Over?! Was it over when the German’s bombed Pearl Harbor…

Well color me surprised, the Yankees didn’t win the 2 of 3 like I had hoped for (please notice the massive amount of sarcasm I am laying on here), although I am kind of surprised they didn’t get swept.  Especially since Purcey was a lefty, but hey every dog has their day I guess.  Moving on now to Baltimore, where anything less than 2 of 3 is unacceptable (boy does that sound familiar).  The Yankees need to figure out a way to win game 1 of a series for once, and if they can’t do it tonight with Moose on the hill, then it may never happen again this year.  Plus I’d like to see Moose get another win on his march to possibly his first 20 win season.  As the playoffs drift futher and further away, these personal goals should at least make the last month somewhat watchable. 

- You know the expression, bad teams find ways to lose?  Well I’d say that phrase is the Yankee season in a nutshell.  I’ve heard Yankee fans ask in amazement, how could Damon drop those balls on Tuesday Night?  Funny thing is he catches those 98 out of 100 times, but with the 2008 Yankees, those 2 times decided to rear its ugly head.  Just think back to Christian getting picked off first against KC the other night, or the countless double plays the Yankees have hit into this season in big spots.  They just continue to find ways to lose, and the reason for that is they are just a mediocre team this year.  That’s all there is too it, there’s no jinx, no curve of A-Rod or Pudge or Don Mattingly.  When you’re good, you play like it, and when your bad, you pitch Carl Pavano.

- Speaking of Pavano, word is he will be pitching on Saturday.  I know that’s only 1 day away, but I’ll believe it when I see it.  I mean how can Pavano even show his face in the Yankee clubhouse?  Is there no one in there that wouldn’t take a piss in his locker?  What I would give to be a fly in the wall in Baltimore tomorrow.  Oh and if I have to hear his new agent Tom O’Connell make one more quote about how Pavano has sacraficed himself to get back to this point after having TJ surgery, I think I’m going to get violently ill.  I am aware this is Mr. O’Connell’s job to make his client look good, but please give it a rest.  If Carl makes a start this year, it’s so he can up his value for when he becomes a free agent in November.  Tell St. Carl to win a game, then maybe we can talk about forgiveness.

- I used to really love baseball tonight.  What the hell happened?  I don’t know if my Canadian friends here get to watch it, but when it was Gammons, Reynolds, Valentine and Showalter, it was a can’t miss show.  Now, its a bunch of crappy ex-players trying to find a new form of employment.  Not only are we treated to analysis from the great Steve Phillips, but he’s joined from time to time by: Fernando Vina (whose only famous because Albert Belle nearly cracked his skull), John Kruk (hey I’m fat and funny look at me), Orestes Destrade ( I have a cool sounding name) and Eric Young ( I think they just keep him because Karl Ravech likes to feel cool by calling him EY).  Oh and my personal favorite has to be Eduardo Perez (hey do you know my daddy?) 

I’ll always remembr Perez as the guy who bragged how he could hit homeruns off the 41 year old Randy Johnson back in 2005.  Perez also offered up these beauties on the air Tuesday night:

–> First after watching highlights of Raul Ibanez, he wondered out loud why the Mariners haven’t looked into locking him up with a long term deal because “he can flat out play”.  Yeah that’s smart, a team who should be in rebuilding mode giving out long term contracts to 36 year old corner outfielders.  Let’s just pretend he didn’t have a .776 OPS in the first half as well Eduardo. 

–> And I swear he said this just to annoy me, because I just knew he was thinking of something dumb to say as they showed the Yankee highlights.  But after they showed Damon drop the second ball, Perez chimes in with “boy I bet the Yankee fans miss Melky Cabrera now”.  Wow Eduardo, just wow.  Yeah I’m sure we all expected Damon to drop a ball he usually gets in his sleep.  But hey, Melky wouldn’t drop that, he would just go up to the plate and swing at every pitch as long as it wasn’t in the strike zone.  Get a freakin clue!  If Damon can’t catch flyballs, then put in Gardner, or any fan in attendance out in center.  But leave Melky where he is until he remembers how to take a pitch.

- And since I’ve mostly talked about Tuesday’s game, I just want to add that I really wasn’t all that upset when Arod got thrown out at second in the 9th inning.  Honestly it hurts that he got thrown out, but it wasn’t a terrible play.  The Yankee offense barely gets a hit anyways, mine as well try to get to second so they would only need 1 hit instead of 2.  Arod was hustling hard, Overbay just made a nice play to recover the ball and fire it to second in time.  At least Arod is trying to make something happen, unlike other second basemen with the initals RC. 

- And that brings me to my next rant, I love how everyone keeps saying “oh the Yankees aren’t trying, they look lifeless, they don’t care, etc.”  Who exactly are you refering to is what I’d like to ask?  Jeter plays to win, like him or hate him Arod wants to win every game.  If you watch Johnny Damon play he bust his ass all the time.  Giambi may be selfish by always trying to pull the ball all the time, but I know his main goal is to win a world series.  Pudge is busting his butt out there, I mean did you think he’d leave Detroit and come to NY with a chance to succeed, and then say “eh to hell with it”?  The pitchers are not the problem.  Moose has been amazing this year, no on can doubt Pettitte’s desire.  Rasner and Ponson are basically pitching for their jobs every time they take the rubber.  The bullpen has been arguably the strongest part of the team.  So who does that leave?

Well that leaves us with the clique of Cano, Melky and Abreu.  I really don’t know what to make of Abreu, as the NY fans have really seemed to turn on him as of late.  Is he not trying?  That’s not fair for me to say, since he seems to play the same way everyday.  But watching him pull up on balls near the wall gets very tiring after awhile.  I don’t know if Melky just isn’t trying or if he is really that terrible.  And Cano, well who knows what to say about cano anymore.  Kind of ironic though that once Bowa leaves, Cano’s game goes to crap. 

- George Steinbrenner’s friend the the Fat Toad, Hideki Irabu was arrest earlier this week.  I don’t have the link saved anymore, but look it up for a laugh.  Apparently he managed to down 20 beers and then caused a disturbance in a bar.  Well you don’t say?  In other related news, excessive amounts of Cocaine can kill you doctors now say.

- And to end the baseball portion of the blog today, let’s all give our best to Carl Yastrzemski who was checked into a hospital where he will be having triple bypass surgery.  Yaz as we all know was the last player to hit for the Triple Crown, and is a deserving hall of fame member.  Yankee fans know how tough it was to lose Bobby Murcer earlier this year, and while Murcer wasn’t as good of a ballplayer as Yaz was, he still meant a lot to Yankee fans.  So I know what a lot of Sox fans are probably going through right now, so let’s hope for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery for Yaz.

Non Yankee but NY related

Frank Mazzola does an excellent job covering the Jets here at STB, but I just want to give my two cents on an article that Peter King wrote regarding the NY Jet fan base.  First let me say that Peter King is a very good football writer.  He’s very well informed and I’ve been familiar with his writing for over a decade.  However I think he is so far off base with this article it’s not even funny.  If you want to take a look at it yourself you can click the link below:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/08/17/august/3.html

Notice what he wrote under point #4, as it is basically calling out the Jet fans for not cancelling their summer plans to see Brett Farve make his first appearance in a PRESEASON football game.  I’m not even going to get started on how overrated I think Brett Farve is (in the past 3 seasons, not all time), but what really irks me is how King accuses NY fans of not really loving their team because they wouldn’t drop what they were doing to attend the game.  When do you think the last time peter King ever paid for a ticket with is own hard earned money?  Since the answer to that question is probably sometime in the 70’s, he may be unfamiliar with how expensive it is to attend a game, especially a game that DOESN’T EVEN COUNT!  And even if you are a season ticket holder, who is loyal enough to pay that ridiculous personal seat license fee, you still have to pay for parking, food, beer, souveniors, gas, etc.  So what Peter King is saying again is that Jet fans are bad fans because the weren’t willing to cancel their family vacation plans in mid August and spend an additional $50 to $100 dollars to see Brett Favre play 10 minutes.  Peter, get a clue, or if not then please stop hanging out with Eduardo Perez. 

Okay that’s it for today, I’ll be back after the weekend to comment on the upcoming Yanks-Sox series.  As of now I plan to live blog the Tuesday night game which I will attend.  I won’t be able to get a computer into the stadium obviously, but I’ll do it the old fashioned way by joting down some notes throughout the game. 

Comments or questions can be sent to jvg019@yahoo.com.  Enjoy the weekend.

 

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