WOW, I have missed most of this series unfortunately and just caught this footage. Tex has always been a favorite player of mine because he plays with just as much passion as my favorite Yankee all time, Paul O'Neill. That was a real dirty play though, you can see in the slow mo he intentionally went high on the catcher. But I'm pretty sure that over the years Tex has created a stigma that he is not a player to fuck with, and he is completely open to retaliation. He is just lucky none of the Angels had any balls and didn't charge him right there.
Yea......that was a big fuck you to Kazmir. Hits Cano on purpose and Posada takes him deep on the first pitch, dead center...
Javy nice day... I got killed on this board when I complained about the Yankees reacquisition of Vasquez during the off-season. I know it's still April, but I've seen enough of his outings thus far to see that he's the same guy the Yankees dumped a few years back. When the pressure is on, he folds like a cheap suitcase. Not that Thames out there in left (another wasted reacquisition) helped matters. Sorry folks, Vasquez still sucks.
First of all, it's not the same Vazquez. The 2004 Vazquez actually threw harder than 89 mph. This Vazquez doesn't. That's a problem. One that's hopefully fixed, but still a problem. And it's still ridiculous... yes, ridiculous... to say you've "seen enough of his outings." If you realize it's still April, then act like it's still April. See if he corrects whatever the issue is that is causing his drop in velocity. Or see if it's an injury. Secondly, I put this more on Marcus Thames... or perhaps more accurately, on Girardi for not realizing that there is no way that Marcus Thames should ever put a glove on his hand. (He's not a "wasted acquisition" though... he kills lefties and there's no reason he couldn't be very useful as a PH or a DH against tough lefties.) Lastly, Vazquez didn't suck for us the first time around. He was great in the first half, and shitty the second half. (ETA: And the first time around, he sucked as a guy who was acquired to be the #1 or #2 pitcher. This time, he's not being asked to be anything more than a #4. He's got a lot more room for error in terms of judging the acquisition a success or not.)
Somebody f-ed up that ball that was hit for a HR. Why all the confusion between Gerardi and the battery? And of course the result is a big HR.
I say it was more of the result of Marte throwing a meatball right down the middle of the plate to the Angel's best hitter. The beginning of the at bat was a little messed up, but the whole coaching staff was signaling Morales was going to be aggressive on the 3 balls count.
-He should have just left in Aceves. -Marte should have just walked Morales. Not saying we would have gotten Rivera out no problem, but he probably would have been better off walking Morales. Hell, even a breaking ball would have been a better pitch than the one he actually threw.
It's only April, but I'm ticked off about this series. Javy got screwed by Thames. WTF?!? As crazy as it might sound, I want Gardner in left every day. He's getting on base and he's playing good enough in the field. That's the second time Thames has made a shitty play at Vazquez's expense. I'm as big a Teixeira fan as there is, but I was disgusted by what he did the other night. I want him to be suspended for that. Total douchebag move there. Joba looks shot. I'm not sure what to make of him at this point. Actually, the entire pen is disappointing lately. Pettitte is awesome. Holy shit. I can't seem to find where I predicted when Nick Johnson would go on the DL. Granted, he hasn't made it there yet, but he's out. I'm off by a week, tops. Speaking of Johnson, here are some numbers: (AVG: .135, OBP: .375, SLG: .231, OPS: .606) Johnny Damon: (AVG: .323, OBP: .443, SLG: .431, OPS: .874) Hideki Matsui: (AVG: .293, OBP: .361, SLG: .533, OPS: .895) Nick Johnson is an awful replacement for either guy who could have been in the DH position for us.
Simmer down, and give it some time. Players slump. Neither Matsui nor Damon could be as productive as Johnson has been in the middle of a cold streak. Besides, there's no way they were paying what Damon was demanding. That's not on the Yanks. And same goes for what it would have cost to get Matsui (at the time). By the time the market played out, they had already signed Johnson. Absolute worst case scenario: Johnson sucks so hard or gets injured so severely that they call up Jesus Montero.
