2017 MLB Facts, Lies, Propaganda, Opinions, & Pictures

[paul secor]

Judge seems to have learned to be a more controlled hitter this year. Last year, he seemed anxious.  Pitchers could get him to swing at pitches out of the strike zone, and once they had two strikes on him, he was an almost automatic out. This year, he's more patient, has a better sense of the strike zone, and the results he's had reflect that.

It's interesting how modest he is when he's interviewed. He usually talks about his teammates during interviews. The announcers were speaking about that today, and when he hit his tenth homer, one of them said it would be interesting for the post game interviewer to ask him how it feels to be Aaron Judge, and maybe he would talk about himself.  After the game, the interviewer did ask him that question. He paused for a moment and replied, "It feels great to be a Yankee."

[ghost of miles]

You're absolutely right about his improved pitch selection, Paul--I've noticed that as well. 

Really impressed with the Yankees so far, and they've put this run together without Gary Sanchez. Great play off the bench from Romine, Torreyes, and Hicks. If Pineda,  Severino, and Montgomery can sustain their out-of-the-gate performances, the starting rotation will be better than anticipated, and I can see this team contending for the AL East and beyond. A good blend of veterans and younger players too, and excellent prospects like Torres and Frazier in the pipeline. A dramatic turnaround from the team that opened the season a year ago!

Always amusing whenever the tallest and shortest Yankee greet each other at home plate: 

Edited April 29, 2017 by ghost of miles

[paul secor]

I'm still ticked that Cashman let Andrew Miller go and then brought Chapman back for big bucks. Frazier and Sheffield had better pan out, or that trade will be pure stupidity.

[Dan Gould]

On 4/29/2017 at 4:52 PM, paul secor said:

 

It's interesting how modest he is when he's interviewed. He usually talks about his teammates during interviews. The announcers were speaking about that today, and when he hit his tenth homer, one of them said it would be interesting for the post game interviewer to ask him how it feels to be Aaron Judge, and maybe he would talk about himself.  After the game, the interviewer did ask him that question. He paused for a moment and replied, "It feels great to be a Yankee."

Oh barf. A thousand times, barf.

Do the Yankees give a class in arrogance in Spring Training? Maybe they teach everyone a special song, sung to the tune of "When You're a Jet"?

And what is even worse is that an interviewer could ask that question. Do we have any recorded examples of someone asking Mike Trout, Kris Bryant, Mookie Betts or any of a dozen legit superstars that question? That "journalist" should go back to school and re-learn the lesson about "don't ask questions while your subjects junk is in your mouth."

[Patrick]

On 4/29/2017 at 6:03 PM, paul secor said:

I'm still ticked that Cashman let Andrew Miller go and then brought Chapman back for big bucks. Frazier and Sheffield had better pan out, or that trade will be pure stupidity.

Perhaps Andrew Miller in a Tribe uniform is partial repayment for Chris Chambliss and Graig Nettles?

[paul secor]

53 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Perhaps Andrew Miller in a Tribe uniform is partial repayment for Chris Chambliss and Graig Nettles?

[JSngry]

 

[paul secor]

55 minutes ago, JSngry said:

 

True - except Cleveland traded him to Kansas City, who later traded him to the Yankees. K.C. was regarded as a Yankee farm team in those days.

[JSngry]

Oh, I know.

I'd like to see a Topps Mosaic. Then A Bowman Mosaic. Then a Post Mosaic. Fleer, not so much. Donruss, eh...Upper Deck, no need.

 

[Soulstation1]

Indians starting pitching so far 

?

[JSngry]

Luis Olmo, a Pioneering Puerto Rican Baseball Player, Dies at 97

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/sports/baseball/luis-olmo-died-brooklyn-dodger-from-puerto-rico.html?_r=0

Olmo, who played mostly in the outfield, arrived at Ebbets Field a year after Hiram Bithorn, a right-handed pitcher, became the first Puerto Rican major leaguer when he joined the Chicago Cubs.

Cubans had appeared in the majors before Bithorn and Olmo arrived. Whatever their nationality, all of the early Latino players possessed a qualification that ownership demanded: They were white.

Latinos began making a significant impact in American baseball only after Jackie Robinson broke the modern major league color barrier with the 1947 Dodgers........

"I batted .313 in 1945 and I was making $6,000,” he told The New York Times at one commemorative event. “I asked Branch Rickey for $10,000. He offered me $6,500. I went to Mexico for $25,000 and expenses.”

He added: “I still remember the Dodger fans, lots of Puerto Ricans even in those days. They would talk to me in Spanish. Almost always nice things, except when you struck out.”

[paul secor]

Red Sox Fans Give Adam Jones a Standing Ovation at Fenway

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/sports/baseball/adam-jones-orioles-red-sox-racist-taunts.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsports&action=click&contentCollection=sports&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

Edited May 3, 2017 by paul secor

[ghost of miles]

Aaron Judge currently on pace to hit 81 HRs and collect 170 RBI. ☺️

[JSngry]

Sam Mele, Major League Player, Manager and Scout, Dies at 95

Casey Stengel, center, with Minnesota’s manager, Sam Mele, left, and Dodgers Manager Walter

Alston before a World Series game in 1965.

Credit Herb Scharfman/Sports Imagery, via Getty Images        

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/sports/baseball/sam-mele-dead-managed-twins-to-world-series.html?_r=0

Mele was considered a low-key manager, but he asserted his authority in a 1965 spring training game in an incident that might have played a role in the Twins’ pennant-winning run.

Mele had been unhappy with Versalles’s play at shortstop, and when Versalles seemed to make a halfhearted attempt to field a grounder against the Mets, Mele yanked him.

As recounted in The New York Times, Versalles headed for the clubhouse after the inning, but Mele told him: “Go sit in the dugout and watch the game. You might learn something.”

When Versalles hesitated, Billy Martin, Mele’s third-base coach, beckoned Versalles to sit next to him. “O.K., for you I go,” Versalles told Martin.

“You’ll do it for me,” Mele retorted, “and that will cost you $100.”

Versalles: “Why not make it $200?”

Mele: “O.K., it’s $200.”

Versalles: “Why not $300?”

Mele: “That’s what it is, $300.”

Martin made Versalles his reclamation project during the season, encouraging him to hustle and praising him when he did.

“He’s the only one who helped me all the time,” Versalles said when he won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award, putting the spring training embarrassment behind him. “He inspired me.”

 

[paul secor]

I had a Sam Mele glove when I was a young kid. It wasn't a very good glove.

[JSngry]

 

[ghost of miles]

"Pass it on!"

[ghost of miles]

Hey Paul Secor, I was at work today during the Cubs-Yankees game at Wrigley, but checked in from time to time via GameDay and just now watched the 9th inning of the archived broadcast. What a great, gritty at-bat by Gardner to pull that game out for them with a two-out, two-strike home run! Yankees are looking really good so far--if Sanchez gets going and Bird finally overcomes his injuries and bad start, this is going to be an extremely potent batting order.

[paul secor]

Saw the last four innings of the game. Magical finish.

I was impressed by Pineda. He gave up two solo home runs - only three hits overall - and recovered without getting ruffled. Judge dropped a fly ball in the wind which ended up being a three base error with one out, and Pineda pitched out of it. Last year, he would have imploded after these things. He seems to have matured.

[ghost of miles]

Agree about Pineda. Hey Jsngry, here's an article about the parallel improvement of Aaron Judge and the Texas Rangers' Joey Gallo:

Judge and Gallo surge

[JSngry]

Gallo's surging, Rangers, not so much.

[paul secor]

Chapman blew the save, but the Yankees ended up sweeping the Cubs in 18.  Before the season began, I couldn't imagine that happening.

It's a long season, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but I'm enjoying the present.

 

[ghost of miles]

2 hours ago, paul secor said:

Chapman blew the save, but the Yankees ended up sweeping the Cubs in 18.  Before the season began, I couldn't imagine that happening.

It's a long season, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but I'm enjoying the present.

 

Me too, Paul.  I bailed last night after inning 14, fully expecting NY to lose, given that they were on the road.  The comments on the Pinstripe Alley thread from the ninth inning on were hilarious to read this morning.  That game set an MLB record for most strikeouts--26 recorded by Yankee pitchers, 22 by Cubs pitchers.  In the highlight clip of Aaron Hicks scoring the winning run in the 18th, he can clearly be heard yelling "F*&# yeah!" as he jogs back to the dugout after sliding across home plate.  The bullpen was down to Tommy Layne, which meant it was down to imminent defeat.

Quite a series indeed.

[ghost of miles]

Jsngry, did you know that Shoeless Joe Jackson's great-great-grand nephew is in the Rangers' farm system?

Joseph Ray Jackson

[JSngry]

Wearing cleats, I hope?