Archive for September, 2011

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September 21, 2011

Giants look bad in win over Rams

by Jamie Insalaco

I decided to take a few days and give myself some space after the Giants’ Monday night win over the Rams – watching my team play so poorly against another team that is even worse than they are leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Where to begin…

The defense doesn’t look too bad, but giving up 16 points to the Rams is disappointing, no matter how you look at it.
Can anybody on this team catch? Even when they’re wide open, Giants receivers can barely catch the ball, or it straight up bounces off their chest or hands.
Eli Manning isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Back foot, anyone?

Still, the Giants might find a way to worm their way into the playoffs and as they get guys back from injury, maybe things will look up. Let’s see what they do against the Eagles – hopefully, Michael Vick will be able to play and the Giants can put a big hit on him; that alone would make the game worth watching, even if they get stomped.

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September 21, 2011

Ivan Nova: Rookie of the Year

by Jamie Insalaco

Jim McIsaac’s photo of Ivan Nova says it all: this guy can PITCH!

I don’t know what asinine method the baseball writers use to vote for Rookie of the Year (probably whoever hits the most home runs), but I can guarantee that Ivan Nova won’t win, although he probably should. I’m not a big believer in wins as a standard of judgement for starting pitchers, but you can’t deny a 16-4 record. Nova’s 3.62 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) yielded less than a hit per inning (155 hits in 159 IP) which is impressive given his lack of strike out ability, although that may change as his slider develops.

(Uhm, Nova didn’t have enough days in the league last year to qualify, right?)

So three cheers for Ivan Nova, the Yankees number 2 starter!

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September 20, 2011

Mariano Rivera Breaks Saves Record

by Jamie Insalaco

Now that Mariano Rivera has supplanted Trevor Hoffman and taken his rightful place as the all time saves leader, it’s difficult to say anything about Mo that hasn’t already been said – but if it’s Miller Time at the end of a hard day’s work, I’d say that for Mo, it’s Statue Time.

That’s right, Statue Time. Can we build this guy a damn statue already? I know Derek Jeter’s 3000 chase was a lot more celebrated and Jeter is probably the most popular baseball figure in town since Babe Ruth, but Jeter is a mere mortal compared to Mariano. Even the pompous asses at ESPN would refer to him as The Great Rivera because that’s what he is – GREAT. There’s plenty of room in Babe Ruth Plaza for another statue, so somebody needs to get to work on that, ASAP.

So bow down, mortals – you’ll never see anyone like this ever again.

Read more about Mariano Rivera here.  Read more of my gushing about how great he is here.

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September 20, 2011

Game 151 – Phoning it in

by Jamie Insalaco

There’s resting players and then there’s "Eh, I could care less about the outcome of today’s game." Sunday’s game was the latter when Joe Girardi sat Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Curtis Granderson. I completely understood why he did it – off days in September are over for the rest of the month and on their last off day, they were flying from Seattle to Toronto, so that probably doesn’t offer much in the way of relaxation. Here’s the lineup they trotted out, which was able to produce zero runs.

Brett Gardner, CF
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Robinson Cano, DH
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Nick Swisher, RF
Eric Chavez, 1B
Russell Martin, C
Chris Dickerson, LF
Ramiro Pena, SS

Freddy Garcia, SP

I would usually talk a lot about how Freddy Garcia didn’t last five innings, but when the offense doesn’t score any runs, what’s the difference?

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September 19, 2011

Monday Night Football: St. Louis Rams at New York Giants

by Jamie Insalaco

I haven’t written a single word about my beloved New York Giants this season until now, and with good reason: they stink. I didn’t expect much last season, and I expect even less this year… why waste my time?

You can hunt for silver linings, cast undue grandeur on existing players or just call it what it is – a weak team that cannot sustain a single injury and already has several. Without Osi Umenyiora, Hakeem Nicks or Justin Tuck (not to mention Prince Amukamara and Travis Beckum), you might as well ask Eli Manning to throw with oven mitts on his hands. The bottom line is the Giants needed to improve their roster for this season, not let several of their better players leave. Without Kevin Boss, who will Eli Manning dump the ball off to when he gets tired of watching the ball bounce off the hands and chests of his other receivers? Without -

You know what, forget it. I hate to be so pessimistic, but I consider it a significant miracle that the Giants went 10-6 last year, and this season, it’s hard to expect any better than a .500 record, but it’s easy to question even that prediction. They don’t play these games on paper, but when you review the Giants roster, it’s hard to get excited about this team. Maybe Mario Manningham and Dominic Hixon will suddenly turn the corner on their career and evolve into elite players. That seems likely. Maybe Brandon Jacobs will work well and play nicely with others this season. Right.

Oh, and Monday Night Football – great. Everywhere I look, it says the game starts at 8:30 PM EST, but if it starts before 9, I will throw a parade in MNF’s honor. The only bright spot is that the Giants are favored tonight by 7 points – but again, they don’t play these games on paper.

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September 18, 2011

Curtis Granderson Gives Props To Teachers

by Jamie Insalaco

curtis-granderson-teachers

Just had a chance encounter with this poster of Curtis Granderson and his former marketing professor, David Koehler.  (Not sure what goes on in marketing classes that necessitates a baseball bat, but the business world is changing…)

Anyway, this poster serves as a reminder to student athletes that education is important.  Well, not if you’re Curtis Granderson – besides being insanely talented on an athletic scale, the guy also has a silver tongue – I’d buy anything that guy was selling.  He could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves, for crying out loud!

Still, it’s a nice message.

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September 17, 2011

AT&T Park, Home of the San Francisco Giants

by Jamie Insalaco

AT&T-ParkI took a trip to San Francisco and was able to see the Dodgers at the Giants in a battle of former New York teams on September 10, 2011.

read more »

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September 17, 2011

CC Sabathia’s hits per inning numbers are scary bad of late

by Jamie Insalaco

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some C.C. Sabathia – it’s like the Yankees went out and signed a giant teddy bear to lead them to victory.  But, since August began, Sabathia has had only one start where he gave up less hits than the number of innings he pitched and over all, the results have not been there as he’s gone 4-3 in 9 starts since August 1st.

cc-sabathia-2011-game-log-august-september

Don’t get me wrong – I know hits against innings pitched don’t tell the whole story and wins might be the worst statistic to use when evaluating a starting pitcher, but these numbers are a bit scary.

The Yankees are in a comfortable position in terms of making the post season, but once they actually get there, they need C.C. Sabathia to pitch like the monster he is.  If he can’t get it done, the Yankees chances of going deep in October are significantly reduced.  I don’t think it’s time to start panicking, but we’re getting close.

Really close.

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September 2, 2011

Yankees Finally Win A Series Against Red Sox

by Jamie Insalaco

Yes, it’s true: The Yankees finally won a series against the Red Sox – and in Fenway, no less! Better late than never, I suppose. But, maybe it’s because the Yankees had a little something extra this time around – Lord knows, A.J. Burnett needs all the help he can get. Maybe it was the need to prove themselves, maybe it was the desire to win, and speaking of ‘Lord,’ maybe it was…

JESUS.

That’s right, I said it: Jesus helped the Yankees win last night.

Jesus Montero. You know, the Yankees most highly regarded minor league prospect, who the Yankees just called up from their Scranton/Wilkes-Barre AAA affiliate club yesterday – he served as the team’s DH yesterday. Sure, he went 0-4 with 1 K, 6 left on base, a hit by pitch and a run scored, but maybe it was simply his divine presence that somehow alleviated the usual disaster that is A.J. Burnett’s fastball command.

All told, both teams left 18 (!) runners on base. The Yankees came up with some timely hits (all hail Russell Martin!), good bullpen performances and awesome defense – kudos especially go to the outfield, particularly a late into the game performance by Brett Gardner, who continued his hot defense from the night before as he again delivered Rafael Soriano from evil… hmm, maybe it’s Gardner who is the second coming.

Well, the Yankees are a half game behind the Red Sox now, and it really comes down to who you want the Yankees to face in the first round of the playoffs – the Detroit Tigers or the Texas Rangers. As for me, I prefer the Rangers; I know they’re a more complete team, but Justin Verlander scares me. A lot – and especially in a short series!

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September 1, 2011

PNC Field – Home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees

by Jamie Insalaco

It’s the place where Baby Bombers go from boys to men, it’s PNC Field – Home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees!  Despite Scranton’s connection to The Office (which I love), I haven’t made it to PNC Field and probably won’t any time soon.  However, Stadium Journey has made it there, and they give it their usual thorough review.  You can see Joshua Guiher’s review here.  As I suspected, it sounds like PNC Field is a place you go to see Baby Bombers today or a big leaguer rehabbing – not for a great overall baseball experience.

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