Armchair Managing

Due to the excitement surrounding A-Rod's walkoff grand slam, I lost sight of a criticism of Joe Torre I wanted to mention.
I totally thought Torre mismanaged his bench in the 8th inning. Dannys Baez had just walked 2 consecutive batters and then gave up Giambi's 3-run shot to cut the O's lead to 1. There was 1 out and Miguel Cairo was coming up. Now it sounded on the radio like Cairo was never supposed to step into the batter's box. Either way, I think bringing Damon in to pinch hit was the wrong move. Baez was obviously having control problems and the O's were leaving him in. He even threw ball one to Cairo. Torre pulls Cairo for Damon and the O's move to lefty specialist Jamie Walker, and he promptly gets Damon out. The right move in my opinion was to let Cairo hit, and save Damon so he could hit in Mientkiewicz's spot. Granted Dougie has been hitting the ball well and hit had a nice liner of Chris Ray, but considering Baez's control issues and with there only being one out, I would let Cairo hit, and worst case, you have Damon leading off the 9th off righty Chris Ray. Just my opinion. To me it made more sense considering the situation. In the end, it all worked out, so it doesn't really matter.
Happy Easter!
J

How Do You Spell Redemption? A-R-O-D

Oh baby. What a finish! The Yankee bullpen did it's job keeping the O's off the bases, allowing the Yankees to slug their way to a dramatic come from behind victory.
I listened to the last half of the game while driving across the New York State Thruway from Buffalo to Syracuse. It made for one exciting ride. When Giambi hit his 3-run shot I started honking the horn in celebration while swerving back and forth across the highway. At the start of the last half of the 9th, I told the wife after Cano singled that I could just see A-Rod stepping up to the plate with a chance to win it, and sure enough, BOOM, he did it in grand slam fashion. Granted, I told the wife he I was afraid he was going to K and it would basically end his career in Pinstripes. When he had 2 strikes on him, I'll admit, I was scared he'd pull a Carlos Beltran and K looking to lose the game. After all, we've seen that so many times from Alex. And then it happened. I was sitting behind a line of cars waiting to pay my toll when John Sterling breaks into "It's a high drive to deep center field. It is high, it is far, it's over Patterson's head. IT'S GONE! Into the black. Yankees win. Thuuuuuuh Yankees Win." Maybe not in those exact words but pretty close. My adrenaline level jumped up and I started high-fiving the wife. I could see the guy in front of me do a fist pump and high five his traveling companion. Yankee baseball. I live for it!
As I mentioned in my previous post, the Yankees bullpen needs to be lights out if they want to stay in the game if the starters are ineffective. Unlike yesterday, the offense picked up Igawa, who I didn't think pitched poorly. I thought he got squeezed a few times that would have gotten him out of a mess or two. And Mora's bloop 3-run double was a bad break. Igawa definitely pitched better than his line will read in the box score. But back to the pen. 4 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K. If the game is close when it goes to the pens, I think the Yankees are going to win most of the time. This Yankee bullpen is reminiscent of the last 90s Yankees bullpen when Moe was setting up for John Wetteland. I can see why people project this team is going to win 100+. The lineup is awesome. The bullpen is awesome. The rotation is ineffective right now, but there is no chance that they continue to pitch like they are. Once the rotation starts heating up, the Yankees are going to roll.
A-Rod is going to have a monster year.
Peace, love, and Pinstripes.
J

Giam-BOO-no

It's a good thing I was out partaking in the consumption of alcohol last night as it served as a distraction from another Yankee loss. The game was on the TV in the bar so I was watching it as much as I could while not ignoring my fellow co-workers. I didn't do a good job as much of my attention was focused on the big screen. I caught the first 7 frames on TV and listened to the last 2 on the ride home. It was a crappy ride.
It looked like Moose was having trouble locating his pitches. It's definitely wasn't the outing he was hoping for. Not a good start his season.
It looked like the Yankees had plenty of opportunities to break the game open, or at least negate the ineffectiveness of Moose. Every time I looked up the Yanks had runner on the bags with less than 2 outs, and every time that big hit didn't materialize. I totally called it in the 7th when A-Rod struck out with Jeter and Abreu on base. I said to my friend Dan that A-Rod was going to come up with 2 on, no out, and he'd K. And sure enough, he disappointed. I was interested to see if anyone booed him. I was also curious if Giambi, Cano, Melky, Matsui, and Jeter were booed as they all, at times, failed to deliver with 2 men on. Somebody let me know. If anybody is deserving of the jeers, it's Giambi. 0-5 w/ a 1 out bases loaded pop out to second and a 1 out K with 2 on in the 7th. He left 5 on base. He can't do that.
The saving grace from last night was the bullpen returning to form. Sean Henn led the way with 3 innings of 1-hit ball. This is what the Yankees need if they want to stay in games when the starters are ineffective. The pen did their job. The offense failed to pick up Moose.
Igawa makes his ML debut today. I'm going to catch the first 2 innings or so on the tube and the rest I'll catch on the radio as I drive to the 'Cuse to do the Easter thing. I expect big things from Kei. For starters, I expect him to be the first Yankee starter to at least make it through 5. Man, who would have thought that the first 3 games would have shown such ineffectiveness from Pavs, Andy and the Moose? Definitely not this Yankee fan. It's no cause for concern. There's no way that this kind of ineffectiveness is going to continue from the rotation. I'm sure Sox fans think it will, but let me remind you of Schilling's first start. He was just as ineffective as Moose was. Schilling and Moose have very similar stats over their careers and are off to pretty much the same start in 2007. You can't rightfully say one will be fine and the other won't, regardless of which side you root for in the greatest rivalry in all of sports. The fact of the matter is that both are great pitchers and deserve the credit unless they begin to consistently show different. One start doesn't a season make.
It looks like it's going to be another cold one today. The weather has already postponed a doubleheader in Cleveland. The high in the Bronx is going to be in the low-mid 40s today. Should be interesting to see how Igawa does in the cold weather. Not ideal, but Baltimore has to pitch in it to.
Enjoy the game and Happy Easter!
J

Stat Line Of The Day

From their Major League debuts:

1. Daiskue Matsuzaka: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, 1 HR
2. Hideki Irabu: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K, 0 HR

Pretty comparable, wouldn't you say?
Here's Irabu's career line: 34-35, 5.15 ERA, .272 BAA, 7.09 K/9, 2.31 K/BB, 1.40 WHIP
Hideki Irabu was overpaid, overhyped, overweight and out of baseball after 5 years. Let's take a look at Daisuke. Overpaid? Check. Overhyped? Check. Overweight? Check. Out of baseball in 5 years? I don't need a Magic 8-Ball to tell me that all signs point to yes.
J

Sloppy Second Game

Man, what an ugly game. It looked absolutely horrible in the Bronx. It looked freezing, definitely not ideal playing conditions. I couldn't tell if the Yankees were playing the D-Rays or a team of ninjas.
The Yankee defense was again less than stellar. 2 errors by the Captain. I didn't expect to see that. Surprisingly though, the crowd didn't boo him. I wonder what the reaction would have been if it were A-Rod that made the blunders.
Pettitte looked OK in his return to the Bronx. I think the weather was making it tough for him. He was definitely a little wild and it looked like he and Posada weren't connecting. At one point they flashed to Posada in the dugout getting a white-out manicure. That was pretty funny. When I heard Pettitte was on an 80 pitch limit, I knew he'd be lucky to make it through 5 considering the weather. The defense didn't help him out much and Proctor didn't pick him up when he left with runners on base.
Proctor looked a little shaky in his debut. My thought was possibly because he hadn't pitched in a while. We saw the same thing from him last year when the Yanks opened in Oakland. He came along and got stronger with each outing. That shot that Dukes hit off him was a rope. That dude is a monster.
I lost count of all the wild pitches and passed balls and how many runs scored because of them. I think it was 6 or 7 balls that got away from Jorge. It definitely wasn't Jorge's night behind the plate.
The bullpen was a little shaky. It seemed like nobody could get anyone out with the exception of Bruney and Farnsworth. The top of the 8th lasted for what seemed like an eternity. Vizcaino getting Crawford to pop out with 2 on and no out was huge. Props to A-Rod for not messing that one up.
Melky, Melky, Melky. Work on the bunting. If Mientkiewicz gets to 2nd, Cano brings him home. Tie game.
Alex, Alex, Alex. That was your spot bro. Down a run and the based juiced. You've got to make that happen. Popping out isn't going to get the haters to change their mind.
Pitching and defense wins championships. Tonight, the pitching and the defense (and maybe the weather) cost the Yankees the game. You definitely can't put this one on the offense. Any time the Yankees score 6 runs and rack up 14 hits, they should win the ball game.
This was a tough game to judge. Second game of the season. A day after a rainout. It's their second game in 5 days. Horrible weather. It's tough for me to put much stock in the loss and in the Yankees performance. David Justice made an interesting point in the post game, and I'll paraphrase: "They're pros. They're veterans. They've played in these conditions before. It's surprising they played so sloppy. Blaming it on the weather would be an excuse." I agree with Justice. But, I definitely think in better weather conditions this game ends differently. Jeter is a Gold Glove shortstop. You rarely, if ever, see him make 2 errors in a game, and 3 errors in his first 2 games. But alas, that's the way it goes. A loss is a loss. It is what it is. They can't win 'em all, but they'll definitely win enough to make it to October. Hakuna Matata.
J-Boog

Fun With Math

Check this out. A mathematician has calculated that the Yankees will win 110 games this season. That's right, 110! It's leaps and bounds over the second closest team, the Angels with 94 wins. The Red Sox will only win about 87 games, which is line with some other projections I've seen.
While I don't think the Yankees will win quite that many, it sure would be nice.
Go Yankees!
J

Cramptastic

According to MLB.com Yankee beat writer Bryan Hoch, Johnny Damon was still feeling the effects of his cramps. He quotes JD as saying, "I can barely walk. I've got to get moving somehow." Hey Johnny! Eat some bananas bro. It'll cure what ails ya.
I'm not a Doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I don't think this is cause for concern. But we'll have to wait for the official diagnosis to make that call.
Peace, love and Pinstripes.
J

Rained Out & Bummed Out

I was so looking forward to today's game but Mother Nature has chosen not to cooperate. Nothing beats listening to a game on the radio while at work. It makes the day go by much quicker. I had the day all planned out. Hit up Fuddruckers for the $6 special for lunch, come back and it's Yankee baseball. Now, I'm bummed. *******' Mother Nature.
No make up day has been announced.
*sigh*
J

Silly Sox Logic (What's New?)

Silly, silly Sox fans. When will you learn? I was catching up on posts yesterday over at Sox And Pinstripes and I came across a little blurb about Mike Mussina that made no sense whatsoever. It started out of the 2007 predictions. Sox fan Jeff went as far to predict that the Yankees wouldn't make the playoffs. No shock there. But here are the comments as to why:
"That's right, I do not think the Yankees will reach the playoffs. That dismal starting rotation is the reason why. Chien-Ming Wang has a hamstring injury, and that is an injury that lingers for months. Andy Pettitte already has an achy back. Mike Mussina is a dependable starter, but he was very hittable last season. Kei Igawa will be a decent middle reliever. And Carl Pavano is, well, Carl Pavano."
Mike Mussina was very hittable last season?? Oh really now? One of the greatest things about baseball is that it's so deep rooted in statistics. Everything can be tied to a number, and usually the numbers don't lie. Sure, you can twist the numbers, but when you use them as a basis for comparison, you can pretty much use them to settle any debate. So let's look at some stats, shall we? Mussina held opposing batters to a .241 batting average last year (43 points lower than he did in 2005). If you rank all AL starters that met the league standard for IP, Mussina was tied for 2nd in BAA (batting average against). He was tied with Ervin Santana and was behind Johan Santana. Mussina had a WHIP (Walks and Hits per innings pitched) of 1.11 (26 points lower than the year before). That was good enough to rank 3rd in the AL. He was again behind Santana, and was .01 behind Roy Halladay. Moose's ERA was 3.51 (90 points lower than in 2005). That was 4th best in the AL. He came in behind CC Sabathia and the aforementioned Santana and Halladay. I think it's pretty evident that Mussina was one of the top starting pitchers in the AL last year. I'd even argue in the top 5, maybe as high as top 3? To call Moose very hittable is one of the silliest things I've ever heard.
If he's considered very hittable, what does that say for every other starter in the AL? The numbers don't lie. Opponents hit .244 against him. Again, 3rd best in the AL. Very hittable? Please. I can't even fathom anyone with a logical mind making that statement, assuming of course that they looked up his numbers or paid attention in any game he started. But we're talking about Red Sox fans here, so I shouldn't be surprised. So of course, I presented the facts, which is what they are, and asked how that makes him very hittable. In typical Sox fan fashion, this was the response:
"J, Mussina had eight outings where he allowed four or more runs and several where he allowed 3. That isn't exactly untouchable. He was helped by the Yankees offense. He is definitely hittable, and he will be hit this season."
For starters, it was 9 games, and the Yankees went 3-6 in those games so he didn't exactly benefit from the offense that much in those outings. And what he failed to mention that Moose only had 5 starts where he gave up 4 or more earned runs. Now I think its safe to say that everyone that pays attention to baseball knows the name Johan Santana. He's highly regarded as the best starting pitcher in the game. Johan had 8 starts in 2006 in which he gave up 4 runs or more, 6 in which there were more than 4 earned runs. Again, Moose only had 5. For further comparison, Roy Halladay had 10 outings where her gave up 4 runs or more. And for fun, Curt Schilling had 11 and Josh Beckett had 14. So if Mike Mussina was very hittable last season, what does that say for the rest of the league? Again, silly Sox logic. You gotta love it. Always thinking they can justify something when they can't. Again, numbers don't lie. If Mussina is very hittable, everybody is very hittable. And if he's definitely hittable, what does that say for Schilling and Beckett?
It's so much fun to debunk Sox logic.
J-Boogie

Off To A Good Start

Nothing beats Opening Day. The Yankees won. The Red Sox lost (Schilling looked horrible-nice). All is right with the world. I took the day off from work to watch the opener. Unfortunately if you work where I work and do what I do, you never really have the day off from work. You end up doing something, which of course I did, which is sad b/c I don't have what I would call an important job. But there isn't a TV in front of me at work so I can't complain too much. I was psyched to see that my cable provider launched the YES Network in HD yesterday. Games are so much better in HD.
It was touching to see Cory Lidle's wife and son throw out the first pitch. I thought it was a class move by the Yankees. And was I the only one getting goosebumps when they were doing player introductions? I love this time of year.
I think Pavano pitched OK. It wasn't by any means a bad start and I don't think it was anywhere near as bad as his line would indicate. He was the victim of a few errors that might have changed his fortunes but that's how the game goes. Like I said a few days ago, if CP can pitch like he did in 2005, he'll easily win 15 games. If Randy Johnson can win 17 games with a 5 ERA, CP can win just as many if he can keep the ERA down. The runs came late today so he had a no-decision. I'll take it. This is one of the most prolific offenses ever assembled. It can make up for sub-par pitching.
The bats were out today. Two hits a-piece for Giambi, Abreu, A-Rod and Posada. A-Rod's dinger in the 8th was nice to see. I thought it was a well-deserved curtain call considering all he's endured. He's primed to have a monster year. This offense is going to put up some crazy numbers. 1000 runs easy if everyone stays healthy. As we saw today, even if the pitching is less than stellar, the offense can pick up the slack. I know they say that pitching and defense wins championships, but with a lineup like the Bombers, you can get by with giving up 5 runs and making 3 errors.
The Yankee bullpen looked awesome. 3 hits in 4 and 2/3. The bullpen gets my game ball. They shut the Rays down the second half of the game and that allowed the offense to take over. This bullpen excites me. How awesome was it to see Mo K the side to close it out. I can't wait to get me one of these. Every Yankee fan will want one.
Elijah Dukes is a monster. I've seen him a few times when Durham came through down. He's a big boy. I picked him up in a fantasy league before the game started when I saw he was slated to start in CF. I needed a back-up. Nice pick-up.
Gil Meche was worth every penny. That game was awesome.
Pettitte gets the ball Wednesday. That should be an awesome game. Unfortunately, I can't take that day off. I'd like to see his return to the Bronx. Thank God for XM.
I love Opening Day. Peace, love and Pinstripes
J-Boogie