All-Season MFY IGT

[Guest Rotblatt]

I don't think it has to do with the teams so much as the situation--the ALCS is totally different from a regular series game against the Sox.

I know A-Rod did great against them in the first three games, but I'd be interested to see how he did in close & late situations that series.

This is all just my opinion, and I fully admit that it's totally colored by an intense dislike of A-Rod. My anecdotal evidence is how Arroyo completely dominated A-Rod in the "slap" at bat, after knocking Arroyo around a few days earlier. He was making tentative swings and just looked unnerved up there.

Again, I don't like the guy, so my perception is totally skewed, so feel free to ignore all of the above.

[Guest Centerfield]

That's fine...and you're entitled to your perception of things. My problem is with the fans who spout it as if it's some sort of fact and then go on to make character judgments based upon their "knowledge".

[Guest Elster88]

ARod hit the snot out of the ball in the first four games against the Sox in the 2004 ALCS. He went 0 for the last three games, but it's not like the first four are non-stressful. If I remember correctly, he also hit well in the playoffs as a Mariner.

[Guest Willets Point]

There's way too much Yankees chatter on this forum.

[Guest soupcan]

Mr. Yankee says:
"A day without Yankee chatter is like a day without a 21 year-old 'lifelong' Yankee fan not being able to tell you who the Yankee shortstop was before Jeter"

[Guest seawolf17]

Dammit! Will you keep that evil thing off the board?! I'd rather see the fat kid freaking out.

[Guest soupcan]

Sorry, I'll put the evil bastard away.

Who was the Yankee ss B.J. - Santana?

[Guest seawolf17]

Tony Fernandez.

[Guest soupcan]

Right.

I had the wrong ex-Met turned Yankee.

[Guest metsmarathon]

] During the same time period, he has hit more HR's against only 3 teams, (Oakland, Baltimore and Oakland).

are those the detroit tigers of oakland? i guess everybody's jumping onto the angels' bandwagon - but couldnt they pick a better city?

... and actually, he's hit 5 against tampa and san diego...
in fact, the sawx are one of his worst teams against in terms of AB/HR (26)

and of the 19 teams he's played against, his OPS against the sox, as long as he's been a yankee, is 11th (0.840). that's worded poorly, but you get hte idea. i hope...

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Matsui grounds out with the bases loaded to end the third in what passes for a threat in Yankee-land these days.

Brewers lead 2-0 on a homer by Bill Hall.

[Guest Elster88]

Bases loaded with your cleanup hitter up only passes for a threat in Yankee-land?

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Well, they don't actually score in those situations.

Posada leaves two on in the sixth. Still 2-0 Brewers.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Quantrill puts on two but gives up no runs. Bottallico in to pitch the eighth for MIL.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Turnbow on for the ninth, still 2-0. Giambi, Posada and Tippy Cano.

Giambi flies to the RF wall. 10 ml. more and it's out.

[Guest Frayed Knot]

Centerfield wrote: That's fine...and you're entitled to your perception of things. My problem is with the fans who spout it as if it's some sort of fact and then go on to make character judgments based upon their "knowledge".

And that's really the point here.
I reprinted those stats from Verducci - partly because they surprised me - but moreso because NYY fans (and more than a couple of talk show hosts to boot) "know" - I mean they freekin' KNOW - that Jeter's numbers could never be so puny in those all-important BoSox games ... except that they are.

It's all a part of the theory of pre-determined expectations. Fans who form an opinion early-on that a certain player is (or is not) "clutch" can always find specific instances to reinforce that notion while selectively ignoring those cases which contradict. In this particular case; Jeter is actually dong worse in this hand-picked situation which is being used to define A-Rod but those fans don't even know it because they've already decided on the answer they want and it's now come to the point where the evidence no longer matters.

[Guest Frayed Knot]

And - as I'm typing this - guess who just made the last out of the game .... a 1-run game .... w/the tying run on 3rd?



Yup, that Jeter guy again.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Quoth Michael Kay:

"And once again the Yankees fail in the clutch."

Posada backhands a lob over short, and Cano drives one into the gap in RC. Jenkins nearly Swobodas the ball, but he loses it as he hits the ground, and it's 2nd and 3rd.

Bernie, double-switched into the game in the 8th, grounds out, and up comes Cap'n Crotchrot. First pitch, a comebacker, and the Yankees lose to the Brewers - yes, the Brewers - 2-1. Kay is about to swallow his tongue.

[Guest metirish]

Someone will get fired surely, Cashman has been back and forth from NY to KC, back to NY and sent out again for this series, next stop Tampa?

[Guest Centerfield]

You know, Milwaukee has always been a tough place to come in and win games. This thread is fun these days...I just hope it lasts.

Losing streak at:

[Guest MFS62]

In the past, a Yank power outage usually meant that the hitting coach shouldn't send out his laundry.
I wonder what will happen.
Will Boss George fire Mattingly?
This could get interesting.
Stay tuned.

Later

[Guest Frayed Knot]

Buster Olney was on espn mentioning that there are rumblings from Yanqui camp (w/o any specifics of course) that another bad night in Beertown tonight, coupled w/an off-day tomorrow (Thurs), in advance of a probable tough series in St. Looie, could mean the start of a shake-up.

But really, what can George do that'll make a whole lot of difference?

* Fire Torre? And eat the remaining 2-1/2 yrs & $16mil left on his deal while installing Joe Girardi and his whopping 9 weeks of bench-coach experince? ... I don't think so!

* Fire icon Mattingly for the bats going to sleep? ... that'll bring more bad pub than it's worth

* Fire Mel Stot for the pitching woes? -- he's going to quit at the end of the year anyway so all that'll do is give him a paid 3-month vacay.

* Shake-up the line-up? There's very little to move.
Not gonna move: Jeter, A-Rod, Rivera
Not possible to move: Giambi, Bernie, Johnson, Pavano, Brown
Won't bring much even if you could move them: Tino, Quantrill, Womack, Sturtze, Flaherty, etc.
Could possibly move - but then you'd have to replace them: Posada, Matsui, Gordon, Mussina
Might bring something (though I'm not sure what): Cano, Wang

[Guest Elster88]

Nothing pleases me more then the Yanqs having a team playing poorly and nothing of value to trade.

Well, SOME things please me more, but not many.

[Guest Rotblatt]

I'm sure they'll move Cano & Wang--I'm hoping it's for Brett Boone and maybe El Duque and they sign both of them to 3-year deals.

[Guest Elster88]

I hope they do trade Wang, because he appears to be a good young pitcher. I think Cano sucks, though I haven't been following closely. They can keep him.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

A bold, Steinbrenneresque move would be to open secret talks with Tampa Bay, and then grab the headlines with a bombshell move: Torre gets fired and replaced with Piniella.

I don't expect it to happen. As stated above, cutting Torre loose would cost too much money. But I wouldn't be terribly surprised if something like this did happen. Since George would be paying Joe anyway, he'd keep him around as a "special advisor." Then he could fire Lou next year and replace him with Torre.

That's the kind of stuff Steinbrenner would do routinely about 20 years ago.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

The easy solution for George is to whack Cashman, which will make a statement but do little immediate good.

For Cashman, it'll be like getting out of jail, but George will make him sign a no-tattling clause as a condition of severance $$.

I just finished Buster Olney's LAST NIGHT... book and was surprised at how excellent it really was. Read it!

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Great column that gets to the nads of the issue and without spin:

[url]http://www.yesnetwork.com/yankees/pinstripedbible.asp[/url]

[Guest Edgy DC]

Gotta hand it to Torre. He juggles the lineup, benches Godzilla, gets his ass tossed from the game and the Yanks get much-needed laugher.

I-Pod also becomes the first player to hit 400 homers before turning 30.

[Guest Elster88]

Godzilla's games played streak stretching back to his Japanese-league days is over?