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Schadenfreude

Posted by Eric Schultz at 11:28 pm No Responses »
Aug 092009

A series of tweets from ESPN’s Sports Guy (and vocal Red Sox fan) Bill Simmons.  Enjoy:

10:41 PM:  Welcome to the Red Sox, Victor Martinez! I’d like to thank NYY for inexplicably pitching Phil Coke for this entire inning.

10:48 PM:  Note to America: Meet the Boston Red Sox closer from 2011 through 2015 (and hopefully beyond), Mr. Daniel Bard.

10:53 PM: OK, this is devastating. Bard was my favorite subplot of the season. I can’t even type.

11:05 PM: Note to America. Reacquaint yourself with the NY Yankees closer from 1997 through 2015 (and hopefully beyond), Mr. Mariano Rivera!

What’s Schadenfreude? Take a listen.

August 9th, 2009 at 11:18 PM

Posted by Steve S. at 11:18 pm 6 Responses »
Aug 092009

The exact date and time when order was restored to the universe.

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New Yankee Stadium Earns Its Stripes

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 4:09 pm No Responses »
Aug 092009

After the first game of this now triumphant series against Boston, Ross from New Stadium Insider penned a guest post for RAB about the acoustics in the new ballpark. He wrote:

At the old Yankee Stadium – and other great home parks such as Fenway – crowd noise builds in anticipation of a big moment. So far in 2009, the new Yankee Stadium has had small bursts of overwhelming crowd noise, but those have typically been in response to a big moment. The wall of sound that engulfs you and makes you feel like you are a part of something truly special conspicuously absent.
We are left wondering whether that wall of sound will ever return. Is the significantly further recessed (and partially covered) upper deck to blame? Are the fans that can afford to attend games at the new Yankee Stadium even more corporate than the fans at the old one? Did the 6,000 – 7,000 extra seats in the old place make a huge difference in terms of crowd noise? We probably need to wait until the new Yankee Stadium hosts a playoff series to draw any reasonable conclusions, but as of now, we’re disappointed.

While I opined at the time that I had not noticed a huge acoustical difference between the two parks and thought the sentiment resulted from the mythologization of the old ballpark, Ross’ feelings about the New Yankee Stadium were shared by many. However, one night later, everything changed. The Yankees and Red Sox played a game for the ages, and as Mike Vaccaro eloquently noted, all the new home of the Yankees needed to prove itself was a game of the proper import and tension:

Look homeward now. Look to The Bronx. Look to the familiar old neighborhood. And cross the street. Yankee Stadium II made its bones last night, proved it can be a fair acoustic heir, and maybe approach the experience the old joint used to specialize in: feeling like you had a stake in things. Feeling like everyone on the field could hear you. Feeling like a 10th man.

And being one. The games that came before didn’t have any of that. This one did. This one lasted until close to 1 in the morning, but when it ended everyone was ready. Everyone was prepared. The best game in the new ballpark, and they screamed as the ball soared, and it sounded sweeter even than Sinatra.

In one night, the new ballpark in the Bronx went from a foreign place where our favorite team happened to play to the Home of the Yankees. If there had been any doubts about the Stadium’s suitability as the site for a big postseason game, it was erased Friday night when Alex Rodriguez sent that ball deep into the summer night. Yankee Stadium is ready for a long October.

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A-Rod Letting Bat Speak For Him

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 12:00 pm No Responses »
Aug 092009

From Pete Abraham:

“This hip injury for me was kind of a blessing in disguise,” Rodriguez said yesterday. “It really kind of gave me a chance to refocus and rethink things, to take basically a timeout from all the white noise I created for myself over the last year and a half. I feel like now I have the opportunity to play baseball.

“The gift that God gave me is to play baseball, not to talk or explain myself.”

Rodriguez returned to the team in May and has been a very good player, hitting 20 home runs and driving in 62 runs. But he is no longer the focal point as other players define the team’s personality. Rodriguez is what he always claimed he wanted to be: Just one of the boys.

Prior to the season, when A-Rod talked about shutting up and becoming just one of the pack, many writers scoffed and suggested that is would be easier said then done. Yet here we are on the ninth of August, and Alex has yet to put his foot in his mouth or make a spectacle of himself at any point this season. His play on the field has been all that we have seen of Alex Rodriguez, and it has made for a much better vibe emanating from the clubhouse. Hopefully he keeps it up through the remainder of his contract, and leaves the talking and speculating to the media. As he says, he has a gift, and he should stick to it.

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Random Thoughts-Red Sox Sweep Edition

Posted by Steve S. at 9:28 am 6 Responses »
Aug 092009

-Still have goosebumps thinking about Friday’s Burnett/Beckett game. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing that match up again in October, assuming the Sox hold up their end of the bargain. I got a kick out of Alex throwing up his helmet, like a bouquet at a wedding. Melky did the same thing after one of his walk offs, so it’s becoming a new tradition. Mo said they were all like a bunch of kids, just playing a baseball game. Fans stayed around, I was amazed at how full the stadium was well after midnight. The entire team was on the top step of the dugout from the 8th inning on. What a stark contrast to the later Torre years, when they were getting eliminated by the Angels/Tigers in the ALDS and Jeter was the only one cheering.

-Nice post on LoHud yesterday

Be advised, Yankees fans, both CC and A.J. felt the love this weekend.

“Big weekend for both of us,” Burnett said. “I’ve never had 49,000 people in my corner like that before and I bet CC hasn’t, either. It gives you chills. Now I know what you guys were talking about when you said these Red Sox games are something different. You could feel it inside the stadium.”

Very nice. I guess AJ was telling the truth when he said he wanted to pitch on ‘the big stage’. I also had no idea when he signed here that he’s such a good teammate, and a good guy in general. You’d see him on the mound in TOR and he looked like a moody prick, and turns out he’s anything but.

-Did you know the Yanks have won 30 of their last 40 games (.750)? Also, 3-8 against Boston feels more like 8-3 when you’re up by 5 in the loss.

-Check out this quote from Keven Youkilis:

“The bottom line is that everything is blown out of proportion when we play the Yankees. To be honest with you, it’s very tiresome,” said Kevin Youkilis of the Sox. “This is probably the opposite way of a few months ago you were bashing them and now you’re bashing us. It’s going to keep going the same way until the fans and (the media) get over it at some point, I guess.”

He happens to be right that everything gets intensely scrutinized between these two teams. Yankee players and managers have alluded to that for years, without saying as directly as Youk just did. But if this is something he’s growing tired of, then he’s playing in the wrong city. They live to hate the Yanks up there, and won’t ‘get over it’ anytime soon. Sounds like the teams’ poor play and getting spanked by the Yanks is getting to him.

-I get a kick out of announcers who always claim that when a player gets hit, it wasn’t a good time to do it. When is it ever according to them?

-When Melancon did it, they said “Its a blowout, why wake up sleeping dogs?”
-When Bucholtz did it, they said “Its a 0-0 game, you don’t want to put a man on base there”
-When Gonzalez did it, they said “They’re down 2-0 late in the game, it’s just not a good time to do it”

Never mind that when the 9 Yankees who logged 30 At Bats came to the plate, somehow the Boston pitchers only lost control of the ball when A-Rod came to the plate, and coincidentally it happened twice. Please. I guess the only time that would ‘make sense’ is immediately after an unassisted Triple Play.

-Beantown (a nickname Bostonians hate) must be reeling right now. They’re looking at getting swept by the hated Yanks after just getting swept by the Rays and Texas. The city of Boston will be in full fledged panic by Monday, and WEEI will be hilarious to listen to.

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Minors Recap, 8/8

Posted by Eric Schultz at 12:08 am No Responses »
Aug 092009

Scranton falls to Lehigh Valley, 4-3

  • Kei Igawa took the loss, and was outpiched by former 1st-rounder Joe Savery.  Igawa gave up 4 runs on 9 hits and a walk in 6 innings.
  • Edwar Ramirez gave up 2 hits in 2 scoreless innings, and struck out 1.
  • Reegie Corona was 0 for 3 with a walk.
  • Austin Jackson was 3 for 5 with a triple, but was also caught stealing and picked off by Savery.
  • Shelley Duncan was 2 for 5 with a double.
  • Juan Miranda was 1 for 5 with a double.
  • John Rodriguez was 1 for 3 with a walk.
  • Colin Curtis was 2 for 4.
  • Chris Stewart was 2 for 3 with a walk.

Trenton defeats Harrisburg, 3-2 (8 innings, game 1)

  • Zach McAllister pitched well in his return from the DL, giving up a run on 3 hits in 4 innings, while striking out 2 and recording 8 groundball outs (against 2 flyouts).
  • Kanekoa Texeira gave up a run on 2 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings, striking out 3.
  • Austin Krum was 1 for 2 with 3 walks and an error.
  • Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 2 with 2 walks.
  • Chris Malec was 1 for 5.
  • Richie Robnett was 2 for 4 with a double.
  • Edwar Gonzalez, James Cooper, and Justin Snyder were 1 for 3 with a walk.

Trenton blanked by Harrisburg, 1-0 (game 2, 7 innings)

  • Jason Stephens took the loss, giving up a run on 2 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings, with 3 strikeouts.
  • Matt Cusick was 1 for 3.
  • Richie Robnett and Marcos Vechionacci were both 1 for 3 with a double.

Tampa tops Clearwater, 6-1

  • Hector Noesi got the win, giving up a run on 3 hits in 6 strong innings, and striking out 7.
  • Dan Brewer was 2 for 4 with 2 steals.
  • Austin Romine was 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
  • Kevin Smith was 2 fo r4.
  • Brandon Laird was 0 for 4.
  • Luis Nunez was 1 for 4 with a steal.
  • Walter Ibarra was 1 for 2 with a double and a sac fly.

Charleston falls to Augusta, 10-7

  • Cory Arbiso started, giving up 5 runs on 10 hits and a walk in 5 innings.
  • Andrew Brackman, pitching in relief, took the loss, bringing his record this season to 0-12.  Brackman gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits in 2 innings of work, with 1 strikeout.  He had no walks and only 1 wild pitch, so he is making progress.
  • Manny Banuelos, pitching in relief, gave up a run on 1 hit and 2 walks (and a balk) in 1 inning of work.  He also struck out 1.  I am not sure why Manny was pitching out of the ‘pen, but the organization is probably trying to limit his innings.  He is approaching 100 innings pitched on the season, after throwing only 42 in the GCL last season.
  • Jose Pirela was 1 for 5 with a double and an error.
  • Abe Almonte, Melky Mesa, Garrison Lassiter, and Neall French were 1 for 4.
  • Corban Joseph was 1 for 5.
  • Taylor Grote was 1 for 4 with his 4th homer of the season and struck out twice.
  • Addison Maruszak was 1 for 3 with a walk and a steal.
  • Jeff Farnham was 3 for 4.

Staten Island shuts out Oneonta, 2-0

  • Arodyz Vizcaino started for the Yankees, and recorded 2 outs (1 via the strikeout) before leaving with a back injury.  Hopefully it is nothing serious, as the Viz has had put together a great season.
  • Gavin Brooks got the win, striking out 4 in 3 shutout innings, while allowing a hit and walking 2.
  • Luke Murton was 1 for 4 with a double.
  • Deangelo Mack was 2 for 4 with a solo homer.
  • Carmen Angelini was 1 for 3 with a triple.
  • Emerson Landoni was 1 for 3.

GCL Yanks defeat Pirates, 8-4

  • Alan Horne got the win, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk in 5 innings.
  • Jud Golsan was 3 for 4 with his 4th steal of the season.
  • Jose Toussen was 2 for 3 with a walk and a double.
  • Kevin Mahoney was 1 for 4.
  • Kelvin De Leon was 2 for 4 with 2 homers, giving him 6 on the season (he is now tied for the GCL lead).
  • Jose Mojica was 0 for 4.
  • Ramon Flores was 1 for 4.

In other news, Josh Towers, called up to the bigs today, was DFA’d in favor of the recently-acquired Chad Gaudin.  I expect Towers to clear waivers, and he will likely return to Scranton.

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