The Tampa Bay Devil Yankees

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2007 8:27 pm

As I sit in the newsroom, I'm watching the Mariners piling a 14-8 whuppin' on the Yankees in the fifth inning.

Man, the Yankees are truly no longer THE YANKEES (add Lou Gehrig echo effect here). They're basically Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and the roster of the Devil Rays. I'm not even kidding. They have no pitching.

And the real Devil Rays actually aren't all that bad this year.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2007 9:44 pm

Heh, the Yanks ended up making it interesting, though, didn't they? Mike Hargrove was steaming as Brandon Morrow and then J.J. Putz allowed the Yanks to load the bases in the 9th, up 15-11, with Derek Jeter up. But Jeter grounded out to short (appropriately enough), ending the game and his 20-game hitting streak.

Tough game to predict, that baseball. Kei Igawa stuffs the Red Sox last Saturday for six very effective innings against probably the second most imposing lineup in the league but has nothing against the Mariners.

You put 11 runs on the board, you expect to win.

At least Mike Myers pitched four innings of one-run ball out of the pen.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2007 9:47 pm

Yep. And the Mariners' Cha Seung Baek pitched 6 1/3 innings of no-hit ball in his last start.

Against the Yanks, he gets rung up for a five-spot in the first.

I bet Brian Cashman is on the phone right now to Roger Clemens' agent.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2007 9:51 pm

Did Baek really pitch that well? Wow. Well, that's why we watch, isn't it?

I dearly hope No. 22 stays home. I'm tired of his act. Let him go to Boston (which apparently doesn't need him) or Houston. Even if it means the Yanks' not making the playoffs. He didn't make it to the end of the regular season the past two years because he broke down physically, even pitching only half a year. What's the use in paying Clemens $30 mil for two months of work? Senseless.

Docsdoctor · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 7:54 am

wordygurdy wrote:

I dearly hope No. 22 stays home. I'm tired of his act.

Me too. Which is why I hope he doesn't come to Boston. He was tiresome years before he went to the Yankees.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 10:51 am

Hah. Interesting that a Sox fan feels that way. I'll have to ask my friend, who's the assistant sports editor of a paper in Mass., if he feels the same.

Of course if Matsuzaka doesn't get untracked, Clemens might have an opening in the Sox' rotation after all.

Can Beckett really keep this 6-0 pace up? Or will he begin giving up bombs again at the frightening rate he did last year? If he continues to pitch well, he will be the first case I can remember in a long time of an NL pitcher who had a fairly awful first season in the AL and then recovered to pitch well in the AL. Generally those guys have to go back to the NL to have any success.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 12:03 pm

So, if not Clemens, who does Cashman/Steinbrenner go out and buy? Who has that Yankee-esque combination of high profile and high salary?

Speaking on behalf of all Seattle fans, y'all are welcome to Jeff Weaver again. That's the biggest reason we hope against all reason that he'll pitch well against the Yanks in a couple of hours later today â€” so he doesn't completely set his "flip value" on fire.

Entering the Yankees game, Mr. World Series Hero is 0-4 with an 18.26 ERA, having gotten lit up for six runs in just two-thirds of an innings against ... yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh ... the Kansas City Royals.

The whole â€œWeaver pitched better in St. Louisâ€ thing is a myth. Compared to his time in Anaheim last year, his strikeout rate went down, his walk rate went up, his groundball rate went down, his home run rate was basically unchanged, and his line drive percentage was the same. His ERA was a run lower because he stranded more runners and his defense turned more balls in play into outs.

He pitched well in the playoffs, but overall, in St. Louis, he was still a bad pitcher.

I figure the same Yankees who were so desperate for pitching that last year they took a flyer on Sidney Ponson would probably be willing to take another flyer on Jeff Weaver.

Oooooooh, Jeff Weaver
I believe your pitch is taking flight
Oooooooooooh, Jeff Weaver
They'll launch your four-seam all through the ni-iiiight ....

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 2:06 pm

Heh. You can forget about anyone being gullible enough to take Weaver on. I think Seattle may be his last stop in the bigs.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 5:12 pm

And we are six outs away from history at Yankee Stadium.

Wabber, do you get the Fox TV feed out there or the local feed?

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 5:23 pm

Rats. There goes history as Ben Broussard shows Chien-Ming Wang the Bronx.

And hats off to Fox for missing all the emotion of the ovation the fans gave Wang after the homer by going to three--count 'em, three--replays of Broussard's shot. One would have been fine.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 5:59 pm

Sorry, I was doing actual work for a change.

We get the Fox feed here.

Ben Broussard's CD has been growing on me. He's quite the singer-songwriter.

Not only did the M's lose, but Jeff Weaver did just horribly enough to merit more chances in the Seattle rotation. Sigh.

And, by the way, if any of you New Yorkers spot Mariner reliever Julio "Moonshot" Mateo, would you please urge him to turn himself in to the police?

Quote:

NEW YORK (AP) â€” Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Julio Mateo was wanted for questioning Saturday in a domestic dispute that left his wife needing stitches to her mouth, police said.

Mariners spokesman Tim Hevly said he was unsure of Mateoâ€™s whereabouts when Seattle played at Yankee Stadium. There was no sign of Mateo in the Marinersâ€™ clubhouse before the game, and his jersey was hanging in his locker.

â€œWeâ€™ve encouraged Julio to cooperate with the proper authorities and itâ€™s our understanding thatâ€™s what he plans to do,â€ he said. â€œOtherwise, while this is in the legal system, we canâ€™t have any further comment.â€

Police said the dispute happened about 2:30 a.m. Saturday inside a midtown Manhattan hotel, shortly after the Mariners defeated the New York Yankees 15-11 in a game where Mateo did not pitch.

The 6-foot, 220-pound reliever was not at the hotel when police arrived, police spokesman Sgt. Mike Wysokowski said.

â€œWeâ€™re hoping he will turn himself in,â€ the sergeant said. The pitcherâ€™s wife was treated for her injuries at St. Vincentâ€™s Hospital in Manhattan, according to Wysokowski.

Hint: He looks like a young Manuel Noriega.

ndugan1 · **Posted:** Sat May 05, 2007 7:40 pm

Wabberjocky wrote:

He pitched well in the playoffs, but overall, in St. Louis, he was still a bad pitcher.

It helped that he pitched in the National League, and in particular, the Central Division, for a lot of the year. And that the defense behind him was known for turning a helluva lot of double-plays.

But he was also being coached by Dave Duncan. You can't put a price on that. (Now if he could only teach his kid about playing left field ... )

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 2:10 pm

Sorry, Yankee fans. Looks like you're stuck with the Rocket for another year.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 2:29 pm

Wabberjocky wrote:

Sorry, Yankee fans. Looks like you're stuck with the Rocket for another year.

Boy, you're quick, Wabber.

Well, it wasn't an unexpected move. But I am disappointed in that I hope it doesn't cost Phil Hughes a rotation spot when he comes back from his injury in July.

And Matt DeSalvo, who's pitching for the Yanks tomorrow, is supposed to have great stuff. It's been so refreshing to be able to look forward to young pitchers with no track record come up and hope they succeed, rather than hoping to squeeze another inning or two out of a 38-year-old (or 45-year-old, in the case of Clemens) arm whose best days were sometime during the Reagan administration.

I wonder if Clemens will get special perks, like not having to travel on road trips unless he's pitching.

And it's too bad that Clemens announced his return on a day when Darrell Rasner not only got the win but lowered his ERA to 2.75 with 5.2 scoreless innings (season: 19.2 innings, 20 hits, 9 R, 6 ER, 5 BB, 10 SO). Too bad for Rasner. Maybe Clemens will take it to the farm after '07. Like Dracula, he's never really dead, is he?

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 4:02 pm

1 year, $28 million for a five-and-fly guy. Nice work if you can get it.

He will have the special schedule if he wants it but claims he will rarely use it.

Cheap shot, by the way, by Josh Phelps against Kenji Johjima. (Phelps went out of his way to clock Johjima at the plate to score. Johjima wasn't blocking the plate; Phelps had to throw a body block at Johjima to the left of the plate, then scramble back to touch it, when he had a clear sliding path to the right of Johjima.) Phelps deserved to get plunked, which he was in his next at-bat, and Scott Proctor was out of line to throw behind Betancourt after Phelps was plunked.

Phelps seemed a bit defensive when asked about it on the postgame, noting he didn't have time to look to see where the ball was and that his obligation was to score. He was asked if he would do it again that way, and he said it was tough to say.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 4:32 pm

Yeah, my reaction when Proctor threw BEHIND Betancourt was: "WTF???!!!???? Where does Joe Torre get off thinking he's got a right to retaliate? Phelps took out Johjima. Washburn plunked Phelps. End of story, end of retaliation."

I'd be very interested to hear Torre's justification for his stupid one-up-on-you stratagem. There's no way you can cortort logic enough to justify Phelps going way out of his way to take out Johjima. Even the "YES" network guys, I'm told, jumped all over Phelps for it.

Regarding Clemens, I wonder how much his city-hopping Hamlet ways cost him in terms of his reputation throughout the game. I mean, he's still one of the greatest pitchers of all time and all, but whether or not people think you're a good, solid guy on top of that matters as well.

And regarding Yankee prospects, I hope they get to Tyler Clippard soon, just so I can refer to him as "The Yankee Clippard."

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sun May 06, 2007 4:39 pm

Wabberjocky wrote:

Yeah, my reaction when Proctor threw BEHIND Betancourt was: "WTF???!!!???? Where does Joe Torre get off thinking he's got a right to retaliate? Phelps took out Johjima. Washburn plunked Phelps. End of story, end of retaliation."

I'd be very interested to hear Torre's justification for his stupid one-up-on-you stratagem. There's no way you can cortort logic enough to justify Phelps going way out of his way to take out Johjima. Even the "YES" network guys, I'm told, jumped all over Phelps for it.

Regarding Clemens, I wonder how much his city-hopping Hamlet ways cost him in terms of his reputation throughout the game. I mean, he's still one of the greatest pitchers of all time and all, but whether or not people think you're a good, solid guy on top of that matters as well.

And regarding Yankee prospects, I hope they get to Tyler Clippard soon, just so I can refer to him as "The Yankee Clippard."

That wasn't Torre's doing. He doesn't operate that way. It was Proctor on his own (and I'm saying that without having seen either Torre or Proctor comment on it on the postgame).

Maybe Proctor was angry about A-Rod's getting plunked yesterday, the YES Network broadcasters speculated. And, yes, they did criticize Phelps unanimously at the time for going out of his way to deck Johjima.

Yankee Clippard. Pretty good. I'm sure sports-desk guys in the tri-state area will be all over that one if/when he ever gets here, just as the Daily News has almost worn out "Iggy pop" and its variants for Kei Igawa, and it's only early May.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 8:45 am

But for a blown call by Jerry Davis, the Yanks probably would have taken three out of four from the Mariners on the strength of excellent pitching in the Saturday, Sunday and Monday contests. (We won't speak of Friday's 15-11 fiasco.)

How you can be in Davis' position and not see that Robinson Cano had tagged out Willie Bloomquist by about three feet before he reached the base is unfathomable. That would have been the third out of the 8th, but instead, the next batter dunked a single in front of Abreu, Bloomquist scored to tie the game 2-2, and Beltre hit a solo homer against Rivera in the 9th.

Would Beltre still have hit a solo homer against Rivera in the 9th, to tie the game instead of win it? Who knows? But the Yankees should have been out of the 8th with a lead.

And that excellent pitching the Yankees got over the weekend (Friday excepted) sure points out the need for a Roger Clemens. Yes, indeedy. A near perfecto Saturday, a shutout Sunday and one run in 7 innings Monday are all cause for serious worry.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 9:18 am

As a casual fan, it seems that when Rivera blows a save it's often from a home run. I'm sure the stats would sober me up here, but as a generic question, is he prone to home-run balls? What is it about some very dominant pitchers who won't get beat, usually, unless you take them deep? Is it because he walks few people, and thus the best way to score off of him is with one big swing? Is it the type of pitcher involved? Am I rambling?

Crabby Editor · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 11:07 am

Quote:

As a casual fan, it seems that when Rivera blows a save it's often from a home run.

I drew the same conclusion with Billy Wagner, but can't back it up with stats.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 11:23 am

jjmoney62 wrote:

As a casual fan, it seems that when Rivera blows a save it's often from a home run. I'm sure the stats would sober me up here, but as a generic question, is he prone to home-run balls? What is it about some very dominant pitchers who won't get beat, usually, unless you take them deep? Is it because he walks few people, and thus the best way to score off of him is with one big swing? Is it the type of pitcher involved? Am I rambling?

When Rivera's location is off, his cutter tends to drift up in the zone, and so it gets hit a long way. You're right; he does tend to get beaten by homers.

He also gets beaten a lot by Texas leaguers that fall in front of outfielders who are playing far too deep (see Game 7, 2001 World Series). In those cases, it's all the batter can do to fight off the cutter just enough to dunk it where the fielders ain't.

Torre had said earlier this year that he knew Rivera's ineffectiveness was because of lack of work, and Torre did try to remedy that at one point by bringing Rivera into lopsided games. But Torre has got away from that strategy in the past couple of weeks, and Rivera has got rusty again.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 11:25 am

Crabby Editor wrote:

Quote:

As a casual fan, it seems that when Rivera blows a save it's often from a home run.

I drew the same conclusion with Billy Wagner, but can't back it up with stats.

One of my co-workers is a Mets fan and concurs with you, Crabby.

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 11:34 am

jjmoney62 wrote:

As a casual fan, it seems that when Rivera blows a save it's often from a home run. I'm sure the stats would sober me up here, but as a generic question, is he prone to home-run balls?

Don't know what the stats would show, but the blown save I remember most was the 7th game of the 2001 World Series against Arizona. The winning hit was a bloop (broken bat?) single that barely got out of the infield.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 12:18 pm

In wading through the stats, I couldn't answer JJ's question, but I did note the following about Rivera:

1. Historically, he's had one of the lowest home-runs-allowed rates per batter of all time.

2. Throughout his career, he's had very little split differential between right-handed and left-handed batters. But this year, for some reason, he just can't get lefties out: Lefties are 10-for-22 against him. Righties are just 4-for-22 against him, but it's been righthanded hitters â€” Marco Scutaro and Adrian Beltre â€” would have hit game-winning dingers off him.

3. If Rivera's just a slow starter, it's a career anomaly â€” his April and May stats have been just as golden as his numbers for every other month, going back to his first full-time season as a closer in 1996. In fact, he has had remarkable month-to-month consistency all through his career.

Is he done? It's been just 11 2/3 innings, so small-sample-size caveats apply.

But, right now, he is killing the Yankees.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 12:27 pm

No comments on Davis' blown call, Wabber? Was wondering if Seattle media noted it.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 1:49 pm

I haven't yet seen the play in question. I don't have TV at home, and so I don't see a game unless I'm at a sports bar or at a friend's house ... or, of course, at the ballpark. Mostly I get my real-time game info from radio ... which, in this case, isn't helpful.

From Seattle Times beat writer Geoff Baker:

Quote:

There was second-base umpire Gerry Davis, who admitted he erred in calling Willie Bloomquist safe on a two-out steal attempt in the eighth. That put Bloomquist in position to score the tying run on Kenji Johjima's single to right.

Bloomquist replaced Vidro as a pinch-runner, broke for second on a steal attempt and was tagged out a good three feet from the bag on the play Davis missed.

"It's a good thing there's no instant replay in baseball," Bloomquist said.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2007 11:02 pm

Wabberjocky wrote:

I haven't yet seen the play in question. I don't have TV at home, and so I don't see a game unless I'm at a sports bar or at a friend's house ... or, of course, at the ballpark. Mostly I get my real-time game info from radio ... which, in this case, isn't helpful.

From Seattle Times beat writer Geoff Baker:

Quote:

There was second-base umpire Gerry Davis, who admitted he erred in calling Willie Bloomquist safe on a two-out steal attempt in the eighth. That put Bloomquist in position to score the tying run on Kenji Johjima's single to right.

Bloomquist replaced Vidro as a pinch-runner, broke for second on a steal attempt and was tagged out a good three feet from the bag on the play Davis missed.

"It's a good thing there's no instant replay in baseball," Bloomquist said.

Ah, thanks for the update, Wabber. I was going to post this from the Daily News' game story, which I didn't get to read till tonight:

Quote:

Even Davis admitted after the game he had blown the call, likely costing the Yankees a win in the process.

"I didn't miss the call," Davis said. "I kicked the --- out of it."

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 3:59 pm

So what happens if the Yankees miss going to the playoffs by one game?

Docsdoctor · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 5:59 pm

Most everyone outside of NYC smiles.

ndugan1 · **Posted:** Thu May 10, 2007 12:27 am

They will have blown their other 100-plus chances?

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2007 8:23 pm

Get set for the maiden voyage of "The Yankee Clippard":

CHICAGO -- The Yankees werenâ€™t ready yesterday to announce who their Sunday night starter against the Mets will be, though it seems likely to be right-hander Tyler Clippard.

Manager Joe Torre ruled out using right-hander Chien-Ming Wang on short rest Sunday. Mike Mussina would have started Sunday, but he pitched Wednesday due to Tuesdayâ€™s rainout.

Clippard, 22, was pulled from his start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Thursday afternoon after one inning. He is 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Sun May 20, 2007 8:57 pm

Congratulations to "The Yankee Clippard" on a successful debut. Yanks 5, Mets 1 through five innings.

Wabberjocky · **Posted:** Mon May 21, 2007 12:16 am

From the AP story:

Quote:

Clippard also showed shades of the real Yankee Clipper â€” the great Joe DiMaggio. Clippard drilled a double to deep right-center field, keeping the ball for a souvenir, and put down a nifty sacrifice bunt that set up Johnny Damonâ€™s two-run double.

Clippard said he had not batted since high school. Before the game, he asked a clubhouse man for the lightest bat the Yankees had available and was given a shiny, black Miguel Cairo model.

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