NYC's Weak Sisters, 2007 (part II)

[Willets Point]

Yankees lead the majors in runs scored with 190.

[nymr83]

our old friend Victor Diaz hit a grand slam in that one as a pinch hitter

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Willets - "Yankees lead the majors in runs scored with 190."

Still they have a record of 16-17. They're 25th in team ERA at 4.80.

[Willets Point]

Their runs scored totals are in the middle of the pack for all of MLB. I expect they'll win more than lose as the season goes along. In fact, accordining to baseball-reference their Pythagorean W-L is a very good 19-13.

The Yankees are not out of this so we should refrain from premature jocularity at their expense.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Yeah....well...you started it.

I agree the Yankees are far from dead. Their lineup is too potent for their pitching to undermine. Riviera will get his act together before too long and soon asshead will be joining the rotation, which should give them a boost. George's evil empire will not go down without a fight.

[metirish]

[Centerfield]

I happened to be watching this game when Michael Kay delivered the news that the Red Sox had come back to win. His tone was so somber you'd think he was telling the audience Kennedy had been shot.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I head Susan & Sterling discover it on the radio, which might have been better. Susan was so distraught she didn't even tell the audience, she said something like, "I cant' believe that," leaving Sterling to tell us what she was mentioning.

[metirish]

Johnny Damon thought it was a mistake on the scoreboard in Seattle....then he went on to say that if the Sox keep playing like that no one will catch them...is Abrue still the perfect fit for the yankees?

[Frayed Knot]

Dang, I wish I had heard either one of those.
I'm guessing that Suzyn didn't go into her; "OF ALL THE DRAMATIC THINGS I'VE EVER SEEN" routine.
Best line I've heard on her Clemens announcement was that women everywhere who heard that turned and said; "I'll have what she's having"




Challenging month coming up for the Yanx.
After a relatively easy two weeks of playing Texas, then Seattle, then Texas, then Seattle (where they started 3-0 but then ended 8-5) their next three weeks shape up as:
- at ChiSox for 3
- at Shea for 3
- host BoSox for 3
- host Angels for 3
- at Toronto for 3
- at BoSox for 3
- at ChiSox (again) for 4

[Centerfield]

I just heard the Waldman clip. Amazing.

[Frayed Knot]

Especially so since:

a) It wasn't unexpected!!
OK so it wasn't expected That Day ... but virtually every sportwriter everywhere predicted he would wind up w/the Yanx this season. So how exactly was this "Dramatic"?

she treated him like some all-time Yankee hero!
Half the Yanx fans never liked him much, and even some of the ones who did aren't too enamored by this return since he's only slightly younger than Matlock at this point and the whole thing just reeks of mercenary ballplaying.

c) the "Welcome Home" part was the real killer. Here's a guy born in Ohio (his bio usually skips over that part), raised in Texas, who spent exactly FOUR of his 23 seasons the Bronx ... and we're going to pretend that this is "home"

GMAFB!

[metirish]

Waldman on the criticism she got after the Clemens knickers wetting incident.

] "Do I get hurt when people rip me? Yes," she said. "I'm extremely sensitive and very emotional and it hurts. But if I can't get used to it and I can't take it I should do something else with my life." (Read more from Waldman and other weekend stuff in my blog at Newsday.com/sports.) Waldman, who at the end of the game welcomed Clemens "home," seemed surprised her reaction had caused a stir. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere and I don't apologize for who I am," she said. "I never said I was Vin Scully or Bob Costas. That's not why I'm here."

[MFS62]

="metirish"] "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere and I don't apologize for who I am," she said. "I never said I was Vin Scully or Bob Costas. That's not why I'm here."

Gee, Suzyn. If you've figured out why you are here, can you please tell us?
Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

The last time I heard her voice was a few years ago when she and Howie Rose were on WFAN together (for the station's anniversary) and Waldman was going on about how absurd it is that people think she roots for the Yankees.

I wonder, does she still pretend that she's impartial? I've never heard her do a Yankees game, but from what I've heard about her, it doesn't sound like she's at all objective.

[stevejrogers]

="Yancy Street Gang"]The last time I heard her voice was a few years ago when she and Howie Rose were on WFAN together (for the station's anniversary) and Waldman was going on about how absurd it is that people think she roots for the Yankees. I wonder, does she still pretend that she's impartial? I've never heard her do a Yankees game, but from what I've heard about her, it doesn't sound like she's at all objective.

She generally goes the Michael Kay route, where they don't say they root for a specific team, but rather for specific players, and "Roger" is one of those players for both.

Before she joined the broadcast booth she always did sound like she still had the Sox in her heart over the Yankees, but definatly takes a "motherly" approach to the Yankees and/or her favorite players or type of ball player

Perfect example, Jason Tyner comes up and she anoints him on her talk show about how he looked like he was going to be a real special ball player. That didn't turn out so well!

[Willets Point]

Funny stuff.

[metirish]

That blog is pretty funny.

] ESPN wants Rocket's minor-league starts on TV BY KEN DAVIDOFF AND NEIL BEST ESPN is working to televise all of Roger Clemens' minor-league starts, Newsday has learned, and an official announcement could come as soon as Tuesday. Clemens, who re-signed with the Yankees on May 6, is scheduled to make his first minor-league start Friday night for Class A Tampa. From there, he is tentatively scheduled to pitch for Double-A Trenton on Wednesday, May 23. Clemens could be ready to join the Yankees at that point, or he could need more time. ESPN plans to televise Clemens' minor-league starts for only as long as Clemens is in the game. In building up his arm strength, he will likely pitch as few as three innings Friday night.

Well, that beats Banagher.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Gosh, but that's stupid.

Do they really think that many viewers will want to watch 45-year-old Roger Clemens pitch three innings against a bunch of 19-year-old Single A players?

Would you tune in to watch Pedro Martinez pitch his minor league tuneup games later this season? Maybe I'd watch it for a few minutes if I happened to be in front of the TV when it was on, but I certainly wouldn't seek it out.

I could see YES televising this Clemens stuff, but ESPN? Is the country Clemens crazy? If so, I haven't noticed it at all.

[nymr83]

no, but ESPN has Clemens on their list of things to kiss ass to along with the NBA, derek jeter, and stupid "sports" like rollerskating/skateboarding that nobody actually watches

[Frayed Knot]

ESPN has become very "Star" crazy in recent years, blurring the line between athlete and celebrity to the point that anytime one of their chosen guys: Bonds, Tiger, Terrell Owens, Bobby Knight, Parcells, etc., makes a move they're sending a camera crew and makeup artists to cover it.
Clemens and all his on-again/off-again retirement plans has become part of that crew and if they got footage of him or any of the above milking a cow they'd not only televise it but probably turn it into a mini-series or reality show.

[Benjamin Grimm]

So ESPN is taking an Entertainment Tonight approach to sports coverage? I guess they're finally living up to their first initial. Sounds like they're dumbing down in order to get a larger audience.

Is it working, though? Are viewers actually tuning in to watch Tiger Woods milking a cow?

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I swear I grew out of the ESPN demographic years before I grew out of the MTV demographic.

It's... just... not... interesting.

[Willets Point]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Is it working, though? Are viewers actually tuning in to watch Tiger Woods milking a cow?

Actually I'd find that more interesting than golf.

[Frayed Knot]

NYTimes sportswriter George Vescey has taken to calling the crew at ESPN "the silly boys" for their routines treating the SportsCenter shows as a virtual stand-up audition.
I'll check into BB2N (a wholelot lower on the silliness scale) to see what's going on in the out of town games but generally avoid SportsCenter and most of that station's packaged shows.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Centerfield wrote: I just heard the Waldman clip. Amazing.

OK, I GOTTA hear this. Is it online anywhere?

[seawolf17]

http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/blog/2007/05/suzyn_waldman_h.html

[stevejrogers]

Gotta love MFY fan logic sometimes. An over the top Yankee fan radio host was out with his Met fan producer, and after the game ended last night the producer exclaimed that there was NO WAY any newspaper would take the Yankees over the Mets for the back page this morning. The host shot back "Of course they are leading with the Yankees, they want to sell papers don't they?"

And sure enough



Too be fair, The Post got it right. Don't ask me why Yankees looking at 9 miles of bad road (or whatever that saying is) would sell more than the Mets with a wild finish, but journalistically the story is the Met win.

[Willets Point]

I bet the 11-year-old girl loves the Yankees too.

[nymr83]

its been my experience that the yankees get the backpage 80-90% of the time no matter what