You remember the 1996 season. New manager, nice mix of veterans (Chili Davis, Paul O’Neil, Daryl Strawberry, etc) and the up and coming youngsters (Jeter, Pettitte, Bernie). Well, SU is getting that feeling again with a team that I felt was a year away from really contending. Last night’s game cemented it for me. Chapman implodes in the 9th inning although only one hard hit ball in the inning. SU was growing tired of Aaron Boone’s strategy comments and saying it was a no-brainer to walk Bryant to pitch to Rizzo with the bases loaded. For the record, SU called the HBP there (naturally, only my chair and the adjacent couch can confirm that). But here’s the thing. In years past, you bring in Paul Quantrill with the game tied and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th to end the game quickly. No one did that better than Quantrill – wild pitch, quick single – get the jet warmed up as it’s time to get out of there. Girardi summoned Tyler Clippard and lo and behold, he escapes. SU watched through the 11th but did wake up in the middle of the night to confirm that they lost. Surprise: 5-4 win in 18 innings.
This year is different and this team is really balanced. When healthy and able to keep Chris Carter on the bench (he is worse than I thought; Greg Bird: please stop sucking), you have a true circular line-up where everyone can make contact and even run the bases. SU cannot express enough gratitude to Mark Texeiria for retiring and for Brian McCann moving on. There is ball contact this year! Soon they can bat Chase Headley 9th in the order and really take off.
Meanwhile over in Flushing, the Dark Knight was exposed for the lazy dude he is. Think about being a starter for a major league team. You pitch every 5th day, you walk to your position, you walk back to the dugout. All they ask of you is to show up on days that you’re not pitching, shag some balls in the outfield during batting practice and then sit on the bench and pretend you’re not chewing and spitting tobacco. Not that hard right? So, it seems he played golf on Saturday, called in that he had a migraine and then claimed mis-communication. You can see it as there really aren’t enough ways to communicate with your boss these days. Perhaps the wind direction was not conducive to using smoke signals. It’s not like he over-worked during the off season to shed a few pounds either. There may be a better explanation but for now, SU sides with management. No doubt this was an accumulation of things over some period of time.
So, how good is LeBron James? Another 4-game sweep and scored 35+ points each game. It’s hard to see either the Celtics or Wizards making them sweat on their way to the finals. Golden State vs. Cleveland is worth watching although we will need to slog our way along another month to get there.
Finally, interesting to see that Brian Cashman was willing to give Girardi an out on his contract in 2013 to go to the Cubs to be their manager. And have you seen that former Yankee utility man Clay Bellinger has a son playing for the Dodgers who is tearing it up as a rookie? Not bad – good for him.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
It feels like 1962 for the Mets.
I’d actually be looking forward to a Cavs / Warriors rematch. I don’t even watch Eastern Conference playoffs games. The West matchups are much more interesting. Too bad the Cavs don’t actually have to play anyone on their way to the finals.
Mark, I think Toronto gives them a better series if Kyle Lowery doesn’t get hurt. They did not have enough offense to overcome that. But they still go down in 5 games most likely.
How about the way the Yankees scored the winning run last night? That had a distinctive 1996 feel to it. I love small ball at the right moments. We know the Sabermetricians and big sluggers don’t care for it but there are times when you just want the one run. And I think in tight games, or extra innings or in the playoffs, there’s a mental advantage gained over the pitcher and defense when you have success, no matter how small. But for about 15 years the Yankees had gotten away from this entirely. Clearly it was the rise of the statistics that valued outs too much to give them up. There was the corresponding shift in personnel which included Texeira and McCann but probably began with Giambi.
Yes, the Jason Giambi signing was the beginning of that era that produced just one championship although many post-season appearances. They let Tino walk and brought in the juiced up Giambi. Good guy, but big time juicer. It’s a good point: the Yankees have been so home run conscious for so many years now. Although Chris Carter is cut from the same cloth. When Tyler Austin recovers, they should send him on his way.
With the Jeter ceremony yesterday, it was nice to be reminded of the teams from 96+ (a nice diversion from the weaker performance of the 17 Yankees in 4 games against a good Astros team). Surprised not to read any SU reflections on Jeter given than everybody seems to need to weigh in on it. Here are mine:
– The ceremony was well done although I can’t understand the need to bring out the gifts and describe them in detail. Maybe it’s because I never played sports at a high level, but what is the fascination with rings and did any of the fans in attendance really want to hear John Sterling describe the precise location of every stone and etching on the ring they gave Jeter?
– Jeter’s speech and tone were perfect. I know he is criticized as being boring. I think he’s just not a terribly complicated guy but he is thoughtful. He seems to be proud but also humble.
– Was A Rod missed among the Yankee stars in attendance? Not really. Until they had Carlos Beltran come out to present a gift. Maybe he’s a good friend and it’s nice to get the other team involved a little bit but Jeter and Beltran barely played together and won no championships together. This was the only moment where it felt like A Rod belonged there and the distaste Jeter has for him really shone through. For context, A Rod played many more seasons with Jeter than Beltran did. He had a more impressive career. He won a championship with Jeter. He was a Yankee much longer than Beltran. And, he’s still on the payroll so could have made the trip with no appearance fees.
– I loved watching all of the players that were in attendance but felt a little sorry for my kids. They were seeing great players. But they weren’t seeing the greatest players. I guess I was spoiled when I would see DiMaggio or Mantle at the stadium. But who knows? Reggie and Mariano and Jeter may be able to carry the torch.
– Reggie Jackson looks great. He looks like he could walk out and hit a homerun tomorrow. Bernie Williams does not.
– After yesterday, it’s hard to understand why Jeter would want to get involved with the Marlins. I’m sure the Yankees could find him something to do if he wants to be around the game a little bit. The financial benefits can’t be that meaningful to him and if he’s a figurehead investor then he’s throwing away the notion that he’ll always be associated solely as a Yankee. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
– Jeter’s career is obviously much more than stats. That much we know. But there are still some stats (batting average, doubles, the post-season stuff, the number of games he played while out of playoff contention) that are pretty impressive.
– Talk radio last week was all about how Jeter stacks up to past Yankee greats. Is he on the Mt. Rushmore? Obviously not. But these discussions got me to re-think the career of Yogi Berra. I have a slightly distorted picture of Berra, driven primarily by his second and third careers as a manager and loveable goofball. But those can be distractions from his playing career which was not goofy at all. The MVPs. The post season stuff. He was a great hitter in the middle of the lineup on great teams for a long time. The Yankee Mt Rushmore is without question Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle. But Berra is closer to the Mt Rushmore than Jeter is to Berra. And this is no knock on Jeter.