7 Weeks Left
(August 8th – August 14th)
Yankees Roll,
Mets Fold
The title says it all. The Yankees came out on fire against the Chicago White Sox and put a minor damper on their young playoff run. The four game sweep also gave the Yankees some confidence as they flew into Boston later in the week. A seven game win streak speaks in volumes as the fight for 1st place gets a bit more interesting here with only seven weeks of baseball left to play. Boston’s bats continue to tee off against the Yankees, but can a message finally sent to the Patriots up north? A fight to comeback in game one, a dose of reality set in for CC as four of his six losses now come from the horrifyingly fierce playing Red and White. Game three was on Prime time TV…where the Yankees were stifled by Josh Beckett earlier this year. The spirits were high for both clubs as the stadium lights illuminated on a 1st place showdown. It’s a meeting of the best in the American League. Both teams will see the post season this year for sure, but pride feels a whole lot better when defeating the most well-know opponent.
Across the Tri-Borough Bridge from “title-town” the Mets had false hope playing two division rivals this week. It’s sad the Mets didn’t show up. In one short year the Mets went from being one of the best home playing teams in the league to being below average with home field advantage. After a terrible start to the week losing two heartbreakers to Florida, in came arch-nemesis Atlanta. A whole lot went wrong with this series as well, but none more horrible then what occurred on Sunday afternoon. When the Northern East Coast was thinking of rain and most likely a washout of Sunday baseball the sun came a shinning and knocked the wind out of any New York Met hope in 2011. Daniel Murphy’s kneecap exploded trying to stop a base stealer and Jose Reyes embarks more hamstring issues.
New York Yankees
69 - 44
2nd Place/ 1 GB
Taking care of Chi-town seemed easy as pie. The toughest game was the first of the series on Monday night. Peavy and Sabathia went back and forth, both giving up plenty of hits, but the damage was limited. The Yankees snuck out and held on to a 3-2 win while Mariano the “unstoppable” retained his 28th save. After that he was not needed for the rest of the series. The Yankees took command and blasted away hit after hit winning 6-0, a whopping 18-7 and sweeping the series with a 7-2 victory. As I said, easy as pie!
The Yankees obviously came into Boston riding a seven game winning streak and tied for 1st place in the AL East. This is what all the television reps love, it’s what the ad agencies want and it’s what baseball always needs. A fight, a head to head battle with over 300 million dollars invested combined and bound by these two historic franchises. The pitching match-ups once again looked in Boston’s favor as Jon Lester threw in game one. The Yankees made him pitch piling up full counts and long fought innings for young Lester. After 5 innings Boston had a 2-0 lead and Lester was getting the job done. Top 6th the Yankees made a move, serving up 4 of their 5 hits against Lester in that inning. They all did damage. Granderson knocked in Nunez for the third Yankee hit in a row following Jeter. Big Tex then sacrificed home Jeter tying the game at 2. Then a big hit from Nick Swisher brought home Granderson with a double planting upside-down smiley faces on all Boston fans in attendance. Lester then had accumulated 108 pitches and was down 3-2. Night over, job well done for the Yankees. Mariano came in to close it out after five relief pitchers did some work to hold onto the one run lead. Yankees take sole possession of 1st place for the first time since June and their ace in the whole CC was taking the mound Saturday afternoon.
Can you say BOMBED!?!
CC Sabathia has one crutch this season…Boston. The Red Sox have giving CC four of his six losses this year and Saturday was one of the worst. This is bothersome. This is when one starts to clinch their teeth and bite their nails. This is a problem that needs to be corrected and the only fool to correct CC is CC’s mind. He has very good Cy Young numbers this year, but when he takes the hill against the most important team to beat, he looks like a batting practice pitcher. He got whaled after the Yankees tied the game early and never got settled. The saddest news besides the loss…John Lackey got the win, which are few and far between these days.
Sunday Night was classic. A four hour extra inning baseball game on past midnight here in the East Coast. Freddy Garcia once again pitched well, but Girardi jumped the gun and took him out after 5 innings. He fought his way out of some trouble, holding the Red Sox at bay. After being down 1-0 the Yankees had two big hits to change the tide of the game. A rarefied Nunez homerun and then an almost even more rarefied Brian Gardner homerun to take a 2-1 lead late in the game. The two little guys speaking in volumes while attempting to make a big splash in the long-lasting rival series. Everything was set up for the giant Mariano Rivera. Then in the blink of an eye two big mistakes took the Yankees out of 1st place. After a Marco Scutaro lead-off double off the Green Monster the next pitch was a hard but right to Rivera…but nobody is covering third base. Okay, chalk it up as inexperience at the position by Nunez. Mo then does his thing getting two outs, but gives up the sacrifice fly so the game is tied. Fine, not great, but fine. It happens. Now, the utmost/greatest/biggest surpreme-o bad call of the game was made next by Joe Girardi. Why not have Mo pitch the 10th? Seriously…why? Mo had two appearances all week on Monday night and Friday night. With a day off today…all I can say is what the young kids’ text when confused here in 2011, wtf?
An awful manager can rip a team’s pride. I’m not saying Joe is the worst manager in the game, but his train of thought is so random. I mean Phil Hughes? The struggling starter, is now out of the bullpen in a feisty Boston ballpark…in the 10th inning…for 1st place?
Joe Girardi, you put your team in second place and spoiled a very very good week.
Angels @ Yankees
Tuesday & Wednesday at 7:05pm
Thursday at 1:05pm
Always a battle, but played with more heart in the place the “boss” built. The Angels still have a ton to fight for at 65 – 52, only one game back in the West behind Texas. The other sweet and intriguing fact to this three game series is the pressure on the Wild Card in the AL. The Yankees right now hold a 7.5 game lead over the Angels for the WC position and it seems safe and healthy. However, we’ve all seen what happen in the past to the NY Mets. Embarrassing, I understand…as crazier things have happen. The Yankees are not the Mets though and however much they struggle in this three game set, I see no threat at all in missing the playoffs this year. If they take two-out-of-three well then you can pretty much “lock-it-up”
Rays @ Yankees
Friday at 7:05pm
Saturday at 4:10pm (FOX)
Sunday at 1:05pm
Usually a fun series, especially the past few seasons, but with no Carl Crawford and a struggling Evan Longoria the whole series looks like a top-dawg battling a pussy cat. We are deep into the season now and teams can try their best to play spoiler, but not this Tampa Bay squad. Not this year. They still have fight with gritty young stars, but as a Yankee fan, just sit back and watch Desmond Jennings lead off these games. He will be a menace on the base paths and since coming up from Triple A for the 1st time this season and second time in two years he has had power in his bat a flames trailing from his strides. Jennings is batting .344 and accumulated 11 RBI’s from the lead-off spot in two weeks. He’s exciting, but shouldn’t ruin a good weekend in the Bronx.
New York Mets
56 – 57
3rd place (18 GB)
It hurt when the Mets tied the game up two Sundays ago and lost the game in the bottom of the 9th. It was sad when Luca’s Duda tied up Monday Night’s game with a 2 out home run during the Mets final at bat and then a Florida youngster in Mike Stanton whacks a grand slam in the Top of the 10th. And so it’s also extremely painful watching the following night to make it a “threesome of terrible” as the flailing Flushing swamp dwellers cough up a one run lead in the 9th by a Justin Turner hilarious throwing error. The play brought me back to Luis Castillo’s pop-fly mishap against the Yankees in June of 2009. The Mets hit the wall hard and if you think Justin Turner’s lofty miscue was the nail in the coffin more miserable blues happen in the following Atlanta series.
I was a witness to Friday Night’s version of the Mets daily “fuck-up”. Pardon my language, but you are all grown up and there is no other adjective to explain the Top of the 8th at Citi Field. Mets were down 2-1 most of the game from a pretty good pitcher’s duel, R.A. Dickey vs. Tim Hudson. The game was moving swiftly and the pitchers were making outs. After only throwing 98 pitches, Dickey was pitched hit for in the Bottom of the 7th and after this…down the tubes. Flash forward to two outs in the inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Dan Uggla up at the plate with his 25 game hit streak on the line. 25 game hit streak you say? Well that would make me think he’s one of the hottest players in the game at that moment correct? First base was clear…2 outs…what the hell walk the bastard right?
…
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Not these New York Muts… (Damn I said to myself all year I wouldn’t use that name as an insult.)
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Base hit over Jose’s head, two runs score and the hitting streak is alive. Let’s understand, the .221 hitting Mr. Heyward was on deck. Shoulda, coulda…shoulda.
The Mets stop their own losing streak the night after, but the dreaded Sunday afternoon was finally the last hammer in a long nail. Jose Reyes pulls up with a tight hamstring in the 2nd inning, while David Murphy (the Mets best hitter) goes down after shattering what seems to be his left knee. It looked painful and Terry Collins looked empty in his post-game conference. He looked like what I picture every Met fan must have felt all over the Island and parts of this great city…heartrending. I know this feeling. Pittsburgh has now lost 10 games in a row after being over .500 in July for the first time since the early 90’s. Our seasons are over for 2011 and that’s that. The big exclamation point after four months of hard rooting for a group of athletes you love because of the jersey they wear. I'm with you boys and girls. Men and Women. The heartbroken and the wishful thinking.
On a positive note…Jose Reyes might be a bit cheaper to hold onto now as he’s officially proven he’s injury-prone. So I guess you could say you have that going for ya.
Padres @ Mets
Monday thru Wednesday at 7:10pm
Thursday at 12:10pm
Seven weeks of giving playing time to 2012 possible starters. That’s all the rest of the season is now for the Mets. Ticket prices just went down about 50%, so if you want to catch a Mets game for cheap pack a sandwich, tailgate in the parking lot to make your 19 dollars worth it, or just enjoy the stadium, because what will occur in between the chalk filled lines will barely be promising. The Padres are a weak last place team riding a four game winning streak and Mike Pelfrey takes the hill for the Mets. Why does that hurt my head when I type his name? At 6-9 with a 4.48 ERA I’ve grown to believe that Big Pelf is a sorry waste of time. I’d like to see what Gee and Niese do down the stretch, but for all the rest…ah, (as my Grandpa Willy would say) they’re all bums!
Mets @ Diamondbacks
Friday at 9:40pm
Saturday at 8:10pm
Sunday at 4:10pm
A half game back from the defending World Series Champion S.F. Giants is where the surprising Diamondbacks sit as I write this on a hot and muggy Monday morning. Do I feel okay? Am I seeing the right information? Is my mind playing tricks on me? Manager of the Year Kirk Gibson has done a ton with very little. The best out of this team is former Yankee starter Ian Kennedy at 14-3 with a 3.20 ERA. He’s lights out! Anyone with 14 wins on a bad scoring offensive team must have the right stuff. Other than many other rookies and 1st year starting pitchers the lone bat on the team comes from Justin Upton. He was in many trade talks like his brother in Tampa Bay, but both remained where they originated from in the beginning of the season. Sometimes it is shown how knowledge for the game presides over everything that makes complete sense and Kirk Gibson is on a list to prove it. Managers do make a difference in a teams play and Kirk Gibson shows it. So if not watch to see what the Mets can do missing way too many pieces of the puzzle, watch for the love of the game.
Adam Hammer’s “Loose Lips”
- Jose Reyes was pulled from Sunday's Mets game with left hamstring tightness. The Mets immediately sent him for tests and the X-Ray on his left ankle showed that he was ok.
- David Ortiz interrupted Red Sox manager Terry Francona's pre-game press conference to complain about the official scorer. The event went ignored for the most part. Meanwhile, the execution of Alex Rodriguez by firing squad as a result of playing cards is scheduled for this Tuesday.
- The Giants and Phillies had a "fight" on Friday night after Shane Victorino was plunked in the hip. Shane, a well known MMA fan, was held back by umpires and coaches to prevent a worse incident. Personally, I feel if you just stand in the infield and everyone pushes each other for 2 minutes, everyone should get suspended. It's the people who actually fight who should be left off the hook, see Porcello, Rick.
Get better, Juan Nicasio! 
Living a Fantasy 1-2-3 and 4
I can tell you who’s been killing it (Billy Butler in Kansas City), who has “tanked” this season (Adam Dunn & most of the Chicago White Sox) and some youngsters on the way for you to think about in next year’s draft (Desmond Jennings in Tampa Bay), however in this week’s issue I will rant & rave, cry, stomp my feet and have nightmares on how completely awful this year has been for me in the Fantasy World. Let me put it in simpler terms…for the first time in eight years I can’t wait for my football drafts. I have struggled all season long with injuries all over my Dynasty League. The most losses ever in my 8 player keeper league, which is my oldest league to date and will now, break my seven year playoff appearance streak. In my “work” league I can’t buy consistency on my team and I have reaped the benefits of having no luck whatsoever. My fantasy knowledge has been broken down to a few problems.
1. I tend to stick with older players way too long waiting for their old self to come around again sometime soon. Well, it’s August so it’s time to give up on the Jake Peavy dream.
2. I always put the youngsters in too early. Pedro Alvarez needs a ton of work. Drop the guy and he’ll be a free agent until 2012.
3. I never can believe when a player is having an unbelievable season. I do not trust it until I realize a player like James Shields is 10-9 with an ERA in the two’s. You couldn’t give me a hundred dollars to draft that bitch earlier this year. Kyle Loche in St. Louis…come on, the man in my mind is trash as I look down at his wonderful numbers accumulated over three quarters of a season.
4. It’s official. I hate, hate, and continuously hate losing to some team that is never looked at or a lineup that is never changed by a fantasy owner. It has happened multiple times this year and my body can’t handle it. I cry at night sometimes with my back to my wife. She questions…”What’s that noise Hun?” I reply softly, “My soul tearing apart.”
So as you can read my heart struggles and just the talk of fantasy baseball makes my want to slit my throat. Yeah, it’s a harsh statement, but for an un-athletic guy or just a guy with no athletics sometimes fantasy games are the only hobby we look forward to. And when its season is over there’s nothing left to do but put it behind you and focus on next year.
And now for your reading pleasure…
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The Future; According to the Late-Great George Carlin
“The oceans will dry up, and people will find things they dropped in the toilet many years ago.”
&
“The human body will develop fins and gills, and beach property will increase tenfold in value.”
Last Quip by Doctor Kas: “Some things in life are undervalued it’s just too bad that most things I want or just simply need are well over priced.”
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