JETER

Mauer since July 1: .351/.415/.556

Derek Jeter since July 1: .370/.421/.522

Mauer's team isn't making the playoffs. Derek Jeter's is the best in baseball. In this "post steroid era" I think it is only appropriate for a lead off hitter to be the recipient of the MVP this year. Teixeira and Mauer have both had very impressive seasons but Jeter has just been too impressive.

If/When Derek Jeter wins an MVP he should dedicate it to Jim Rice.

Fun Fact

Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays has 37 home runs and 35 singles. I can't fathom what kind of approach you bring to the plate to achieve numbers like that.

He's no Rhodes Scholar to begin with- Epstein on Pappelbon

"I think Pap feels like he was misunderstood," Epstein told the Boston media. "He's not a Rhodes Scholar to begin with, obviously. When I talked to him directly about it, he couldn't have been more excited about the prospect of adding Billy Wagner."

Where do I start with this? First of all Jonathon Papelbon is a loud mouth, first class jerk off. Has anyone else noticed how many negative stories have been spilling out of Boston since the Yankees have gone on their tear after the series in Atlanta? From the Papi story, the Stadium sweep and now this. It seems like they are getting the excuse engine cranked up early. But this one really makes me smile.

"He's no Rhodes Scholar to begin with" Translation = He's a fucking retard who should be screened before we allow him to speak with the media because he consistently makes us look like donkey's.

Let us take a look at two of my favorite Pappelbon quotes from last season:

"I feel like I needed to be in a bulletproof car," - on New York fans during the All-Star parade. Only after he made this comment:

“If I was managing the team, I would close. … But I’m not managing the team,” This was in reference to the 2008 All-Star game. A game where he was pitching out of the same bullpen as the IMMORTAL Mariano Rivera, in Mariano's damn stadium. Are you delusional Mr. Pappelbon. So Theo is right, it's safe to say he is no Rhodes Scholar.

Also if we are talking about Rhodes Scholars I should mention Myron Rolle, the Florida State Defensive back who was the first major-college football player of his generation to win what is considered the world’s most prestigious postgraduate academic scholarship.

Nice little day game today for the Yanks, a W takes the series, in a season where it recently has seemed impossible to lose a series.

Burnett isn't pitching to Posada, Girardi claims it's only because it's a day game after a night game and Jorge hurt a finger last night. I say that's just convenient.

Sorry for the lack of posts, things have been hectic. I'll give you a little sampling of things that have amused/interested me in the past few days a la Buster Olney.

Issiah Thomas continues to act like a total douche-bag in every single thing he does. He apparently is going to boycott a cancer benefit tournament because he doesn't want to play UNC. Keep in mind he signed a contract saying he would play them.

Did somebody bury a Phillies jersey in Shitty, I mean CITI Field? They clearly have pissed off the baseball gods somehow as literally every single player who has mattered on the team has gone down with a BAD injury.

Plaxico Burress is a good enough guy. I obviously am biased as he was a part of one of the happiest moments of my sports watching life catching the winning touchdown in the Giants romping of the 18-1 New England Patriots. Here's his side of the story the night he shot himself (that's painful just to say) in an interview with Jeremy Schaap.

The Red Sox acquired Billy Wagner from the Mets. They did so even after their star closer Jonathon Pappelbon went on the record in saying it was a bad idea. Then other Red Sox teammates agreed with Pappelbon. Luckily I get to watch as Theo Epstein learns what everyone else around the league already knew: Billy Wagner is a selfish piece of shit who has NEVER, honestly NEVER recorded a big out in his career. Wagner manipulated the Sawx with his no-trade clause demanding they don't resign him next year because frankly (and I'm BARELY paraphrasing here)he would rather be the closer on a team that loses 90 games than have a shot at winning a ring. What a competitor! Enjoy each other Billy and Jonathon!


Lastly I had my fantasy football draft this weekend. Got the 10th pick and was pleased. My first few picks looked like this:

10:D'angelo Williams
11:Andre Johnson
30:Marques Colston
31:Aaron Rogers

Holla atcha boy!

Funny cause it's true

JIM RICE = PRICK

Jim fucking Rice and his big fucking mouth took a cheap shot at Derek Jeter. How many World Series rings do you have Jim Rice? Because Derek Jeter has 4 and that is 4 more than you have. Derek Jeter is widely acknowledged even by grumpy arrogant Sawx fans to be one of THE role models the sport has to offer. Are you mad because Derek's laundry list includes names like Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Scarlet Johanson and Mariah Carey? I don't know what is up Jim Rice's ass but I'd like to officially start a petition to revoke his Hall of Fame status.

PLAXICO BURRESS

Very busy day at work but Plaxico Cheddar Bob Burress just plead guilty to his charges and will do 2 years in jail. The same ammount of time as Mike Vick...This seems moronic. Plaxico used Sean Puff Daddy Combs lawyer, who got puffy off shooting SOMEONE ELSE but couldn't get Plaxico off shooting himself. More on this later

I have a Question

Joe Mauer is hitting .380 with 25 home runs already. I am starting to realize how ridiculous this is coming from a catcher. Last year Mauer played a full season and hit 9 home-runs. COUNT THEM 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...THATS ALL. His career high was in 2006 when he hit 13. He already has doubled that mark with about 40 games to play. This is very questionable.

Minor League Baseball is where it's at!

This is the way all bean ball wars should be handled: a hockey style fist fight between managers. The Yankees would have a significant advantage as Joe Girardi still appears to be able to bench 300lbs and has a good 20 years on his side vs the average MLB Manager. Girardi v. Pinella would surely be an amazing spectacle.

Good Man, That Jack Cust

In response to the Mitchell Report "Were there any Red Sox on the report? To me, that's kind of a joke. How does that happen? It's coming out now with guys on that team. The guy worked for the Red Sox — they spent all kinds of millions of dollars — and then no one there had their name brought up,"

First Football Post

I HATE BRETT FAVRE. WHAT A SHITTY AMERICAN ICON. I hope the Packers take both games from the Vikings this year. I also think the Michael Vick signing is a better signing than Brett Favre and Vick signed to the EAGLES! The Red Sox of football! GO AWAY BRETT FAVRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Giants 1st team scored a touchdown against the Panthers 1st team which was fun to watch. They're going to be great again. I am excited. more on this in a few days/weeks. Ramses Barden the receiver from Cal Poly is 6'6 220..Plaxico like. As long as he starts catching balls with 2 hands he could be promising. Look at the catch at the end:



He likes to do that in games apparently

My Arguement to Change Award Voting in Baseball

One of the biggest debates/misunderstandings/piles of shit in Baseball is the definition of the MVP award. Everyone presumably understands MVP stands for Most Valuable Player. OK, let's dissect these three words: Most...got it....we can throw Player in that bag as well...Valuable is where the confusion arrives. Notice how it is not the "Best Hitter" award or even "Most Skilled Player" award. One school of thought feels it should be the best player on the best team. Another feels it should be whatever hitter has the most eye popping numbers regardless of where he plays (2003 Alex Rodriguez on Texas), and lastly those baseball writers who enjoy using their brains a bit and actually investigating deeper into a player's season than plain stats and perhaps looking into situational stats, fielding, and in my opinion, most importantly to the word VALUABLE intangibles and peripherals.

Now let me digress for a quick second. The "Best Hitter" should be awarded with some hardware every single season. The Hank Aaron award should be voted on by the baseball writers and should be a mirror image of the Cy Young award. The Best statistical hitter in the American League this summer is Joe Mauer. Perfect, send him a Hank Aaron award and his silver slugger award, and most likely his batting title. QUITE A YEAR! By no means will my next argument discredit his season in any way...

Earlier this month I made an argument for Derek Jeter to be the MVP of the American League. Unfortunately I do not vote on this award, but if I did it would be a hard decision because another Yankee player is making quite a case for himself. I won't lie, I have no real allegiance to Mark Teixeira yet. He's been great to watch all season and he's quickly becoming one of my favorite Yankees. BUT he has proved nothing to a Yankee fan compared to The Captain, Derek Jeter. For this, I overlooked Teixeira's MVP campaign while making my argument for Derek Jeter. Let's check out the Teixicutioner's numbers.

He started out miserably, as many do when they come to NY and pitchers were showing him no strikes... 14 for 70 with 3 home runs in April. For the sake of argument (my argument obviously) lets scrap these numbers...or at least put them aside for a moment. Since May 1st Mark his gone 114 for 382...a .301 Average, much sexier than the .285 average he has including the April adjustment period. He has 27 homers since then (30 overall) and 75 RBI (85 overall). That averages out to a home-run more than once in every 4 games. He is 2nd in the league in home runs (one behind Carlos Pena) 3rd in RBI, 4th in Slugging and 5th in OPS (obp+slg) and my favorite Teixeira stat: he is hitting .350 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs!! Those are the hits that cripple pitchers. This is a tribute to his VALUE. These runners in scoring position 2 out hits are hits that swing momentum or create unstoppable momentum for the Yankees. There have been more than a dozen games when you can look back at a Tex 2 out RBI and say wow, that's when they put that team to bed that night. Not to mention the amount of errors he has saved the Yankees infield with his Flawless gold glove. Every single game I watch he makes at least one amazing play. He constantly saves runs in close games, which is very important for your pitching staff and he SLUGS. So Mark Teixeira helps the pitching staff, the infield and the overall offense. Do you think Johnny Damon would be seeing this many strikes if anyone else were behind him? Pretty valuable if you ask me.

Oh, one more thing...HE KILLS THE RED SOX slugging .708 with 5 TEX MESSAGES in 48 At bats against the Sawx.

Photo: Mike Antonelli

Mortal Beings

Surprising things we learned on Sunday: Both the Yankees AND the great Tiger Woods are human. SHOCKING! I know. Derek Jeter is NOT human. I'll start with the less surprising of the two, The Yankees. I can't believe they lost a game, it was starting to look like that was impossible. Joba didn't look like he was fully concentrated on the game, these Joba rules seem to be taking an effect on his mental approach to the game. This is not surprising either pitchers are creatures of habit who all inevitably fall into a rhythm and routine, that's the only way to get consistent and more importantly dominant. It is impossible for this rhythm and routine to emerge when Joba doesn't even know when he will pitch next. That all being said, it's just like us spoiled Yankee fans to be nitpicking while our team is 30 games above .500 and 7.5 games ahead of the Red Sox.

Now on to the biggest news of the weekend, for me at least. Tiger Woods did not win a Major this year and for the first time in his dominant career he blew a 36 hole lead in a major. Really? He has never once blown a 36 hole lead in a major, I really was under the impression that he was more than mortal. He even played half decently Y.E. Yang just played out of his damn mind. Two holes that stand out where Yang separated himself from Woods and perhaps changed his career: First, the 206 yard 3 iron Hybrid that yang bounced 2 feet from the pin and rolled to a stop only 12 feet from the pin. For those of you who don't play golf (I try but that's about it) a 3 iron Hybrid is not a club where you can apply any backspin at all, thus making it extremely hard to get a ball to stick to the green so quickly without skipping across it like a stone. Yang stuck it, sucking every last bit of wind out of Woods' sail. The second career changing swing that yang took involved a great bit of luck. He eagled in a chip on the par 4 14th. It was a nice little chip in run that he never expected to fall in the cup, he most certainly wanted to put it within 5 feet of the hole and as close as possible to set up a nice easy up and down birdie putt. Well it fell and so did Tiger's chance of winning a Major this year.

Oh Well he is still the best that has ever played the game of golf and only will make next year more exciting when he wins a grand slam by winning all 4 majors. He'll be playing with a determination never felt before in his entire silk lined career. Kind of like Derek Jeter after not making the playoffs for the first time in his career last year. In a piece of news that has been downplayed by the folks in Bristol The Yankee Captain, Derek Sanderson Jeter (that really is his middle name) passed Luis Aparicio for the all time hits lead by a shortstop. More than Ripken, more than Ernie Banks, more than Rizzuto and more than Honus Wagner, with years left to be played and rings left to be won in his remarkable career. Please take a second to realize how truly amazing this guy is. I am kind of shocked he has achieved this feat so quickly and seemingly easily. Shortstop was historically viewed as a defensive position more so than an offensive position...well Derek has 3 gold gloves and is sailing along on a track for his 4th this year. Oh and he hits .316 on his career. Holla at ya boy.

Thank YOU, Bronson Arroyo

Bronson Arroyo may be a maniac. He has horribly white boy corn rows that incite my uncontrollable laughter every time I see him, without fail. He also has admitted he took Andro, the now banned supplement and also admits he is probably on the infamous 2003 list because of it. Now, via ESPN Arroyo claims he still takes lots of unapproved but also unbanned supplements. He comes off as a total maniac in his reasoning but I must say he is on point in a lot of his claims. He argues that owners look the other way with regards to steroids as all they care about is making money and winning games. Most importantly making money...well maybe not if you're the owner of the Yankees. Arroyo gives us this gem at the end of the ESPN article:

"People don't own teams to lose money. If you ask any owner whether they would rather make $20 million and come in last place or lose $20 million and win a World Series, there's only one guy who honestly would take that championship: George Steinbrenner. Nobody else."

If you are a Yankee fan that has to make you incredibly happy. It sure does the trick for me! This is coming from a Red Sox World Championship Ring holder. In the Bronx there is a winning culture. It is our first priority and the bottom line of the organization. Don't get me wrong they don't mind making money (they've made roughly triple the revenue of the next closest team this year) but that is not their priority. Maybe Bronson isn't as crazy as I thought he was.

Randy Ruiz

The Blue Jays Designated Hitter, Randy Ruiz, has 2 home runs in 2 games off the Yankees. That's one for each steroid suspension he has served as a Major Leaguer. Lucky for him they were 15 games then 30 games as he failed before the new collective bargaining agreement which would call for 50 followed by 100 games.

I'm just sayin'...

THE DAY WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR

YES! I missed the first part of this yesterday. For that I apologize. On Monday night the Tigers and Red Sox traded a few bean balls. The Sox hit Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers retaliated by hitting our boy Kevin Youkilis. On Tuesday Cabrera got hit on the left hand in the first inning, and after the Tigers brushed back - but didn’t hit - Victor Martinez in the bottom of the frame, Youkilis got hit with the first pitch of the second. THANK YOU RICK PORCELLO! Rick, my new paizan, obviously was not going to tolerate the Red Sox taking out their frustrations of being swept by the Yankees on his team. Boy did he bury a pitch in Youk's back. This is where the good part starts. Youk had enough it. He charged the mound (normally a commendable move). First things first I will admit that Porcello looked like he wanted absolutely no part of Youkilis. As Youk began his charge Porcello backpedaled feverishly. Youkilis then took off his helmet and threw it at porcello...what a tough guy! Sometime around this point Porcello realized Youk must not be that tough if he's throwing his hat around like a sissy. Upon Youkilis' attempt to Bill Goldberg spear Porcello, Porcello threw a beautiful reversal into hip check tossing the bald loser straight to the floor and landing directly on top of him! THIS IS THE DAY OUR BLOG HAS BEEN WAITING FOR! I laughed while replaying this extravaganza on the dvr for at least 20 minutes (I have no life...I know).

To top of my amazing night I was present at the Yankee game where the Bombers went Back-To-Back...AGAIN! The 15th time this season the Yankees have gone back-to-back this season. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Matsui really crushed his. From my estimate-20 rows over the WB Mason sign in right field, just to the left of the 2nd deck porch and into the bleachers. Posadas was a Yankee Stadium special..6 inches over the short wall in right. The call was reviewed for fan interference but the home-run was upheld. The Yankees can't seem to get cold even if they tried. There has been a different hero every night and things are really getting very exciting. Up the coast, the Sox are really getting frustrated as demonstrated by Youkilis and his hat throwing temper tantrums. I'm in a great mood.





Photo by Mathew West of the Boston Herald

The Captain

.315/.384/.450 (avg/obp/slg). These numbers seem good, not eye popping or "MVP" worthy. A .450 slugging percentage is a bit low but lets face it Derek Jeter is not important because he hits for power. What Derek Jeter has done with his .315 batting average is what pushes him into MVP talks in my book. He is hitting .375/.435/.518/.953 (OPS) in situations described as “Close and Late”, and his highest BA comes in games that have a difference of one run or less. Now THOSE are eye popping numbers. He has stolen 20 bases and only been caught 4 times, a VERY high percentage. His is having one of his best fielding years of his career thanks to work with first base coach Mick Kelleher. Kelleher has said that he worked with the captain on his routes to the ball and taking them at a steeper angle, vastly improving his range. The most important part of this is that Jeter is doing this not just for a contending team but for the team with the best record in baseball. He was snubbed in 2006 and with a good strong push to the finish line I think he should be included in everyone's MVP talks.

Not to mention he's the captain and he hasn't won an MVP yet, he deserves it on respect alone.

TIME TO RUB IT IN

No need to recap the games from this weekend. They were amazing obviously. The stadium was insanely loud on Thursday night and just as loud on Sunday. That is very encouraging as the Yankees prepare for an October to remember.

Now for what I've decided after this weekend: The Yankees are good, really fucking good. The Red Sox are good as well for sure not really fucking good. Beer at the stadium is still far too expensive. Andy Pettite has some gas left in the tank and if driven properly he can really play an important part during a championship run.

Sergio Mitre will play no such role. We need 10 more starts (9 after tonight) out of our number 5 starter. I'm looking for 4 wins out of those and 50 innings. Anything else is extra in my book.

Arod is finally understanding what it means to be a Yankee and how to act accordingly. We'll take a .260 batting average when 15 of 21 home runs have tied games or put the Yanks in the lead. We, as a fan base, will take that EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Derek Jeter deserves an MVP award this year. Plain and simple. I'm going to compile more numbers and make a solid arguement for this tomorrow. Until then sleep on it and realize I'm right.

That was fun

John Smoltz couldn't be worse. Mark Melancon threw a ball over Pedroia's head, then threw one right between the numbers. Awesome. Big game tonight. I'll update later or something I'm too tired right now.

Favorite jeer of the night: "HEY PEDROIA!!! YOU LOOK PRETTY BIG ON THAT BIG SCREEN...JUST KIDDING!" You probably had to be there but I got a good kick out of it.

HANKSTEIN

I'm not the biggest twitter fan, I use it only to see when some of my favorite writers post new articles. But I must share with you this gem Whoever is posting these tweets is fucking fantastic.

Agree to Disagree (UPDATED 3:00 PM)

Jason Rosenberg at It's About The Money, (Stupid), which is an amazing name for his blog penned a letter to Joba. Read it as I don't want to explain it and take views away from his page. To summarize very quickly he begs Joba "Do not set a tone for this four game series by drilling Youk, VMart, etc. Do not act like a punk."

Ok. I agree, sort of. Joba should not act like a punk. He should pitch quickly and effectively as he has done so marvelously since the all-star break. He also should not drill VMart because who cares about him (yet). It is Youkilis that we are after! If Joba reaches the 7th inning, the Yankees have a lead and our bald headed biker bearded foe strolls to the plate: PLANT ONE RIGHT IN HIS RIB CAGE! This is a crucial statement that must be sent: You've beaten us 8 times this year, we're still in first place and you intimidate us about as much as a 4th grader. Bean balls are a rare delicacy of baseball and Joba is their master chef. (weird analogy I'll give you that but I'm sticking to it). If the Youk dares charge the mound he'll be followed by a fiesty, armored Jorge Posada. I really wish Kyle Farnsworth was still on the team, but just for this weekend.

The Yankees need to win the game. That is the first priority. The bean ball is only effective when it adds insult to injury. It looks desperate and pathetic to bean a player when you are down. As for retaliation. Go right ahead: it's only fair. If old man Smoltz or whatever scrub they bring out of their bullpen throws back at Mark Teixiera all we can hope for is a Prince Fielder style roid rage clubhouse brawl. I respect Jason's point but I must say in this situation with the 0-8 record the intensity and momentum that would be created from a ball being planted in Youk's ribcage would be unparalleled. If it carried over in to Friday's game with Beckett, I would be confident that AJ Burnett would be just fine in holding his own. He's done so already this year.

Lastly, a fight could be just the right amount of glue to really bring this team together, for good. The 1998 Yankees (who won 114 regular season games, 125 including the 4 game world series sweep of the padres) used a benches clearing brawl to bring them together. SO PLEASE JOBA, pitch a solid game, the offense will back you up and when it is time...you know what to do.

-This day needs to move along so I can get to the stadium. I haven't been this excited to go to a game in quite a long time. Playoff baseball in August. What else could a baseball fan want?

-I bet the spy agrees with Jason Rosenberg

*UPDATE* If there were to be a fight, you can bet your bottom dollar Jorge would take his mask off before he took care of business. We can't say as much about Jason Varitek. I really hate the Red Sox. A lot.

Buy this shirt

http://www.gravitygraffix.com/paped.html

I knew I liked Prince Fielder

Aside from being a vegetarian Prince Fielder is the man! THANK YOU ESPN via Pete Abraham

The Journal and steroids

The Wall Street Journal's sports section has been half decent. This article by Darren Everson was particularly good.

The Chart under the picture of Girardi has some really surprising numbers.

-Still waiting for Big Papi's public explanation regarding his steroid use. Also waiting for Manny to acknowledge his 2nd failed test.

David Ortiz acted as if he found out about his failed 2003 test only moments before his most recent poker sunglasses on press conference. Well that was a lie. Everyone who tested positive on that test was made aware in 2004. OOPS. A-Rod was forced to have a miserably humiliating press conference to detail exactly everything that happened with his positive test. Manny and Ortiz positive tests have already been forgotten. All that we have learned from this is that Senator Mitchell's Mitchell Report was a crock. He's a board member in the Red Sox front office but somehow he neglected to include ANYTHING about the investigation into 2 Red Sox security members who had in depth conversations with paid members of the Ortiz entourage about the use of steroids. again.. OOPS. I'm not throwing stones at the Red Sox. Every clubhouse had these issues, there's not one that should be spared. I only feel it necessary to point this out because the Roid Sox Nation were the leaders of this witch hunt and chastised the Yankees and all of baseball for that matter more than ANYONE. Well when a member of your organization does the investigation it's not surprising that you came out crystal clear.

-PLEASE BEAN YOUKILIS ON THURSDAY JOBA!!! PLEASE!!!!!

Thanks for coming out Doc

Coming into yesterday Roy Halladay was 8-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his last 10 starts against the Yankees. The Yankees didn't get that memo as they put a crooked 2 on the board in the top of the first inning. I think we can safely assume that A-Rod's hip is better and he is playing as close to 100% as he's going to be. When Halladay dropped an easy out at first base last night A-Rod rounded 3rd and took off sprinting home, looking for contact. The throw beat him by a mile but A-Rod took a late and hard slide into catcher Rod Barajas, spikes up and knocked the ball right out of his glove. Is that something a player with a hurt hip would do in the first inning? My guess is no. That 2 spot proved to be important as Andy Pettite threw a hell of a game out dueling Doc Halladay pitch for pitch.

Phil ('96 Mariano Rivera) Hughes came on with 2 outs in the 7th and easily got the out he needed. He opened the frame in the 8th by allowing 2 singles followed by 2 strikeouts. This is where things got annoying. Phil is a star member of my vastly under performing fantasy baseball squad. He was not allowed to close out the inning as Girardi brought in Mariano Rivera who promptly allowed a double before getting a ground ball out that he needed. This bothers me because my friend Anthony has Mariano on his team. Hughes was charged the runs. Things like this always happen for him. A pitcher gives up a big hit and isn't charged the runs, he picked up Ben Zobrist off waivers. I can't talk about this anymore. FUCK YOU ANTHONY.

That being said the Yanks took care of business against one of the best pitchers in the game behind a strong outing by Andy. Sergio Mitre goes tonight and nobody seems to care. The Big Red Juice Box rolls into town tomorrow. Joba vs Smoltz. I'll be sitting by the right field foul pole on field level/fair territory catching every single stadium special home run the yanks send my way.

Another weekend devoid of HBP for Youkilis

He still has not been beaned since the creation of this blog. That is very frustrating. Melky hit for a cycle to bring a ray of light to the Yankees after this very dark weekend of baseball. I'm somewhat busy at work today so here are a few quick thoughts:

Peter Abraham has a great piece on CC's reaction to his 3rd inning yesterday. Being able to shut a team down after they rough you up for an innings is so important. Many pitchers never achieve greatness because they are not able to simply put a bad inning behind them. CC apparently is very good at doing just that.

I have a sunburn on my shoulders. I'm really happy about it.

And the biggest story of the weekend for me was Melky's cycle. Why do no hitters get so much more credit than a cycle? I am by no means discrediting a no hitter as they are incredibly impressive, but I see the cycle as equally impressive. There have been 263 no-hitters and 286 cycles in the history of baseball. On any given day during the baseball season there are just 30 chances for a no-hitter one per starting pitcher of each team, but there are 270 chances for a cycle (nine hitters per team). The event-per-opportunity ratio for a cycle is significantly smaller than it is for a no-hitter. If a pitcher threw a no hitter yesterday ESPN would run an outside the lines special on him all day today. Melky will get a 20 second clip showing his 4 hits and maybe a sentence spoken through a translator. (Why can Robinson Cano speak fine English and Melky not a word?) Hopefully Espn doesn't show THIS wonderful clip of melky in a hotel room with a B list pornstar.

Respect where Respect is due.

Quick note: I thought David Ortiz had a good response to reporters yesterday when questioned about steroids as long as he follows through.

That being said, hopefully Youkilis gets hit by a nice fastball on the elbow this week, it's been a while and I have a great picture to post when it happens.

Coming out of the woodwork

Expect a lot more admissions like This via ESPN.

I expect to see a few more players come forward who think they are on the list of 103 players to test positive in 2003. It is better to come forward with a calculated statement in the public eye than getting caught and scrambling for an excuse. That being said, I don't think the Yankees are pursuing Bronson Arroyo or any other former Boston Juice Box players.

The 70's had the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati. We have the Boston Juice Box.

I am only half kidding. I really do believe that something like 80% of players were taking some sort of PED during the very lax pre 2004 era.

The Spy checks in

This from our favorite traitor, he will guest write often, I hope :

The following is my first attempt at a blog post. I do not hold any grand aspirations of blogging fame, and I do not believe that this will some day lead me to a life of sitting on a couch writing about the teams I love a la ESPN’s “The Sports Guy.” I’m writing this because my dear friend the editor has given me a forum, and who am I to pass up the opportunity?

This first one will largely be about me, but will not, and could not, cover everything. I’m sure most of my character, IE flaws, will come through my writings so I will not bore you with them here.

First and foremost, I have already lied to you. Twice. I mentioned earlier that I didn’t think this was going to lead to me writing about the “teams” I love. Well, that is based on the fact that I only truly love one team. I’m an NFL and NCAA football fan, I appreciate hockey, basically can’t stand basketball, and love the Yanks.

My second lie was of a more devious nature – I believe the editor of this blog to be nothing more than a conduit through which I can voice my opinion. He often refers to me as a “spy,” but only because Girardi knows me by name and he’s jealous. I’ll say it here for all to see – I’ll fight the editor. And win. Actually, fighting is rather barbaric. I challenge the editor to a decathlon of events. Much like ESPN’s Mike and Mike did last summer. We could sell t-shirts and tickets and give away prizes!

I digress.

On to me. As previously stated, I am a diehard Yankee fan. But, even with my diehard status largely intact, I refuse to refer to the team as “we.” I couldn’t hit major league pitching if my life depended on it, or catch a hot shot off the bat of papi at first… so I really have no business including myself in their victories or defeats. And, unless you get checks every two weeks signed by Trost, neither do you.

Politically, I have a largely libertarian sentiment. I believe the idea that more government involvement in ANYTHING (re: health care) is a bad one. More on things of this nature later.

Personally, I am a, largely sheltered, 22 year old with no idea what he wants to do with his life. While that may describe most 22 year olds, I feel the need to point it out every so often. I’m not sure how this blogging thing will work out for me, or the editor, but it could be fun.

bluebloodedduck

Papi

David Américo Ortiz Arias, more commonly known as Big Papi was included on the list of players who tested positive in 2003. This is no surprise to me just check the difference from 2002 to 2005 in these pictures. That's a difference of 17 homers to mid 40's if I have ever seen one.

Hey Big Papi...Remember when you said this:

"I would suggest everybody get tested, not random, everybody," he said. "You go team by team. You test everybody three, four times a year and that's about it."

And if a player tests positive for steroids?

"Ban 'em for the whole year," the slugger said.

Someone should have told him to eat a little better and drink less alcohol while on the juice, that's where that gut comes from. Not too much arroz con pollo y maduros.

Let's end this leaking of 1-2 names every month please. Either publish the entire list of 103 names or admit your mistake in letting these leak and move on. This is not fair to single players out one at a time, even big papi.

Hit By Pitch

When Joba Chamberlain threw up and in on Evan Longoria last night didn't you just wish that was Kevin Youkilis standing in there? Me Too! Oh well Longoria can get a taste too just in case he thought his pesky Rays (who are still the Devil Rays to anyone who matters) would mix into this division race. Joba's intensity is back. He's not shaking Jorge Posada off anymore and has realized he's 23 with no rings and Posada is 63 with 4 rings. I thought it was commendable for Garza to come back at Teixiera, good baseball doesn't bother me at all.

Phillies land Cliff Lee: Become almost as powerful as an American League team.

Look for the Yankees to get Jarod Washburn here in the next two days. Arroyo was a nice thought but with the Ian Snell move that Seattle made I think they are poised to send Washburn to the Bronx. The Sox can go ahead and add Victor Martinez. I'm confident with things as they stand today and if it were a Washburn to the BX and Martinez to Boston you have to like the way things look.

Lastly: Bruney has lost any status he had towards the back end of the Bombers 'Pen. Hughes Aceves and Coke have firmly planted themselves in front of him. Bruney has been serving up nothing but meatballs, he can't be trusted in a big spot until he proves he can do it in low pressure situations now. His big K the other day was a fluke. I have a theory that a fantasy baseball foe of mine who has Mariano Rivera on his team has paid Mr Bruney to blow big leads and force Mariano in to bolster his saves and k/9. Bruney did say after his last bad outting "hey I just wanted to get MO a save." Just a theory but I'm sticking to it.

Baseball Superstitions are Bullshit

Baseball players are notoriously some of the world's most superstitious people. They won't change their socks during hitting streaks and some perform gut wrenching rituals before each pitch of their at bat (early 2000 Nomar is my best example of that). But the most un-understandable baseball superstition comes from those not involved in the game: the perfect game/no hitter gag order.

The fact that those watching the game at home/in the stands/shitfaced at a bar or announcing the game for those people are chastised for pointing out that a pitcher is perfect through ___ or is no hitting whatever team absolutely infuriates me. The notion that when some drunk on a bar stool at his favorite watering hole points out a FACT the game is somehow adversely affected by way of a voodoo jinx of the baseball gods is the biggest load of shit I have ever heard. I can't even start to wrap my brain around this. This stems how the players, who are actually involved in the game, act while they are a part of this pitching marvel. Players often don't talk to the pitcher and if they do by no means do they talk about his perfection. This makes sense to me. It is easiest to do your job when it is just another day at work, not when there is enormous amounts of extra pressure on you. The pitchers are not idiots, they know they are throwing perfect games but I do believe its best to just treat it like any other inning. The goal in any inning is in fact to achieve 3 outs without allowing a runner to reach base therefore their approach should not change. Throw strikes and count on your defense.

This tirade of mine stems from a text I sent to a friend yesterday as Mark Buehrle had achieved perfection through 4 innings. This just after he throw the 18th perfect game of all time in his previous start. A STAGGERING FEAT! I had to make sure my friend was aware of what was going on. I texted both the spy and another friend. The spy obviously was not aware but was interested and I assume began checking box scores or something to that effect to see if it was possible he throw a 2nd consecutive perfect game. The second response I received was the one that set me off. It read: SHHHHHH, but I know. It's not my friend that I'm mad at. Its the general baseball public for making him feel obligated to hush my enthusiasm for the possible piece of history going on in front of our eyes. Could Mark Buehrle read my text to him? Didn't think so. I'm done with this myth. I will make it my mission to point out every single no hitter and perfect game through at least 4 or 5 innings that I can.

One last thing: Buerhle was joking with teammates in the dugout during his perfect game. And yesterday when he broke the consecutive outs record while still maintaining perfection he was laughing on the mound. Not because it was a joke but because he broke teammate Bobby Jenks' record. He knew what was going on and so did everyone else around. So THANK YOU Mark Buehrle: for not buying into this farce of a superstition.

-I'm going to do a rain dance now so it won't rain on my commute home

Pitching trades and Hughes/Joba

Another offensive clinic put on by the Yanks last night. AJ Burnett continued to baffle hitters as he has done for over a month now (where did that 2 seamer come from?). That's 10 of 11 for the Bombers now and something outrageous like 23 of 29 I think.

The Yankees are built to win a Championship. We say this every year but this is the strongest and most balanced they've looked in quite a few years. That being said I feel they need to add a pitcher, an innings eater with some major league experience under his belt. NOT Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee. They need a back end of the rotation type of guy that can eat up some innings and run out there every 5th day and give the juggernaut of an offense behind him a chance to win. 6 innings 3 runs: that type of guy. I've heard Bronson Arroyo talks. Perfect. Arroyo makes enough money to scare away other teams with better B level prospects to get involved and the Yankees still get to keep Jackson, Montero and the other top shelf guys. Thankfully Brian Cashman sees things this way as well.

I've read a few of the beat reporters suggesting they add a bullpen arm. This seems ludacris to me. Phil cy young Hughes has been the best 8th inning guy in the league since he's got there. It's not even close. He has been incredibly dominant, mirroring Mariano Rivera's numbers almost identically. Al Aceves has pitched very well from the pen as well and even Brian Bruney got a huge K in his last outing and has shown signs of recovery back to his old self.

So here is my proposal: Joba has this ridiculous innings limit approaching at 140-160 innings, lets call it 150. He's at 102 right now so in theory if he goes 7 innings from now on he only has 7 starts left with about 14 starts remaining. This is a problem. Especially if we want him to pitch in the Playoffs, which they do. So lets say he has about 4 starts left. I propose we piggy back Hughes with Joba to stretch him out, it is said by baseball people who know this that 2-3 starts is plenty to get Hughes to 100 pitches. Once we are ready to plug Hughes into the rotation we move Joba to the bullpen. This seems like we lose nothing in either spot to me. Joba has proven he's a freak in the pen and Hughes has gained incredible confidence in the bullpen. Hughes is throwing pitches for strikes and daring hitters to swing. He has a repertoire of pitches that can vary as he gets deeper into games.

In my opinion this gets the Yankees through the regular season without taking a hit in either their pen or rotation, and gets both Hughes and Joba to their maximum amount of innings so they can both throw 200 next year (that's a whole different post that I'll get to). Once the playoffs roll around we have a rotation of Sabathia, Burnett and Pettite with Joba, Hughes, Bruney, Aceves and Mariano in the pen. I'm very troubled to find any flaws in this. Please show me one if you do.
__________________________________________________________________

Saw Atmosphere at Webster Hall last night. Great show, especially impressed with Eyedeas and Abilities, a label mate of Atmosphere's. Check them out.

Tony Bernazzard is a Joke

Daily News reported the NY Mess (the AAA team that plays in queens) finally let this clown go.

In a truly classless Mets fashion Omar Minaya blasted Adam Rubin, the reporter who originally broke the news on Bernazzard, during the press conference this afternoon. Omar stated that in his miserable opinion Rubin's motives should be questioned as he had a desire to work in the Mets front office and had lobbied for a job in player development there. Really Omar? This would never happen in the Bronx. You know what, even the Red Sox would handle this in a classier manner.

1st Place

Monday July 27, 2009

As I waste time at work on this miserable Monday still battling a hangover from Friday night my beloved Yankees sit 2.5 games ahead of Kevin Youkilis and his band of slumping companions in Boston. What better time could there be to write my first post on beanyoukilis?

I'll start with a pseudo mission statement/introduction to the world of blogging: I hate Kevin Youkilis (as a player) I don't know the guy. I'm sure he's cool enough to share a beer with in some underground biker bar. I hate the fits he throws when he makes an out. I hate how he crowds the plate. I love when Joba beans him. But most importantly I hate that he was the face of a Red Sox World Series Championship in 2007.

OK, that being said here's my take on the state of the American League East: The Sawx have lost their personality. This is something I value in a team, perhaps more than I should and surely enough to frustrate my best friend (my favorite baseball conversationalist). *NOTE* From this point on we can refer to this friend as the "Red Sox Spy" or "The Spy" for reasons I will get into at a later time. Back to the Red Stockings, in 2004 they were the idiots, a name I obviously got a good kick out of, but the idiot tag brought them together and gave them a face. This unshaven, scrappy blue collar attitude that everyone on a Boston pub stool is enamored with was their M.O. from 2004-2008, a period of enormous success for the Sox. During this time the Yankees were plain, boring and too business like. They didn't seem to be having any fun but instead longing for the days of Paul O'Neil's intensity and Derek Jeter's early years. Towards the end of 2008 Jason Giambi started emerging as a dominant personality in the Yanks clubhouse and things seemed to get a little more relaxed. They were having fun again and that was only the beginning. The stache is gone (I was a big supporter) but in comes Mark Teixiera, the best 1st Baseman in the AL, CC Sabathia, clubhouse mayor, AJ Burnett, shaving cream pie connoisseur and Nick Swisher, a total clown who leaves his bat on his shoulder too often looks lost in right field but is loved by the section 203 Bleacher Creatures and widely agreed to be a good clubhouse personality.

The Red Sox have lost that swagger they had for the last 4 years. They look robotic, boring and are playing a very mundane brand of ball and momentum has shifted back towards our Evil Empire. I LOVE THIS TEAM. Things have gotten so relaxed in the clubhouse that even stern Jorge Posada can get a good laugh out of being hit with a pie in the face. Obviously it's only because they are winning, but I attribute much of their success to the new clubhouse demeanor the Yankees have embraced, that lights out pitching and a pony league right field porch but again I digress.

In conclusion, it is my opinion that the Yankees will open this lead up and finish at least 6 games ahead of the Red Sox this season. Mark this down so the spy can mock me when I'm wrong but I'm fine with going out on a limb here. We're 0-8 against them this season and that will change, for the better. The Bombers are a different team then they were when we allowed ourselves to be shellacked by the Sawx and I have very high hopes for them this season.

Sorry for rambling, I'll get better at this.

The Coolest Picture on the Web