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Yankees Drama Ain’t Got Nothing On In Beantown

Posted by on 12 October 2011, 11:49 pm
Jon Lester, John Lackey and Josh Beckett

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

It is hard to imagine that things could get much worse Boston, but it did.

ESPN’s Buster Onley reported today that Theo Epstein, the Red Sox’s GM is officially going to sign a 5-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.

That is the second prolific Red Sox leader to get the heck out of dodge, with skipper Terry Francona resigning the day after the Red Sox collapsed on their faces.

What a shame for the game of baseball and the fans to watch this historic sports franchise completely implode like this.

The worst part is learning the truth about the on goings in the Red Sox’s clubhouse, which is supposed to be a team’s sacred place. So, the fact that personal issues are being made public to point fingers at who is to blame is despicable.

In all honesty, the Red Sox owners can blame themselves for not wanting to see what was happening right in front of them. You can bet the Boston brass is regretting ever giving the thumbs up to make John Lackey a Red Sox because things have gone downhill ever since he showed up.

Remember, Lackey is the same guy who criticized Fenway Park and said that it should be “blown-up” after the Angels playoff loss to the Red Sox in 2008. It was also the place where Lackey posted his worst career number as an Angel… how did that one slip by Bill James as it is against every theory he wrote.

Looking back at his Anaheim days, I recall watching many Angles games and seeing Lackey constantly throw pity parties or mini-hissy fits when his teammates made the slightest mistake behind him. Problem was that when a teammate made a play to save his fat behind, Lackey showed zero appreciation making clubhouse issues almost unavoidable. Continue reading ‘Yankees Drama Ain’t Got Nothing On In Beantown’ »

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New York Yankees: Losing But Not The Losers

Posted by on 29 September 2011, 4:01 am

No baseball fan could dream up a better finish to the regular season that is unless you are a Boston Red Sox, or Atlanta Braves fan.

Over the last month we saw the mighty Red Sox go from leading the AL East to destination unknown. It was hard to watch, even as a Yankee fan because truthfully I felt bad, the same way I did for the Mets in 2007.

This was the Red Sox team that Sports Illustrated proclaimed would win 100 games, on route to winning another World Series Championship in the magazine’s annual Baseball Preview issue.

Just try to conceive the mutiny that must be going on at ESPN?

ESPN is the sports equivalent of CNN, and minus my favorite expert Skip Bayless, the kitten caboodle made up of ex-players and the game’s most respected analysts must be in shock. Just Gordon Edes’ bold predictions alone are enough for any network to hang their heads in shame.

And let’s not forget about ESPN’s predicting machine that simulates a full season of 162 games, for all 30 teams and it picked the Red Sox too. Just read my preseason article, ESPN’s Baseball Machine Even Hates The Yankees to see exactly what a robot that was MADE IN BEANTOWN forecasted for this 2011 MLB season.

Truthfully, at the start of this historical Wednesday all my pity and heartfelt sentiments for my Yankees hated rivals had still not completely out the window.  The real moment it did was at the top of the 2nd inning; with two outs on the board and the bases loaded, Mark Teixeira had to go to hit a grand slam of ace David Price. And suddenly the scoreboard read 5-0; and I wanted the Yankees to lose.

Call me whatever you want because I deserve it. Anyone with a brain knows that the Yankees would be better off in the ALCS playing a team who went 7-20 in September, over a hot team like Tampa Bay who went 17-10 respectively; but during this game I did not care. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Losing But Not The Losers’ »

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New York Yankees: Red Sox Are Still Alive

Posted by on 26 September 2011, 2:23 am

The New York Yankees have had a lot to smile about this past week, from winning the AL East division to fortifying home field advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Knocking the Boston Red Sox out of the top spot in the AL Wild Card would have been the icing on the cake, but after fighting for 14-innings in the second game of a double-header that mission failed.

Now with three games left in the regular season, the Red Sox remain a game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card standings.

Why should any Yankee fan be complaining?

Worried would be the more proper word because back on September 1st, the Red Sox were the team atop the AL East. On September 2nd, the Yankees stole first place and never looked back but with a nine game lead in the Wild Card it seemed inevitable that Boston would still be around in October.

That is until Boston broke a franchise record for the worst September slump by losing 18 of the next 24 games.

Still, the Red Sox fought hard to beat the Yankees last night and that might have been just what the doctor ordered.

If you recall the Red Sox started the season 0-7 until they swept the Yankees in Fenway Park and Boston started beating everyone.

Let’s hope history does not repeat itself in this case; or in the case of Yankees ace CC Sabathia not making a start for two weeks before taking the hill in Game One of the ALDS next Friday night.

Ironically, the Yankees will finish the season down in Tampa Bay for a three game set against the Rays. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Red Sox Are Still Alive’ »

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New York Yankees Were Not Supposed To Win

Posted by on 22 September 2011, 2:57 am

The 2011 New York Yankees are the AL East Division Champions.

According to pretty much every baseball expert on earth, the champagne was supposed to be flowing in Boston at Fenway Park. Don’t you remember??? Let me remind you….

The Yankees own GM Brian Cashman thought the Red Sox were the better team when asked by Boston Globe’s Peter Abrahams back in January.

In ESPN’s predictions for the 2011 MLB season, all 45 analysts chose the Red Sox to win the division and 34 have Boston penciled in to win the World Series as well. Once you see the cover of the 2011 October issue of ESPN The Magazine, the above numbers are not such a surprise because the network has always seemed to belong in Red Sox Nation.

FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal’s prediction became a collective theme among baseball experts about the Yankees:

“Only question is which starting pitcher — or two — they will acquire.”

Even here at Lady Loves Pinstripes, I wrote this about the Yankees in my 2011 Predictions:

“The Yankees have more holes to fill than fans would like.”

Well, these predictions so far have been very wrong. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Were Not Supposed To Win’ »

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New York Yankees: You Snooze You Lose

Posted by on 8 August 2011, 1:56 am

On Monday morning, in the bottom of the 10th inning the New York Yankees lost the rubber game 3-2 to the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park.

This game went four and a half hours, which is not surprising considering the match-up but tonight’s game was painfully long and no fault of the Yankees.

Even if the Yankees had won, it is no excuse that Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett took almost a minute and sometimes more between pitches.

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball’s Booby Valentine pointed out this fact to anyone who was still awake watching the broadcast.

The Official Rules on MLB.com state the following on this issue:

When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call Ball. The 12-second timing starts when the pitcher is in possession of the ball and the batter is in the box, alert to the pitcher. The timing stops when the pitcher releases the ball.

The intent of this rule is to avoid unnecessary delays. The umpire shall insist that the catcher return the ball promptly to the pitcher, and that the pitcher take his position on the rubber promptly. Obvious delay by the pitcher should instantly be penalized by the umpire.

The ending line ‘Obvious delay by the pitcher should instantly be penalized by the umpire’ was certainly not applied; and the umpire did not warn Beckett or Red Sox Skipper Terry Francona to speed it up.

My complaint has nothing to do with the fact the Yankees lost, because the Red Sox beat them in the end. The problem is the ending happened way too late and that is why the rule was implemented.

Look any diehard baseball fan appreciates how the Red Sox and Yankees grind it out when they play each other, but usually the delays are mutually both teams’ faults.

Tonight, Beckett was so sluggish it was excruciating to watch and according to MLB officials it was unfair too.

On a personal note, I finally got my mother to watch a game on my never-ending quest to convert her dislike for baseball. Well, thanks to Beckett any progress made over the last decade got squashed as she was bored and in the second inning was asking, “How many innings left?”

Otherwise, the Yankee players can spend all-day Monday stewing about why they couldn’t hold off the Red Sox, again.

In one sense it sure does keep a team humble and that is putting it politely.

The fact that the Yankees can beat any team in baseball except Boston is just plain unacceptable.

The bottom line for the Yankees is they better figure out the problem before they head back to Fenway again on August 30th, as nothing pisses off New York fans more than losing to Boston.

To sum it up….this game was too long to lose.

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Weekend Series To Watch: New York Yankees Vs. Boston Red Sox

Posted by on 5 August 2011, 6:34 pm

The New York Yankees are in Boston to play a three game set against the Red Sox.

Everyone realizes the significance of this series for the Yankees, who are an embarrassing 1-8 against their torrid rivals so far this season.

The Yankees have nine games vs. Boston left to play in 2011, and the first three start tonight in Fenway Park.

Also, the Yankees have won their last seven-games and are hoping to extend that winning streak this weekend.

Both teams are now tied for first place in the AL East, but by Monday morning that will no longer be the case.

Here are the pitching match-ups for this weekend series:

Friday 08/05 – RHP Bartolo Colon (8-6, 3.50 ERA) vs. LHP Jon Lester (11-4, 3.17 ERA)
 
Saturday 08/06 – LHP CC Sabathia (16-5, 2.55 ERA) vs. RHP John Lackey (9-8, 6.23 ERA)
 
Sunday 08/07 – RHP Freddy Garcia (10-7, 3.22 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Beckett (9-4, 2.17 ERA)

These two teams match-up well, but predicting the outcome is almost impossible when you are a Yankee fan like myself.

All I can say is…

“The Bronx Bombers brought their BROOMS on this road trip and hopefully they did not leave them in Chicago.” – Kate of Lady Loves Pinstripes

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New York Yankees: Rangers Paying For Red Sox Bullying Again Losing 12-4

Posted by on 16 June 2011, 6:01 am

For the second night in a row, the New York Yankees gave the Texas Rangers a good old-fashioned whooping with an identical score of 12-4.

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira went 3-5, going deep twice from each side of the plate. Tex hit his 20th homer on the season batting right in the first inning and in the sixth he hit a bomb from the left side for #21.

Tex’s 21 home runs move him into a three-way tie with Yankee teammate Curtis Granderson and Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista for the most homeruns in baseball.

The Yankees are on a role winning five of their last six games, but what other choice did they really have following the abomination against the Red Sox.

I cannot speak for all Yankee fans, but I am still reeling in fury over the 1-8 record against Boston.

Since I am not a player, I don’t have to adopt the philosophy that when a game ends you have to leave it on the field and get ready for tomorrow.

My guess would be the Yankee players are struggling to apply this to Boston or at least they shouldn’t be able too because it was that pathetic.

Reminding myself that this same scenario played out in 2009, when the Yankees were 0-9 vs. Boston at the All-Star break. This works for about ten minutes, until I recall that I was pissed off back then too.

The Yankees have a chance to sweep this series on Thursday afternoon, which might stop ESPN from throwing the Rangers another bone this season excusing why they are under-performing.

Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz are healthy again, so maybe it’s finally time to get off the Texas bandwagon. I am still standing firmly behind my anti-Rangers campaign of being an overrated ball-club.

For the Yankees the bottom-line is there is only one way, one thing that needs to be done in order for the team and fans to feel right again….and we all know what that is.

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