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2011 MLB Season


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Yankee players and front office should STFU and stop feeding the media any possibilities for Bronx Zoo II: Hank-'n-Hal Boogaloo. For 15 years there's been relative quiet, with A-Rod and Jeter's soured bromance the only real distraction... unless we're also going to bring back Sparky Lyle, funky 1970s mustaches, and a couple of World Series titles, I don't really have the appetite for another go-round.

The article Dave James linked to does point to the real issues NY has with its veteran star contracts, though, and should serve as a warning to any team that signs players in their prime at ages 28-32 to hugely expensive eight, nine, or ten-year contracts. (Jayson Werth's contract with the Nats is one recent example.) Unfortunately for NY, they've plowed their plentiful resources into several such deals. Look at what they're still on the hook to A-Rod for:

2011 31 million

2012 29 million

2013 28 million

2014 25 million

2015 21 million

2016 20 million

2017 20 million

And while some of that was based on the speculative value of his chasing Bonds' HR record, said chase has now been forever clouded by his admission re: steroid use. I'm sure the Yankees will still see some financial benefit, assuming he maintains a pace to get there (absolutely not a sure thing IMO), but some of the PR value has undoubtedly been damaged.

If Hal Steinbrenner wants to change the payroll culture of the team by ultimately focusing more on developing young talent and being more judicious about awarding huge contracts, I'm all for it (though they sure were willing to throw a ton of money in a similar way at 32-year-old Cliff Lee), but NY needs to be a bit smarter about the PR end of managing their aging stars...and the aging stars have to be better about getting a grip on their egos. At least Posada did the right thing and apologized to Girardi, who's the only person, as far as I can tell, coming out of this in a good-guy manner.

On another topic entirely: Jose Bautista is on one hell of a 12-month power surge. :o

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...bring back Sparky Lyle, funky 1970s mustaches, and a couple of World Series titles...

Dude, that Bronx Zoo stuff was SO cool in it's time, hype you could believe in because you knew it was realer than it had to be, and especially realer than it needed to be. Plus, the reality was even greater than the hype! The team reflected the city, in a way which, well, I guess it still does reflect the city, but it was more fun then, the city and the team, hell America in general. I liked it all then. But like so much else that was fun back then, it's over now, sometimes for the better, sometimes not, but never to be confused with the way things are now, not by anybody with a clear head, and a good memory, clear or not.

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As far as real baseball drama goes, I'd keep an eye on the future Cards/Reds series...looks like their might be some genuinely bad blood a'brewin' there...

Who? There are teams in St. Louis & Cincy? ;) You're right there. They got into last year and it's carried over. The Cards have handled the loss of Wainwright better than expected.

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Yeah, the end of yesterday's game was as chippy as a postgame can be, Cordero looked like he was ready to charge Dave Duncan in the dugout and wouldn't that have been wild!

Plus, Cordro's post game comments, where he essentially called Duncan stupid, certainly didn't pour water on the fire. So keep an eye on these two as the season progresses, especially if the race stays tight.

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...bring back Sparky Lyle, funky 1970s mustaches, and a couple of World Series titles...

Dude, that Bronx Zoo stuff was SO cool in it's time, hype you could believe in because you knew it was realer than it had to be, and especially realer than it needed to be. Plus, the reality was even greater than the hype! The team reflected the city, in a way which, well, I guess it still does reflect the city, but it was more fun then, the city and the team, hell America in general. I liked it all then. But like so much else that was fun back then, it's over now, sometimes for the better, sometimes not, but never to be confused with the way things are now, not by anybody with a clear head, and a good memory, clear or not.

Have you ever seen THE BRONX IS BURNING? I got it as a super-cheap remainder several months ago, but haven't settled in to watch it yet...heard good things about it, though. Somewhere in my dad's house I probably still have my beat-up paperback copy of Lyle's book. Regarding that era of NYC, did you ever read the book o' essays that our own former Clem helped put together, NEW YORK CALLING? Good stuff... Anyway, rest assured that I wasn't truly longing for a return to the late 1970s! (Gabba gabba hey!)

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Missed the Burning Bronx, did read the Berger-midwifed tome, but truth be told, I'll take all but the very worst of late-70s NYC over the very best of it today. Give me Honest Raunch over Corporate Clean any damn day. With Honest Raunch, you're free to make your own way, no matter which direction. Corporate Clean, not so much. Not nearly so much.

Of course, it's not just NYC, it's the whole country, we're either too damn corporate or too damn stupid now, sometimes both, hardly ever neither. But NYC, as the self-proclaimed "greatest city in the world", hey, they do it better than anybody else, so let them have it, and that includes the latter-day Yankees, of which we've had that discussion before, so let's let that dog sleep in a laying down position.

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Yanks go up 5-1 and can't hold the lead. The big 3 (Jeter, A-Rod and Texiera) go 0-11. Jeter now hitting .255, A-Rod, .242 and Texiera, .252 Wow! This is just pathetic. Maybe the next time any of these guys stop for a burger and fries, they should order a side of Androstenedione.

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Well, they're still ahead of Florida, Pittsburgh and CLEVELAND.

Crowds have been picking up a bit lately. I would hope it continues to get better as the season rolls along. A lot of folks probably wrote them off early and are getting interested again.

Ultimately though, they need a new yard, hopefully in Tampa, if they are to stay in the area long term.

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...bring back Sparky Lyle, funky 1970s mustaches, and a couple of World Series titles...

Dude, that Bronx Zoo stuff was SO cool in it's time, hype you could believe in because you knew it was realer than it had to be, and especially realer than it needed to be. Plus, the reality was even greater than the hype! The team reflected the city, in a way which, well, I guess it still does reflect the city, but it was more fun then, the city and the team, hell America in general. I liked it all then. But like so much else that was fun back then, it's over now, sometimes for the better, sometimes not, but never to be confused with the way things are now, not by anybody with a clear head, and a good memory, clear or not.

Have you ever seen THE BRONX IS BURNING? I got it as a super-cheap remainder several months ago, but haven't settled in to watch it yet...heard good things about it, though. Somewhere in my dad's house I probably still have my beat-up paperback copy of Lyle's book. Regarding that era of NYC, did you ever read the book o' essays that our own former Clem helped put together, NEW YORK CALLING? Good stuff... Anyway, rest assured that I wasn't truly longing for a return to the late 1970s! (Gabba gabba hey!)

LOVED John Turturro as Billy Martin, worth watching.

Seems liked the 70's had more personality with managers, now managers seem to just stay out of the way and try to be as boring as possible with the press. At least in the Bay Area with Geren and Bochy.

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Pitchers. Bah.

No idea what this specifically refers to but 40% of the Red Sox rotation just went on the DL. Fortunately it was the 40% that was completely dysfunctional, Lackey and Matsuzaka. The day after Lackey played catch and threw a bullpen he goes on the DL, which would seem to indicate more of a "mental health" break than a physical issue (his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring, so maybe we shouldn't blame him if he's taking that to the mound). Dice-K on the other hand has an elbow sprain and will be shut down indefinitely. I'd say he's out to the All-Star break and maybe longer.

So Wakefield gets to renew his assault on the team record for wins, and Alfredo Aceves gets his chance to start too.

They can't be worse than the guys they're replacing.

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Well I have seen enough of Adrian Gonzalez and I no longer curse the day the Red Sox didn't get Mark Texeira. After that brutal start the Bosox are just 2.5 games out of first. Maybe a little lost in the shuffle, Ortiz is off to his best start in quite a few years. In the meantime, looks like I'll get a chance to see Lackey and Matsuzaka in Pawtucket in the coming days. Is there a pitcher more difficult to watch in the majors than Dice-K?

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If they make it to October, it will be because the division has more parity because the top three teams have more issues than usual and the bottom two have improved.

The bigger question is whether someone from the rest of the league will sneak up and win the wild card. I have my doubts, as I think the Rangers are the best of the rest of the league, if not flat-out the best period, and don't see the other division contenders as likely to get over 90-91 wins. Theo may be wrong, and 92-93 wins will get the WC.

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Pitchers. Bah.

No idea what this specifically refers to...

Refers to Matt Harrison going along swimmingly, like his head's in a good place, which means he's got his game all the way on, and then out of nowhere walking two and then throwing up a three run gopher ball, anf then immediately thereafter returning us to our regularly scheduled programming, like nothing ever happened.

Refers to Cody Eppely not being able to find the strike zone in the bottom of the eight until finally he couldn't even find the catcher's mitt and WP-ed the winning run home in the bottom of the eight. So much for extra innings...

A good consistent pitcher is a thing of joy, even on their off days. But an inconsistently good pitcher, one who can lose it as quick as he finds it and vice-versa....bah.

In football it's placekickers, and dammit are they aggravating. In The Greatest Game, it's these guys, and the aggravation level is suitably adjusted upwards.

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Pitchers. Bah.

No idea what this specifically refers to...

Refers to Matt Harrison going along swimmingly, like his head's in a good place, which means he's got his game all the way on, and then out of nowhere walking two and then throwing up a three run gopher ball, anf then immediately thereafter returning us to our regularly scheduled programming, like nothing ever happened.

:lol: That was extra special because the gopher ball was hit by the 9th place hitter. There are some guys who are just famous for doing what you described, and yet I can't name a single one right now. The brain sometimes has a great way of forgetting pain. :)

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Pitchers. Bah.

No idea what this specifically refers to...

Refers to Matt Harrison going along swimmingly, like his head's in a good place, which means he's got his game all the way on, and then out of nowhere walking two and then throwing up a three run gopher ball, anf then immediately thereafter returning us to our regularly scheduled programming, like nothing ever happened.

:lol: That was extra special because the gopher ball was hit by the 9th place hitter. There are some guys who are just famous for doing what you described, and yet I can't name a single one right now. The brain sometimes has a great way of forgetting pain. :)

Madison Bumgarner pitches like that, goes along great, then BOOM, one inning kills him, so he's 0-6.

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The good thing is that these are all young/young-ish starters, so you hope that at some point they grow out of it, and ideally/hopefully this season.

But hey - check your baseball cards and see how many pitchers you see from over the years who had potential but never really got over that one bad habit, whatever it was. More than a few...

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Pitchers. Bah.

No idea what this specifically refers to...

Refers to Matt Harrison going along swimmingly, like his head's in a good place, which means he's got his game all the way on, and then out of nowhere walking two and then throwing up a three run gopher ball, anf then immediately thereafter returning us to our regularly scheduled programming, like nothing ever happened.

:lol: That was extra special because the gopher ball was hit by the 9th place hitter. There are some guys who are just famous for doing what you described, and yet I can't name a single one right now. The brain sometimes has a great way of forgetting pain. :)

Loopy lefty Matt Young lost game 3-1 in 1992 while with the Red Sox, an 8 inning no hitter, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts.

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