The Globe seems to think Papi is going to be OK which is great news if they're right. We should keep everything crossed in hopes that's true.

Ortiz: Man, it sucks we can't be there for the team.

Manny: What team?

Wily Mo: The Boston Red Sox, bro. (laughs) You heard of them, right?

Oblivious, Manny inspects his cards.

Wells: Tell ya what else sucks, (takes big bite out of sandwich, and continues) you hear they're trying to trade me?

Ortiz: Aw, man. Well, maybe they won't be able to find a pitcher of equal value, and you'll be stay us down the stretch.

Wells (laughing): The stretch? We're cooked, bro. Believe me, I know cooked when I smell it.

Ortiz: Nah, man, we got a chance. We got players coming back. I hope they don't trade you.

Wily Mo: Remember, they also tried to trade Manny a few times, and didn't work out.

Manny: Who did?

Wily Mo: The bosses, man, they put you on waivers.

Long pause as Manny ponders his cards.

Manny (re: the pot): I'll raise, $50 bucks.

Wells: I'll see your $50, and raise, uh, half a roast beef grinder.

Wily Mo: Grinder?

Wells bites sandwich again.

Ortiz: In New England they call a sandwich a grinder, and a "bomb" is when it's hot, with melted cheese.

Wells: This is da bomb, (takes another bite) Roast beef with fuggin' Fluffernutter.

Ortiz: Yo, I love roast beef but maybe that's not the best thing for my heart.

Manny: What's a heart?

The Red Sox look done. Hopefully, the Yankees can put a couple more games on the lead before Manny and/or Ortiz return.

I still don't consider the Red Sox out of it.

Any team that has Ortiz and Ramirez in the lineup, and pitchers with a pulse can win games.

Without Ortiz and Manny, yes, the Sox are toast. With them, they still have a puncher's chance of making the playoffs.

If the Red Sox have better luck than Carl Pavano, and right now, I'd say they're about equal in the bum luck department, Ortiz will get a clean bill of health soon, and he'll drag Manny out there with him.

Yogi says "It ain't over, 'til it's over."

And I'm not sure if Manny/Ortiz/Pena is going to make much of a difference when the pitching is what's been hurting.

I'm sure Garcia intended to push him off the plate - maybe even go up and in - and I don't have a problem with that. It's the kid's first at-bat, let him know who owns home plate, maybe even see if you can intimidate him. Is he the kind who leans aggressively out over the plate? Tell him now that that might not be a great idea. Maybe you can neutralize him right off the bat, at least partly, at least for this series.

I'm strongly against intentionally trying to hit a batter, even in "retaliation." But pitching inside is part of the game.

I can't see why the Sox would hit him for his minor-league conduct; that just doesn't make sense to me. At the same time, the fact that Young "will be a superstar in MLB" shouldn't buy him any preferential treatment - in fact, I think it's appropriate to pitch to him more aggressively.

And, of course, Young dealt with it in the best possible way, by hitting a homer later in the game.

Well, Wanger has been much worse this year pitching during the day than the night, for whatever reason: 4.48 vs. 3.48, as opposed to last year where in 3 day starts he had an era of 1.86. I'm gonna chalk it up to small sample size on both counts and hope we see Cy Wang!

Amen. Well said, standuptriple.

12 "I like a pitcher who isn't scared to go inside and intimidates hitters. Especially cocky, 1st round primadonnas who need to show more respect for the game."

As long as you aren't talking about Wang or Johnson, I'm okay with that.

You guys just keep saying it ain't over because simply put, it's less fun this way than when we have to fight for it in September. If we give up the AL East at this point, we don't DESERVE to be in the post-season...I don't care what Boston does.

This race is over. I'm just worried about who we're going to be matched up with in the playoffs. I'd rather play the Twins (minus Liriano of course)

Believe me I wish Boston would find itself 82 out with 80 to go. Who needs the kind of ajida we had last year? You're right, Boston has a tough row to hoe but it's not impossible. Until it is impossible I'll stand next to Yogi.

Having said all that I think Mr. Torre ought to continue the sitting rotation he emplyed over the last 20 games. I think he wants them rested, healthy and sharp; that rotation seems a good way to make that happen. Some guys (Giambi) may need more rest than others. I guess they should start getting it.

Yanks
Division: 98.88285
Wild Card: .10568
Overall: 98.98853

Red Sox
Division: .90425
Wild Card: 1.24148
Playoffs: 2.14573

The Sox have less than a 1% chance of winning the division at this point. Given the schedule of each team down the stretch, and the Yanks' 9 game lead in the loss column, I'd say its probably over.

IMHO, the return of Manny and Ortiz -- or even wakefield and Tek -- will not save the Sawx season. Their pitching is in a shambles and if you look at the other guys on that team such as Lowell, CoCo and Loretta, it is obvious that they are absolutely exhausted.

Guys, someone made a good observation a few days ago when he/she stated that the '06 Sox are the '05 Yankee, but without Small and Chacon. Right now, there is no one on their pitching staff that is saving that team.

Even if Schilling continues his fine pitching and suddenly Beckett becoems Clemens, the rest of that staff is a nightmare. Lester is on the DL and it looks like Wells is going to be traded any minute now. Who is their Aaron Small? Who is their Shawn Chacon?

I know the '04 ALCS has made us, as Yankee fans, very nervous about "holding leads," but as long as we have Jeter, Giambi, Posada, Cano, Abreu, Damon, Melky, Bernie and ofcourse Torre in the dugout (notice how I left out Arod), the 2006 Yankees are NOT going to lose this lead in the AL East.

Friends, as they say in New England, it's OVAAAAHH.

Unlike 1998 when the huge lead kept my interest because of the run towards the MLB wins record, the collapse of the Red Sox will leave me with an empty feeling for the rest of this month.

Those 4 games against Boston at The Stadium should mean something...too bad they won't.

20 MFD looking better every day. Thanks!

Home field would be huge for the Yanks, especially for Mr. Wang who is less Wangtastic on the road.

Keep it down today, Chien Ming. Sinker city against these sluggers.

it's a pretty common term up here in the North East. yes, it does mean heartburn.

Tigers:
Granderson, CF
Gomez, RF
Young, DH
Monroe, LF
Guillen, SS
Rodriguez, C
Casey, 1B
Perez, 2B
Inge, 3B

Robertson, P

Yankees:
Damon, CF
Jeter, SS
Abreu, RF
Giambi, DH
Rodriguez, 3B
Posada, C
Cano, 2B
Cabrera, LF
Wilson, 1B

Wang, P

I won't be comfortable until Boston DirtDogs posts pics of the Sox playing golf in early October.

BTW, down here in Alabama when someone asks for directions to Auburn we tell them "Go south till you smell it and east till you step in it"

38 We have the same joke here in Columbia about clemson "Go north till ya smell it and west till ya step in it. Rivalry jokes are the same the world over.

Seriously how much has Prince Epstein's stock fallen in the last year? It's hard to claim a youth movement when these are guys they traded:

Josh Bard (.900 OPS in 85 G)
Cla Meredith (.90 ERA in 23 G)
Anibal Sanchez (5-2 3.41 ERA in 12 G)
Hanley Ramirez (.789 OPS, 41 SB)

That's four potential future All-Stars, and all at different key positions (C, BP, SP, SS)!

for:

Doug Mirabelli
Josh Beckett

Really - that would get some guys fired if they made those deals over three years.

And who thinks Arroyo wouldn't have helped them more than Pena, even as the later may still turn out okay? But first he has to stay healthy. Even then Arroyo was srviceable #4 or #5 with a decent contract. Pena better end up being more than a platoon guy or that trade is a negative too.

I'm a Tiger, if you couldn't tell ;)

Why did that make me laugh?

I'm thinking it might not be a bad thing to play one extra game in Tiger Stadium, er Comerica Park. Unit gives up lots of fly balls, and if Wang isn't dead on, he'll tend to do the same. Comerica's spacious enough that that won't hurt too much.

Why aren't SB included in the calculation of SLG? Is there an equivalent that does?

The reason being is SLG = TB/AB. But for a guy like Reyes or Ramirez or even old school Ricky H - if you look at their .OPS it's much less impressive than if the SB was included in one of the measures. It seems like when you walk, or give up a single to, a guy like them, it's likely to turn into a 'double' or 'triple'. Why not account for it?

It just seems like that would be an easy way to account for their offensive value without any advanced calculations. And it would only make a difference for guys who use the SB as a part of their game. I suppose you could use CS as a negative measure and it would be even more accurate.

Unless I'm missing something really obvious?

Besides, take it in context - think of it as Josh Bard for Mark Loretta, and all of a sudden it's a pretty good deal.

That still doesn't involve baserunning, you're right. That's why the statheads introduced EQA, or equivalent average. You can read about it here: http://tinyurl.com/efk4m

Basically, it combines the best parts about OPS with some baserunning to make for a single number that can be compared between all players, speed-demons and sluggers alike. Its adjusted so that its on a similar scale to AVG: .260 is league average, .300 is very good, and .330 is hall of fame worthy.

Hope that helps.

Description:
http://tinyurl.com/n4bjz

Leaders:
http://tinyurl.com/lj9z8

57 Thanks! Just playing with the numbers it's amazing what SB do to SLG if included.

http://tinyurl.com/e57sl

Exactly. And so early in the season, no less.

And no doubt Beckett was acquired because of his Yankee-killer past. What they gave up there is an even bigger mistake. Again, priceless.

...right into the dirt in front of the plate.

The one exception on the Yankees payroll being Mike Myers, of course.

relentless.

Nice play by Wang, jumping up and reaching across his body to snag a hopper on it's way up and over his right shoulder.

were they ripping him in the booth?
...i'm watching without audio... i'm at work in a library...

Just seemed ludicrous to go through all that hubbub for a backup, though.

By way of comparison, Ivan Rodriguez has caught 48.8% of runners in his career.

C: Sandy Alomar
1B: Eduardo Perez
2B: Adam Kennedy
SS: Alex Cora
3B: Joe Randa
LF: Luis Gonzalez
CF: Dave Roberts
RF: Kevin Millar
DH: Frank Catalanotto
SP: David Wells
RP: Troy Percival

WTF?

Beautiful swing by Cano, ball tailing outside and he just sat down and extended his arms and served it into right center for a double.

Footage of Matsui leaping to shag a fly during BP!!

Guy yelled, "Change-up, Melky, change-up!"

And Melky proceeded to fly out on a 94mph fastball.

You can see the entire upper deck is deserted, so I'm guessing the low attendance enabled us to hear that guy from behind the plate.

Anyway, it ads nice little bit of flavor to the game.

And Bowa at 3rd has been great - there hasn't been once this season where he sent a guy or didn't and I was annoyed. The only times guys seem to get caught is when they run through the sign (Giambi).

i've had to restart it a few times.

glad to hear that it isn't just me.

Imagine when they actually mature.

We have a lot to look forward to, God willing they neither of them get dealt.

actually, abreu (or "donut", was it?) has credited mattingly with improving his game.

matsui swears by him.

sal fasano says that he even learned a thing or two about moustaches from mr. baseball.

...giambi credits donnie for bringing him back from the dead.

(possibly some 'stache tips to jason, too...)

He was just a tad loose mechanically, it looked like.

Or am I just imagining things?

Melky And Cano you're right on. One thing I worry about Donnie though is that he preaches plate discipline - good for the young guys, not so good for the vets who should be crushing the one or two pitches they see that are hittable - not waiting on them.

Just my two cents. Please forgive me!

the guy is struggling mentally. it is not just his hitting. he's been looking pretty pedestrian in the field, too.

donnie isn't responsible for rodriguez. alex has something else going on.

(but he taught craig wilson how to hit dingers to left.)

(heh.)

122 Not crazy, but I don't think accurate either. Jeter likes to make it look easy, Tino, Giambi or Andy likely make that play. Giambi has no range, but he's got soft hands and can scoop 'em.

131 Man, and I'm off today. With foresight I could have gone to this game.

that said, cairo's performance at the plate should never be a yardstick for anything of consequence. he overacheived for one season.

they keep cutting to shots of donnie, too.

Baby steps, but progress.

Here's to another double-headed sweep today!

Is Michael Kay up in the booth today??

Granderson's shot hugs the line but stays fair, Wilson, with Granderson safely in front of him, picks it up and tags him out.

Young hits it into the ground to the first base side, Wang fields and throws him out.

Last Play: D. Young grounded out to pitcher

:D

Seriously, his D seems to have improved with that new glove, maybe he needs to try a new bat ;)

Honestly the praise that A-Rod gave Pinella says a lot to me. I wonder if Donnie works with him or if A-Rod is doing most of his own work.

Have the fans at the Stadium been keeping track of Wang's grounders a la "K" cards?

A worm poster for each one would be sweet.

Cano with a broken bat (sounded like it at least) dribbler past the pitcher, Neifi! can't get it to first in time, infield single.

Melky then hits one to Neifi!, who shovels to Guillen, it hits the webbing of his glove, but he reaches in below the ball and it pops out, everyone safe.

Seriously, I love Ken Singleton.

I now wonder if my co-worker grew a mullet, would he look like Craig Wilson in his Pirates days.

Robertson is not pitching poorly.

...that one is a beauty, however.

LOL!!!!

Pen will be rested for Wright's start in Game 2.

But what I really say is: get some runs and make it all academic.

Abreu bunts. Bad move, but he's looked lost against the lefty Robertson, who has walked just one man, so maybe it's okay.

Mind you, I'm not saying he should, but certainly the voters tend to be swooned by wins (see Bartolo Colon's inexplicable Cy win over Santana last year).

191 I like Javi's idea - bring him in, but on a short leash.

Not sure Wang can or should beat out Halladay or Santana...

http://tinyurl.com/kx986

or just do a google "news" search, and type in - Damon abusing people.

Robertson hits Posada to load 'em up on two outs. Got him on the side just under the elbow.

*at least as far as gamechannel is "showing"

If there were no Game 2, I'd have taken out Wang after 7. But remember kids- Wright in Game 2.

Over 100 pitches and just a two-run lead. Pull the guy.

I don't understand. Where is Mo?

("One-Pitch...")

One pitch, third out. Fwew.

The one reason I think Wang might be different is that he throws an exceptionally hard sinker. If he gets tired, I think it's less effective.

That inning couldn't have worked out better if you scripted it.

Enters the Sandman!

Indeed the clock is ticking....

he just hasn't had it working.

and it is REALLY a shame.

REALLY.

Nice win, and hopefully tonight is a blowout so Mo doesn't have to pitch again.

Man, is this thread full of unintentional phallic references or WHAT?

337 Is excellent, however.

I think I might have to print out some pictures of worms myself. Perhaps I can find a dead worm picture . . .

For the second straight doubleheader, wang pitches a good first game to take all the pressure off of the team for the second one. These type of wins are just as important as the "stopper" wins (game pitched after a loss).

Guys, who here would have ever thought that Chien Ming wang would be the best homegrown pitcher for the Yanks since a certain lefty named Pettitte? wow!

"Maybe there's something different about Wang, or maybe there's something different about the game today. But if he builds a long and productive career on three strikeouts every nine innings, he'll be the first of his kind that most of us have ever seen."

I wish Neyer had included team/pitcher defensive efficiencies in his study (ie, the ratio of balls in play the defense turns into outs). You'd expect a correlation between great defense and an excellent year by a sinkerball pitcher by a sinkerball who doesn't get lots of Ks - so did a change in defense actually help/hurt those guys? That's what I'd like to know.

Notice that the Yanks' team defensive efficiency this year is fantastic (.704, tied for 2nd in AL with White Sox).

I don't remember where, but I once heard somebody on the Yanks quoted as saying Wang knows he could probably strike out more hitters with a different approach, but he likes to induce the grounders because he throws fewer pitches.

Guy throws mid-90's, no reason he can't adjust his game to get more k's. But I wouldn't do it to satisfy the Neyers of the world.

1) Wang doesn't strike out people.
2) Pitches that don't stike out people don't do very well.
3) Wang won't do very well.

He does throw 95 mph. Hitters might just know - either swing and hit it into the ground or take the pitches and strike out.

That's the only thing I can imagine is that he loses his control AND folks stop swinging. But there's no evidence either way.

It will be fun to see - is he unique or do his rates change?

Look at what happened to Derek Lowe when the defense behind him went south:

2002: 2.58 ERA, Team Def Eff .713, tied for 3rd in AL
2003: 4.47 ERA, Team Def Eff .694, tied for 10th in AL

And Lowe struck out over 5 per 9 both years! Imagine if he struck out fewer guys.

Don't mess with success and all that, but I'd love to see Wang get his K rate up to 6 per 9 while still getting tons of groundouts. He'd be truly unstoppable.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/

He says the Sox have been talking to the Dodgers about Boomer, but that the Cards might have strong interest as well.

And the Sawx only decent pitcher in Shelling is losing 3-1. His ERA now up over 4.00. Is he still a Cy Young candidate ESPN?

Of course, then Matsui wouldn't have a place to DH when he returns!

I've always liked Barry Zito, don't know why. I think it's the curve.

1. Santana, 138.1*
2. Halladay, 137.5*
3. Wang, 134.6*

(*I'm presuming the Yanks win the East, giving Wang a 12 point boost, while the Twins don't win the Central - probably a safe assumption. If the Twins were to win the Central, Santana's score would go up 12 points.)

Depending on what happens down the stretch, Cy Mieng Wang might happen after all.

But at the same time, I wouldn't be shocked if it turns out that he can't keep this up. I think he has very little leeway - he's got to continue to be this good, or the wheels might come off in a hurry. Balls in play become hits, so if Wang loses just a little, or batters learn to read his pitches, or whatever, they become lots of hits.

As I said, I hope I'm wrong. If Wang is an exception, I'll be thrilled.

I like Wang, but I think that Neyer is right. It is my preference that the Yankees trade Wang for prospects while his value and sign Zito the only halfway decent AL pitcher on the market this off season.

We are also pretending that all contact is the same, all balls in play are the same, and they aren't.

I do think Wang has been lucky this year on BABIP but I also think he is an outlier because of the quality of his sinker.

I'm not suggesting trading Wang (and I'm not all that keen on signing Zito). I'd be surprised if Wang is a #1 or #2 pitcher for a lot of years; but even a moderate career as a middle-of-the-rotation guy is pretty damn valuable.

I also don't think Wang is particularly lucky with his BABIP this year - its .291 vs AL average of .305. If anything, last year he was somewhat lucky (.270 vs AL average of .296).

All that said, I don't think its worth trading Wang now, because he could up his K-rate, because he's the Yanks' youngest established starter, and because he's so darn cheap for the next couple years.

391 The Big Hurt is one of the few current players who I really, really, really want to see get inducted into the HoF in person. Mo is another.

I also wonder how Kevin Brown would have done with this year's defense behind him. Not that I'd ever want to find out in reality, but last year his BABIP was .391, which is ridiculously high.

Latest report is that Wells won't consider the Cardinals, and that it's the Pads and Dodgers who are most in contention (per Wells' preference).

I'm pretty sure .290 is the typical league average.

But there's nothing to say Wang can't change his approach. That 95 mph fastball up high mixed in with a sinker down, could certainly finish off guys. He might just be afraid to work high in the zome because of the way it messes with the mechanics for the sinker.

Otherwise 395, you're right. The Yanks have spent alot of time looking for a #1. Even if Wang is a #3 or #4, that's still very valuable. In two years, they could have 1-4 all under 30 (Hughes, Clippard, Wang, Karstens/Rasner) - now that would be something to behold. Something tells me I'm in a fantasy - maybe it was the Alyssa Milano pic up at PeteAbe's blog.

And, as others have said, the sinker was something he developed in the minors, which means he can pick up other pitches too should he want. He throws 95, so its not exactly like he has nothing to fall back on. If he could develop, say, a cutter, and have a high 4 seamer, the sinker, and a cutter, well then he would really keep them off guard, and still throw sinkers 85% of the time...

I say lock him up now to a 6 year deal for, say, 1-3 mill a year.