ISSUE #12

Week Eleven

(June 13^th – June 19^th)

 ^{“The Quick & Painless Tuesday Review”}

The days are getting shorter and the months are melding into one. As both the Yankees and Mets had four series games over the past weekend I decided to wait until Tuesday to hit you all with a new issue. I want to thank you for your patience and time as you have been real encouraging knowing that you read this. The grammar in each piece needs to be checked more precisely, but as a one-man show and baseball being played every day things get backed-up and lost in the wind. This is no excuse, but I know it exists and it’s unacceptable…but I’m writing this to say thank you for looking past some blunders my fingers have typed. Baseball is a beautiful thing that never stops no matter what time of year and I appreciate all opinions on all subject matter. There have been many tips the readers have given me over the past 3 months and I thank you feverishly for bearing with me and helping out when asked for.

Where are we going with this? Here is a list of the next few issues…

-Next week JUNE 20th is back to a Monday delivered issue WEEK #12

-Following week JUNE 27th: Mets vs. Yankees Part 2 will have another breakdown of both ball clubs’ advantages/disadvantages. WEEK #13

-JULY 6^th, this is a special WEDNESDAY issue WEEK #14. It will deal with the 1^st half of the 2011 baseball season. All the good, the bad, the ugly and the surprising throughout MLB. As I will be getting married two days after only to follow that with a luxurious Honeymoon with my beautiful wife I will not return with a new issue until July 25^th. However, I will jump in periodically with some thoughts as one thing will never stop no matter where I am and that’s Adam Hammer’s Loose Lips. He can’t be stopped for no wedding or any distraction, so he will, like my-self drop a few thoughts as the days pass so keep checking out the blog spot for anything new over those two weeks. It will surely be interesting.

-JULY 25^th “The Catch-up” issue will cover from All-Star Break to that week.

Again I thank all of you and your honesty.

Enjoy another issue for your reading pleasure,

Doctor Kas

New York Yankees

(36 - 27)

2^nd place/2GB

          The Past: (Week Nine): Boston Red Sox: (Lost series 0-3) I was saddened this past week as I’m sure every Yankee fan was as well. The Yanks are a really well rounded team, until they have to play the Red Sox. After this miserable series getting swept at home the Yankees are now 1-9 against their rivals this season. Even in the last game of the series on Thursday with CC on the mound all things fell apart after the 6^th inning and Boston put on a hitting clinic. The offense looked shot; the pitching with Freddy and A.J. looked like they were pitching batting practice instead of a game in their own stadium. Home field advantage was a loss and a waste as the fans packed in tightly and left disappointed all three nights.

Cleveland Indians: (3-1) Monday night was the final game of a four game series against the falling Cleveland Indians. The Yankees have surged on offense with Curtis Granderson, Mark Tex and A-Rod knocking the ball around the field, but they couldn’t complete the sweep. Rookie pitcher Carlos Carrasco out dueled A.J. Burnett in a 1-0 loss on Monday night as the Indians salvaged a game in New York on another dreadful road trip. Brett Gardner has woken up in a big way by getting on base lately. He still seems to be having a tough time stealing bases getting caught on Saturday twice. He has now been thrown out 9 times this year with only 13 successful steals. Last year he stole 47 bases and was only nabbed 9…let me repeat…9 times all year. It’s still surprising to see none of the Yankees sluggers batting over .300 this year, but the power of the bats really speak loudly. They are the Kings of solo home runs, but they really need to get things going when the opponents appear to have their number. A sweep of the Indians who have been on a downward spiral the past couple of weeks would have been a wonderful task to complete, but the fact of the matter is that they will end up under .500 at the end of this year anyway…so congratulations winning 3 of 4, but not extremely impressive from a 200 plus million dollar payroll of a team.

Derek Jeter is now only 6 hits away from the great milestone of 3,000 career hits…oh, but now a right strained calf will stall all talks of getting that number 3,000 in the heart of Yankee City.  It would be fitting to see him succeed his task at Wrigley Field over the weekend, but maybe, just maybe he waits for the next home stand. Sorry to all those who bought tickets for the Texas series just for this reason of possibly seeing the milestone reached (Matt Kane), but every thought of that happening now is in serious doubt.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday – Thursday

Rangers @ Yankees

7:05pm, 7:05pm, 1:05pm

            Another interesting matchup to watch as Jeter makes his last bid at home for 3,000 hits. The stadium will sellout and it should be another fantastic series to watch. Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler are all healthy and dangerous at any time in a nine inning game. The series is packed with superstars and the funny thing is that the bullpens of each team will decipher the series. The problem with that is that both teams’ bullpens are not at the top of their game. The last time these two teams battled I said it would be a slugfest and I have never been so wrong in my life…well the weather is much nicer and the time to shine is now. On the big stage in New York fireworks might erupt a couple weeks early with all the excitement from these two possible playoff teams.

           

Friday – Monday

Yankees @ Cubs

2:05pm, 4:05pm, 8:05pm on ESPN

            The Cubs are natural born losers. I’m sorry but it’s true. I love the franchise, because I love the history of baseball, but at 25-39 this year I see no positives in finishing this season with some sort of a chance. Their best pitcher is still Carlos Zambrano and that especially says nothing. Actually, the best thing I saw of the Cubbies this year was Ryan Dempster’s amazing rendition of Harry Carry before Saturday’s afternoon game. Other then comedy the Cubs have nothing…oh wait I have one positive kind of…I have to give props to the no power 2B and SS. Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney are two up-and-comers solidifying the middle infield and hitting for contact. Castro is sitting pretty at .301 and Darwin, who hits right in front of him, is batting .295. Not bad, but when there is no one to bring you in after your single or double well then all you have is a nice looking batting average.

           

          The Yankees should go into Chicago and take care of business swiftly making a mark with Derek Jeter’s 3,000 hit coming from a single over the second baseman’s mitt in the 1^st inning of Game one.

                       

EXTRA NEWS: The set-up man, no not the 35 million dollar man in the disappeared Soriano fiasco, I’m talking Joba Chamberlin. He’s out for the year and heading to Tommy John land. It’s a big loss for an already defeated bullpen so changes will be needed. Russell Martin could be joining Joba on the DL shortly because of his back…he might need a “back-e-otomy”. Bartolo Colon looks to miss his scheduled start on Thursday and of course Derek Jeter might be on the bench for a bit after last night’s early exit.

(An extended “weak” long prediction 4 - 2)

________________________________________________________

New York Mets

(32 - 33)

4^th place/7.5 GB

The Past (Week Nine): Milwaukee Brewers: (Won 2-1) This could of and should have been a sweep, if it wasn’t for Prince Fielder and his 3 HRs. The Mets played very well in Milwaukee, where the best home record team faltered while all three starting pitchers pitched pretty well. All three games never really got started until after the 6^th inning and from that point on it was back and forth. The Mets squeaked out the first game, blew the second late as usual and took the last game by making Y. Gallardo pitch close to 100 pitches by the end of the 4^th inning. The one Terry Collins “bad calling” situation I have that I certainly want to pick out was in the bottom of the 8^th of game two was not walking Prince Fielder with a runner on 2^nd base and 1 out. The big bashing Prince already had 2 homers in two games and the Mets were still clinging to a two run lead…we all know what happen after that pitching change…BOOM! –and the mascot slides down the Left Field yellow spiral slide.

            The great starting pitching leaked over into the Pirate games this weekend; however, it wasn’t enough to win the series. Another tie in a four game series against the Buccos is okay with me, and honestly I know its okay with you as well. Two games under .500 with all the DL fillers, ponzi schemes and Team Owner bashings it’s really not as bad as it could be. They have been in every game lately so there is always a positive way to glance at the standings if you ask me.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday - Thursday

Mets @ Braves

7:10pm, 7:10pm, 7:10pm

            Another series against the hot hot hot-lanta Braves. The Mets need to ride on the back of Jose Reyes as long as it lasts. The starting pitching will also need to continue getting into the 7^th inning so the bullpen can only filter out the good and hold in the awful. The Braves have won 6 of their last 7 and even with an entire replacement outfield this team continues to win games. Jair Jurrjens will be the first pitcher the Mets face this series and they are the only team that has gotten more than one earned run of the 8-2 starter this year. The Mets are looking to end a solid road-trip before it turns sour. Pagan is hitting the ball for contact and the Irish bloke Daniel Murphy has fought his way through all the terrible fielding woes and raised his average over .300 for the first time since becoming an everyday starter. 

Friday – Monday

Angels @ Mets

7:10pm, 7:10pm, 1:05pm

            If there is any time over the past eight or so years to be playing an interleague series against the Angels of Anaheim, well this seems to be the year. All the old folks are not playing up to snuff as Tori Hunter and Bobby Abreu continue to suffocate in this wild lineup. Sparks of greatness appear from time to time, but mostly out of the pitching staff and mainly focused on Dan Haren and Jered Weaver. The Angels have players that can score runs and stop runs, but nothing has worked this year so far and the Mets need…must take advantage of teams under .500, which is a rarity for a Mike Scioscia ballclub. Hopefully the combination of the Mets coming home for the weekend and the Angels flying 6 hours across this great nation will work in the Mets favor.

                       

EXTRA NEWS:  Ike Davis still can’t run, due to a protective boot on his foot. David Wright will be tested again this week and the earliest return date would be June 24^th…yeah right. Worst of all news, Johan Santana felt soreness in his pitching arm after some tosses from the mound. Now it looks to be August as a possibility, as I sit back and say “see you next year”.

 (An extended “weak” long prediction 3 - 3)

_____________________________________________________

Living in a Fantasy 1-2-3:

-          Who Killed It? – 1.  Price Fielder has hit 7 homeruns in ten games…contract years are amazing right?  2. Talk about contract year, how about the lone Mets star this year in Jose Reyes. The man/kid is on fire with a .342 batting average and is the only offensive workhorse on the just under .500 squad.  3.  The Houston Astros are bad. Real bad. Hunter Pence is not. How do these two things compare? Well they are involved in the same organization, but Hunter is flying in a world of his own. He was a premier prospect just 3 years ago and it looks like he has finally broken out after a solid 2010 season and so far, a remarkable start to 2011. As of Tuesday morning this kid with no lineup support around him has managed to hit .325 with 9 HRs and 50 RBI’s. Fans in Houston can start shopping Carlos Lee around and start building a team around Hunter immediately.

-          Who Thrilled It? – 1.  The Detroit Tigers are quietly winning games left and right and every news media reporter is still talking about the Indians or the last place Twins in that AL Central division. Jim Leyland has the Motor City sneaking into a 1^st place tie after another winning week. They have won 7 of their last 10.  2.  I don’t know if this is considered “thrilling it” but I have to admit it’s a pretty great feat…the Boston Red Sox are enduring a nine game win streak and posted up 30 runs in two days in Toronto over the past weekend. Call it a slow start in April, and I’ll just call it warming up for the playoffs.  3.  This one is simple, but you might not agree with it…there are exciting teams and then there are exciting players on a team, Jose Reyes is that exciting player on a team. The kid has scorched the ball for the past month and to be on base almost every time I turn on a game it’s unfathomable to me. He is hardnosed and a real nuisance to all opposing pitchers every single time he leads off a base. He leads the NL in hits, triples and most important…batting average.      

-          Who’s on Deck? – 1.  On the pitching side of things for the New York Mets the stats have turned around. At first their starter couldn’t last more than 5 or 6 innings and the RP’s were knocking opponents dead. Now the bullpen is terrible, but the starters have come around…slowly. Dillon Gee is 7-0 and maintains his rookie of the year candidacy. 2.  Texas Rangers are known for their lineup and their Rookie of the Year closer, so where in the hell did Alexi Ogando come from? He is a 27 year-old Dominican who has pitched at least 6 innings in all of his twelve starts this year. The only thing that seems to be holding this kid back is his pitch count.  3.  Atlanta has lost every one of their Opening Day starters in the outfield to the DL. New second baseman Dan Uggla is batting a dismal .180 on the season. The team is still winning due in large part of their starting pitching, but also with the consistency of rookie first baseman Freddy Freeman. Yes, another cool name in sports history. He has struck out way too many times this year, but the kid seems to be coming around in a dependable way swaying power and being able to hit the ball in gaps. He delivered a game winning base hit last week and continues to play more or less every day. Keep an eye out and maybe now is the time to get him off your bench.

Adam Hammer’s Loose Lips

-          The MLB Draft was this week. Some teams took paraplegics; some took sons of former players. The Mets on the other hand drafted a guard from Kansas.

-          The Red Sox beat the hell out of the Yankees this week. So this once again proves that the gutty, gritty underdog can still compete with a Goliath!

-          The A's fired Bob Melvin and hired Bob Geren. Or they fire Geren and hired Melvin. Honestly, is there a difference between the two of them?

And now for your reading pleasure…

***

The Future; According to the Late-Great George Carlin

“Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over long periods of time”

 

Real quick…and extra Two for Tuesday Carlin section:

“I have six locks on my door, all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three of them.”

Last Quip by Doctor KAS – “My bad, I’m so sorry…I never got to tell you about Ruler on Ice, the Belmont Stakes winner. His father was a mudder…even his mother was a mudder.”