Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
There were snow flurries in Manhattan as I left work this evening. It's April 5, the baseball season is well under way, the sun is shining, and here comes a cool cluster of snow crystals, curling down on the brisk breeze to perch on my proboscis.
Much as "sun flurries" (if such a thing truly exists and I wasn't just dreaming) strike me as a siren-like omen of an impending natural apocalypse, it's appropriate weather for tonight's ballgame. A half a score and one more years ago, Andy Pettitte took the hill for the Yankees home opener amid a flock of snow flurries and beat the Kansas City Royals, setting the Yankees on their way to their first World Championship in 18 years and launching the most recent Yankee dynasty. Tonight, thanks to the rain-out yesterday (and I think we can all thank Gore and the Easter Bunny that it was rain and not snow that poured fourth from the heavens), Andy Pettitte will make the first start of his second stint as a Yankee tonight amid the flakes (that is, unless Johnny Damon's calf strain keeps him out of the lineup).
But seriously, folks, it's about freaking time. It seems like it's been a week since the Yankees beat the D-Rays on Opening Day. I've had an empty seat at my table for Elijah Dukes for far too long.
Jae Seo starts for the Devil Rays, wondering where went his Weong. It remains to be seen what the Rays will reap from Seo, who seemed to hold so much promise when he signed with the Dodgers last year only to end the season as Mark Hendrickson's replacement in Tampa. Those of you parsing that last clause for a pun can scratch those plans as there ain't one.
As for Andy, in case you forgot, he's sixth on the Yankees' all-time list in games started, fifth all-time in strikeouts, and ninth all-time in wins as a Yankee. If he wins 15 games this year he'll tie his former pitching coach, Mel Sottlemyre, for sixth on the all-time Yankee win list. None of those rankings will have any real effect on how he'll perform tonight (other than the fact that they betray the mileage on his arm), but they'll have a great deal of effect on how he's received, and I don't mean by Jorge Posada.
Oops. Tie game.
Where is everyone?
With all that headgear on, they look like the Tampa Bay Ninja Turtles.
Hip Hip Jorge!
Hip Hip Jorge!
Also, while I am glad Posada is raking, it does it look like he spent the entire Spring working on his offense at the expense of blocking balls.
It clearly isn't the best approach for most clubs to take, but this is proof positive what can happen when you constantly put pressure on the defense.
Anyone hear when Extra Innings will be available on cable now that a deal has been reached? Notwithstanding MLB's statement that it will be made available "immediately," Time Warner responds to me as if I walked up slowly behind them and tapped them on the shoulder. "What, deal, when, you sure, no, my supervisor said....?"
What kind of lag is that?
I'd like to see Jetes start hitting some linedrives. I can't be impressed with bouncyball hits.
Thanks! I have Time Warner in Southern California and they have no clue when it will be up and running! The weather is great, but when it comes to sports out here they have no sense. The Dodgers don't even air their local games in HD.
TIE GAME! YES!
Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame ...
New York Yankees
Losing a 3-0 lead in the 2004 ALCS. CC
Honest analysis. Yet done with sensitivity.
Did anyone else raise their eyebrow when Girardi mentioned Jeter's weakness up the middle. Honesty like that might Girardi in some hot water.
Down yet again...well, at least Giambi gets another AB...oh wait! :)
Nice rip Robbie.
If Jeter makes an out here, does he get booed like A-Rod does?
84 Guess we'll never know.
Also, Kyle Farnsworth looks nothing like the guy who body slammed Austin Kearns a few years ago, with those glasses on. He looks like Maddux, but throws 100 mph. Kenny Singleton's right, that's gotta be weird for a hitter.
Can't win em all.
Same problem here! I had hocley games as well. Ranting and raving finaly got me an answer. Time Warner and Comcast are going to offer (at least in So Cal) the package tomorrow. It will share he NHL Channels with them and a couple NBA channels and maybe even a couple directly below NHL. Once ordered, one of the channels will list the days' games and corresponding channels.
Pain in my ass, but all things considered, I will be glad to have it, and despite the NFL's claim of superiority, no one made a peep when they (Direct TV) got the NFL exclusive rights. I have renewed faith in America now that Congress and the public have been able to place America's Pasttime back where it belongs, at the top, and available to all!
Ok, news is on, back to reality, can I get my passport to say Canada instead of United States? Pretty please Condoleeza?
In what baseball universe is it ok for a major league hitter not to be able to execute a sacrifice bunt, let alone a hitter such as Melky, who otherwise is very fundamentally sound at the plate and isn't exactly up there to hit it over the fence.
I'll be harping on this for the rest of the season, I'm sure, and beyond that, but really, it's getting to where I'm embarrassed for these people.
What the hell do they spend all their time doing, anyway?
And where the hell is management?
Can't Joe, at the beginning of spring training, say, look, you're all going to learn to lay down a bunt before spring training is through and I'll start fining you for egregious failures of execution.
This is the kind of thing that'll determine the World Series, afterall.
shrunklink.com?uyn
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.