Yankee Roundtable

A Day to be thankful

Russ — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:15:31 +0000

Joe, good post on Posada. I can see Girardi saying that to the pitchers, but does Jorge take Girardi seriously? I don’t know maybe he does. Winning streaks will certainly help a manager say things to players.

Now, on to “A Day to be thankful.” July 4 is a day in which we much to be thankful for: liberties, our country, rights, clearance sales, etc. But this July 4th marks the 14th anniversary of Rivera starting a game against the White Sox and blanking them to only allow 2 hits while striking out 11. His previous starts were unspectacular, but after the game against the White Sox, the Yankees thought twice about what they had.

Then about three years ago (July 17, 2006) I wrote the following:

“Today seemed like a good day to put this in perspective. I’ve been walking around saying that Mariano Rivera, forget relievers, is one of the top 20 or 25 pitcher of all time, period. It seems like I’ve been short-changing the Great Mariano. I’ve been racking my brain and here’s what I come up with. The first list are pitchers I can definitely say are better than Mariano. The next list are pitchers who, Mariano doesn’t take a back seat to. If you add up the guys who are better. You will find that you can possibly make a case that Mariano is the 11th greatest pitcher of all time and we are seeing him play right now in front of our eyes. Tell me if you agree with this analysis, or if you think I made any great oversights.

Pitchers who are better than Mariano:

Lefty Grove, Carl Hubbell, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Christy Mathewson, Warren Spahn, Cy Young, Rube Waddell, Eddie Plank, Joe McGinnity and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Pitchers on the same level, or I’m having trouble saying they are better:

Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Juan Marichal, Fegie Jenkins, Greg Maddux, Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, Jim Bunning, Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing.”

I just thought I would recall this after he recorded his 500th save, because I’ve been reading alot of praise on MO (deservedly so), it’s just good that everyone finally joined this party. Check out Joe Posananski’s column on SI.com entitled: “Mariano’s a true Yankee”.

Tonight

John S — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:21:08 +0000

Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch tonight at the Stadium is Father McShane, president of Fordham University. Some of us in the Table have a direct or indirect connection to Fordham or to the University of Scranton, where McShane was president before he went to Fordham. At any rate, he is a big-time life-long Yankee fan and a fine gentleman and deserves the honor. It’s the 150th anniversary of college baseball at Fordham, one of the earliest organized college teams.

Posada

Joe — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:49:18 +0000

I’d like to think that Girardi met with his pitchers and told them to quit bellyaching. Posada is our catcher. He’s caught some of the best pitchers in the majors, including several hall of famers and has 4 World Series rings and we need his bat in the lineup.

Then I hope he went to Posada and said “Hey, lighten up a bit”

Big Start

Russ — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:49:16 +0000

I agree. While Wang gets the win and it’s the best he’s pitched in a long time, it’s still not there. The quality is way off, and his slider (which was always inconsistent) was exactly that, inconsistent. I still do not feel comfortable with him against the best teams. Although maybe he can build on some confidence he gained. But, not really a fair test, the Mets are so depleted right now. Funny, I seem to have stopped hearing the grumbling over Posada. Does Girardi get credit for this or is it just that Jorge is playing well right now?

All-Star Push

Mike T — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:17:29 +0000

The Yankees need to make a push right here, right now, because the scheudule for the Red Sox going into the All-Star break is a relative cake-walk (at Baltimore (3), home vs. SEA(3), OAK(3) and KC(4)). It is reasonable to assume that Boston wins all those series, going 9-4 in the process.

The Yankees play SEA (3) and Tor(4) at home and then play at Minnesota (3) and LAA (4). So while the Red Sox have an easy trip to Baltimore then stay home until the break, the Yankees have a 4 game set against Toronto, then have to trek across the US to play Minnesota and a 4 game set against the Angels. 4 game series are tough to win. So they need to sweep SEA (who is likely to lose Adrian Beltre) and at a minimum split the Tor and LAA series. Then if they win the Min series, they finish 9-5 and ojnly lose a half game against Boston. If they play like crap, they could be 6 out at the break.

Big Start

Joe — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:22:41 +0000

I think Wang and the Yankees were lucky that they were playing a minor league team last night. If Wang pitches like that against the Red Sox or the Rays, he’s in big trouble. Too many pitches up. He got outs with his slider more than his sinker. Also, again the Yankees left a ton of people on base. I’m not complaining about sweeping the Mets, but they need to play better against the American League.

Big Start

Russ — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:17:48 +0000

for Wang tonight.

Where is Andy Phillips? and does anyone care?

Joe — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:10:52 +0000

Former New York Yankees infielder Andy Phillips has signed a one-year contract worth $400,000 with the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Central League.

Phillips said on the team’s official Web site: “I’m really looking forward to playing for a team that has a long history in such a great country. I’ll do everything I can to help the team win a championship.”

Phillips had a .250 career batting average with 14 home runs and 70 RBIs in 259 games in the major leagues.

The 32-year-old Phillips spent four seasons with the Yankees from 2004 before splitting the 2008 season between the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets.

The Carp are in fourth place in the six-team Central League, nine games behind the first-place Yomiuri Giants.

YEAH-Rod!

Mike T — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:59:12 +0000

So Alex came through in a big spot with two out and the bases loaded. Good for him. We need to credit him when credit is due. He is the straw that stirs the drink. If he is not hitting, Tex won’t get anything to hit, and Cano and Posada will press. But if A-Rod hits, then he makes everyone better. Let’s hope he has turned it around.

A Round of Applause for A-Rod

You said it!

Russ — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:14:43 +0000

This team is boring. That game against Atlanta was all dullsville. Bad and boring is a terrible combination. At least the Mets have an excuse. This team hasn’t hit since… the Coolidge Administration. Even the Bengals defense has more hits than this team. Debbie Boone had more hits. Which brings me to Debbie Boone…. because this offense is like a soft, 70’s song…. “You light up my life, you give me hope…” Maybe they should start praying to the Almighty for some offense.