2014 Yanx - The Crumble Continues ???

[Edgy MD]

That gif has me hypnotized. I could watch that all day. I would not need to eat. I would not need to sleep.

That makes me bad.

[nymr83]

Centerfield wrote: Derek Jeter. Master of diving after the play.

Wow, yeah, i was really focusing on how late he was to the ball, but he completely dives after the fact and it doesnt look like he needed to. Showboat!

[metsmarathon]

jeez, did he break his hip on that play? i hope he was wearing his lifecall pendant.

[ashie62]

I thought maybe he broke his ankle again or something...

[Edgy MD]

How about all that "he wouldn't disgrace himself --- not like Willie Mays" garbage?

[MFS62]

metsmarathon wrote: jeez, did he break his hip on that play?

No. He was cleared by his Gerontologist.

Later

[Ceetar]

Only the Rangers, Padres, and Royals have hit less than the Yankees 5 HR (tied with MIN, MIA)

the Royals have only hit 1.

[Frayed Knot]

Ceetar wrote: Only the Rangers, Padres, and Royals have hit less than the Yankees 5 HR (tied with MIN, MIA) the Royals have only hit 1.

With Kelly Johnson as the team leader (he has 2).

As I mentioned a few posts earlier, there are/were a number of YLDBs who claimed to want this kind of team, who craved more bunting and running while cursing the "over-dependance" on HRs over the last decade or so because it clashed with their fantasy about the Yanx being a team of scrappy underdogs.
I suspect that they won't sit at the bottom for long; McCann will wake up and start hitting that RF porch eventually, Teixeira's injuries aren't likely to be season long like they were last year, plus Beltran, Ellsbury, etc. But they're definitely going to find out if they like a reduced power team as much as they claim to because Cano & ARod aren't walking back into the clubhouse ... at least not THIS year (heh, heh).

[Centerfield]

Didn't they used to have a centerfielder that hit 40 HR's? What happened to that guy?

[Frayed Knot]

Didn't they used to have a centerfielder that hit 40 HR's? What happened to that guy?

He drank too much and eventually died of liver failure.

Ohh, you mean since Mantle?
Yeah, many Yanx fans weren't too happy w/Granderson by the end of his run there for much the same reason as already discussed: they were willing to give up the 108 HRs he hit over 3 seasons there in favor of more running and bunting, and often didn't realize that the low-ish batting averages were supplemented by close to 100 points of OBA every season.

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Yeah, many Yanx fans weren't too happy w/Granderson by the end of his run there for much the same reason as already discussed: they were willing to give up the 108 HRs he hit over 3 seasons there in favor of more running and bunting, and often didn't realize that the low-ish batting averages were supplemented by close to 100 points of OBA every season.

You can always tell a Yankee fan.
You just can't tell them too much.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Hi, I'm Michael Pineda, and I just pitched my New York Yankees to big 4-1 win over the rival Red Sox, and I... HEY! Why's that camera pointing at my hand?! Get that guy out of here!!

[fimg=650]http://gamedayr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/michael-pineda-pine-tar-hand.jpg[/fimg]

[fimg=650]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1752921.1397181795!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/yankees.jpg[/fimg]

[seawolf17]

True Yankee�.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

seawolf17 wrote: True Yankee�.

Looks like a little intangible Yankee mystique and aura applied to his hand. Awaiting the inevitable rationalizations from MFY faithful.

[Frayed Knot]

Amazing how many shiny, sticky patches of "dirt" (the official explanation) get on pitchers these days. Also how at one point said dirt migrated from the heel of his right hand to the back of his wrist on his left side.
BoSox weren't about to say anything though, not with Clay Buccholz on the mound too last night after he got snagged with this stuff last year.

I didn't see any of the Yanx broadcast last night, but something makes me think that the eyesight of Kay et al wasn't too sharp. Sterling's either for that matter but we already know that poor eyesight is a pre-existing condition with him.

[ashie62]

The use of Pine Tar by pitchers in cold weather is common and accepted.. Better that than someone getting hit...

[Frayed Knot]

The Venezuelan infielder Yangervis Solarte who's been filling in for the Yanx at several positions is Roger Cedeno's nephew and counts Edgardo Alfonzo as a mentor.



I'm gonna root against him anyway.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Ashie62 wrote: The use of Pine Tar by pitchers in cold weather is common and accepted.. Better that than someone getting hit...

The press and MLB treat the Yanks like the Prez or
Royalty. That wasn't a little pine tar, he was heavily
coated.

If the cameras caught that shot on Valverde, for example,
would anyone really be surprised if they jumped all over it
like stick on sap?

[MFS62]

This doesn't belong in a YLDB thread (do we have one for 2014?) because that would be disrespectful to the man.

But, REALLY?
Just because the Wilpons honor Jackie Robinson in their stadium, did the MFYs have to try do something really patronizing like this?
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/04/15/mandela-plaque-at-monument-park-highlights-jackie-robinson-day-festivities/

What's next, a statue of Rudi Guilliani? He's a fan of theirs, too.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

The Yanx apparently have a LHP on their staff named Cesar Cabral ... yeah, me either, but maybe that's because he's made 12 ML appearances overall (8 last season, 4 this) and only managed to rack up 4-2/3 innings to date.

Anyway, he comes into last night's game in Tampa with two outs and the bases empty in the 8th (Rays up by 3) and promptly produced a line of:
Single
Wild Pitch
RBI Single
HBP
HBP
2 RBI Single
HBP

Final score: Rays 11 - Yanx 5 in a game where the Yanx initially jumped out to a 4-0 lead
It didn't salvage the night where we got no-hit for 7 by Aaron Freakin' Harang ... but it helped a bit.

[Frayed Knot]

And as a follow-up to the above, Cabral was DFA'd the next day.

And now it appears that Yanx hurler Ivan Nova has a torn elbow ligament that will likely end his season.
The Rays had come into this current series with the Yanx having scored a total of just 14 runs over their previous nine games. They scored 11 & 16 in the last two games (the 16 was against Nova) so it's not like their pitching was in great shape to start with.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Frayed Knot wrote: And as a follow-up to the above, Cabral was DFA'd the next day. And now it appears that Yanx hurler Ivan Nova has a torn elbow ligament that will likely end his season. The Rays had come into this current series with the Yanx having scored a total of just 14 runs over their previous nine games. They scored 11 & 16 in the last two games (the 16 was against Nova) so it's not like their pitching was in great shape to start with.

Luckily, Jeter will make everyone around him better!

[Edgy MD]

And indeed Ivan Nova climbs aboard the Tommy John train. Did the Braves leave any leftover free agent starters out there in the marketplace? Jeff Karstens? Jason Marquis?

It's going to be Randy Wolf, isn't it?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Dbaggs signed Randy Wolf

[Vic Sage]

The Nova injury was unfortunate; i was hoping he'd stay in their rotation and put up his usual replacement-level numbers, devouring them from within.

[Ceetar]

Vic Sage wrote: The Nova injury was unfortunate; i was hoping he'd stay in their rotation and put up his usual replacement-level numbers, devouring them from within.

Don't worry, the Yankees have the depth of a kiddie pool. I'm sure they'll find someone to put up sub-replacement level numbers for them.

[Frayed Knot]

I'm just afraid of the next Aaron Small showing up out of somewhere.

Small was the journeyman 33 y/o RHP who had pitched for 5 teams over pieces of 8 seasons but appeared in only 8 ML games between 1998 & 2004. The Yanx signed him off the scrap heap in 2005 then brought him up in July due to pitching injuries (replaced CM Wang IIRC) where he proceeded to go 10-0 in 15 games/9 starts. He, and the almost as obscure Shawn Chacon (7-3; 2.85) saved that team's hide that year.

Small never won another ML game and retired after the following season.

[Ceetar]

well, they have the right um...cocktail..in the locker room to help with stuff like that.

[Frayed Knot]

This time Pineda thought he'd hide his pine tar stash on his neck ... but this time he was caught and ejected.


That boy just ain't right

[Guest d'Kong76]

It's a new cologne, Eau Du Pine!