think happens when you continually call someone an All Star? For what it's worth, it probably means more to some of the guys to start; after all, they'd rather have the three days off, but if they have to waste their time in an artificially-meaningful exhibition, it's worth more to them personally being introduced to a million people at the start by name than to come in off the bench to no such fanfare.
[1] I'm surprised there's no "Fire Dave Eiland" chant, considering the inconsistency of several of the pitchers; starters and relievers. Knowing them from working with them through the minors doesn't seem to matter much overall, not to mention the stutter-steps from CC and AJ, Joba's apparent "lack of maturity" and Wang's struggle to regain form. I said before that Eiland may become a great pitching coach in time, but right now he doesn't seem to have much impact beyond the inconsistency displayed by the starters. How much of that affects Girardi's bullpen management?
Lastly, I look at Ron Washington with Texas and I have to wonder, how much of an impact does the manager really have on the team over the long haul of the season beyond keeping the players mentally focused. Last year, Washington was near the head of the line to be fired, according to many reports, but look at them now... is Ron Washington a managing genius? Has his master plan come into fruition? Or is it the same as everyone else's: get good players, get good production from your players, keep them happy and focused and hope the ball bounces your way? In that sense, is managing is more about cult of personality than of strategy? One wonders...
[3] Aren’t the Yanks on a 10 of their last 11 winning streak?
There's something funny about this question.
I saw the best offense line too (or heard it on ESPN), but have to also note that the bullpen has been stellar of late, too. In other words, are we spoiled rotten? Or just painfully aware of how brutal the East and WC are going to be, second half? Me, I'm taking a half step back and declaring for all the banter to hear that ... I'm enjoying this season and this team.
There. I outed myself. With all the aggravation that comes from players messing up (3-0 bunt anyone? Baserunning drills at 6 am anyone?) we have a competitive, late-inning gut-it-out team (though if you saw the late wins and last bat wins data on ESPN, you know it is kind of misleading ... about 4 teams within 1 of us in both, and they are ... surprise! ... the good teams.) We have youngsters to agonize over (Get smarter Joba! Hit grounders Gardner! Where's Waldo, er, Phil?) And vets to wish healthy (JePoDamRod). We even have an unlikely recent hero-type in (aie!) Anthony James Burnett.
I say, eve of ASB, this has been fun. It is going to feel like a war till fall now, but ...
Oh. Managers? We can talk/type all day about how a genius becomes an idiot a year later, and vice versa. Is it a crime of sorts that Cito Gaston never even got much in the way of even a hint of interest in all those years? Was it one of those 'Easy to win when you have a great team!' things? Ron Washington has the best team he's had in 3 years at Texas. He seems like a fine man, I'd say I'm happy for him, unless they scoop the Wild Card.
[6] some people just prefer to be unhappy.
So, if you watch our friend slice the baseball on youtube you'll see another link where he slices a bullet. seriously? staged? is this even possible?
Talk about yer cut fastballs.
[5] Winning trumps all, no?
[4] Chyll, I can explain the inconsistency - with pitchers, that's the nature of the beast.
As for Joba - dude has pitched 84 innings this year. He's at 209 IP in his brief career, only 150 of which have been as a starting pitcher.
Think about that for a moment. Joba has, since his major league debut in August 2007, thrown just 150 innings as a starting pitcher. That's not a lot of time in which to figure out how to consistently do much of anything versus major league hitters.
The easy fact to throw out is, look at how many innings it took for Greg Maddux to figure things out. I wonder, though, if anyone has ever done a study examining, for example, what happened to guys who lasted, say, 10 years as a starting pitcher in MLB, in their first 150-200 innings in the bigs? My guess is, they'd all show inconsistency. Still, I'd like to see the numbers . . .
[8] OK Jazz Toyko can maybe back me up on this, but in "ancient" times, a samurai sword was tested by seeing if it could cleave a peasant in two with a single, diagonal cut from the shoulder through the torso. So yeah, I'd put slicing a bullet in the realm of the possible.
Andy Hawkins was never really that good to begin with. Before he tossed that no-hitter, and that start against the Twins, the Yanks were looking for ways to get rid of him.
[4] That's an interesting point re: Wang. I find it hard to believe this organization has some great and accurate insight into his makeup that spells "doom". They just don't seem that on the ball. It seems more likely to me they have just bungled the handling of him. Perhaps they've done so because they think they have some great insight about him. At any rate, they've certainly given him short shrift.
[10] I should clarify that it isn't the slicing power that I doubt, but the ability to draw and accurately strike a moving bullet. I have no experience with guns so make of that what you will.
As for inconsistency, I think the pitcher who succeeds from the start and throughout a ten year+ MLB career is rare. But perhaps I am wrong.
Yankees pick up a Japanese pitcher with a deceptive changeup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYBEJzy-F0&feature=related
[12] [4]
It has been a topic for some time that the Yankees do not seem to "respect" CMW. Remember, they did not offer him big contract and have played hardball with him in negotiations (if I recall). Maybe they're on the ball, maybe they have bungled things with him, maybe the truth lies somewhere in between.
In some defense of the Yankees, he had a history of injury before making it to the big club. He put up two very fine seasons, but his K rate and WHIP (which was not terrible) were somewhat worrying. I suspect that the organization has had doubts about his prospects for long-term success.
[13] Don't we have a resident physicist around here to answer those kind of questions? It seems to me that one ought to be able to fire a bullet slowly enough, and on a known/defined trajectory that a guy with a sword could slice it. But I'm just an engineer, so what do I know?
[15] K rate, of course, being among the best predictors of future success for a pitcher . . .
Pitchers do "break", after all.
[14] C.B. Bucknor would have called that right over the middle of the plate and thrown you out before you had a chance to question him. If Luis Tiant had that pitch, he'd have won 300 games, no doubt...
The bullet slicing sure looks real, but who knows?
It doesn't seem completely out of the question to me. Look at it the opposite way around. The samurai guy just has to develop a very "consistent swing", so to speak. Then the rifle guy just has to shoot directly into the swing. If he misses nine in a row, no big deal, they just don't show that part...
[9] Line of the morning! Bravo!
I don't think there is much doubt the Yankees had decided Wang was probably around for only 1 more year. The contract route they chose, not tying him down, suggested that. We can guess at reasons, injury apprehension, playoff woes, general lack of confidence his success was sustainable, hopes for the kids coming up ... but they have very little committed to CMW in their minds, it seems.
As to Joba, I really do agree Shaun ... he's a kid, he's just starting to start, baseball's a tough game to learn. I wish we had a clearer sense of the speed drop. The game is EASIER to learn on the mound when you have 96-98 available. Even with that, Verlander has taken a long time, Koufax took years, so did Randy, etc. etc. But is Joba pacing himself as a starter, trying to throw a bit less than flat-out? Or has the arm cost him 3-4 mph? If the latter, at his age, it is an issue, no?
And we really do want to get Hughes to 130 innings this year, don't we? And starter innings. If Pettitte and Wang are both gone next year ...
[16] i'm just a drop out engineer. hehe
[18] yeah, we discussed the replication factor here in the office. Most likely explanation.
Can you actually see a shot bullet if you know to look for it?
btw, the comment two of us both made here was, "if he could slice a bullet he would have cut that baseball right down the center."
[20] I don't think you can see a bullet shot from a rifle, no. We're talking 1000 mph. I don't think you could see one shot from a pistol, come to think of it.
[10] But Shaun, I'm not saying that the consistency equals or even breeds winning, but what about performance? Does the performance seen consistent with the past (sample size aside) or do the anomalies of a new stadium, new team and new coach have a noticable effect. For that matter, what's the real difference between Dave Duncan, Rick Peterson, Leo Mazzone and Dave Eiland besides experience? Can they all be right, wrong or indifferent in their philosophy on any and all pitchers?
[18] "If he misses nine in a row, no big deal, they just don’t show that part…"
That's how they do it on some sets; they just dump the corpse in the honeywagon and call in the next stunt double... and don't tell the SAG rep! >;D
[22] yeah it must be total luck then right? staged and redone until it worked?
YANKEES (48-33)
Jeter SS
Swisher 1B
Teixeira DH
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera LF
Hinske RF
Gardner CF
But is Joba pacing himself as a starter, trying to throw a bit less than flat-out? Or has the arm cost him 3-4 mph? If the latter, at his age, it is an issue, no?
His avg velocity was down when he returned last year and pitched out of the pen after the shoulder injury.
No one has wanted Long fired, because unlike Eiland and Girardi, he has had a fairly long track record of ML success, and anyway hitting coaches have far less impact than pitching coaches.
This was the first thing that popped in my head watching that, Diane!
One of my favorites...
Enjoy!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1405/saturday-night-live-samurai-hotel
: )
[28] "Your mama-san!" >;) Two bright lights, man...
I'll use Willie Randolph's b-day as the excuse to ask this question of all those folks who seem to think Girardi's not the man for the job:
Do you think Willie is a good candidate to replace Joe G? Please explain why, or why not.
The things that jump out to me about Willie is his handling of both the media and the clubhouse;Willie reacted strongly to some criticism of him, and whether he was goaded or just sensitive, it says a lot in this market. The Met veterans quit on him halfway through the season, and he had backstabbers Bernezard and Manuel behind him. I think the Yanks would rally around Willie in a return gig just to prove the others wrong about him, but then do you want an "us against them" mentality right now? I would consider Willie a good choice once he's established himself away from the glare and has developed a strong playoff track record outside of the horseshyt that is the Mets organization. Not saying he doesn't already have a winning track record as a coach, but I would give him some time to erase the Mets tragedy from people's minds.