Some fun at the Red Sox expense

by Ed Valentine on Jul 1, 2009 11:03 AM EDT in News Comment 21 comments

I can't resist a little jab at the Boston Red Sox this morning after the Beantowners, leading 10-1 ater six innings Tuesday night, self-destructed and lost, 11-10.

You can relive the biggest comeback in Orioles' history at Big League Stew.

Of course, the folks at Camden Chat are rejoicing.

I was just about to turn off this sorry excuse for a baseball game and get to the laundry I've been neglecting when the rains came and washed away the stink of the Orioles. After over an hour of rain, the game recommenced, and our lives were changed. Justin Masterson replaced John Smoltz and at first, it looked like more of the same. He retired the first six batters he faced until the 8th inning.

And that's when something magic happened.

And the folks at Over the Monster are crying in their morning coffee.

Me, I am just enjoying Boston's embarrassment. By the way, did you notice the Yankees are just 2.5 games back of the Sox today?

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Yeah that is fun

What would be more fun is actually beating them ONCE this season.

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 1, 2009 11:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

True

Can’t argue with that.

by Ed Valentine on Jul 1, 2009 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As a die hard Yankees fan I can’t help but enjoy every loss that the Red Sox earn. There is nothing much better than watching the Yankees play like they are and then see the Sox blow a 9 run lead. It is also time for Joe to start managing by gut feeling, or something other then by the book, because Bruney is not getting it done. Hughes si dominate right now and we need to keep putting him out there all it can do is help one of our young pitchers get better.

by syllk on Jul 1, 2009 11:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bruney

Yeah he has been pitching poorly, but luckily everyone else is playing well which gives Bruney a chance to get back up to speed. We need Bruney working.

by HappyLuckyGoldenDragonNumber1! on Jul 1, 2009 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bruney

Yah, but 8th inning in a tight game is not the place to be working it out. I don’t confess to know when it is the right time to work it out, because giving him junk time is going to do nothing for his confidence. I know we need him, and I think he and Wang can get back into form, just don’t want his confidence to get totally blown by giving up to many late inning leads.

by syllk on Jul 1, 2009 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Winning one against the sox

With the way they are playing right now we will some. An 0-8 hole isn’t going to be fun to climb out of, but it will make this season all the sweeter when we do.

by syllk on Jul 1, 2009 12:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What 0-8 hole?

Today is the first day of the rest of the season. All that matters is that with that 0-8. we’re still only 2.5 back. Would it be nice to take the season series? Yeah. Necessary? Not really. I’ll settle for a split of the remaining games if that what it takes to finish first.

by django48 on Jul 1, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Totally agree

I couldn’t agree with you more. It isn’t like we have played overly poorly. We do have the 3rd best record in baseball right now. It just irks when your turn coat father and mother, not to mention father-in-law and mother-in-law, can put that in your face. I have no doubts about this season, I do have doubts about Joe though.

by syllk on Jul 1, 2009 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What will make the season really sweet

is watching the Yanks wipe the smiles off all your relatives’ faces.

by django48 on Jul 1, 2009 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stunning Commentary (enough said)

by syllk on Jul 1, 2009 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yankees are looking good

The most important part is starting to gel, the pitching staff. Joba’s bad game was ALMOST a quality star. He needs to get smarter with his pitch count. He didn’t have his best stuff but still kept the Yankees in it. Hughes looked fantastic (yes Jerk, he stays in the pen). Bruney needs to straighten himself out, but at least since the rest of the pen is shutting teams down he can work through it right now.

by HappyLuckyGoldenDragonNumber1! on Jul 1, 2009 12:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm fine with that

As long as Girardi gets his head out of his ass and realizes that when a guy cruises through an inning with 9 pitches, you leave him in for the next inning.

I still can’t believe he brought Bruney in last night, it made no sense at the time, and makes less sense now.

And I didn’t know there was such a category as “almost” a quality start. Joba was bad, and was bad against the worst offensive team in the American League. At this point I’m resigned to the fact that he’s going to be a starter until his arm falls off, but you have to point out when he doesn’t get the job done.

The Yanks managed to get him a 3-1 lead, and he gave it away within 5 minutes. That’s not acceptable for anybody.

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 1, 2009 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's not fine for anybody

True. But to a much lesser degree when said pitcher is 23 years old, has a consistent mid 90’s fastball, one of the most evil sliders I have ever seen and a damn fine curve. I will say the same thing for Hughes next season when he gets Andy’s starts. Great pitchers rarely just happen, they usually have an amazing arm and grow into the role. If you don’t let him grow into the role, all your gonna have is an awesome reliever who signs with someone else who will let him be a number 2 or 3 starter in their rotation for starter money since you will only be offering reliever money. Yankees fans are a fickle lot, they bitch about not having home grown talent, but when they DO have it they bitch about having to endure growing pains. Yankees fans expect every young pitcher to come up and automagically be as immediately effective as Mo was when he came up. Joba has done fine, he just needs to be able to control his pitch count, I still think Cervelli catches him better than Jorge.

by HappyLuckyGoldenDragonNumber1! on Jul 1, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

A few things...

1) I expect a pitcher not to throw breaking balls behind in the count CONSTANTLY. If he’s still learning how to be a starter, they should be simplifying things, especially against a weak lineup like the Mariners.

2) Joba needs to show some measure of improvement during the course of the season. A couple of outings aside, Joba is the same 5-6 inning pitcher now he was last season pre-injury.

3) His fastball is NOT consistent mid-90s. His velocity is down, and he seems unwilling at times to use his fastball. Not a good sign for a future “ace.”

My point is, if you’re evaluating his progress, you can’t be entirely happy with the loss of velocity, continued inability to avoid long innings, the high pitch count, etc. Maybe he’ll correct them, or maybe he won’t.

And nice job reducing expectations for him by saying someone else would let him be a #2 or #3 starter. I was told he was going to be an ace, are you backing away from that?

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 1, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You keep trying to

bring me into Jerk world. I think I handily dismissed your nonsense yesterday. Show me a post where I said he was an ace or was a definite ace. Go ahead, I can wait. Go dig through and find a single post where I said Joba IS an ace or is going to be in the near future. No one has said a 23 year old is going to be an ace any time soon. It took Johan, Halladay and Beckett 4-5 years of pitching before they reached an elite status. Hmmm for some reason I seem to understand this, but you don’t. Your just a typical fan who has the patience of an ADD kid who forgot to take his ritalin. You want immediate results. I bet if it was your man-crush Hughes starting last night and gave up 3 in 5 you would be much less abrasive, well at least you would try and be less abrasive, it seems to be your most natural state of being.

by HappyLuckyGoldenDragonNumber1! on Jul 1, 2009 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why the insults?

I didn’t insult you. And I don’t particularly care if you think you dismissed anything yesterday, because I couldn’t care less about your opinion of me considering you’ve lobbed multiple racism accusations against me because I have the nerve to criticism Wang’s performance.

The words “potential ace” have been used in every single Joba discussion, as a reason to have him in the starting rotation. Maybe you haven’t used them, but that is the cornerstone of that side of the Joba discussion.

The amazing thing about you is that you ignore the three main points of my post and focus on one item to avoid facing the reality of the situation. Nothing I said about Joba is untrue, yet you refuse to acknowledge it, choosing instead to say I need medication for ADD. What a mature response, I’ll be sure to take your opinion seriously.

Go find a dictionary, and look for the definition of “progress.” I’ve said repeatedly that’s what I wanted to see, and last night was more of the same from Joba the starter. I want nothing more than for the Yankees to have a dynamic starting rotation, but you seem to think any criticism of your precious Joba is unacceptable.

Fact: Joba’s velocity is down. Debate it if you’d like, but the radar readings are all right there.

Fact: Joba uses 100 pitches to get 18 or fewer outs routinely.

Fact: Joba’s walk rate is up, his strikeout rate is down.

Those are all ominous signs for a pitcher with a history of arm trouble and nothing on his resume to suggest he can handle the workload as a starter. He’s never once pitched 120 innings in a season at any level.

I guess my concerns are unfounded. Maybe you’ll accuse me of racism against Native Americans.

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 1, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs