Posts tagged ‘Boston Red Sox’

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September 29, 2011

Red Sox Fans

by Jamie Insalaco

I caught myself feeling bad for Boston Red Sox fans last night and today – I won’t make that mistake again.

I wanted to hear what their fans were saying, and at OverTheMonster.com, I stumbled across this post:

The "Did That Really Just Happen?" Overflow Thread
by Ben Buchanan
Somehow, as always, the Yankees have made themselves the villains.

Really? The Yankees are the villians in this Red Sox tragedy? Really, Ben? That’s not even a little funny, ironic, or true in any way. When September started, the Red Sox had a lead on the division and the Yankees wild card lead was thought to be insurmountable. If you’re looking for a villain in all this, take a closer look at the Red Sox 40 man roster and the architects who put it together.

SB Nation user Tessie’s Dad has this as his tag line:

"What’s so special about Lou Gehrig? Shouldn’t EVERY Yankee have a disease named after him?"

I understand that Red Sox fans don’t like the Yankees, but really? No respect for ALS sufferers? And if you don’t know what’s so special about Gehrig, look up his numbers. Coincidentally, there is a disease named after you: Foot In Mouth Disease.
Also, he has Curt Schilling’s bloody sock as his avatar… meh.

And someone else attributed the fact that they didn’t recognize the handles of many of the posters who were making some of the negative comments to the fact that there were "Lot of Yankee fans here." Doing what, posing as depressed Red Sox fans who have every reason to be upset with the way their team played this month? Seems unlikely.

To be fair, most of the user comments got it right – the Red Sox have no one to blame but themselves. "Crawford, hustling like it’s an intra-squad game in March," "I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust Papelbon again," or "That was pretty pathetic, death at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles." I’m sure the anger at Papelbon for blowing the save will dissipate, but it’s an understandable reaction, yet if you Red Sox fans want my opinion on which direction to cast stones, I would start with your pitching rotation, your general manager and yeah, the awful play of Carl Crawford is certainly worthy of a pebble or two. Red Sox would, however, do well to remember that Josh Beckett’s first season in Boston did not go very well, and it’s worked out pretty well since then.

Anyway, stay classy, Red Sox fans. Oh, and see you next year.

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September 29, 2011

Season Over

by Jamie Insalaco

Whew! That was the most exciting night in baseball I can recall when the Yankees had absolutely nothing at stake.

Completing the Sweep
I predicted it yesterday and it came to pass. The Yankees stuck to the plan and got in the work for everyone they wanted to and shelved the guys they wanted to rest. You might say it’s unfair to the Red Sox, but the Yankees first duty is to get themselves ready for the playoffs and the BoSox have no one to blame for the fact that they’re headed for the golf course but themselves.

The Harder They Fall
Again, I predicted it yesterday and it came to pass. The Red Sox just didn’t have enough left – or rather, Jonathan Papelbon didn’t have enough left after the Orioles worked him over hard on Tuesday night and put on great at bats last night. Again, The Red Sox have no one to blame but themselves – but what else can you say after a 6-20 September?

Be careful What You Wish For
I think it’s an easy bet to pick the Texas Rangers over the Tampa Bay Rays in the first round, but you never know. Tampa has mostly Boston’s ineptitude to thank for their playoff spot (and the Yankees, who were getting their house in order for October), but they might surprise us and take the Rangers down. Assuming the Yankees can navigate Justin Verlander, it could make for an interesting ALCS, bu we’re a long way’s off for that.

Facing Verlander
Brrr… Justin Verlander in a short series. This is why I wanted the Yankees to face the Rangers in the first round, but here we stand. On the other hand, if the Yankees can win game one, that puts Detroit in a pretty serious hole.

I Bet You Didn’t Know
A.J. Burnett is second to only C.C. Sabathia in team strike out totals with 173. Sabathia had 230 and Bartolo Colon is third with 135, so there is obviously a lot of separation between the Yankees strike out leaders.

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September 28, 2011

PREDICTION: Rays Win Wildcard as Red Sox Complete Collapse

by Jamie Insalaco

Tonight, the American League Wildcard Race could be decided (as could the National League Wildcard Race, but yawn), unless both the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays have the same outcome, but that’s not what I foresee.

After last night’s victory over the Orioles, the Red Sox have to be a bit drained. Tonight, the BoSox are sending Jon Lester to the hill on short rest – I know it’s a must win game for them, but is this really their best option? Given the state of their pitching, it actually is. Also, Jonathan Papelbon threw over 25 pitches last night and although he had Monday off, he also threw a ton of pitches against he Yankees on Sunday. If they need him, how much does he have left? What about Daniel Bard? He also pitched yesterday. The Red Sox inabilty to keep the lowly Baltimore Orioles off the scoreboard is a problem that is bound to bite them in the butt again and although the Red Sox offense produced last night, it’s hard to have any faith in the team that has posted a 6-19 mark this month.

As for the Rays, they’re sitting pretty. The Rays will send power lefty David Price up against the Yankees starting pitcher To Be Decided – not to mention the fact that most position players not named Alex Rodriguez will probably ride the pine, and I don’t expect the Yankees to use any of their key relievers tonight, including Mariano Rivera, David Robertson or Rafael Soriano. Maybe the Yankees will start one of their kids like Dellin Betances and back him up with the likes of Andrew Brackman and Scott Proctor, although I also expect Phil Hughes to make an appearance out of the pen as that’s the role he’ll have in the playoffs. So yeah, I expect Tampa to beat the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees tonight. I mean the New York Yankees… whatever.

The Red Sox are certainly a better team than the Rays, but everything is against the Red Sox tonight while down in Tampa, every possible situation the Rays could ask for is coming to fruition. If you’re a gambler, put some money on Tampa to win.

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September 23, 2011

A Tale of Two Colons

by Jamie Insalaco

I know this isn’t new or good information, but Bartolo Colon just hasn’t been the same since he came back from the leg injury – but hey, the season is essentially over, so what else do we have to do? When you take a look at his game log, it shows you that every time he faces a good offense, he essentially gets hammered – and the only good hitting teams he’s faced are Toronto and Boston. Now if I recall correctly, the 0.2 IP start against Toronto was the alleged stealing signs game, so maybe you want to toss that one out, but even still, his numbers are kinda scarey in general. It’s hard to understand how he can get whipped so badly by a team like Tampa that gets a lot of it’s offensive production from Johnny Damon.

In other news (of a sort), Brian Cashman told ESPN New York that he only met with Carl Crawford’s agent to drive up the price for the Boston Red Sox. I think everyone knew that, but to actually hear him say it is pretty funny. And why would he say it now, right before the Red Sox pull into town? Maybe he is trying to pump everyone up for the series – including fans who might not be interested in coming to a wet, humid ballpark.

Also, I heard that Michael Vick is healthy enough to play with the Eagles against the Giants this weekend. I don’t usually hope someone gets hurt while playing a sport (or ever), but to the defensive players of the Giants: hit Vick. Hit him hard. Then do it again. Hit him so hard his Grandma hits him again because she remember why people hate him so much.

Fuck that prick.

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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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August 31, 2011

CC Sabathia – No Surrender!

by Jamie Insalaco

In the first two innings of last night’s contest between the New York Yankees at the Boston Red Sox, CC Sabathia threw over 50 pitches, struck out 4 batters and allowed no runs. The results were there, but the monstrous pitch count was cause for serious concern and put the chances of a win for the Bombers in serious jeopardy.

Or so I thought.

Before last night, could you imagine a strike zone where the home plate umpire doesn’t call strikes at the knees? As the 2011 strike zone has been so big (including more above the belt strikes being called more this year than they have in any season I can remember), it would stand to reason the strike zone I grew up with (belt to knees) would be in full force, but not last night. That’s what pitchers had to deal with last night – so when umpires complain about long games but can’t get the basics of the strike zone correct, it’s hard to feel any sympathy for them. (I’d also love to know why John Lackey wasn’t automatically ejected for hitting Francisco Cervelli – and then the third base umpire had the audacity to throw out Larry Rothschild – a point I’m sure Joe Girardi made clear when he was going bizerk.)

Back to C.C. Sabathia – the man without fear. He doesn’t complain when the strike zone A) shrinks from its usual size; B) expands and contracts during the game; C) does whatever the umpire feels like. Ten strike outs, 2 runs, 6 IP, 128 pitches – not the greatest pitching line, but any day Adrian Gonzalez goes 0-4 against him, Sabathia has to feel good about it. Sure, there were lots of bright spots in this game: the running catch by Brett Gardner in the 8th inning, the home run by Francisco Cervelli, Eric Chavez’s RBI singles, Boone Logan and Mariano Rivera, but no accomplishment looms as large as the biggest 6 IP outing any pitcher is likely to have during the regular season. A lesser pitcher would have collapsed, but C.C. Sabathia doesn’t play that.

Stand and salute CC Sabathia – the big man who got it done!

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August 8, 2011

A Sox by any other name…

by Jamie Insalaco

After a four game sweep of the Chicago White Sox, the Yankees headed to Boston to end a road trip with three games against the Red Sox – to determine the fate of the division!

Well, we all know how it turned out – Boston took two of three and reclaimed their hold on 1st place in the American League East. After the previous road trip and the beating the Yankees gave the White Sox, you might have had high expectations with the Yankees going into Fenway, and that would be fair – the Yankees are certainly playing better ball of late, even without A-Rod.

It just didn’t happen for the Yankees this weekend, and, as usual, the prime suspect was starting pitching. If the Yankees have had a theme over the last decade (minus a year or two), it’s been the starting pitching putting too much pressure on the bullpen, and this series was no different. On Friday, Bartolo Colon just didn’t have his best stuff (as has been the case through most of his starts since returning from the DL), CC Sabathia was just bad from the first inning (any time you see Fransisco Cervelli doing that half split catcher’s stance in the first inning, you know you’re in trouble) and Freddy Garcia through a zillion pitches in such a short while (98 pitches in 5 IP) that I’m shocked Sweaty Freddy didn’t dehydrate.

But whatever; the Yankees are one game back in the east now, and seven games up in the wild card – they’re going to the playoffs.

The Red Sox are inside CC’s head?
I heard people saying the Red Sox are inside CC Sabathia’s head before and after Saturday’s game… I don’t buy it. I know he hasn’t beaten them in four tries this year, but that’s they way it goes sometimes. He’s certainly had success against them before, and since coming to the Yankees, even if his lifetime numbers aren’t dominant against the Red Sox. And, it’s not like he had his best stuff on Saturday and the Red Sox beat him – he was bad right from the start. You can say that’s some sort of Red Sox hangover, but I don’t buy it.

Posada to ride the pine
Jorge Posada is going to be a pinch hitter for the rest of the year instead of part of a DH rotation with Andruw Jones as Eric Chavez takes over for him. It’s just another phase out of Posada’s Yankee career, which will be even more pronounced when Jesus Montero makes his appearance as part of September call ups Frankly, I’d rather see Montero in the roll full time, but I guess we’re stuck for a few more weeks.

Mo is human
It would have been nice for Mo to nail down the save last night and win a series at Fenway against the Red Sox, but it didn’t happen – a near home run that turns into a lead off double is pretty hard to pitch around, even for my savior. Oh well.

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August 2, 2011

Yankees stand pat, win home stand

by Jamie Insalaco

After a 7-3 home stand that ended with the Yankees standing pat at the trade deadline, the Bombers head out on the road to play four games in Chicago with the White Sox and then 3 games in Boston with the Red Sox. When reached for comment, Don Henley remarked, “Hmph… .”

I’d hoped that the Yankees would have managed one sweet during the home stand that features competition including the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and the American League bottom rung in wins Baltimore Orioles and go 8-2, but you can’t have everything. After winning the first game of the road trip against the White Sox, the Yankees were able to gain a game on the Red Sox and are now only one game behind in the division – although at this point, it seems like a foregone conclusion that both teams will make the playoffs.

I can’t remember the last time the Yankees did nothing at the trade deadline, but I guess it just wasn’t in the stars. As Ubaldo Jimenez seemed to be the most likely candidate to be acquired, the YES Network reported during last night’s game that the Colorado Rockies weren’t willing to let the deal be finalized after Jimenez passed a physical. That’s a little suspicious, no? Oh well – it sounds like the Yankees were willing to give up the farm for him, and after reviewing his declining numbers coupled with the no physical clause, I’m OK with passing on this opportunity.

So that’s where the Yankees stand – we’re going to war with the team we have. And hopefully, there are more reinforcements coming from the disabled list in the persons of Alex Rodriguez and Damaso Marte; the latter has been gone so long that I don’t think I could pick him out of a line up.

So can the Yankees win the World Series with the pitching rotation they have? I’m not sure about that. If Bartolo Colon is healthy and throwing well in October, that certainly increases their chances. I’d say that Ivan Nova is on the verge of taking Phil Hughes‘ rotation spot, and if he’s throwing well come late September, Joe Girardi is going to have some tough decisions about who starts, who relieves and who gets left off the roster. Let the competition begin!

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June 9, 2011

Can I Get A Quality Start

by Jamie Insalaco

I believe it was Al Leiter who said he was not impressed with the notion of a quality start. At some point, some wahoo made the term ‘quality start’ popular, which was meant to say that if a starting pitcher was able to stay in the game long enough to complete six (6) innings and allow only three (3) earned runs, then this was a starting pitching performance of quality. Mr. Leiter was quick to point out at the advent of his broadcasting career that if a pitcher produced a quality start, he’d have a 4.50 ERA, which is not so good – not to mention the fact that getting three innings out of your bullpen in the modern era of baseball is no simple accomplishment and is going to tax the arms down there as well. I tend to agree, and I do want to quickly mention that Mr. Leiter has quickly become one of my favorite broadcasters of all time.

However, as much as I reject the notion of a quality start as the standard to strive toward, the Yankees sure could use one right about now.

If you flip through your memory (which is hopefully more reliable than mine) and the Yankees 2011 calendar (without delving into the box scores), it looks like the Yankees have produced maybe one (that’s 1) quality start against the Red Sox this year in eight (8) tries. That, my friends, is a damn shame – or perhaps it would be better to say it’s shameful.

We all know the Yankees are short on pitching this year – that’s why it was easy to consider jumping into the Harlem River when the Yankees were not able to sign Cliff Lee. Since the Yankees were able to get Bartolo Colon and he’s pitched so beautifully, it seems as though we can count on both BC and staff ace CC Sabathia to deliver better than quality starts and get out backs in any pie eating contests. After that…

Whoooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The drop off in predictability is like going over that first big hill on a roller coaster. If Freddy Garcia doesn’t locate, he’s going to get hit hard by anybody, never mind a team with great hitting like the Red Sox, so nobody was really counting on him anyway – but, that being said, the Yankees would be wise to keep him from facing the Red Sox again this year if possible. AJ Burnett, who I didn’t want the Yankees to sign because of my concerns with his inability to stay healthy, has been healthy through his entire contract but as widely unpredictable as just about any other pitcher I can think of this side of Jose Contreras. Phil Hughes also sorta falls into that category, but is seemingly always hurt and Ivan Nova just doesn’t have enough experience to be thoroughly relied upon for anything. The trade market for starters is thin at best, so I don’t think there is any real help coming that will be a serious upgrade.

Looks like we’re stuck with these guys, but is that any different than 2009? Two good starters and AJ Burnett. It could be worse. (See Yankees 2008 season!)

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June 1, 2011

Yankees May 2011 Wrap Up

by Jamie Insalaco

 

May was a bit of a roller coaster ride for the Yankees.

The month of May, 2011 began promisingly enough as the Yankees finished off a series win against the Toronto Blue Jays, which finished up the home-stand on a positive note. Then the Yankees went to Detroit and the wheels came off – or maybe I should say the arms came off as they dropped 3 of 4 while we watched Eduardo Nunez through the ball all over the place. But, when the Yankees got to Texas, the bats came out, and we got Derek Jeter‘s mythical 2 home run game, which seems to have quieted the “Derek Jeter is finished,” media machine – at least for now… for some reason, hitting .264 in May is much better than hitting .256 in April – although I must admit, hit at-bats do look a lot better of late.

Then the Yankees came back home and experienced The Home Stand of Tears, dropping 2 of 3 to the Kansas City Royals (current record 24-30) and getting swept by the Boston Red Sox. Wow. Swept by the Boston Red Sox at home. That was a tough one. Yet, despite the rough patch, the Yankees are in first today by one game over the Monsters from Fenway.

Then the Yankees split two games at Tampa Bay (and they really should have won that first game), swept two games from the Baltimore Orioles (two game series are a waste of my time!) and then took two of three from the lowly Mets at home (current record 25-29). The Blue Jays came to Yankees Stadium and this featured another Yankees series win, including a come from behind extra innings win (pie style) that I feel this team desperately needed.

The Yankees flew out to Seattle to face the Mariners and gave up leads to lose the first two games and salvaged the final one before flying to Oakland to take on Hideki Matsui and the A’s, taking the first two games, including a gem by Bartolo Colon, and here we are, at June 1st, waiting for Game 3 to start later today.

So what did we learn this month?

The Yankees can’t bunt. Seriously, enough with the bunting. Nobody on this team is any good at it. The Yankees need to either start working on this in BP or just stop doing it. Last night’s failed suicide squeeze that resulted in Nick Swisher being tagged out in a run down was embarrassing – almost as sad as the fact that Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter can’t bunt; considering they have no power, they both need to add this trait to their game ASAP, or at least stop doing it, but this in between crap needs to stop.

Curtis Granderson is a golden god. Obviously. I was soooooo happy when they traded for him, and although last year was a tough start, my girlfriend very kindly ran out and bought me a Grandy-Man t-shirt in May of 2010, which makes us both look like geniuses now. Unlike Russell Martin, I don’t expect Granderson to slow down.

In praise of Bartolo Colon. Where would we be without this guy and his fastballs? His low pitch counts keep him in games late, giving a bullpen that is teetering on over use a bit of a breather. The Yankees need to protect this guy and give him an extra day’s rest any time they get a chance.

Losing streaks are inevitable. If you saw a lot of the New York papers (cough Post, cough Daily News) insisting that the Yankees blew their chance to bury the Red Sox, I tend to disagree. The Red Sox (not to mention the Rays) struggled early, and the Yankees hadn’t struggled yet. It was bound to happen. It could happen again. It’s a long season and there are many ups and downs.

Derek Jeter isn’t Derek Jeter anymore, but he’s hardly terrible. I don’t have any plans to build a statue to the guy on my front lawn, but I refuse to kill him in print the way so many have done. But then, this is another good example of what happens when you let Randy Levine meddle in negotiations.

Phil Hughes… ugh. Can this guy get through two consecutive seasons without spending major time on the DL? I know he’s still young, but he’s not that young anymore. Is it time to stash Hughes in the bullpen for good? I’m not sure, but given the Yankees appeared shortage of starting pitching, it’s a tough call. If you don’t believe in Freddy Garcia, I can’t blame you, but is Hughes really a better option? I guess we’ll have to wait and see what he has when he comes off the DL.

GOING FORWARD:
Take a look at the Yankees June schedule; it’s a tough one. Red Sox, Angels, Rangers, Rockies, Indians… if they’re still in first on July 1st, it’ll be a miracle.

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