After allowing 3 runs in the 1st 3 innings, Freddy settled down and retired 15 in a row. Then, with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, and the Yanks trailing 3-2, with the runs scoring on Curtis Granderson's 27th homer and a double by Mariner-turned-Yankee Ichiro Suzuki (so far, so good with that trade), Joe Girardi blew it again.
He took Garcia out, and replaced him with Clay Rapada. That didn't work, so he replaced him with Chad Qualls. That didn't work, so he replaced him with Boone Logan. That didn't work, so he replaced him with Cody Eppley. Five pitchers in one inning. Incredibly, only 1 run scored, but it ruined the Yankees' momentum.
On WCBS, John Sterling called it "a nightmare of an inning." So what would he call the 12th inning of the Mets' Sunday game, when they allowed 5 runs in Los Angeles? Or the 10th inning of the Mets' Monday game, when they allowed 6 runs in Washington?
Had Girardi simply let Garcia pitch the 8th, the Yankees still might have lost, but it would have looked a lot less like Girardi doesn't know how to handle a pitching staff.
I am thisclose to saying, "Joe, thank you for 2009, but it's time to move on." Alas, I do not get to make that decision.
And that's hardly the story, either.
"King" Felix hit 3 Yankee batters. His ex-teammate Ichiro. Stay classy, Felix. Derek Jeter. Big deal, every headhunter hits Jeter. And Alex Rodriguez. In this case, the pitch broke A-Rod's hand.
This was all within the space of 5 batters, over 2 innings. And "King" Felix wasn't thrown out of the game after any of these incidents. Although Mariner manager Eric Wedge did go to his bullpen after "King" Felix plunked A-Rod.
Jeter said, "It wasn't intentional. I mean, it was a close game at the time. I think Al got hit with a changeup. It's just one of those freak things. You wish it didn't happen. Obviously, when somebody gets injured, it's pretty bad."
"Wasn't intentional."
Three batters out of five. Three batters, each with over 2,500 hits in the majors.
Derek has been a Yankee for 17 years. He knows damn well when it's intentional.
Felix Hernandez, you are not a king. You are a goddamned coward. You think the Yankees should trade for you? I don't want you on the Yankees.
(Yeah, I know, I said that about Roger Clemens, too. I was wrong. But I also said it about Randy Johnson, and I turned out to be right. also said it about Pedro Martinez, and, wisely, Brian Cashman never tested it.)
Most likely, Eric Chavez will be the everyday 3rd baseman until A-Rod comes back. No word yet on how long he'll be out, or on who will be called up from Scranton, or activated from the Disabled List, to replace him.
My concern is that A-Rod will be back just in time for the postseason, but not be back enough. Which would certainly give him a viable excuse for not hitting well in October.
A few years back, I joked that the only way the Yankees would win a World Series with A-Rod on the payroll would be if he caught the flu. Not a 24-hour virus, a 24-day virus, keeping him out for the postseason. In other words, they only way he would get a ring would be if he wasn't on the roster.
I'd been saying A-Rod would get his 3,000th hit next June, with the qualifier "barring injury." As that great Yankee Fan Richard Schiff would say, "You don't want to tempt the wrath of the thing from on high."
Let's just hope he's ready for the postseason. A-Rod, that is, not Schiff, best known for playing Toby Ziegler on The West Wing. I'd rather go in with no excuses.
This bitch of a West Coast roadtrip concludes with a 3:40 PM (12:40 local time) start today, Ivan Nova going against Hisashi Iwakuma.
7 comments:
Geez, Felix is a coward because he broke A-Rod's hand on purpose - with a changeup???
As a Yankee fan with a (fairly) firm grasp on reality, I gotta say calling out KF as a coward is bullshit. If he buzzed Rodriguez with a heater then I'd agree.
Besides, with A-Rod out of the lineup maybe a third baseman would actually produce???
The son of a bitch hit THREE Yankees in a span of five batters -- all big stars. The only other option is that his control isn't good enough to be called "King" -- and, clearly, his control was good enough through most of the game. And A-Rod HAD been producing lately.
I am not here to start a flame war, but as a Mariners fan for more than 20 years and suffering through mediocrity and now garbage seasons, Felix was not intentionally trying to hit any of those batters. First off, you don't hit batters with a Change-up and a curve ball (A-rod, Ichiro Respectively). He has such nasty stuff that sometimes it gets out of control. Second, he has never wanted to be traded to New York, so if you don't want him he doesn't want you either because he specifically has a no trade clause to New York. Third, this article is just poorly written.
Good Day Sir
I'm getting criticism on credibility by someone calling himself Dirk Diggler. And criticism on the quality of my writing by someone who simply says so, and doesn't explain why -- physician, heal thyself.
The pitch that hit A-Rod was 88 miles an hour. If that's what you call a "changeup," then I recommend that you stand in the path of an 88 MPH changeup and see how it feels. Your ONLY defense for saying Felix didn't do it on purpose is that his control was bad -- in which case, he's not as good as you think he is.
And no one's requiring any of you to read this. You don't like it, then, as they say in English soccer, fuck off!
Ok, let me retract my statement saying this is poorly written and replace it with, "you don't know anything about baseball or pitching if you don't want the Yankees to acquire Felix, who let me remind you is better in just about every statistical category than your "ace" CC, whom you are paying I believe the largest pitching contract of all time for". Does that work better? I was not comparing A-rod's pain to my own because like you I don't play major league baseball. However, it was a changeup, which for felix is just about his most devastating pitch because it is fastball speed. Once again any half-wit who follows baseball knows you don't intentionally peg someone with a changeup or a curveball. I'll take it one step further, Fuck off you wanker.
"Fuck off you wanker"? Bloody hell, what "football club" do you support? Probably Tottenham, their fans think they know everything, but really know nothing.
Of course I don't want the Yankees to acquire Felix because he's never proven he can handle pressure. The same cannot be said of CC who led Cleveland and Milwaukee to the Playoffs -- historically, neither is anything to sneeze at. Felix has never SEEN a Pennant race except on television. At least Ichiro has been to the Playoffs. Don't tell me Felix is "better." As the old saying goes, Statistics are like bikinis: What they reveal can be nice, but what they don't reveal is more important.
By saying that Felix's "changeup" is "fastball speed," you are making MY argument, not yours. "Any half-wit who follows baseball knows" you CAN "intentionally peg someone" with an 88 MPH pitch.
Bottom line: If Felix Hernandez were good enough for the Yankees, we would have gotten him by now. Because, by forking over Ichiro, Mariner management has proven it values money more than winning. So they would take our money and/or our prospects.
Not to mention the goddamned perfect game he just threw! Man, you really sucked it up on this one buddy.
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