This has been an interesting
past week to 10m days for the guys from the Bronx. The title of this post
reflects the injury situations for CC Sabathia and Bret Gardner. On the
positive side of the ledger, CC returned from his groin (I love how we have
learned to refer to these things with one word and everyone seems to know what
you mean – he has a knee, he has a groin, he has a steroid) and pitched very,
very well. What to me, that was even better, was the fact that he talked about
how much the time off helped his arm (didn’t know he had an arm). He said he
felt rested, stronger and I am or at least my fantasy team is expecting a big
second half. There is part of me that thinks this type of thing may end up
being a wave of the future in terms of managing pitching staffs. Take your big
gun(s) and shut them down just before the All Star break, have them miss only
one start, get the 5 day break for the game and return rested and revitalized.
This could also be a boon for older starters or the guys that throw a lot of
pitches. Watch for this, you heard it here first.
On the negative side of the
ledger, it seems that Brett Gardner is destines to play only 9 games for the
Bombers in 2012. Everyone who calls themselves a fan knows the story – hurt his
arm in a game, DL, rehab starts, still hurts, keep him on the DL, rehab starts,
still hurts, keep him on the DL, rehab starts, still hurts, go see Dr. Andrews,
have surgery, wait until next year. This I think is the reason the Yankees have
been more dependent on home runs as Gardner’s absence affects the entire line
up. This whole injury thing for him has been a pain in the …elbow.
How about a little love for
the tandem of Ibanez and Jones. Yes, the defense suffers, especially when
Ibanez puts on a glove, but the bats are a real bonus, a REAL bonus. Jones
almost singlehandedly took apart the Red Sox a couple weeks ago and it seems as
if Ibanez picks perfect times to go yard. Hopefully this continues well into
October
Finally a few words about
ARod. Believe me, I am no ARod apologist. He was a dumb HGH user, he showed
what not to do when you talk to the media by bringing down teammates and much of the time he looks more interested in how he appears in the media rather
than performing on the field. But to me, the fans need to take a chill pill or
they are going to have to defend that “greatest fans in the world” moniker. In
the series against the Angels, Alex Rodriguez homered in the first inning
of yesterday’s 10-8 loss versus the Angels, and the crowd cheered. With the
winning run on first base in the bottom of the ninth, he popped out to end the
game. This time, the crowd let out boos. The Yankees’ fan base
likes to pride itself on being knowledgeable, but too many from among the
team’s legion of followers are unworthy of that distinction. Those are the fans
who incessantly boo Alex Rodriguez. Although just about every player has been
treated harshly by the home crowd at some point in their career, but the abuse of
Arod by Yankees’ fans has gone beyond the point of being rational. Look,
Red Sox fan can ignore their own skeletons in the closet and boo and taunt him
for his HGH mistake but Yankee fan needs to look at just what they arte doing
and why. Perhaps their memory is better than Jeter, who felt the ARod stupidity
but please, you guys know better.
PINCH HITS
-Old nemesis, Kevin
Youkilis, hit a game winning homerun for the Chicago White Sox to beat the
Boston Red Sox. Or should I say, my new best friend, Kevin Youkilis. BFF! You
can tell the state of Red Sox Nation by the comments on their bulletin board. Comments
like even Stevie Wonder could see that coming, Lester (who gave up the bomb) is finished. Not an Ace, not even a good
pitcher anymore. Whose fault is that Sox fan? Josh Beckett of course, the fried
chicken and beer king. He made no comment because he was out on the golf course
again today, not his day to pitch. Plus Sox fan is now Garciaparring Youkilis/.
Several people commented that he was jaking it his last few weeks as a Red Sox
to get out of town. THAT would be Bobby Valentine’s fault. There is nothing,
NOTHING as good as watching Sox fan self-destruct. I may have to listen to
Boston sports radio to get the FULL effect. Thanks Youk! And the sound in the
stands after his big homerun was not Yoouuuuk. That was Booooooo…
