Thoughts, lists and other compulsive bits about baseball from comedian filmmaker television producer/Red Sox fan Paul Francis Sullivan....
feel free to call him “Sully.”
Let me just say last night’s game was a good thing. It wasn’t a pretty thing… it wasn’t good for the blood pressure. But at this point wins are wins.
Granted when you score 10 runs in the first, there should not be ANY tension. When you score 14 through 6 innings, the other team should be thinking about which utility infielder should coming in to pitch.
When you have 15 runs on the board going into the 8th, you shouldn’t be saying “Man we need to come back.”
When you have 15 runs on the board, Okajima should be back in his apartment taking a nap, not pitching in the 7th.
When you score 19 runs, the only way there should be a save situation would be the “pitch the last 3 innings” like Wes Littleton did in the 30-3 win last year.
But in the end, it doesn’t matter. Papi went nuts as did Fenway. A win is a win… 2 up in the loss column for the Wild Card. 4 back in the loss column.
95 wins will in all probability clinch a playoff spot. 42 games left. The Sox need to go 26-16.
If they win 26 games 19-17, I’ll be fine. I’ll need some Tums, but I’ll be fine.
So the Hall of Fame game is no longer going to be an event at Cooperstown. No longer will there be an exhibition of Major League Baseball being played during the best celebration of Major League Baseball of the year.
It’s a shame… but quick, tell me the final score of last year’s Hall of Fame Game! Tell me who played!
I know I can’t answer that. I have no clue. The game isn’t aired mainly because it doesn’t count.
It’s a strange exhibition played in the middle of the season in an Upstate New York town that baseball WASN’T invented in.
But it is a nice tradition… and it can easily be saved.
Make the game count. Why not?
Have a regular season Major League baseball game played at Cooperstown the Monday after the Hall of Fame inductions.
How great would that be? You could invite the Hall of Famers to sit in the crowd while the stadium is packed and an outdoor traditional park would see hard nosed baseball…
Maybe a future Hall of Famer would be playing in the game.
Spare me any talk about the grueling schedule. You could give both teams that play in the game the Tuesday off. The lousy players are making six figure salaries. They can rough it.
I don’t want to hear about irregular travel. I watched my Red Sox start the season in Japan this year. I think that travel was a smidge irregular. I’m not talking about going to Asia… I’m talking upstate New York!
And spare me any discussion about the facility not being up to Major League Standards. The A’s had to start the 1996 season in Las Vegas. The 1996 Republican Convention forced the Padres to play in Monterry Mexico. The Expos played 20 some odd games in San Juan in 2003 and 2004.
You are telling me we can’t play one game in Cooperstown?
And I don’t want to hear about how this would affect attendance. The Yankees are a decent draw and they played a pair of games in Japan in 2004. The Red Sox draw everywhere on the road and they played in Japan too.
And why not take a team that isn’t drawing and have them play in Cooperstown? The Marlins are only a game and a half out of first but only draw 15,000 a game in Miami.
For God’s sake a packed Doubleday Field might be the only packed house the Marlins would play to all year.
So come on! One game a year in Cooperstown. Give it a shot!
I know making decisions that are good for the long term growth of the game isn’t exactly in Bud Selig’s wheel house… but give it a shot.
Assuming Tampa can win 17 of their last 53 games to finish above .500, the Pirates would be the only team to not break even a single season since the divisions expanded in 1994.
In a potentially dead trade market, Pittsburgh was one of the few teams with trade chips that people wanted. A solid outfielder like Xavier Nady... a reliever with October experience like Damaso Marte and an All Star caliber hitter like Jason Bay.
And they dealt them all... and didn't get a single top flight prospect for any of them. Mediocre prospects all, including the Red Sox's Craig Hansen who as it turned out was NOT the effective reliever I thought he was becoming.
So you are a mediocre team who makes trades to ensure you REMAIN a mediocre team. Great work!
The removing of the Manny Ramirez distraction has taken a weight off of the Red Sox collective shoulders. And Jason Bay's hustle, defense and power might be the spark the Red Sox needed to kick start what has been a lackluster second half and maybe it will be the turning point similar to the Nomar Garciaparra deal in 2004.
The Second Way:
The A's stink and playing a tomato can instead of a potential World Series winner like the Angels is a nice way to pad the win column.
It might be more of the second way... But Jason Bay is showing exactly how to win over the fans.
All he has to do is hit the game winning homer or triple in extra innings every game.
Because he knows his contract is up... And, despite an insane All Star selection, he is having a rotten year at the plate.
He wants a contract extension. He wants to come back and remain being the captain of the Red Sox.
And he knows he has a GM who is as sentimental as Michael Corleone at the Baptism.
Manny Ramirez... 2004 World Series MVP... Hall of Famer... minute it helped the team for him to be gone, off he goes.
Johnny Damon... the face and the sex symbol of the 2004 champs... gone. Pedro Martinez... the maestro ace whose acquisition in 1998 changed the face and direction of the team... gone. Nomar Garciaparra... whose very name became a Massachusetts accented rallying cry... gone.
And the Red Sox won a World Series without Damon, Pedro and Nomar...
No doubt the negotiations will unfold like Tessio's last moments with Tom Hagen. "Theo... can't you let me off the hook? For old time's sake." "Can't do it Tek."
Take a good look at him, Sox fans. He's as good as gone.
He hasn't been on a winning team since the 2000 Reds, who finished 10 games behind St. Louis and weren't in contention from August on.
He hasn't played meaningful games in September since his MVP season of 1997, when the Mariners lost to the Orioles in the Division Series.
Does he have another burst of October magic in him?
Will he be able to have a crowning October moment for his Cooperstown resume... a la Paul Molitor with the 1993 Blue Jays?
I hope so... and if the Red Sox don't win the AL Pennant, I'll be rooting for the White Sox if for no other reason than to see the greatest player I have EVER seen get one more crack at the big stage.
And while Manny being Manny was a little less fun this year (pushing 60 something guys to the ground will do that) I was still hoping it could work out...
I was still hoping that cool heads will prevail.
I was hoping that someone could tell Manny "Hey, you get to play for a great team, potentially win a third World Series ring, be worshipped and make $20 million a year."
I was hoping that Manny could look at the above scenario and say "That isn't completely terrible."
But alas, like Luis Tiant, Carlton Fisk, Bruce Hurst, Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra before him... it ended, and didn't end the way it should have.
Unlike those Sox players, Manny has a pair of World Series rings, and earned them both big time.
And of course now the Manny smearing is going on in full force in Boston. But before he is completely thrown under the bus, let's remember every great thing he did in Boston.
1. He put up AMAZING numbers.
Whether you like tradition HR, AVG, RBI numbers or you are an OPS guy... Manny made you salivate.
He won the 2002 batting title and was a consistent .300 hitter. He won the 2004 home run crown and was a lock to knock in 100 runs a year.
In 6 of the 7 full seasons he played in Boston he finished in the top 4 in AL OPS, finishing first in 2004.
In 2003, 2004 and 2006 he led the AL in On Base Percentage... almost unheard of for a power hitter.
2. His flair for the dramatic
How many late game rallies featured a big Manny hit? How many game tying shots, or homers that put a game away did he hit?
More than any of us can remember. Seriously, in the years since he arrived... if it was a close game in the 9th with Manny coming up, didn't you always think somewhere in the back of your head that something cool was about to happen?
3. He was a Yankee killer.
Ever since he broke in with the Indians in the early 1990s, he loved hitting in Yankee Stadium. But when he became a Red Sox, he plugged himself right into the rivalry in a big way.
The first ever Red Sox/Yankees game he ever played in was on April 13, 2001. He hit a 2 out, 2 run single in the bottom of the 10th off of Mariano Rivera to give the Red Sox an extra inning win.
He seemed to come up big time and time again over the years.
4. The tandem
Can you name a more fearsome duo than David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez?
Can you think of a recent pairing of disciplined power hitters whose very prescience can change the complexion and managing of a game?
If you did come up with a duo... were they more fun than Papi and Manny? Didn't think so
5. The Post Seasons
Let's look at every post season series that Manny played in a Red Sox uniform
Manny's home run off of Barry Zito put the Red Sox up for good in the final game of the 2003 division series.
Manny batted .310 with 2 homers in the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees.
Manny drove in 7 runs in 3 games against the Angels in the 2004 ALDS.
Manny batted .300 in the ALCS win against the Yankees.
Manny was the MVP of the 2004 World Series... remember the World Series that we were waiting our whole lives for... by batting .412 and hitting a key first inning, take the crowd out of the World Series homer in game 3 in St. Louis.
Manny batted .300 with a pair of homers in the 2005 Division Series against the White Sox.
Manny hit 2 homers, including the magical game 2 walk off homer against Frankie Rodriguez, in the 2007 Division Series.
Manny drove in 10 runs and batted over .400 in the 2007 ALCS against the Indians.
Manny only batted .250 in the 2007 World Series, but went 3-4 driving in 2 and scoring 3 in the game 1 blow out that set the tone of the World Series.
Those are some seriously good October numbers... Ask A-Rod how fun doing poorly in October can feel.
6. Manny was funny!
Come on! The peeing in the left field wall, the insane defense, cutting off Johnny Damon's cut off throws, bringing a water bottle out into the field, high fiving the fan after a catch, selling his stuff on ebay, the hair...
The fact that he seemed to be either a Man Child or insane... but still put up the numbers and was hilarious.
Name one other player that crazy who could back it up on the field. Can't do it, can you?
So now he's gone. And the Sox will go on too.
Nobody loved Pedro more than me, and seeing him gone still hurts. Winning another World Series however eases my pain. And Theo has a knack for letting go of players just before the decline happens.
That being said, I'm going to miss Ramirez badly. Good luck in LA, and like those other Sox who were dumped, I will root for Manny to succeed.
Now in his honor, please enjoy the greatest moment in Manny's Red Sox career
I go to Sturgis for a few days with limited internet access and no TV... and it sure was a slow few news days.
Just 3 future Hall of Famers getting traded including my favorite Red Sox player.
That's all you got? What you can't have the Dodgers move back to Brooklyn? Bonds couldn't confess? Pete Rose couldn't have been reinstated? Honus Wagner couldn't have risen from the dead?
I am shooting a proposed show involving the huge biker rally in Sturgis South Dakota.
This North Eastern kid has never been to the bad lands and never sat on a motor cycle. Needless to say it is going to be an eventful 10 days for your pal Sully.
The postings won't be as frequent... but if I can, you will get updates from me.
Meanwhile I am having trouble finding a minor league team in South Dakota.
I know for some people the script has been written out already:
On the 100th anniversary of the Cubs 1908 World Series title, the new look Cubs win their second straight NL Central title, their first pennant since WWII and finally their long awaited series.
The Red Sox had won 2, the White Sox 1... now it is the Cubs turn to wipe away bad memories and have their parade.
This decade of good will would let long suffering Cub fans visit their grandparents graves and give the baseball world a World Series call from Ron Santo that would probably sound like a drunken Chewbacca.
And it looks more and more like this will be the year.
They've got the bats and now with Harden and Zambrano they have the arms.
Fukudome has been as advertised and Soriano is back.
They currently have the best record in the National League... a league that has no powerhouse and where 90 wins will probably give a team home field until the World Series.
Which team in the NL is going to knock them out? The Psychitzophrenic Mets? The barely over .500 NL West Champs?
And destiny will be on their side. Lou Pinella has been here before... his Reds seemed overmatched by the 1990 A's and the Reds swept them for the World Series and never ending discussions on Dibble and Kennedy's XM Show.
The Cubs will be World Champions... and the Junior Senator from Illinois will become President... rides on Navy Pier will be for free and the winter will be mild.
It could happen.
Or something else could happen.
I remember in 1986, I felt the Red Sox were charmed... especially after coming back down to their last strike against the Angels and winning the first two against the Mets. And then getting those 2 runs in the 10th of game 6.
It seemed perfect. The perfect team of veterans like Rice and Evans along with new comers like Boggs and Clemens.
I also felt the 1995 team had destiny on its side... before being swept away by the Indians.
And 2003... the team stormed back against the A's on my wedding night... and had that 5-2 lead in Yankee Stadium in the 8th of game 7.
Each time it felt like destiny. Each time ended worse than Tony Montana falling into the fountain.
You do know it can happen, right? There could be a new Garvey Homer... there could be a new black cat... a new botched double play... another ball through the first baseman's legs... another brutal decision to leave a pitcher in like in 1989 and 1998... or to take the ace out like in 2007.
(Notice I didn't include Bartman... he didn't let up 8 runs. Leave the guy alone.)
And if you don't win, just like the Cubs haven't won since Teddy Roosevelt was in office, then someone else will.
Since that fateful 8th inning of game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, Cubs fans have watched the Marlins celebrate on their field only to later match them in total World Championships (2).
They've seen their compadre in misery, the Red Sox, win 2. They've seen their stepbrother on the South Side, the White Sox, win it and hold a parade. They've seen their blood rival, the Cardinals win.
But there's another scenario that might throw salt into the wounds: What if the Brewers won? You know that team just to the North... that team that Cub fans turn into "Wrigley North" when they play?
Can you imagine continuing to search for a title into a second century while being surrounded by White Sox, Cardinals and even Brewers fans who have won since W was reelected?
Would that be too much?
Let me ask you... do the fans who Bleed Cubbie Blue really think this is their year?
Will the Wrigleyville 23 folks lose it when Brewer fans have some ammunition?
Or will A Hundred Next Years be resigned to postponing the party for another century?
Let me know Cub fans... and while you are at it, support the brilliant comic and devoted Cub fan Rob Paravonian. Rob P opened for George Carlin for the last year or so... and sadly the Cubs drought outlived Carlin in every way.
Let's hope Rob gets to see one... and avoid hearing Pachebel
Philadelphia fans are having a bad time of it. It's been a while since Philadelphia has seen a title.
Not counting Balboa/Drago, Philadelphia hasn't seen a title since the 1983 Sixers.
I argued last year that the Phillies should rebuild the dirty, unfriendly Veterans Stadium to bring back the glory times.
And the fans seem to be getting angry... Bob Uecker once said about Philadelphia fans "I honestly liked Philadelphia. The fans there were smart and mean and you could count on them."
They booed Mike Schmidt. The greatest player in Phillies history, the MVP of the only World Series the Phillies ever won and they booed him!
The same fans who booed Santa Claus are now celebrating the silver anniversary of a parade... and have seen Barkley, Schilling, Iverson and Lindross come and go ringless...
They've seen the Mitch Williams home run, McNabb getting sick in the Super Bowl, the Sixers being overwhelmed by Shaq and company, the Flyers getting swept by the Red Wings and the Phillies bounced in 3 last year.
I'll say it... Philadelphia has replaced Boston as the tortured traditional Northeastern metropolis near New York sports fan base.
Boston has had the Patriots as a powerhouse, the return to glory of the Celtics, a logic defying two World Series wins for the Red Sox, an Oscar winner for Martin Scorsese and thanks to the McCullough book and miniseries, Boston's John Adams is starting to steal some of Benjamin Franklin's thunder (but not lightning.)
All the while, the Philadelphia teams fail to deliver and even Philadelphia's favorite son, Bill Cosby, now primarily resides in Western Massachusetts.
Boston has become the Smurf Village while Philadelphia has devolved into the prison in Midnight Express.
The 2008 Phillies were not able to pull away from an over achieving Marlins and an in fighting Mets squad and now find themselves entering the stretch run in a 3 team heat with only 2 games between them in the loss column.
You know it isn't going to end well... Jimmy Rollins is already slacking off, Ryan Howard is becoming Dave Kingman and it's looking more and more like the Wild Card will be coming from the Central so it will be first or nothing for the Phils.
Which brings me to the question... where is the hate directed?
As a Red Sox fan I knew the anger was directed at the Bronx... until 2004 liberated us and now we can moon the Bronx.
Giant fans hate the Dodgers. A's fans seem to hate the Giants. Cub fans hate the guy who decided to stop selling beer after the 7th inning.
But there is a lot of anger in Philadelphia and I'm not sure where it is pointed. So I ask you, Philadelphia fans... who do you hate?
Hey Justin at Phanatic Phollow Up, is it the Mets who get your goat? Before you get too mad, they seem pretty luckless themselves.
How about you Phillies Nation, do you just grind your teeth at the sight of Joe Carter?
Or does the name Mitch Williams make the Phillies Phollowers shudder with anger?
Do the folks at the Good Phight hate the Yankees? Is there THAT much bitterness over the 1950 World Series?
Let me ask you, Phillies Blog Net... Is it just general anger? Are you mad at everyone up to and including the Phillie Phanatic.
By the way, if you want a Philadelphia guy to win... let me recommend you buy Numbelievable co written by Philly fan and friend of Sully Baseball Michael X. Ferraro.
An anonymous commenter of my last posting had some pointed remarks.
He (or she) said, and I quote...
"Is anyone other than the Yanks or the Red Sox playing? If you read this blog, you'd think the other divisions finished their season a month ago."
So basically I am being accused of being yet another guy who refuses to acknowledge that there is a baseball world outside of Boston and New York.
Never mind that scrolling down the page, I have long posts about the White Sox, the Marlins and the Tigers, not to mention quick hits on the NL West and AL Central.
Throw in the trash the fact that last season I wrote about EVERY SINGLE TEAM.
None of that matters because this reader felt I was too much emphasis on the Red Sox and Yankees during a Red Sox and Yankees series.
No doubt during the 2004 ALCS, he would have expected me to be talking about the Padres.
But we here at Sully Baseball aim to please our readers... even the lazy ones.
So I have a new vow. And I am obsessive enough to follow through on these. For every Red Sox or Yankee post I write, I will write two NON Red Sox/Yankee posts.
How about that? I will shift the focus so we are not fixated on the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the AL East, but giving attention to all the other teams.
How about them apples?
And if the Red Sox and Yankees play in the ALCS, I will indeed sneak in a few posts about the Rangers farm system.
The Red Sox and Yankees are starting up a new late season series. And last night's 1-0 Yankee win caused some profanity from your pal Sully
So let's look back at the recent rivalry and put together the Yankee team that made Red Sox nation drop the most F-Bombs.
Damn Yankees is no longer strong enough.
IT'S THE ALL F---ING YANKEES TEAM
C - Jorge F---ing Posada Lest we forget his homer in the 99 playoffs and his game tying double off of Pedro in 03
1B - Jason F---ing Giambi. Yeah Tino, Chambliss and Donnie were better Yankees... but I still lament those homers hit in game 7, 2003.
2B - Enrique F---ing Wilson. He had Pedro's number. Don't ask me how!
SS - Bucky F---ing Dent. I know Jeter is great and that catch into the stands was amazing, but Bucky Dent prevented a ring for Yaz, Rice, Lynn, Evans, Tiant, Lee, Remy, Burleson, Scott and Hobson. Pretty powerful stuff 3B - Aaron F---ing Boone. I know it was only one year of misery... but it hurt.
LF - Roberto F---ing Kelly. Lest we forget his 9th inning home run torpedoed the Red Sox 1991 playoff push.
CF - Bernie F---ing Williams. The walk off in game 1, 1999... the year after he turned down the Sox offer! Ooof.
RF - Lou F---ing Pinella. How DID he stab that ball hit by Remy during the 78 playoff game? He couldn't see it! That gets by him and the game is tied!
DH - Reggie F---ing Jackson. The Dent home run game the Sox the lead... but Jackson game them breathing room with another homer. And they would need every single run as it turned out.
3 Man Rotation
El Duque F---ing Hernandez. Shut down the Sox in 1999 finale to win the ALCS MVP
Ron F---ing Guidry Let up Yaz's home run and little else in the 1978 playoff game.
Mike F---ing Torrez Yeah, I know he was on the Red Sox. But he was a Yankee the year before and some thought he was a double agent!
Closer - Rich F---ing Gossage. Yeah, Rivera won the 2003 ALCS MVP, but his blown save in 2004 cost him this job. Besides, what image hurt Sox fans more than Yaz popping up weakly to Nettles?
Set Up Man - Ramiro F---ing Mendoza. All due respect to El Duque, Mendoza SHOULD have won the 1999 ALCS MVP. He wiggled out of potential series turning jams in games 2 and 5... killing any World Series hopes Manager - Joe F---ing Torre. He just sits there. And he doesn't seem to do anything... and they still won! I know his moves may have cost them the 2004 pennant, but I used to curse him out so much that he deserves this spot.
A pretty solid team... let's hope there are no new members after this week!
Oh... you will hear lots of great things about Tom Yawkey and the Yawkey family in Boston. Tom owned the Red Sox from 1933 until his death in 1976. His wife ran the team until she died in 1992 and the family continued running it until 2002. The city of Boston named one of the streets adjacent to Fenway after them. You will also hear about how lavishly Tom spent on players, raided small markets for superstars like Jimmy Foxx and Lefty Grove. And you hear how beloved he was and how badly he wanted to win a title for the city of Boston.
And you can equate all of that with the substance pushed out of a bull's rectum.
Tom Yawkey and the Yawkey family did more to ruin the Red Sox than anyone and the greatest thing to ever happen to my team ridding themselves of the Yawkey stench.
They should change "Yawkey Way" back to "Jersey Street."
Anyone notice the vast bulk of the 86 year title drought was under the Yawkey watch? Anyone notice that passion to bring a title to Boston failed EVERY SINGLE YEAR this family owned the team?
And oh yeah... anyone notice that desire to win in Boston included a caveat... make sure the team remains lily white?
The Red Sox had the first chance to sign Jackie Robinson... and passed. Instead of being the first team to integrate, they became the last with utility infielder Pumpsie Green.
And I'm not just talking about social justice here. I'm talking about tanking the team! The Red Sox could have signed Willie Mays. They passed because he wasn't their "type of player." Yeah, they couldn't squeeze in the greatest player of all time. It might mean benching Clyde Vollmer.
Yawkey would do ANYTHING to win a title... except sign Hank Aaron.
So all through the 1950s and 1960s the Red Sox didn't sniff a single pennant race and attendance dropped... but thank GOD they passed on Ernie Banks!
And don't think this is isolated to the distant past. Coach Tommy Harper filed and WON a racial discrimination suit in 1985! There are still players playing from that year.
And the stigma of racial tension went all the way through the early 1990s. Ask Jim Rice how fun it was being sometimes the only black player on the team. Remember how quickly they dumped players like Don Baylor, Lee Smith and Ellis Burks?
And that doesn't even mention Latin America. When other teams were raiding the Caribbean for infielders, the Sox gamely trotted out the Glenn Hoffmans, Spike Owens and Jody Reeds of the world. When Dan Duquette came to Boston in 1993, he was stunned to find out the Sox didn't have a single scout in the Domincan.
Only after Mrs. Yawkey's death in 1992 did minority players start to flourish on the Red Sox. First with Mo Vaughn. Then with Pedro Martinez. Then the team was owned by someone other than the Yawkeys in 2002... and in 2 short years Henry delivered the title Tom Yawkey couldn't buy.
They were led by a trio of black Domincan players: David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez.
No doubt Yawkey would have labeled them "not my type of players."
And two Yankee pitchers need a reluctant Sully Baseball tip of the cap.
Last year I thought Mike Mussina was toast... and the fact that he pitched himself out of the rotation kind of backed up my point.
This year I thought his fast start was a fluke and I thought the Yankees should trade him before he broke down.
But now it looks like not only Mussina should get some Cy Young votes but also should get some Hall of Fame consideration.
As for Joba, I never doubted his talent but I thought shifting him to the rotation might lead to a Jabba sized hole in the bullpen.
I didn't take into consideration that maybe one criticism of Joe Torre was right and he was no longer a good bullpen manager. Well anyone who thought that Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth would be effective, raise your hand.
So after a maddening 1-0 loss on a dribbler by Giambi and another good Beckett outing wasted I must tip my cap and say "Well... maybe the Yankees pitching was better than I thought."
Of course there is an argument to sign Bonds. The Yankees offense might need a boost Money is no object for the Yankees He costs the Yankees no prospects Little Hank Steinbrenner would be able to make his first big splash And let's not get too self righteous about his cheating.
4 seasons ago the headline of the Post was "Dump the Bum" calling for a release of Jason Giambi based on his name being in the initial steroid findings.
Now people are debating the merits of giving him an extension.
Funny, Sheffield was in the same report... nobody called to dump him? Could it be that Giambi had a bad year in 2004 and Sheffield was an MVP candidate? Nahhhh
Plus they brought back Andy Pettite, who bravely kind of confessed after being caught.
And had Roger Clemens suit up. Not to mention Jose Canseco in 2000.
What's one more?
(Keep in mind, the number of juicers in the league is probably so high and on every team including the Red Sox that NOBODY can act holier than thou about it.)
So Bonds could come in, supply some offense and protection for A-Rod, Abreu and company and provide a spark.
So it’s a no brainer, right?
Not so fast…
First of all with Damon, Posada and Giambi, they already have three guys who can swing from the left side with physical issues who should be DHing.
Secondly the offense is finally starting to click, especially with Cano hitting the ball.
Thirdly, the Yankees are still starting Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson every 5th day. It’s been working for the Yankees to be sure, but those victories have all the security of an episode of Mr. Magoo. The Yankee brass should be talking about bringing a starting arm into the Bronx seeing that 40% of their starters could implode at any moment.
But most importantly there is the Bonds factor… which nobody can honestly say what it will be like.
As someone who has lived in the Bay Area for the last few years and has seen up close how the Giants bent over backwards for Bonds, I can tell you it will be a NIGHTMARE for the Yankees.
Since losing the NL West on the last weekend of 2004 and losing Bonds for almost all of 2005, the Giants basically put a product on the field in 2006 and 2007 with one purpose only: Keep Bonds happy while he tries to hit 756 homers and fills AT&T Park every night. They signed old friends like Rich Aurillia, surrounded Bonds with low maintenance veterans like Randy Winn and Dave Roberts and allowed him any concession he needed.
Want to take a day off? Need the clubhouse clear? Don’t want to talk to the intensely forgiving press? Go ahead Barry….
He was so insulated and protected that you got the sense that people in M Night Shymalan’s The Village were more up to date on current events than Barry.
Not to mention the press fawned over Bonds, save for a pair of reporters in the San Francisco Chronicle who were VILLIFIED for writing about Bonds.
And the fans gave him standing ovation after standing ovation.
So now you want to put him in an environment where he has no good will banked with the fans, in a clubhouse where he will not be the big star (that’s A-Rod’s job) won’t be the head of the clubhouse (that would be Jeter) won’t have a position and, I’m going out on a limb here, might find out the press won’t give him his space.
This is what is being proposed for a team that is finally playing up to its potential?
As a Red Sox fan let me say “It’s a GREAT idea!!!!!”
And now he came back and threw 2 2/3 perfect innings out of the pen yesterday. This could be a big thing. Masterson has thrown well all year and now he can be a weapon in the 7th and 8th.
I'm not too worried about the Sox because they are pitching well and you know who is coming back soon so the offense will pick up with Papi's prescience in the line up.
But the pen was the biggest concern and with the Martes and the Feuntes of the world being the best options, it didn't seem like it was worth giving up more Freddie Sanchezes or Kason Gabbards or David Murphys for a 7th inning stiff.
If Masterson can be a solid 8th inning guy and Aardsma, Okajima and Delcarmen can all move to smaller roles... then maybe there will be no need to make a trade at all.
It would be nice if Craig Hansen was a little more steady. His save yesterday was unnecessarily terrifying.
Man, what a novel idea... fix the problem from within. It's almost as novel an idea as letting Beckett, Wakefield, Dice-K and Lester pitch into the 8th inning.
Seriously. You are trying to stay in contention as a tough and scrappy team? You'd never know it as you went a combined 1-5 against the Rays and Yankees.
Seriously, thanks for the help. And good job second basemen Alexi Casilla forgetting how many outs there were. No really. It's good to give the Yankees extra outs
