//The sequence looked as if it was happening in slow-motion. //

Ain't that the truth. I thought the same thing.

Does everyone still want to trade Proctor? We can leave the bullpen in the capable hands of Kyle "I can't pitch two days in a row" Farnsworth, T.J. "what am I doing here" Beam, Kris "just gimme another chance" Wilson or Octavio "just a little longer" Dotel.

And before someone moans about Proctor blowing it last night, note that he leads the AL in appearances and was pitching well before being used three days in a row (including two innings Wednesday). Clearly he's been selected by Joe Torre as the heir apparent to Quantrill and Sturtze.

Best of all, no ARod-centric vitriol to be found anywhere. ESPN must be devastated.

The Chacon play was great...he seemed shocked when he caught that liner. Could it be the beginning of a long journey to redemption for our man Shawn?

As Alex noted above, Torre MUST get a pass on using Proctor last night - Torre was trying to stay away from him as much as possible. He had no other choice.

I dont remember correctly, when did Wang pitch last.. 4 days??

couls he have been used like in Washignton.. with today being off..

ofcourse that becomes moot if friday is his turn..

we can still rearrange with #5 on friday and wanger later..

i know it involves lots of shuffling.. but he is young.. may be he could have itched yesterday.. for an inning..

just a thought.. and totally hindsight..

i though Joe would leave Beam in to clean the mess.. afterall when are we going to find out.. In september?? we havt to give hima chance in july..

just thinking out loud..

Excuse me if this was covered in the comments last night, but if you know Farnsworth can't start the inning, and Villone just retired the side in the 7th, why don't you ask him to pitch the 8th?

Wang goes Friday so no dice there, plus, as a starter, not sure he could get ready so quickly after Farnsy came up gimpy. Of course, Joe could have had Farsny pretend like he first felt the injury during his warm-up pitches, thereby giving Wang as much time as possible to warm up.

Dan M,

I raised that last night, though it was not discussed. I agree about Villone. Today's an off day and, b/c Wang goes Fri., we're unlikely to need Villone then.

7Coco Loco, That brings back great memories of a gift I was brought from Peru. It was a nice little bong that was shaped like a coconut. Definitely made me loco....the only thing that would make your name even more enjoyable is if it was inspired because of the same reason. If not, it's still a cool name....

5 If Beam had given up a single then a double, Torre wouldn't have been as ticked off. The lead off walk after your team has just taken the lead is a killer. Somehow that runner finds a way to score. I know it isn't, but a homer seems better in that situation.

10 yes leadoff walks and their results

"Does everyone still want to trade Proctor?"

I would hardly think that last night's performance was a reason not to trade Proctor. Proctor has always thrown hard, but he has always thrown straight; a lifetime of being an extreme fly ball pitcher who gives up a lot of HR does not change because of one month. He is an extremely hittable pitcher. Let's look at his monthly breakdowns:

April: 1.69 ERA, 1 HR in 16 IP
May: 5.50 ERA, 3 HR in 18 IP
June: 5.06 ERA, 3 HR in 16 IP
July: 3.86 ERA, 2 HR in 14 IP

His performance reminds me of Tanyon Sturtze, circa 2005. Does anyone think that they shouldn't have traded Sturtze when his value was at its height? Tanyon Sturtze is Tanyon Sturtze and Scott Proctor is Scott Proctor; a leopard can't change his spots, especially in his late 20s. Proctor is a mediocre middle reliever at best.

For the right handed reliever spot, the Yankees, given their home park, would be much better off with a ground ball throwing right-hander like Beam or Bean.

Of course, after last night's game, I'm sure that Torre will consign Beam to bull pen purgatory. God, I hate the way he manages the bull pen.

6 Or at least start the 8th, and then go to Beam if Villone got in trouble. And why not use Myers at least against Blalock?

Those three hits last night brought Andy Phillips up to .173/.212/.296 for the month of July.

Lights flickered and dimmed across the New York metropolitan area late yesterday afternoon. Staten Island, home to 1.7 million Sal Fasano lookalikes (2000 census figure), was plunged into darkness. Air conditioners whirled to a halt. Refrigerator doors were streaked with condensation. Puzzled but undeterred, John Sterling repeatedly clicked the switch on his "lucky" blow dryer.
Was it another Con Ed f'up?
No, the "light trim" administered to Fasano's face and neck drained the region's power supply.
Thick, mountainous piles of hair clippings were transported by a convoy of dump trucks to the pier outside Yankee Stadium, and loaded onto three cargo ships.
The hair is now bound for the Sal Fasano Tsunami Barrier currently under construction in the Indian Ocean.

Coincidentally, Scott Proctor's right arm, which became unexpectedly detached from his torso last night, splashed down in the Indian Ocean this morning. Divers retrieved the overused limb and surgeon's expect the Yankee reliever will be "good to go" for his side-session this afternoon.

12 writes "His performance reminds me of Tanyon Sturtze, circa 2005. Does anyone think that they shouldn't have traded Sturtze when his value was at its height? Tanyon Sturtze is Tanyon Sturtze and Scott Proctor is Scott Proctor; a leopard can't change his spots, especially in his late 20s. Proctor is a mediocre middle reliever at best."

The difference is that Proctor has a lot more raw talent. In both cases they struggled after being overused by Torre. Proctor is valuable with his 98 mph fastball and good change. He has the tools, but he cannot see this many games. We will regret trading him if we do.

15 Brilliant.

17 Thank you, Mr. Burgundy. That's high praise coming from an anchorman of your stature. And thank you for not questioning why Fasano and Sterling would be in the Bronx while the team was in Texas!

13 Seamus (how do you do that internal link thing?)

I understand what you're saying about the speed, but where is the evidence that Proctor has talent? This is his third season with the Yankees and, outside of April 2006, he hasn't shown that he has any particular talent. His minor league numbers are okay, but, even there, the Dodgers gave up on him.

During spring training, when the Yankees supposedly had a "glut" of pitching, everyone thought that Proctor was going to be DFA'd and no tears were shed here or anywhere else.

Think of it this way, would anyone think that the Yankees' season was lost if Proctor went down now with a season-ending injury (not an unlikely scenario by the way)? I certainly would not; the Yankees and Torre would have to make due.

15 Sliced, you ought to put a warning on your comments - people keep staring at me here at work after I've read your hilarious posts and can't keep myself from laughing out loud!

15 John Sterling's lucky blow drier. Man, that is just too freakin funny.

"Puzzled but undeterred".

Man, I'm laughing out loud here.

19 jon, your reasoning is sound except for one thing: you're assuming there's a market for Proctor's services (the Philly deal is just spin from either Gillick or Cashman). He is exactly what you described him as and really has no value except to the Yankees as Torre's go-to guy of the moment...exactly like Sturtze was. Why worry about something that ain't gonna happen?

Thanks, Shaun P, and bp1.

22 JohnnyC,
I agree with you about the Philly deal. I assume though that there is/was some truth to the Betemit rumors and Betemit does have value. If Proctor really does have no trade value, then the Yankees should just keep him, of course.

15 Re: "Sal Fasano Tsunami Barrier", you might be on to something there, Sliced. That was some funny stuff. I can just hear Sterling saying, "The power's out!! Thhheeeeeeeee power's out!!!"

24

jonm, Put the number in brackets: [#]

26

Thanks, RichYF!

I was happy with Fassano last night. He looks like he has a clue at the plate. More importantly he frames well and gives a nice target. As a former backstop (10 yrs and the knees to prove it) I notice these types of things. Great command and confidence, something I saw little of with Stinnett. I see him handling any member of the staff well.
I was thinking about the Chacon play in slo-mo as well. He's a former closer, can get the occasionaly K and could give some solid relief innings (on the nights when Wright mails in his 5).
I saw something a little different last night. Call it a killer instinct. Maybe it's the Rangers that brings it out of the Yanks. In the past few weeks, while they've taken many a series they seemed to be content with the house money and giving up the 3rd game. Not so last night. I hope its a sign of a hot run. Let's run through a battered Rays team and move into 1st in the East.

28 A former catcher with bad knees going by the screen name "standuptriple"... and they say my "Bama Yankee" name is a contradiction ;)

28 Perhaps they have also noticed with the Central division and the Red Sox not giving up that being content after taking 2 out of 3 is not good enough.

15 quality post Sliced Bread. Made me spit out my coffee.

So, is NoWorth's back really a chronic problem or is it just his way of saying no to pitching in too many consecutive days in a week? Maybe Protor should learn a thing or two from him.

The mystery story now goes,
"Matt Smith, What did you do?"

Why does T. J. Beam pitch so well in the minors but so badly in the majors? Is it nerves? What can be done to overcome this problem?

33 Let him pitch regularly so he gains confidence, seems the most likely solution.

Jonm trading Proctor is a bad idea especially if Colter Bean is in your plan to replace him.

Isn't Oil Can Boyd still available? He's a proven veteran who can really pitch under pressure. Also, there's no worry about using him so much his arm falls off as it already has.

29 Just because they hurt doesn't mean I'm slow.

37 Good point... But you have to admit a "speedy" catcher is almost as rare as a "Bama Yankee" (especially since it looks like Andy Phillips' days in pinstripes are numbered).

Agreed about Fasano - last night he appeared to slip into the backup catcher's role like an old shoe.

Coincidentally enough, Fasano's face also resembles an old shoe.

33 I wouldn't judge Beam too harshly after only a handfull of innings in the bigs (small sample size!). Take a look at what Hall of Famers like Greg Maddux did in their first few appearances.

39 The only place I was worried about Fasano was with Beam pitching. I trust that Villone and Rivera have been up long enough to know a lot about their own pitch selection, the hitters they are facing and location. Beam though seemed a bit nervous and his pitch selection was somewhat erratic. I think as Fasano gets to know him a bit better that will improve (can't blame him for not being familiar with a team he just joined).

41 Oh yeah, and it was A-Rod's jumping around at third that made Beam walk Mathews.

33 It might be inexperience, it might be small sample size.

There are also guys who are just AAAA pitchers. Does anyone else remember Jeff Johnson?

33 I saw him pitch a few times when he was just converted from starting. He has trouble commanding his breaking pitches. I believe he has done well against minor leaguers with just his fastball, but I think when called up hitters have the ability to not chase and sit on the fastball. Beam is better than he has pitched, but he isn't going to be a closer type reliever. J.B. Cox is probably better right now. He doesn't strike out as many, but gets a ton of ground balls. I would love to see him pitch.

44 Yeah, Beam's blistering but laser-straight fastball blows away minor leaguers, but in the big show, it's a home run waiting to happen, as someone here so eloquently phrased it.

I think Scott Proctor still has an option left, so he could be sent to Columbus. I don't think DFA'ing him was ever on the table.

According to Proctor, the Dodgers were a seriously dysfunctional organization when he was there. They went through three different managers between the time he was drafted and the time he was traded. The people that drafted him were soon gone, and their replacements just didn't have much interest in the success of players chosen by the previous regime.

Maybe it's just an excuse, but he thinks both he and Bubba would have been called up a lot sooner were the politics less toxic in LA.

Anyway, I'd be willing to trade Proctor in the right deal, but also would be perfectly happy to keep him. I think if he's used correctly (say, every other day instead of every day), he could be the pitcher we saw earlier this year.

"I don't know what I did, personally, to deserve that," Stinnett said from his home in Arizona.

Guess he hasn't been reading bronx banter cause he woulda heard allllllllll about what he was doing to deserve being traded.

46 it's not what he did.. it's what he didn't do..... like... hit maybe?

Anyway, doesn't anyone see the obvious irony in A-rod saying feelings of bank robbery ? ;) ... espically in Texas??