Saturday, September 01, 2007

Last Weekend of Summer

The Mets, the Yanks, Declining Power Numbers, Pro Wrestling, and Football.

Fuzzy Math:
Quote by 57 on 8/15 in regards to the Mets - "Watch out, 7 game lead by two weeks, you heard it here first.." If by a 7 game lead you meant 2, then we would agree with you. Mets are holding on for dear life and simply put, are not going to be able to hold off the Phillies. I am sad to say that Willie has made some managing errors and outside of a real turn around could be done in Queens.

Spring Haunting:
The now infamous slow start to the season should be put into perspective. Since June 1st (is Doug Mientkiewicz a jinx?) the Yanks are at a winning % of about .630. If they would have had a winning % of .500 instead of the .300 and .400 for April and May they would have, by far, the best record in baseball. Can't do anything about that now, except win the remaining games. 2 games up in the Wild Card.

Pitching: Ian Kennedy did fairly well in his debut. I'm glad Torre let him go a full 7 and 95 pitches. To me, it shows they expect and plan on using this guy down the stretch in higher pressure games and wanting to see a pretty good sized sampling of what he could do... I am not in anyway implying that Phil Hughes is a bust (because I don't think he is, he needs a 3rd pitch, and I truly think he's the real deal). We had to bring him up early and hasn't gotten a lot of work due to the injuries so I think we have to keep things in perspective. With that said, I think he needs to show some improvement in his next start or he may be skipped when his spot comes up in the rotation again.... And we are long overdue for a mention of one of my two favorites: Darryl Rassner is pitching again, and doing well in his rehab assignments so far. Scooter, I know you were concerned, and that's why I mentioned it!

Moose Sighting: Looks like Mussina will be back to the starting rotation after all. Clemens is having blister issues and may need to miss a start. Moose is the logical choice to fill in. . . . damn.

Coincidence? Take a look at the AL HR standings. Yes A-Rod is the man and the clear leader at 45 that is not the point. Here we are at 9/1 and 3 of the top 5 have not even cracked the 30 mark. I cannot remember the last time post 1994 that has been the case. Is the drop in power numbers a coincidence? Or is it the byproduct of the new drug testing policy by MLB? Too soon to tell, but if after say 3 to 5 seasons the power numbers remain down when compared to pre-drug testing, then I would say that it essentially calls into question the legitimacy of all power numbers for the better part of the decade. An * for all? ..... maybe except for Griffey Jr.

WWE: Speaking of drug testing. The WWE suspended 10 of its boys for drug use in the face of a pending congressional investigation (just what our tax dollars needed to be spent on right?!). Randy Orton, Edge, and Umanga are the biggest names that were put on the beach. Obviously that would imply that Batista and Cena are 100% natural... yeah, right.

Football: Michael Strahan says he's playing. As a Giants fan, I'm glad, but this little episode had to be the biggest non-story story. Bottom line, players hate the pre-season, and they hate it even more with an idiot for a coach like Tom Coughlin... I love football, not a huge D1 college football fan in that I don't really have a favorite team. What I do love though is when David bitch slaps Goliath from time to time. And there wasn't a bigger backhand delivered than the one that was offered in the state of Michigan at the Big House. App. State, two-time defending 1-AA champ sticks it to the Big 10 - awesome. 1-AA, has changed its name to Championship Subdivision - in a not so subtle attempt to remind the public that true champions are crowned at the lower levels... And on to the lower level we go, St. John Fisher opened its quest for a championship with a convincing win over perennial post season participant, Kings College, 49-7. Fisher will get its shot at the Stagg Bow this year.

Where the hell did the summer go????

11 comments:

z said...

Goodbye, Andy Phillips. We hardly knew ye.

Unknown said...

Yup...just saw Phillips out for the rest of the season with a broken wrist.

On the NFL front, it looks like all of the experts are picking the G'men to finish last in the NFC East. Might be a long year with the Yanks playing like this and the Giants not looking favorable.

Middle Relief said...

Tough break for Phillips. I'm interested to see what Clemens MRI says if anything.

I was not as impressed with Moose's relief appearance as Torre and the YES Network were.

Middle Relief said...

Kind of a shame that Jeff Karstens blew his opportunity when being called up or perhaps the Yanks would have gone to him vs. the retread of Moose

old professor said...

Where to start hmmmm, Clemens has been complaining of discomfort in his elbow for about the past week. So it begs the question if his elbow is barking why did Torre start him and run the risk of further injury and a blowout score? If (and it appears to be a big if), Clemens is able to pitch, Torre is talking about a six man rotation because he wants to insert Mussina back in the rotation. (Hello, Pettitte and Wang do not pitch well historically on an extra days rest- or is he planning on alternating Mussina and Clemens).

And by the way Mid, Mussina pitched better on Monday then Clemens or for that matter Pettitte in his start. Don't get me started about Hughes - He is a top prospect, but prospects are just that until they can win at the big league level. He has not been able to produce. Is it a product of being brought up too soon or is it more that he constantly has to worry about the pitch count and tries to be to fine so he can go more than five innings?

The Yankees need to worry about wins and not pitch count. Stop babying the kid and let him pitch. If he fails like so many PROSPECTS do, then send him packing. By the why,there is a view by some people (Peter Gammons to be one) that Kennedy is the real deal and actually grades out better because of the number of pitches he can throw than Hughes.

Regarding Rasner, he will not return this year to the Yankees. Not enough time in the minor league season to get in the necessary rehab starts.

Too bad about Phillips he was playing well. This means a regular diet of Giambi at first (speaking of diet, does Giambi look in better shape and thinner than at anytime this season?).

As for the Yankee season - they lose two out of three to Tampa and the opening game to the Mariners. This could be the week that decides their season.

Anonymous said...

On Moose - Like I already said, I did not see the big improvement that everyone else claims of have witnessed; I saw a guy that went less than 4 innings and gave up 3 earned.

In the offseason, Hughes will have to develop a third pitch, or he may take Chamberlain's current spot in the relief rotation when Joba goes to the starting ro next season.

I like the prospect of a starting rotation in '08: Wang, Pettitte, Kennedy, and Chamberlain.

Anonymous said...

Wang does it again. A quality start machine - the ACE of the staff... (with a bad lower back now apparently).

It seems to me that the media has already given the Cy Young Award to Becket. Wang and Becket have almost identical numbers. It'll be an interesting stretch to see who raises the game and who falters.

Mid

Anonymous said...

Hughes did better, an improvement at least, and I think that's what he needed to show.

old professor said...

Two things helped Hughes last night. First, he faced a team that is aggressive at the plate and leads the league in striking out. Secondly, Torre told him to be more aggressive and go after batters. He may still have some difficulty with teams that work the count and show patience at the plate.

A-Rod may have ended any debate about who the MVP should be with his two homer inning last night.

z said...

btw, the link to my blog puts two "https" down.

Anonymous said...

This just in... The Mets are good.

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