Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Fire Girardi !!

No, it is not a repeat post.

The last time put a title up like that (5/25) it was in the form of a question.

This is a demand.

Fire Girardi!!!

The team is not responding and is playing itself out of the playoff picture.

Promote Pena or trade to bring back Joe T!

19 comments:

The Scooter said...

It's not gonna happen, Mid.

They will probably sneak into a wild card slot...win a round and save his job.

I would love to see a house cleaning...Cashman, Girardi, Eilland, Long.

Larry Bowa is the perfect manager for this team of underachievers. He's probably to loyal to Torre to take the job though.

old professor said...

Scooter,

The way this team is playing, they will shortly play themselves out of contention. I believe they are now tied with Toronto and may be one game ahead of Tampa Bay. By the All Star break they will be in fourth place. The pitching rotation is in disaray and the bullpen is a mess. They were going to keep Hughes in the pen for only two weeks in order to watch Wang's progression. It is now four weeks into that process and Hughes is still in the pen. He will not have the ability if called upon to produce an effective long start. Turns out Chamberlain is not the super stud they thought he was and doesn't belong in the rotation. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of choices left. They can go with CC, Pettitte, Burnett and Hughes and hope for the best from the #5 starter (Aceves or Chamberlain).

Too many excuses from Girardi. And I don't want to here "we have hit a rough patch." Eiland has not been the savior for the young pitchers they thought he was going to be. Long's long-term reclaimation project was Cano - guess what, he is slumping and falling into old ways.

Crash said...

Anyone find it coincidental that Girardi leaves the game, Pena is in control for all of 2 pitches and the Yankees offense comes alive.

old professor said...

Non-Yankee subject (sort of) anyone tired of umpires not getting it right. Strike zones that shrink, expand, disappear depending on who the umpire is or more importantly who the pitcher is? Homeruns that aren't homeruns, and now pick-offs that aren't pick-offs. A blind man could have made a better call.

There doesn't seem to be anyone who can hold the umpires accountalbe for bad calls, starting confrontations with players or simply being incompetent.

Now back to the game - Crash do you actually think Pena was in control? Most managers who get tossed sit in the runway to the clubhouse and call the game from there. The one thing I saw from Pena that you don't get from Girardi was enthusiasm. When A-Rod went to bat he was yelling encouragement from the time the guy left the dugout until he approached the plate (and he came through). Pena seemed more into the game and having a better time than Girardi ever does. Girardi may have an excellent knowledge of the game, but he always comes off as being at a funeral.

Chamberlain seemed to have good stuff, but still couldn't get through the seventh inning. Michael Kay finally acknowledged that Chamberlain seems to shake the catcher off more than anyone else in the rotation. Hint - Get the sign, get the location and throw the ball STOP thinking.

The Scooter said...

Well you have to start somewhere.

A quality pitching performance from Joba. I really don't think we can quibble with 6+ strong innings where he seemed to have both velocity and command of the fastball. As he matures, you hope that he would learn to trust his catchers a little more and the shaking off will decrease.

The bats finally woke up. Once again (as in the 15-0 Mets game), Cervelli is the spark. A-Rod FINALLY gets a big hit and I'm sure that Teixiera is just as happy as he is.

Mariano looked as good as he has looked all year.

Now win the series.

Crash said...

Old Prof I think the umps get 99.9% of the calls right on the field. The strike zone is another story, it varies from ump to ump but in general they get it right. How many times have we seen replays in super slow motion and it's still bang-bang and you're asking that guy to make the call in fractions of a second. They're good!

Scooter let's not get out of control with praise toward Joba's performance. The only good thing about it was he didn't walk anyone. I think I would impose a fine for every time he shakes off the catcher.

I don't want Cervelli to go back to the minors when Molina comes off the DL.

I'll be keeping an eye on the Red Sox game tonight. John Smoltz makes his debut for them. If he looks anywhere close to right, they have set themselves up big time for October. If you're able to go with Beckett and Smoltz, 2 proven post season performers...wow.

The Scooter said...

Every one is so quick to criticize Joba when he has a poor outing, I'm not sure why we find it so difficult to praise him when he has a good one.

He pitched well and would have made it through the seventh if made a good throw to first.

The Scooter said...

Anyone else find it interesting that Cashman showed up in Atlanta. He made it a point to say that both Girardi and Long are safe, so I suppose we take him for his word. But when is the last time the GM showed up on a road trip?

Also another interesting tidbit courtesy of Michael Kay. It seems as if last night, Melky was on the original line up card, but then Swisher went in to Girardi's office and had a meeting with the manager AND Cashman. When the meeting was through, Girardi changed the line up and replaced Melky with Swish. Don't know what to make of it....if anything....just thought it was odd.

The Scooter said...

Oh...Ransom up...Berroa DFA

old professor said...

With Berroa being designated for assignment, I hope they get more for him than they got for Veras (traded to Cleveland for cash consideraions - maybe they need to reduce their ticket prices some more).

Cashman showing up in Atlanta may have sent a message to some that they could be on their way out of town.

Crash, the umps get paid very well to get it right - and to say the strike zone varies from ump to ump kind of supports my supposition - balls and strikes are most of what they need to do. Most players get thrown out when they argue balls and strikes because the guy behind the plate can't get it right.

The Scooter said...

Well two of three from the Braves isn't so bad. Although Andy struggled, I guess we have to expect one of those every four or five outings from him.

Obviously, the good news is that somehow, some way, A-Rod seems to have found his stroke. If he AND Teixeira ever get hot at the same time, look out....they could go on another ten game winning streak.

Top of the order with Jetes and Johnny was superb.

Defense still shaky. and the fact that they have won two in a row does not change the fact that Melky, Gardner and Swisher are each FOURTH outfielders on a good team.

Nady takes himself out of a minor league game last night after making two throws. Doesn't sound good. I doubt if we will see him again this year.

Yankees need an outfielder. But where are they going to get one?

Adam Dunne?......No Thank you

Mark Derosa?....Word is Cleveland is asking for someone's first born for him

Gary Matthews Jr.?....Hitting .225

Juan Pierre?....maybe...not a whole lot of "pop" though

Magglio Ordonez?....High Rick...High Reward

Jermaine Dye?....DING DING DING....we have a winner

57 said...

The worst thing that could have happened to the Yankees was the Mets to win 3 of 4 against the 1st place cards... there is a CHIP and a SWAGGER over in Queens right now... you're facing the Mets at the wrong time.

When Reyes comes back he'll be traded and we'll get a stud for him...

Lookout NL.

Crash said...

Yea Andy did struggle last night, you're right you expect 1 of 5 starts to be a clunker...kind of the opposite of Joba. I guess we should start to expect one good start out of 5 for him.

Scooter I like you're thinking on Dye, but there are more important issues for the Yankees. They need to get a QUALITY arm for the bullpen. With A-Rod and Teixeira and Cano and Posada and Damnon and Jeter you can't convince me this a team that needs more offense (let's forget for a moment 2 days ago I posed the question where the hell has the offense gone).

I hate the way the Yankees are using Hughes right now. It absolutely drives me up the wall. He has the stuff and make up to be the 8th inning guy and even close if/when Rivera needs a day off. He needs to be in the rotation or used as a shut the door kind of guy. Not Wang's mop up guy when he can't get through 5 innings.

Old Prof your favorite liability du jour, aka Johnny Damon, had a great night. Yeah he slumped for about a week, but seems to be back on course. Who's your next target, because we need them to start hitting too.

old professor said...

Crash regarding my next victim - anyone who can't show consistency when he is making millions and at the sametime is asking to succeed only three out of ten times up. Damon has become open to lefthanded pitchers throwing breaking pitches.

Too bad about Nady - if he is done, he can be put on the 60 day DL and clear the way for Austin Jackson to be brought up. Cano is also suffering from a wrist problem no word on how severe it is.

57, you are delusional. The only team that has had more injuries than the Yankees is the Mets. By beating the Cardinals, they may have pointed out just how weak the NL really is.

old professor said...

Oh forgot to mention I will probably be out of the loop for awhile. Eight days in DC and Virgina.

The Scooter said...

Prof, enjoy your trip.

Some performance by CC and the bats last night, I gather. Unfortunately an electrical storm knocked out my Cable and I only got to see the ninth.

Looks like Gardner had a great night and Cano had a couple of hits. And I saw where A-Rod went deep (Passing Mr. October in the process). So much for Citi Field being the place where fly balls go to die.

Did I miss anything else that I should know about?

Crash said...

I think I heard someone say that Gardner was only in the game because Jeter was a late scratch, so they put him to bat lead off. Not bad. 5 hits, one was a HR, one was triple, and he had a stolen base as well.

We need AJ to step up tonight. The team is on a roll and he needs to keep it going. Bullpen should be rested if needed as only Tomko was used last night.

Maybe Mo can get save # 500 tonight. Or better yet maybe they won't need to go to him because it turns to out to be another blow out.

This series: 1-0 good guys.

The Scooter said...

Another one in the books. Thankfully my cable worked for this one.

AJ was everything that they expected when they signed him and more. He looked as good if not better as he did when 57 and I saw them in person. Total domination.

Once again, the Yankees made big bad Citi Field look like a bandbox. David Wright must be pulling his hair out watching Swisher and Posada going deep to left center.

Melky made two fantastic plays in left that Damon would not have even gotten close to. I'm starting to think that The Yankees (as constituted now) are at their best with Melky in left, Gardner in Center and Swisher in Right. I STILL think they need another "starting" outfielder though.

Pena may be the next coming of Ozzie Smith. I wonder if he holds enough trade value to package with a young arm for Matt Holliday (although i think Holliday may be a tad over-rated). McClouth would have looked SO GOOD on this team.

A-Rod is still raking and Tex busted out of his mini slump. They are firing on all cylinders.

Bruny was sharp.

Wang goes for the sweep today, and I can't think of a better team than the anemic Mets for him to go up against at this time.

If the Yankees win tonight, what's the over/under on when 57 crawls out from under his rock?

old professor said...

Hey, large hotel rooms have internet, so I am not out of the loop after all.

Scooter, with the possibility that Jeter will be playing outfield someday in the future, why would the Yankees want to trade Pena? He has GREAT range and has a better than average arm. Oh and he is approximately 14 years younger than the incumbent shortstop.

57, once again you have been proven wrong. Over the last three games (the last one at THE stadium and the first two at Citi field) the Yankees have outscored the Muts 29-1. So much for a hot team. Maybe Wang can get his first win of the season.

Got to go I am expected to go to the keynote address at the conference. By the way the Dell Tablet has some unreal features.

Did I mention this was a technology conference? Crash, your mother is trying to teach me to text message. Don't understand why, it is still easier to just call and talk to someone.!!

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