Thursday, May 10, 2007

Fictional Fact From Abraham's Almanac

What would all the pundits be saying about the Yankees if their record was 30 - 3? That is what it could have been had the Yanks been able to hold their leads. In the 17 loses to date, the Bombers had the lead in 14 of them before the final out. Even if that was their record, they still would have signed Clemens just to send a message anyway.

Yanks have 3 of the top ten in batting average in the AL: Jeter leading at .363, Posada at .353, and A-Rod, even after his relatively cold May so far is still batting .344.

Joe Mauer, many wondering if last season's batting crown winner (.347 in '06) was a fluke, a one season wonder. Clearly not as he is tied for third, interestedly enough with Jorge at .353.

Is Beckett really as good as his numbers are trying to tell us? 7-0, pacing at 35 wins on the year with a 2.51 ERA - I refuse to believe it.

Rassner and DeSalvo set to face the same in team in less than a week which makes is doubtful they'll have a repeat of their last outing.

I hate the way the season is scheduled out. Same team, bunched together in a 10 day span - boring.

The Brewers have the best record in baseball with a winning .pct of better than .700 - are they the best team or just a product of the schedule? Regardless of the answer they have a genuine superstar in the making in Prince Fielder.

I'm hearing rumors about Matsui being pissed at Kei Igawa for disgracing the homeland with his performance YTD.

Toronto gets the Most Disappointing Team award 1 1/2 months into the season. Under .400, it actually could be the best thing that can happen to them. This will give management the justification to get rid of the hack they have now for a manager and find a real one to get them back into relevancy. Toronto is a big market and would be good for the game to get something happening with this franchise again.

I have a strong suspicion that Scooter was at the Free Paris Hilton rally in Manhattan.

The Yanks will likely make up some ground on the BoSox early next week as the Sox play a real team for once, Detroit, at Fenway, for a three game set.


92

23 comments:

old professor said...

To wonder what people would be saying if the Yankees were 30-3 is just wishful thinking - they are 16-17 and 7 games out of first place.

Don't discount Rasner and DeSalvo having good games. DeSalvo appears to have an idea about the game and how to pitch. He also uses all of his pitches. Rasner has shown flashes of why he was a top prospect for the Expos/Nationals. His job now is to begin to develop consistency.

As for Mauer, he started slow last year and came on the last several months of the season. He is also the reigning MVP.

If Posada can continue his hitting through August and September he may be a strong candidate for the MVP. Unfortunately, he has a history of breaking down the last month of the season due to lack of rest.

Anonymous said...

I thought Morneau won last year's MVP - the 1st baseman right?

The catcher won the batting crown

old professor said...

I stand corrected.

Anonymous said...

And you mean to tell me you think poor Paris belongs in jail????

Unknown said...

The entire Brewers team are young superstars. Fielder is just the name everyone knows. Look at JJ Hardy, Ricki Weeks, Bill Hall, Corey Hart,Chris Capuano, Dave Bush, and everyone is familiar with Ben Sheets. Wait till they bring up their 3B from AAA, Ryan Braun. Kid still needs to learn how to field but he is tearing the cover off the ball. They also have this kid pitcher Yovani Gallardo that is going to make Sheets and company look like #4 starters. Trust me DO NOT be surprised when the Brewers win a championship in the next 2-3 years.

Anonymous said...

Not to mention Tony Gwynn (Jr?) who is batting over .400 right now.

- man the Sabres are blowing it! I hope they can mount a come back, it appears though, the Senators have their game figured out.

- DeSalvo looked pretty impressive in his outing.

old professor said...

At on point in time this was a well organized Yankee Blog Site. Now we get ramblings from a Mets fan, occassional pscho outbursts from Boston, and now reports on the Brewers and Buffalo Sabres (?).

Here's a news flash, hockey is the least watched sport in the US. A large portion of the US population could care less about the sport and when they hear New York Rangers, they assume the Texas Law Enforcement Bureau has relocated. Oh yes, Paris Hilton deserves to go to jail. (I can't believe I actually am involved in discussions about Paris Hilton).

Now about the Brewers - They may be young and they may be talented, but let' see where they finish the season. They are leading what has to be the weakest division in Major League baseball. There is also some issue with the early season schedule being very favorable. Indications are they could win their division but will not continue to win at the pace they are have been performing at.

Now for a Yankee analysis - Matt DeSalvo may be the real deal. He has pitched well in his first two outtings and has kept the team in the games he has been involved in.

The decision has already been made he will start against the White Sox and Rasner has found his way to the bullpen.

It will be interesting to see that if he continues to pitch effectively and WIN will the Yankees ship him back to Scranton in favor of Phil Hughes.

The kid is pitching as if he believes he belongs in the rotation. Cannot bode well for Jeff Karstens future with the team.

Anonymous said...

DeSalvo does the same thing as Wang - goofey delivery and lots of ground outs

Anonymous said...

What, no Manchester United update on this blog....and what the hell is going on with Lindsey Lohan?

old professor said...

Okay, I will try to stick to baseball with this note (may cause a quick generational thing here, but Lindsey who?? Is that a pitcher in the minors?).

It looks as if the Yankees are starting to write the Eastern Division off. Damon is out saying that if Boston continues at their current pace, they will be tough to catch. Cashman is hinting it might be the year of the Wild Card for the Yankees and Joe Torre is talking about the lack of fire. (Now there is the kettle calling the pot black - when was the last time that Joe showed fire??)

There has to be some realization that there are significant needs for this team. For the most part, you have all stars at all of the positions (minus first base), but not much of a bench to back them up. Cairo can pitch run, but has not shown any ability to hit, Melky is not adjusting to being the fourth outfielder (and is not hitting), and the back-up catcher cannot be called upon to pitch hit because he is 1-30.

In addition to the weak bench, some of the "stars" are not hitting. Giambi is 0-17 and has a bad foot; Cano is not being selective and is hitting .245; Damon is under .250 and Abreu can't keep his front foot in and is under .250. The only players hitting consistently are Posada, Jeter and A-Rod.

The pitching is starting to fall into place as far as the rotation is concerned, but there are questions again about the pen.

Vizciano is possibly showing why so many teams gave up on him. Farnsworth has been sporadic. Henn has to learn (according to Joe Torre) to trust his stuff.

Here's an idea instead of hiring a conditioning coach, maybe they should hire a team psychologist to deal with the mental issues of the game. Or maybe a hypnotist who can plant the suggestion into players heads that they can pitch at the major league level or hit whatever the case may be.

Sorry I have rambled on. Oh one more thing, last night HBK pinned Edge on Monday Night Raw - Now there is a sport!!!!

Anonymous said...

Can't argue with anything you said there, Prof....even A-Rod is slumping at this juncture. I just thik there are way too many games left with the Sox to throw in the towell on the division.

Cashman is being unmasked this season as a below average GM who has constructed a team that lacks depth.

And Prof, I don't care how old you are, if you don't know who Lindsey Lohan is, I'm thinking you must live under a rock.

Cut and paste, grasshopper.

http://www.boobieblog.com/
img/LindsayLohanShopSeeThrough1.jpg

Unknown said...

So Villone is back with the big club...who did the Yanks send down???

Anonymous said...

Crash...they sent down Henn

Anonymous said...

Jeter is not slumping
Cano, Abreu, and Giambi are ice cold right now.

don't give up on the team now.

Mid

Anonymous said...

bats still looking ice cold 4 innings into game 1 v chicago

Anonymous said...

not the way to start a series out - damon strikes out looking. WTF

old professor said...

The Yankee offense did not look sharp in the first game. Six runners left stranded over three innings.

Mussina did not look sharp. Two issue with his pitching. He again had an extra day of rest which historically he does not like nor does he pitch well when it happens. The second issue involves his battery mate. In his wins this year and when he has looked his best, Nieves has been behind the plate. This was a question Joe Torre was asked the last time Moose pitched. He said Mussina looked more relaxed and in rythme with Nieves, but he did not want to get into the pattern of having Nieves only catch Mussina.

Rationale may be okay, but with a double header scheduled and Nieves having to go one of the games, why not let him catch Mussina? If Nieves is one less thing to clutter his Stanford educated brain, alievate the situtation.

Second game Wang was outstanding and was able to pitch out of jams. What has happened to Abreu??

old professor said...

Just a brief follow-up on Mid-Relief's don't give up on the team yet concept.

Base on their record,of 18-20, If the Yankees play .600 ball for the remainder of the season they will win 92 games and finish the season at 92-70. If Boston plays .500 the rest of the way (and with the pitching staff they have, they will play much better than that), they would finish the regular season with 88 wins.

With the way the Yankees are playing winning 60% of their remaining games is highly unlikely and with teams like Detroit and Cleveland currently playing at the same level as Boston, this may be the year the Yankees stay home and plan on rebuilding.

The series finale against Chicago and the series against the Mets and the next series against Boston will clearly determine the teams fate for this season and that will be with or without Clemens.

Anonymous said...

Boston may not be so un-beatable - I believe I read that Beckett messed his pitching hand up

the first chink of many in the Bean Town armor?

Mid

Anonymous said...

With the lineup that the Yankees field and the pitching staff beginning to come around, this team is certainly capable of going on a major run. You watch all these guys (Damon, Abreu, Giambi, A-Rod) are all going to get hot at once and they will put a nice little 9-1 run together, getting them right back in the thick of this thing.

Anonymous said...

some in the curious assess of [url=http://www.newstarescorts.com]escort shanghai[/url] an common trade name in Mainland in point of fact ridiculously huge prices and settle incorporated

Anonymous said...

nationalist center escort shanghai of clinical studies in behalf of new drugs since and a indication learned manage of China since The control prides itself on its vibrant faculty and.

Anonymous said...

and the relationship between shanghai escort these are the dire to understand the tapein ceaseless training Of practice this drift of disk training

Support the Troops