An obvious Molina strength: handling pitchers. A rumored Pudge weakness: same. Media often forgets this, but we saw it last night, didn't we?

I still like the deal for the Yanks, but it doesn't make them as good as Anaheim.

Nice recap Cliff. Too bad this 'market correction' on the starters ERA had to come all at once. A'all didn't really think the staff ERA would stick at ~1.5 for the whole month, didja! Anyone else think that while Britton is a nice reliever to have (and has been bounced around more than is, uh, optimal), the guy doesn't seem to do well coming in with men on base. And not just last night.

I loathe the Angles. Almost as much as the Orioles.

It looked like a slaughter, but there were a lot of what ifs. If our defense had been decent, it's a much closer game. Cano let's the 3rd out in a ground ball get by him, and then there is a 3 run HR. A 3-0 game instead of a 6-0 game at that point is huge. We also lost 1 on Pudge's play, and 2 or more on great D by the Halos in the 9th.

We have lost some bad ones, but at least our O has not laid down and died. We scored 6 and got 13 hits and actually had a little fight in us, so I will tale a little solace in that.

As Cliff (?) and others pointed out, with Pontoons and Raz in the rotation, Andy and Moose have to be near perfect. I guess Washburn might help some, but it's nothing to get excited about.

MP asked why the Angels are doing so much better then us with offensive and pitching numbers that are pretty close. The answer is execution. While we have good days, there are too many gaffs for us to win consistantly. Too many stranded runners on third. Too many poor ABs when we are on the verge of scoring.

El Dopey did it again, trying for 3rd with 2 out. He made it on a bad throw, but still it's a terrible play that you don't expect from a little leaguer. Abreu (once again) has an automatic brake that goes off whenever he comes within 10' of anything solid. Cano was uncharacteristically poor in the field.

Jeter's numbers seem solid if not great, but my eyes keep telling me he is not hitting in high leverage situations. Actually, many of us are happy if he simply doesn't hit into a DP.

2 of our bad defensive plays (Cano and Bobby) led directly to 4 runs. 2 of their defensive plays (in the 9th) saved (at least) 2 runs. Andy wouldn't say anything, but he looked pretty pissed at some of the fielding behind him. It is obvious when our pitching or offense loses a game. But I think our defense loses a lot of games too.

Our SP is still a bit weak, but we are putting a pretty good team on the field now. The boys have a real fight coming up over the next couple of weeks. We will see if Jeter and the others can step up. Step up and EXECUTE.

According to Baseball-Reference:

Jeter 2008
High Leverage: .358 .419 .453 .872
Medium Leverage: .261 .311 .376 .686
Low Leverage: .283 .356 .408 .764

Late and Close: .319 .396 .447 .843
2 out RISP: .333 .412 .444 .856

Perhaps your eyes deceive?

Angels have been superb for awhile and just got stronger. No secret to anyone, I suspect. We have too many games left against them, alas.

Basically, last night is on Andy, though. Not saying that to dump on him (though it feels unfair to blame Pudge!), as he's been outstanding, but it is a fact. 6-0 early, then three more is Sir Pontoon country.

Oh. Right. About tonight ...

The Yanks can make the playoffs this year, but they need a lot of work because 80% of their potential 09 starting line-up is either a question mark or another year deeper into their decline years. And so far that hasn't been pretty.

Yeah, Karstens is going for Pitt, I wonder who, between he and Ponson, will have the better night.

A guy can 'blow it' 2/3 of the time close and late and be excellent. The hard nature of the sport.

2 I also loathe the Angels. They always hit 'em where the Yanks' fielders ain't. Its very frustrating to watch.

Why did the schedule makers set it up so that all of the Yanks' games against these games would come at the end of the season? I'd be happier if this was the last time we'd see the Angels, not the first.

I believe in stats. They don't lie. But they don't always tell the story. I wonder if Jeters high RISP is when we have leads, and big leads? I don't know. But I have watched every game but 3 this season. I'm not quite that senile (yet). I just can't say Jeter is one of the guys helping us win.

But again, perception is not always reality.

From Pete Abe:

"Baseball's all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson will make his first Old-Timers' Day appearance at Yankee Stadium"

"The Alberto Gonzalez move cleared a 40-man roster spot and removed a player who was blocking AA infielder Ramiro Pena. The Yankees like him a lot. If they suddenly need an infielder, it'll be Cody Ransom."

11 I believe Jeter started the season with inordinantly good numbers in high leverage. Despite still being respectable, those numbers have come down.

You yourself argued earlier this year (we were sparring on a similar topic) that Jeter disappoints you more because you have higher expectations. I suspect that is what is clouding your judgement in this case.

It has been interesting to watch opinion on Jeter shift so radically in the last few years, at least on sites such as these. He has gone from being the most overrated player (Mr. November, Mr. Clutch, etc.) to the object of scorn. And frankly, I just don't get. He is accused of arrogance and selfishness, etc., and yet no evidence is ever produced to verify these claims. And many of the very same fans who sing the praises of winners like Tino (who was awful at the end) and O'Neill (similar) or Mattingly (indeed) all seem to be lining up to pile dirt on the Jeter.

The guy has been a great player for a long time. He was drafted by the Yankees and will hopefully retire with them. He will be the first Yankee to get 3000 hits. He is easily the best player at his position in team history, and arguably one of the ten best at the position ever. He is having his worst season since his rookie year, and he is STILL out-performing the bulk of the players in the league at his position. Can some of us stop ragging on the man and look at his performance at least a little objectively?

So, to get back to your questions, who do I want up in a big situation? Well obviously I want A-Rod, because he is the best hitter on the team. I would want a healthy Matsui, or Johnny (before crunching his shoulder), of 'Stache. Because they are better hitters than Jeter. But just because I want to see A-Rod up instead of Jeter is not an indictment of the latter, nor does not it compel me to bitch and moan about him at every turn (or maybe it only seems like every turn--perception can be cloudy).

Except of course, the game was ever really on the line after the second inning.

We'll see if the last few days were a blip (Jeter spanked two balls last night, and he is hitting with far more authority than he did during his big slump earlier this year), or they are the beginning of a longer-term slide. That would be very troubling, for as William has pointed out, the teams margin is razor thin. If one or a couple starters go in the tank, it could be curtains.

16 thank you mp. in addition to the swing from over-rated to over-bashed; there is too much arod/jeter dichotomy. like it's against some baseball principle to like them both.

I think when A Rod was the whipping boy, DJ was the god-who-must-be-equalled. It felt unfair then. In the same way, if Jeter has slipped a bit, it feels absurd to turn (for example) his once-praised toughness, playing hurt, never talking about ailments, into a negative (he's selfish, hurting the team).

There is a weird momentum to these things, a hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-fan disappointed. Is Jeter supposed to be immune to turning 34-35 with a LOT of baseball on a slender frame? No slippage tolerated without being savagely noted? No slumps allowed, nothing less than All-Star (and EARNED All-Star, dammit!)? Captain Clutch or nothing?

I was never a Bosox fan (!) or an Oriole, but don't remember Yaz and Ripken going through this. If I think about it, I recall some negatives about Rip's streak, that playing every day was hurting him and the team, but it was accepted as normal, even proper, that a guy would slide from his peak in his mid-30s. That's what happens in sport. Even to Derek Jeter.

If I can cast the comment a bit wider, bring in the Melky-bash stuff ... isn't some of this a huge sense of entitlement that Yankee fans sometimes have? The idea that we must have a star at every position, we have a right to it. If we don't, the GM screwed up. That a mediocre or mainly defensive CF batting 9th is an outrage to Yankeedom. Or a slowly aging ss, very good but not what he once was in his glory.

And do people actually believe Robbie Cano or Bobby Abreu decided they didn't CARE about yesterday's game? Honestly?

July and August are HARD in baseball, playing every day in summer heat is really hard, it is one of the compelling aspects of the sport, and one of the things that makes or breaks a manager, keeping fuel in all tanks.

Yesterday, I'll say it again, was Pettitte's. He's entitled to a stinker or two. We do need IPK or PKH to come back up, though. In a hurry. Tonight feels like another avert the eyes...

20 Reagrding your comment about caring, no, I don't think anyone thinks Robbie and Abreu went all Manny, but I do think they played yesterday's game with less than full concentration. When the happens, you get lackluster play and mental mistakes. You can fail to give a full effort without it being the result of intentionally not caring.

When times get tough, however, Pudge tends to dog it, both in his hitting approach and his game-calling. I recall that, in 2005, Tiger radio color-man Jim Price constantly blamed Nate Robertson's poor 2nd-half performance on predictable pitch selection (we'll never get such insight from Suzyn). I was always bothered the reluctance of Price and others to direct the blame toward Pudge. That same season, as the Tigers were crumbling, Pudge threw half his teamates and his manager under the bus. When someone brought up his sub-.300 OBP, he arrogantly proclaimed "I don't like walks."

I do think people are vastly overvaluing Molina's ability to "hold" baserunners. Sure, he has a great % this season, but its still only %40 or so. That means that over half the time the runner is safe, and its not like Pudge is exactly a wet noodle back there.

I would not be shocked at all if the Yanks get swept and look like horse$#t in the process. Its just how it happens, and at least this year the Angels are actually that good...They certainly made easy work of the Sox, in Fenway, where they normally seem to choke...

25 I'm beginning to think you may have a good idea. I've already sworn off Sox games, I may have to boycott LA as well. Just better ways to spend an evening than to have my blood pressure spike around the 4th or 5th inning.

Anyway, I've hated the Angels for that sort of crap for a long time. It was even worse when their poster boys were Darin Scrapstad and Li'l Davey Gritstein. Plus, of course, they routinely destroy the Yankees.

I'm not sure what Pudge's ability to "handle" pitchers had to do with Pettitte's command problems last night. That was strictly a matter of Andy making (or not making) his pitches.

3 "It looked like a slaughter, but there were a lot of what ifs. If our defense had been decent, it's a much closer game." Reminds me of Sammy Baugh's famous line after the his Redskins lost the 1940 NFL championship game to the Bears, 73-0. Early on, a Redskins receiver dropped an easy pass that would have tied the game at 7. After the game Baugh was asked if the game would have been different if the pass had been caught. "Sure," Baugh said, "then the score would have been 73-7."

Yesterday really was a slaughter. If things had gone better it would have been less of a slaughter, that's all.

Anyway.

the more you look at splits, the less you tend to believe in "clutch" ability. eg, I just looked at Abreu. he's GREAT late and close, but lousy in tie games. so presumably his "late and tied" numbers would be somewhere in the middle. does it really seem like these sorts of numbers correlate with some single ability?

sorry for all that--fucking Angels making me cranky....