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Super Colon Blow
2006-04-09 20:05
by Cliff Corcoran

It's official, the Yankees own Bartolo Colon. In four starts last year between the regular and postseason, the Dominican Dirigible posted the following line against the Bronx Bombers:

19.2 IP, 23 H, 19 R, 14 ER, 7 HR, 7 BB, 13 K

Yesterday they beat Bartolo's base drum even harder, scoring eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits and two walks in just over two innings. Alex Rodriguez, who hit four home runs in his first four at-bats against Colon last year, went deep in his first trip against him this year leading off the second. A single and an error later, Jorge Posada made it 4-0 with another dinger. Three batters into the next inning, a Posada double made it 6-0 and chased Colon before he could get the first out of the third. It then took Esteban Yan two pitches to surrender both of Colon's bequeathed runners via a Cano double. The Yanks put up two more on Yan over the next three innings, including Posada's second homer of the day.

Meanwhile, Mike Mussina picked up right where he left off in his first start (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 68 percent of 92 pitches for strikes), Kyle Farnsworth (2 K) and Scott Proctor (1 K) turned in a pair of perfect innings, and Mariano Rivera, yes Mariano Rivera, pitched around a Casey Kotchman single to close it out.

One and a half times through the rotation, the Yankees have a 3.04 team ERA and the offense is heading home to feast upon three Kansas City Royals starters who had ERA's north of 5.00 last year. Everything's going to be okay.

Comments
2006-04-09 22:02:37
1.   Levy2020
Is there some sort of connection between Barry Zito and Bartolo Colon? The Yankees own both and they're both aces. . . Does Colon also rely on a curveball?
2006-04-09 22:14:40
2.   tom yf
The only connection is that they're both mediocre and overrated because of glory years past. Notice how the Yanks bitched out against actual good pitchers. Still, I agree with Cliff: it's going to be okay.
2006-04-09 22:19:04
3.   Marcus
Cliff, you're going to have a very hard time beating that headline this season. Hilarious!

"It would take ten THOUSAND bowls..."

2006-04-09 23:48:42
4.   Mattpat11
Is it wrong to demand a sweep of the Royals?
2006-04-10 01:03:31
5.   nycfan
I'm more worried about how well Boston is playing. They've got Schilling pitching great, Beckett was great in his first start, and Papelbon is looking pretty solid as closer. Meanwhile, their offense is looking exactly as they had hoped. Not a lot of power, but solid contact hitting and a ton of walks.
2006-04-10 05:44:54
6.   Sliced Bread
Great to see Posada awakening, even if we have to endure Sterling's "Jorgie juiced one!"

Now, Giambi has to get going, even if we have to endure Sterling's "The Gee-om-bee-no!"

Cairo over Phillips? Weird deal.

2006-04-10 05:48:16
7.   Knuckles
Things to be glad about...

-Our starters have indeed looked very good against a couple of playoff caliber teams, even if they're not dominant offenses.
-The hitting has been mostly there. Cano has been ripping the ball. Damon with good at-bats, etc.
-3 straight against KC, in a raucous Yankee Stadium.
-Cairo showed early that he's not up to the task, so hopefully Phillips gets in there soon. (Is Pena still out there?)

I'm not worried too much about the Sox just yet. It's early. We started on the west coast against 2 good teams, they started in bandbox parks against 2 awful teams. We all expect Bekcett to be a good pitcher, when he's healthy- if he keeps up what he did in one start for 200 innings, then they're a team to be reckoned with.

2006-04-10 06:33:33
8.   unpopster
5 "...Meanwhile, their offense is looking exactly as they had hoped. Not a lot of power, but solid contact hitting and a ton of walks..."

nycfan, I'm not worried about the Red Sox a bit. Talk to me in July if their pitching is still holding up (see Knuckle's reply 7).

As for their offense being "exactly as they hoped," I actually see much of their offense looking exactly as they hoped it wouldn't. Lowell is batting a whopping .180 with a .673 OPS, Alex Gozalez is hitting .211 with a .286 OBP, Willy Mo has struck out twice in three overall at-bats, and thier most productive hitter so far is their platoon, injury proned RF Trot Nixon.

If Lowell and Alex Gonzalez have the seasons that scouts predict, and Youkilis/Snow provide the type of average offensive production that everyone expects, the Sox will live and die based on their arms. Scilling and Beckett may look good in early April, but those fragile bodies won't be holding up come July-August-September.

2006-04-10 06:34:01
9.   ric
"they started in bandbox parks against 2 awful teams"

anytime that the pitching can limit a team to 1-2 runs for the game in a bandbox park, you should be worried. Texas has got a very good offensive team and Baltimore has some pretty good hitters too. i don't think it's fair to shrug off good wins as only due to playing an awful team...

2006-04-10 06:34:53
10.   The Mick 536
Forgeddaboud the kudos for the staff. Think about the poor fielding.

The Janks seem to always have a tough time on the far coast.

Still many concerns.

2006-04-10 06:37:12
11.   unpopster
One more thing about that Red Sox offense:

http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_099223722.html

CoCo Crisp has fractured his index finger and may be out 6-8 weeks.

2006-04-10 06:42:34
12.   joejoejoe
Did anyone ever dream in the offseason that Torre would be starting Miguel Cairo at 1B by choice?

Most opponents will now have superior total production from 1B/3B vs. the Yankees lineup of Cairo/A-Rod. As cheap as average 1Bs are on the market (Hee Sop Choi, John Olerud) why didn't the Yankees get one? Did Andy Phillips kick Torre's dog or something? You can even Posada out their if you are going to carry 3 catchers. Posada has 16 career games at 1B, Cairo has 17 games at 1B. I'd rather activate Mattingly than see Cairo out their again.

2006-04-10 06:56:13
13.   rsmith51
I am not sure what Torre is thinking. Unfortunately winning 10-1 does not discourage this idiotic behavior. At least Cairo went 0-4. Hopefully Cashman explains to Torre the roles that he envisions Cairo and Phillips to have.
2006-04-10 07:10:36
14.   Ben
Cairo was 2 for 12 against Colon going into last night. So much for that idea. Phillips must be a complete A**hole or inspire negative confidence in Torre. Just seems peculiar. I guess when you're trying to avoid a fifth loss, you do silly things. I know there's a logic here, just can't follow it. I'm not in the camp that thinks Torre is an idiot, but you have to wonder if he and Cashman are on the same page regarding Phillips.
2006-04-10 07:21:27
15.   jkay
http://yankeefan.blogspot.com/

Torre sat Phillips so that Cairo could start due to his "enthusiasm" and "cheerleader" ability. I guess you can't do that on the bench.

2006-04-10 07:29:05
16.   Cliff Corcoran
I fear that despite the 0-fer, Cairo's successfull sac bunt (in the middle of a ten-run outburst, no less) somehow convinced Torre that the move worked.
2006-04-10 07:31:14
17.   Sushirabbit
It's a floor wax! No, it's a dessert topping! Floor Wax!

funny stuff, I watched part of that game. And the Headline fits perfectly.

2006-04-10 07:41:09
18.   Sliced Bread
There seems to be a transparent shield around Phillips, visible only to Torre, marked "In Case Of Fire Break Glass."

Joe apparently regards Phillips the same way we look at a fire extinguisher: we're comforted to have it around, but hoping to never use it.

Clearly, the Yankee bench brigade has holes in its buckets. Phillips will get opportunitites to prove himself.

2006-04-10 08:32:41
19.   Ali Nagib
"It would take ten THOUSAND bowls..."

I miss Phil Hartmann.

2006-04-10 09:10:05
20.   BobbyBaseBall
6 Sliced-
I shudder at the thought of hearing Sterling say "Gee-om-bee-no" for the first time.

Speaking of Sterling, is anyone else annoyed by the fact that he continually refers to Cano as "Robbie"? I guess thats just Johnny being Johnny.

2006-04-10 09:24:05
21.   Sliced Bread
Bobby 20, I think Torre got the Robbie thing rolling (he's the first I heard it from). Johnny and Suzie are running with it to the point that millions of listeners will eventually take a hammer to their radios.
2006-04-10 10:06:19
22.   brockdc
I remember when...SNL was funny.

I went to the game yesterday and can't deny it was a glorious affair.

Still, this team is clearly not Torre-proof, as evidenced by Cairo's start at first over Phillips. My hopes had been spiked when I initially saw that Giambi was DH'ing, only to be dashed when I saw Cairo positioned at FIRST! Simply criminal.

And bunting in the middle of a breakout inning - when it's clear the pitcher doesn't have his best stuff - is pure idiocy. So, yeah, I supposed I'm part of the "Torre is an idiot" camp.

2006-04-10 10:22:09
23.   rilkefan
19 - with you on Phil Hartmann. The bowls thing however goes over my head, and that phrase doesn't appear in google.
2006-04-10 10:24:10
24.   Start Spreading the News
Of course, given how terrible a hitter Cairo is, is a bunt really that bad? A strikeout doesn't advance the runner. A groundout leads to a double play. Cairo's career G/F ratio is 1.31.

Given the chance of of Cairo getting on base is .318, the bunt was the most productive thing that Cairo did all day at the plate. He flied out 3 times and grounded out once.

A greater indictment of Torre is that Cairo started over Andy Phillips, rather than the bunt play.

2006-04-10 10:31:21
25.   Marcus
My bad, it was 30,000 bowls:

http://tinyurl.com/ysthj

Classic.

2006-04-10 10:54:56
26.   brockdc
24Good point, and, from a tactician's standpoint, you're probably right. And yet I have a major issue with giving away an out in the middle of a big inning, one in which the pitcher's obviously lost his stuff.
2006-04-10 11:35:39
27.   Peter
12 It's funny you mention Hee Sop Choi. I've checked in on Dodger Thoughts from time to time and it seemed like they shared a similar frustration with Choi's inability to get in the game. Reading this thread made me think Andy Phillips has become our Hee Sop Choi.
2006-04-10 14:26:37
28.   Shaun P
Cashman's comments in the press this offseason made it seem pretty clear that he wanted Phillips to have a big role on the Yanks this year. I wonder why he hasn't made that abundantly clear to Torre yet.

Perhaps dropping Cairo from the 25-man roster outright would be a little heavy-handed (though I wouldn't mind; he could easily be replaced by Escalona).

But it is only 6 games in, so why not just make a little phone call? Would that be so bad? As someone pointed out above, Cash and Joe are 'buddies', right?

2006-04-10 18:38:37
29.   brockdc
Completely off topic, but, I'm watching the Braves-Phillies right now on ESPN, and, when Andrew Jones becomes a free agent - assuming the Braves don't re-sign him - the Yanks should just hand him a blank check.
2006-04-11 02:52:48
30.   debris
Unpopster,

Yes, Lowell looks lost at the plate and yes, Gonzalez is there for his glove.

However, Crisp looks like a speedier Damon in his prime and is playing an acrobatic center field that Damon never could. Loretta is exactly as advertised, a bat control expert who sees a zillion pitches and uses the whole field. Youkilis has had a week that suggests he is just what we hoped he'd be. Trot injury prone? No more so than Pavano, Wang, Mussina, and Wright. Manny and Papi pretty much took the first week off and the team did well.

Schilling is Schilling. Beckett thrives on atmosphere. (See October 2003. We saw that pitcher last week) Papelbon is the Goods. And Foulke, who didn't pitch much in Florida, seemed to have his command on Sunday. He's now pitched three innings, three hits, no walks, one run.

Last year the Sox were 3-22 in games in which they scored two runs or fewer. This year they start 2-0.

2006-04-11 07:26:58
31.   atc
Does Debris actually beleive the stuff he writes or is he just trying to get a rise?
2006-04-11 08:57:10
32.   randym77
Best. Headline. Ever.

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