Good night from Yankee Stadium
It's turned sour in a hurry for Andy Pettitte, and the perplexing part of it is that it always seems to be revolving around one bad inning. Take this fourth inning for example, courtesy of the handy play-by-play sheets MLB.com furnishes after each game.
Mets 4th (Mets 3, Yankees 2) -- R. Church singles to center field. D. Wright singles to left-center field, R. Church to 2nd. C. Beltran singles through the hole at shortstop, R. Church scores; D. Wright to 2nd. M. Alou walks, D. Wright to 3rd; C. Beltran to 2nd. C. Delgado pops out to D. Jeter on the infield fly rule. D. Easley struck out looking. B. Schneider walks, D. Wright scores; C. Beltran to 3rd; M. Alou to 2nd. L. Castillo singles to pitcher, C. Beltran scores; M. Alou to 3rd; B. Schneider to 2nd. J. Reyes pops out to D. Jeter.
(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors, 3 LOB)
It makes four straight losses for Pettitte, but hey, what can you do with that third? Joe Girardi called it a weird inning, Pettitte called it baseball. What you have to see is that the first two hits were softly hit, Beltran's was a ground ball that got through, and Castillo's hit was a nubber that went about 45 feet up the third base line and died. You can't defend the walks, but he almost got out of the inning and left 'em loaded.
That's the way luck goes. You can debate if Johnny Damon should have been sent in the third inning but when teams are struggling for runs, you push the envelope a little bit. They wanted that aggression. Let's not forget that the Yankees scored a grand total of two runs off Rays starting pitchers through four games in St. Petersburg.
They scored that many off Johan Santana in the first inning on Saturday. Baby steps? Yeah, sure. But anyone expecting this lineup to produce on all cylinders without Alex Rodriguez and/or Jorge Posada has a long wait ahead. This is a wounded club just trying to stay afloat. Alberto Gonzalez and Chad Moeller are nice guys but they can't approximate the fear and impact level A-Rod and Posada have on the order.
Mets 4th (Mets 3, Yankees 2) -- R. Church singles to center field. D. Wright singles to left-center field, R. Church to 2nd. C. Beltran singles through the hole at shortstop, R. Church scores; D. Wright to 2nd. M. Alou walks, D. Wright to 3rd; C. Beltran to 2nd. C. Delgado pops out to D. Jeter on the infield fly rule. D. Easley struck out looking. B. Schneider walks, D. Wright scores; C. Beltran to 3rd; M. Alou to 2nd. L. Castillo singles to pitcher, C. Beltran scores; M. Alou to 3rd; B. Schneider to 2nd. J. Reyes pops out to D. Jeter.
(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors, 3 LOB)
It makes four straight losses for Pettitte, but hey, what can you do with that third? Joe Girardi called it a weird inning, Pettitte called it baseball. What you have to see is that the first two hits were softly hit, Beltran's was a ground ball that got through, and Castillo's hit was a nubber that went about 45 feet up the third base line and died. You can't defend the walks, but he almost got out of the inning and left 'em loaded.
That's the way luck goes. You can debate if Johnny Damon should have been sent in the third inning but when teams are struggling for runs, you push the envelope a little bit. They wanted that aggression. Let's not forget that the Yankees scored a grand total of two runs off Rays starting pitchers through four games in St. Petersburg.
They scored that many off Johan Santana in the first inning on Saturday. Baby steps? Yeah, sure. But anyone expecting this lineup to produce on all cylinders without Alex Rodriguez and/or Jorge Posada has a long wait ahead. This is a wounded club just trying to stay afloat. Alberto Gonzalez and Chad Moeller are nice guys but they can't approximate the fear and impact level A-Rod and Posada have on the order.
YANKEES MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD May 17, 2008
Pawtucket (Red Sox) POSTPONED
Scranton/WB
---------------------------------
New Hampshire (Blue Jays) 3
Trenton 4
W: Z. Kroenke (3-0, 2.93); L: S. Richmond (3-5, 5.40); SV: M. Gardner (5)
HR: NHM: S. Campbell (3).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_05_17_nhmaax_treaax_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Tampa 2
Fort Myers (Twins) 3
W: J. Manship (5-1, 3.62); L: C. Garcia (0-1, 1.93); SV: A. Slama (7)
HR: None.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_05_17_tbyafa_ftmafa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Asheville (Rockies) 5
Charleston 2
W: M. Reynolds (2-0, 4.00); L: J. Ortiz (0-1, 2.25); SV: R. Taylor (12)
HR: None.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_17_ashafx_crdafx_1
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FIRE CASHMAN! Nah, I'm just kiddin'. No I'm not.
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Goodnight Joe Girardi, you won't be missed.
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Tonight = national tv = last game for Girardi?
George was always big with how you perform on this stage, lets see.
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Hank has proven to be more patient than his father so far, and I doubt there will be any mid season firings. Though if the Yankees fail to make the playoffs this year, Cashman is gone. Girardi will be gone as well.
However, if the Yankees make the playoffs, Girardi will likely be given another year to prove himself. Rebuilding year(well, as close as the Yanks will come to one anyway), new coach and all that.
For Cashman to keep his job though, we will have to make the ALCS or maybe even the World Series. Otherwise he is gone. And we return to the Yankees of old, free agents, big player trades and all that.
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Fire Cashman! I'm kidding... really I am. No I'm not.
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YANKEES MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD May 18, 2008
Pawtucket (Red Sox) 1:30p
Scranton/WB (2)
---------------------------------
New Hampshire (Blue Jays) 1:05p
Trenton
---------------------------------
Vero Beach (Rays) 4p
Tampa
---------------------------------
Asheville (Rockies) 4:05p
Charleston
---------------------------------
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Come on. You really think Girardi is going to be fired 43 games into his first season, without A-Rod and Posada in his lineup? Get a grip. Girardi was Hank's choice as much as anyone's, just to remind you.
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Bryan, what do you think about Cashman's situation ? It's a lot more delicate than Girardi's, in my opinion.
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The G-Thang looks like it's working. Did you see the line shots Big G hit yesterday? One was stabbed by Santana, of course, so you may forget that one, but he hit a bomb inthat game also.
It's funny how the mind works in this game. How a thong can get a player to start thinking positively, and get his game going as a consequence.
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That's really wwwwaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much inof. about Big G. I'll never look at him the same way again!!
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If this team by some miracle finds a way to get to the championships there will still be some doubt CRashman will still be around. Anything less than that though, all doubt about him coming back beyond this season will be gone. Without a doubt Crashman's situation is far more delicate than Girardi's. He is responsible for putting a successful team together every year. Since he hasn't been able to do that, he will be held more responsible for the failures of this team.
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Matt_saiki, you have to have some idea how to put a team together and frankly I have not seen anything that Crashman has done to put together a team. My deceased father, a huge Yankee fan, used to say good pitching from top to bottom and defense makes you competitive, winning is in the heart. I look at the roster that Crashman has put together, the lack of pitching on that roster (with some exceptions), and the free agent signings by this guy and I shake my head. This guy is clueless as to the direction of this ballclub. The best illustration of this is what to do about Joba. For God sakes make a decision about this young man, setup guy or starter and stick with it.
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jhtravers,
I agree with you, actually I've been saying the same thing for a while now. Crashman has no idea how to put a successful team together. As I've said, the success this team has achieved with Crashman is because of previous administrations not him. He has been continually embarrassed by Epstein who has had more shown more ability to put a team together than Crashman who cin contrast has made too many bonehead moves from Pavano, to Igawa, to Betapuke etc. Crashman doesn't have a head for baseball period. Maybe if Chamberlain had started the season in the rotation rather than the pen, maybe this team wouldn't be going through the pitching problems it's going through now. IT would have meant that this team would have had a dominating starter who could at least go deep into games, and who could possibly shut down opponents every time he took the mound. Instead he is being wasted in the pen. This team does need to make changes, but it needs to be done at the top first before addressing the team itself. FIRE CRASHMAN!!!!!!
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Matt,
This has no bearing but I'm curious, did you ever fire anyone?
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Come on. You really think Girardi is going to be fired 43 games into his first season, without A-Rod and Posada in his lineup? Get a grip. Girardi was Hank's choice as much as anyone's, just to remind you.
By bombersbeat on May 18, 2008 2:39 PM
Hank's choice or consensus?
FIRE GIRARDI CAMPAIGN CONTINUES
Trivia: Who is the only baseball player to make the All Madden team? Hint: It was a Yankee.
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S. White knocked out in the fouth inning at SWB today.
GAME 1
Pawtucket (Red Sox) 7
Scranton/WB 1 (7)
W: D. Hansack (2-4, 5.34); L: S. White (4-2, 3.55)
HR: PAW: C. Carter (3), D. Brown (2).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_05_18_pawaaa_swbaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
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Fire Cashman vs Fire Girardi!
Which campaign bears more relevance?
Vote Now!
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Speaking seriously now. This team needs one of those games where they say: " That was the turning pont of the season. " Wang is on the mound, it's the Subway Series versus the struggling Mets, with the offense suddingly surging.
The perfect components are in place for THAT type of game, we need one... badly. I see that happening today. I have good feeling it will. A-Rod's coing back next week. Posada has heat on his throws now. Positive things are happeing for this club. The pitching is great, we have a chance to win every time out; It's early on in the season.
Let's go Yankees.
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YANKEES MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD May 18, 2008
Pawtucket (Red Sox) 7
Scranton/WB 1 (7)
W: D. Hansack (2-4, 5.34); L: S. White (4-2, 3.55)
HR: PAW: C. Carter (3), D. Brown (2).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_05_18_pawaaa_swbaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Pawtucket (Red Sox) 3
Scranton/WB 7
W: J. Marquez (3-5, 6.16); L: M. Tejera (2-3, 4.64)
HR: PAW: S. Madera (4). SWB: J. Lane (8), N. Green (4), J. Christian (3), B. Gardner (3).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_05_18_pawaaa_swbaaa_2&t=g_box&did=milb
New Hampshire (Blue Jays)
Trenton SUSPENDED
---------------------------------
Vero Beach (Rays) 1
Tampa 5
W: M. Dunn (2-1, 2.66); L: H. Rollins (2-3, 4.24); SV: G. Duff (1)
HR: TAM: J. Calzado (2).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_05_18_vbdafa_tbyafa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Asheville (Rockies) 1
Charleston 3
W: N. Castillo (4-2, 3.17); L: C. Graham (4-3, 2.42); SV: J. Ortiz (12)
HR: None.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_05_18_ashafx_crdafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb
You may also see http://www.yankeesdaily.com for details.
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Never have fired anyone, but woldn't hesitate if they didn't produce results, and I would wait until the timing was right.
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