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This is the archive for August 2007

The Youkpocalypse is upon us

So, the Yankees swept the Red Sox this week, capping their clobbering of Boston with a 2-hit, 5-0 rout in New York last night. Even as the Yanks/Sox rivalry goes, last night was a wild one, but what stood out most to me were the continuing adventures of Joba Chamberlain, guest starring Kevin Youkilis.

And then in the ninth, Yankees rookie sensation Joba Chamberlain was tossed following a pair of pitches over Kevin Youkilis' head.

It's not even Labor Day, and already there was late-season passion between these old foes.

"If that young man is trying to get our attention, he did a very good job," Francona said.


If you need to be buzzed by a pitch in order to pay attention to the best reliever on the Yankees roster right now, a guy who throws triple digit heat, then you’re an idiot who isn’t fit to manage one of Mark Cuban’s Dairy Queens. Nobody really knows why Chamberlain threw two wild pitches over Youk’s head, but if he was sending him a message by throwing three feet over his head, I’m sure the message was received. Maybe Joba just doesn’t like guys who look like David Wells after a meth bender.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Yankees manager Joe Torre said about the ejection. "Unfortunately, in a lot of situations, the umpires do not apply common sense. And I've seen it too many times. And something has to change. Either they have to school them or do something that certainly gives them a feel for the game better than they showed today."

Translation: If you think I’d send the only reliable bullpen arm I have to fill in space between the starter leaving and Rivera coming out, you’re fucking insane. Why in the hell would I risk my best reliever getting suspended when I’ve got pieces of garbage like Ron Villone and Kyle Farnsworth sitting around eating peanuts and playing cards in the bullpen?

I don’t know of Joba did it deliberately. I don’t know why Joba did it if it was on purpose. But I do know Joe Torre didn’t tell Joba Chamberlain to go out there and throw at Youkilis’ big fat head, because Joe Torre doesn’t have a LaRussa-level drinking problem and realizes that he needs all the live arms he can get.

The Mike Wilbon Special: BEATDOWN OF THE CENTURY

We are gathered here today to bury the Baltimore Orioles after today's game.

Texas Rangers- 30
Baltimore Orioles- 3

RIP

Farewell to "Scooter"

The legendary Yankees shortstop and broadcaster, Phil Rizzuto, passed away today at the age of 89.

If you were too young to have seen him play, you still knew him from his days calling the Yankees games. You also might know him from his ads for The Money Store in the 1980's or even as the voice calling the baseball game on Meat Loaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light".

For me, and I'm sure many other Yankees fans, it's like losing a beloved grandfather or uncle. He had many partners in the booth, but I always think of him with Bobby Murcer, Jim "Kitty" Kaat, and Ken Singleton. Listening to Phil was just as entertaining as watching the game. He didn't so much announce as just talk to us, tell rambling stories of his playing days, announce birthdays and anniversaries of Yankees fans, and of course there was his signature phrase, "Holy Cow!", used not only to describe everything a great play on the field or a ball over the fence, but as a general expression of amazement and wonder at whatever it was he was talking about. He was known to mangle a player's name or a phrase here or there, but that was part of his charm. Listening to Phil call the game was like like watching the game with your grandfather. There was an intimacy there that few broadcasters have these days, except for another legend in broadcasting, the Dodgers' Vin Scully. He wasn't just a broadcaster, he was a true fan of the Yankees, and that came through loud and clear every time he called a game. He was one of us and we all loved him for it.

God bless, Scooter.

Whoopty-woo



Da Meat Tree just gained a ton of respect in my eyes for what he says in this video. He just sums up the whole home run travesty perfectly. Plus that's a badass afro.

/does steroids

(H/T: The Dugout)

***756***

And so it's done.

Fuck.

What I want to know is, where was a good kneecapper when we needed one? And how come it had to be Alfonso Soriano's quad that ripped like cheap fabric on Sunday?

*sigh*

Let's just hope that someone either retires or has his legs fall off sometime soon, so A-Rod doesn't have so far to go to break the new record.

Someone is getting hurt for this

So A-Rod got his 500th HR today, and do I get to see it?

Thanks to the powers that be at Fox, MLB, and DirecTV, the answer is a resounding, "FUCK, NO!"

You see, apparently there's a lovely little deal between Fox, DirecTV and MLB that states that when Fox is airing a game on Saturdays, DirecTV has to block any out-of-market game that might come into conflict with the Fox broadcast. This means that, even though the Fox game doesn't air until 4:00 pm, any games airing at 1:00 pm must be blocked.

Today, that includes the 1:00 Yankees/Royals game--the one where A-Rod hits his 500th HR.

Those of us shelling out the bucks for DirecTV's Extra Innings package are especially affected by this little deal, which is odd because we are the ones PAYING OUT MONEY TO SEE OUT-OF-MARKET GAMES.

MLB says, "Don't worry, you can see all the out-of-market games you want through MLB.tv"

Yeah, right--if we want to shell out even more money to get a season's worth of games WE'RE ALREADY PAYING TO SEE. It used to be that you could get a single game broadcast if you wanted, but they've gotten rid of that. Now your choices are a monthly or a yearly package deal. Fuck you, MLB.

A hearty "FUCK YOU" to Fox and DirecTV as well. If the people at Fox think that I'm going to watch their game because they've got all the others blocked, they are sadly mistaken. If anything, I'm even less inclined to watch their broadcast even if the Yankees game does not conflict. It's the principle of the matter. You let me watch the games I want to watch, and then maybe I'll watch the games you want me to watch.

Now I just have to wait until MLB finally gets around to airing the clip of A-Rod's HR.

I think I need to make a new SB award for this: "The Barbed-Wire Baseball Bat Upside The Head" award. I'll deliver one personally to everyone at Fox, DirecTV and MLB.

Here's hoping he'll find another team to mentor.

Sad news, at least for me, made more palatable by the omnipresent humor and intelligence of the Dugout. I can't help but root, and continue to root, for Julio Franco, and I hope to see him play again next year. The Dugout's version of Chipper Jones sums it up in a stunning piece of writing from a true baseball lover.

AChipOffTheOl'_erJones: That Julio Franco, a man of now-mediocre statistics who provides invaluable leadership to a team that a man who doesn't take the field just can't provide, was the epitome of what makes a team great, regardless of whether it wins.

AChipOffTheOl'_erJones: That now, we're fucking it all up and succumbing to the fever dream of free-agency and the culture of dispensationalism that we resisted for so long.

AChipOffTheOl'_erJones: And that though everyone is calling us "free-agency winners" and "instant World Series contenders", even if we do win a championship, we just lost what made us truly great.

Andraeiouandsometimesyw: This isn't like PECOTA. I don't get it.

AChipOffTheOl'_erJones: He's hard to read sometimes. But I do know that in the past, whenever he's encountered pure evil or stupidity, he's resigned himself to counseling and aiding the oppressed.

AChipOffTheOl'_erJones: Now he's just simply, and devastatingly, disappointed in people that are capable of so much more.

A trifecta in baseball

Tonight in the world of baseball, there was a convergence of potential milestones; Alex Rodriguez was looking to become the 22nd person in MLB history to hit 500 home runs, Tom Glavine had his 300th win in sight, and Barry Bonds was hoping to tie Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs.

How did they do?

Click the link, people.
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